The Oliver Twist Manifesto - Luke Haines

Workhouse?

Yeah?

What do you want?

Information

Who the fuck do you think you are?

You never fucking stop.

Always wanting

something for nothing.

OK.

I’ll give you want you want.

I’ll give you

information

All these songs about Christ, spooks and personal vendettas

Organ donations, there’s a mini operetta

Are people gonna say you’ve gone off your rocker

Well, I’m the brightest thing on the roster

And I sleep well when I turn out the light

I’m like an off-duty comedian at the end of a bad night

Easy to like admire, difficult to love

You’ve gotta believe me when I say I never wanted to be liked

And I defy the curfew

A sense of humour is the most overrated virtue

Get off your knees you grovelling bastards

This is Oliver twist pissing over Britannia

200 years of Tin Pan Alley

I learned good from a king thief mentor

Newgate, Broadstreet, Langdales Distillery

Papist threats and no popery

It’s a beautiful night again

So paint the wall white again

Brutality for the kids

Oliver Twist

There was this gang who I used to run with

Ragamuffins, urchin scum, spivs

Looking good comes in handy

When you’re dipping in the pockets of a dandy

And there’s treason in the air, it’s just a leap of faith

There’s murder in the air at Rillington Place

A Christie lives in Soho

This is the Oliver Twist Manifesto

Totality for the kids

Oliver Twist

I’m operating now under four different names

I can use anyone of them, anytime again

And I’ve never been one to hold a grudge

Twists has turned vicious

What if all the malevolent cripples

The Raspberry ripples

Are just putting it on?

And they’re the brightest of all of the people

Oliver Twist, vaudeville Spook mentalist

Disappear into a pea souper

Swooping down on your back

Coming out of a cold snap

Into a pea souper

A cartarista

It was meant to be great

But it’s gone wrong again

It’s a beautiful night

So paint the wall white again

Get of your knees

'Cos Christie lives

It’s a beautiful night for Treason

Oliver Twist

Oliver Twist