It was no personal defeat
That suicide on Downing Street
They found him burning in his car
He paid the price for what we are
A stroke of luck, a trick of fate
The life I build, the mess I make
Too young to retire, too old to live
This message all he had to give
(Chorus)
Derek Bainbridge did not die in vain
And I will sing his sad luck story
Desparation is a warning flame
Now we stand or fall with Derek Bainbridge
He came 160 miles
To wipe away all those smug smiles
The empty hours dragging by
His spirit withered up inside
(Chorus)
He felt the man that he could be
Was only wasted potential
He went swimming in the deep forbidden sea
Looking for that extra dimension
In a selfish blue nation
It was no personal defeat
That suicide on Downing Street
You cannot call us civilized
As long as one life is denied
(Chorus)
Swinging on a one-way pendulum
Driving down a dead end highway
Desparation is a warning flame
Now we stand or fall
Do we stand or fall