Chords for Ian Dury - Top 10 X-Rated: Spasticus Autisticus
Tempo:
112.2 bpm
Chords used:
Em
E
D
G
F
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
One, [E] two, three, and spasticus, spasticus, spasticus, autisticus.
The word spastic, that had a particular negative image.
Autisticus.
They don't want to confront, it was confronting a difficult subject.
[C#m] When I finger [D] across my middle [A] is a riddle.
[G] They don't want a disabled person that likes to fuck and wank and swear and spit and drink.
So place your hard-on [C] peanuts in my tin.
In 1981, Ian Dury released a contentious song about disability.
Considered hostile by the Spastic [Am] Society, [Em] the BBC banned it outright.
Should have [C] been [G] people outside the BBC, inside the BBC, occupying.
That's what I'd like to have seen.
People sort of going into the Radio 1 studios and preventing them from running their programmes
until they played spasticus autisticus.
They didn't actually realise Ian was disabled.
[D]
[G#] And they thought actually [D#] Ian was having a go at disabled people.
[F]
But the [Cm] perennially sweary [D#] wind-up merchant was actually gobbing from moral high [Fm] ground and personal experience.
[A#m]
Over the [Fm] children of Britain, as early summer [G#m] draws near, [D#m] a cloud gathers.
[F]
[C#] Poliomyelitis, [F#] believe many [C#] knowledgeable persons, may reach epidemic proportions.
[Fm] [C] Polio's got an incubation period.
So when it appeared with me, I was at my granny's in Cornwall.
And I remember sitting down on a couch in the afternoon and then feeling a bit giddy.
Feeling a bit fluey.
Then they diagnosed poliomyelitis, or infantile paralysis.
Ian survived with damage to his arm and leg.
He was placed in a school for children with special needs.
[D#] Chaley made me strong, physically and mentally.
The rule at Chaley was if you fell over you had to get yourself up.
Otherwise you shouldn't really be there.
[C] [F]
[Gm] Hit me with [F] your rhythm [Gm] sticks.
[Fm] Hit me.
[Gm] He was hardened up enough to survive art [Am] school and take [F] on the 70s pub rock scene.
But it wasn't easy.
[Gm] [G#m] [N] I definitely got the vibe when we were first trying to get a deal for him
that people couldn't really quite handle the idea of having a 35-year-old cripple as a lead person in a pop band.
Couldn't handle that.
We used to live in Cheerlep, [Em] half way.
[D]
Three top ten hits on [Em] indie label Stiff earned a major label deal.
But compromise wasn't on the agenda.
1981 was the year of the disabled.
Which meant 1982 everyone was going to be alright.
So I thought that's a load of bullo.
So I wrote a song.
Hello to you out [Am] there in normal land.
[G] You may not comprehend my [Am] tale or understand.
[G] Using the word spaz always used to get on my tits quite severely.
And so I thought well, you know, I'll make a band called Spastic and the Autistics.
And we'll go around.
And my friend Spate, he goes, no, no, Spasticus Autisticus.
The freed slave.
Based on the Kubrick epic, you know.
I am [Em]
Sparticus.
And I have to confess, it just came to me.
You know, I'm Spasticus.
I'm Spasticus.
Autisticus.
He went, more, more, more.
[B]
I [E] obviously
[Em] knew there was a risk that I was going to alienate a lot of people.
And they were going to get the hump of me.
What's this fucking, you know, spazzer doing squeaking?
Well I wasn't moaning.
I was actually doing the opposite of moaning.
I was yelling.
But the Spastic society felt Dewey's ironic rant was undermining their good work.
It was certainly critical of it to begin with.
For the fear that it would strengthen people's mistaken or wrong images about disability and about Spastic people in particular.
I've nobbled [F#] upon the cobbles.
[E]
Dewey seemed set for bigger success with his new label.
But the complete lack of airplay for Spasticus effectively marked the end [F#] of his chart career.
Its true [B] meaning [E] was understood all too late.
By that time I'd got [D] over the initial [Em] almost kind of gut reaction which had been a critical one.
Into a better [E] understanding of what this was actually about.
What it was trying to achieve and above all what kind of person Ian was.
I don't think at any time that I spoke to him that he actually got an angry response from disabled people.
[Em] That was the only song from that album that we included in our live set.
And we played it every gig from that until a few months ago when Ian passed away.
Every single gig we always did it.
11 more [C#] appliances [D] in leather and [A] elastic.
[Em] 100 [C#m],000 thank yous [A] from 27 [E] Spasticus.
I don't know what the opportunities are for re-releasing records.
But maybe if it was coming out today it would have a very different reaction.
And maybe it would make a big impact.
Although musical tastes have moved on a bit of course in 20 years.
Tim Yo.
Yo.
Maybe in 50 years time they'll see what he was talking about and it will become an important song again.
I Spasticus.
[G] I think it's a song that is still waiting
The word spastic, that had a particular negative image.
Autisticus.
They don't want to confront, it was confronting a difficult subject.
[C#m] When I finger [D] across my middle [A] is a riddle.
[G] They don't want a disabled person that likes to fuck and wank and swear and spit and drink.
So place your hard-on [C] peanuts in my tin.
In 1981, Ian Dury released a contentious song about disability.
Considered hostile by the Spastic [Am] Society, [Em] the BBC banned it outright.
Should have [C] been [G] people outside the BBC, inside the BBC, occupying.
That's what I'd like to have seen.
People sort of going into the Radio 1 studios and preventing them from running their programmes
until they played spasticus autisticus.
They didn't actually realise Ian was disabled.
[D]
[G#] And they thought actually [D#] Ian was having a go at disabled people.
[F]
But the [Cm] perennially sweary [D#] wind-up merchant was actually gobbing from moral high [Fm] ground and personal experience.
[A#m]
Over the [Fm] children of Britain, as early summer [G#m] draws near, [D#m] a cloud gathers.
[F]
[C#] Poliomyelitis, [F#] believe many [C#] knowledgeable persons, may reach epidemic proportions.
[Fm] [C] Polio's got an incubation period.
So when it appeared with me, I was at my granny's in Cornwall.
And I remember sitting down on a couch in the afternoon and then feeling a bit giddy.
Feeling a bit fluey.
Then they diagnosed poliomyelitis, or infantile paralysis.
Ian survived with damage to his arm and leg.
He was placed in a school for children with special needs.
[D#] Chaley made me strong, physically and mentally.
The rule at Chaley was if you fell over you had to get yourself up.
Otherwise you shouldn't really be there.
[C] [F]
[Gm] Hit me with [F] your rhythm [Gm] sticks.
[Fm] Hit me.
[Gm] He was hardened up enough to survive art [Am] school and take [F] on the 70s pub rock scene.
But it wasn't easy.
[Gm] [G#m] [N] I definitely got the vibe when we were first trying to get a deal for him
that people couldn't really quite handle the idea of having a 35-year-old cripple as a lead person in a pop band.
Couldn't handle that.
We used to live in Cheerlep, [Em] half way.
[D]
Three top ten hits on [Em] indie label Stiff earned a major label deal.
But compromise wasn't on the agenda.
1981 was the year of the disabled.
Which meant 1982 everyone was going to be alright.
So I thought that's a load of bullo.
So I wrote a song.
Hello to you out [Am] there in normal land.
[G] You may not comprehend my [Am] tale or understand.
[G] Using the word spaz always used to get on my tits quite severely.
And so I thought well, you know, I'll make a band called Spastic and the Autistics.
And we'll go around.
And my friend Spate, he goes, no, no, Spasticus Autisticus.
The freed slave.
Based on the Kubrick epic, you know.
I am [Em]
Sparticus.
And I have to confess, it just came to me.
You know, I'm Spasticus.
I'm Spasticus.
Autisticus.
He went, more, more, more.
[B]
I [E] obviously
[Em] knew there was a risk that I was going to alienate a lot of people.
And they were going to get the hump of me.
What's this fucking, you know, spazzer doing squeaking?
Well I wasn't moaning.
I was actually doing the opposite of moaning.
I was yelling.
But the Spastic society felt Dewey's ironic rant was undermining their good work.
It was certainly critical of it to begin with.
For the fear that it would strengthen people's mistaken or wrong images about disability and about Spastic people in particular.
I've nobbled [F#] upon the cobbles.
[E]
Dewey seemed set for bigger success with his new label.
But the complete lack of airplay for Spasticus effectively marked the end [F#] of his chart career.
Its true [B] meaning [E] was understood all too late.
By that time I'd got [D] over the initial [Em] almost kind of gut reaction which had been a critical one.
Into a better [E] understanding of what this was actually about.
What it was trying to achieve and above all what kind of person Ian was.
I don't think at any time that I spoke to him that he actually got an angry response from disabled people.
[Em] That was the only song from that album that we included in our live set.
And we played it every gig from that until a few months ago when Ian passed away.
Every single gig we always did it.
11 more [C#] appliances [D] in leather and [A] elastic.
[Em] 100 [C#m],000 thank yous [A] from 27 [E] Spasticus.
I don't know what the opportunities are for re-releasing records.
But maybe if it was coming out today it would have a very different reaction.
And maybe it would make a big impact.
Although musical tastes have moved on a bit of course in 20 years.
Tim Yo.
Yo.
Maybe in 50 years time they'll see what he was talking about and it will become an important song again.
I Spasticus.
[G] I think it's a song that is still waiting
Key:
Em
E
D
G
F
Em
E
D
One, [E] two, three, and spasticus, spasticus, spasticus, autisticus.
The word spastic, that had a particular negative image.
Autisticus.
They don't want to confront, it was confronting a difficult subject.
[C#m] When I finger [D] across my middle [A] is a riddle.
[G] They don't want a disabled person that likes to fuck and wank and swear and spit and drink.
So place your hard-on [C] peanuts in my tin.
_ In 1981, Ian Dury released a contentious song about disability.
Considered hostile by the Spastic [Am] Society, [Em] the BBC banned it outright. _
Should have [C] been [G] people outside the BBC, _ _ inside the BBC, occupying.
That's what I'd like to have seen. _
People sort of going into the Radio 1 _ studios and preventing them from running their programmes
until they played spasticus autisticus.
They didn't actually realise Ian was disabled.
[D]
[G#] And they thought actually [D#] Ian was having a go at disabled people.
[F] _
But the [Cm] perennially sweary [D#] wind-up merchant was actually gobbing from moral high [Fm] ground and personal experience.
[A#m]
Over the [Fm] children of Britain, as early summer [G#m] draws near, [D#m] a cloud gathers.
[F] _
[C#] Poliomyelitis, [F#] believe many [C#] knowledgeable persons, may reach epidemic proportions.
[Fm] [C] Polio's got an incubation period.
So when it appeared with me, I was at my granny's in Cornwall.
_ And I remember sitting down on a couch in the afternoon _ and then feeling a bit giddy.
Feeling a bit fluey.
Then they diagnosed _ poliomyelitis, or infantile paralysis.
_ Ian survived with damage to his arm and leg.
He was placed in a school for children with special needs.
_ _ _ [D#] Chaley made me strong, physically and mentally.
The rule at Chaley was if you fell over you had to get yourself up.
Otherwise you shouldn't really be there.
[C] _ [F]
[Gm] Hit me with [F] your rhythm [Gm] sticks.
[Fm] Hit me.
[Gm] He was hardened up enough to survive art [Am] school and take [F] on the 70s pub rock scene.
But it wasn't easy.
[Gm] _ [G#m] [N] I definitely got the vibe when we were first trying to get a deal for him
that people couldn't really quite handle the idea of having a 35-year-old cripple as a lead person in a pop band.
Couldn't handle that.
We used to live in Cheerlep, [Em] half way.
[D] _
Three top ten hits on [Em] indie label Stiff earned a major label deal.
But compromise wasn't on the agenda.
1981 was the year of the disabled.
_ Which meant 1982 everyone was going to be alright. _
_ So I thought that's a load of bullo.
So I wrote a song.
Hello to you out [Am] there in normal land.
_ [G] You may not comprehend my [Am] tale or understand.
[G] Using the word spaz always used to get on my tits quite severely.
And _ _ so I thought well, you know, _ I'll make a band called Spastic and the Autistics.
And we'll go around.
And my friend Spate, he goes, no, no, Spasticus Autisticus.
The freed slave.
Based on the Kubrick epic, you know.
I am [Em]
Sparticus.
And I have to confess, it just came to me.
You know, I'm Spasticus.
I'm Spasticus.
_ _ Autisticus.
He went, more, more, more.
_ _ _ _ [B] _
I [E] _ _ _ obviously _
_ _ _ [Em] knew there was a risk that I was going to alienate a lot of people.
And they were going to get the hump of me.
What's this fucking, you know, spazzer doing squeaking?
Well I wasn't moaning.
I was actually doing the opposite of moaning.
I was yelling. _ _ _ _
_ _ _ But the Spastic society felt Dewey's ironic rant was undermining their good work.
It was certainly critical of it to begin with.
For the fear that it would strengthen people's mistaken or wrong images about disability and about Spastic people in particular.
I've nobbled [F#] upon the cobbles.
[E]
Dewey seemed set for bigger success with his new label.
But the complete lack of airplay for Spasticus effectively marked the end [F#] of his chart career.
Its true [B] meaning [E] was understood all too late.
By that time I'd got [D] over the initial _ [Em] almost kind of gut reaction which had been a critical one.
Into a better [E] understanding of what this was actually about.
What it was trying to achieve and above all what kind of person Ian was.
I don't think at any time that I spoke to him that he actually got an angry response from disabled people. _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [Em] That was the only song from that album that we included in our live set.
And we played it every gig from that until a few months ago when Ian passed away.
Every single gig we always did it.
11 more [C#] appliances [D] in leather and [A] elastic.
[Em] 100 [C#m],000 thank yous [A] from 27 _ _ [E] Spasticus.
I don't know what the opportunities are for re-releasing records.
But maybe if it was coming out today it would have a very different reaction.
And maybe it would make a big impact.
Although musical tastes have moved on a bit of course in 20 years.
Tim Yo.
Yo.
_ Maybe in 50 years time they'll see what he was talking about and it will become an important song again.
I _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Spasticus. _ _
[G] I think it's a song that is still waiting _
The word spastic, that had a particular negative image.
Autisticus.
They don't want to confront, it was confronting a difficult subject.
[C#m] When I finger [D] across my middle [A] is a riddle.
[G] They don't want a disabled person that likes to fuck and wank and swear and spit and drink.
So place your hard-on [C] peanuts in my tin.
_ In 1981, Ian Dury released a contentious song about disability.
Considered hostile by the Spastic [Am] Society, [Em] the BBC banned it outright. _
Should have [C] been [G] people outside the BBC, _ _ inside the BBC, occupying.
That's what I'd like to have seen. _
People sort of going into the Radio 1 _ studios and preventing them from running their programmes
until they played spasticus autisticus.
They didn't actually realise Ian was disabled.
[D]
[G#] And they thought actually [D#] Ian was having a go at disabled people.
[F] _
But the [Cm] perennially sweary [D#] wind-up merchant was actually gobbing from moral high [Fm] ground and personal experience.
[A#m]
Over the [Fm] children of Britain, as early summer [G#m] draws near, [D#m] a cloud gathers.
[F] _
[C#] Poliomyelitis, [F#] believe many [C#] knowledgeable persons, may reach epidemic proportions.
[Fm] [C] Polio's got an incubation period.
So when it appeared with me, I was at my granny's in Cornwall.
_ And I remember sitting down on a couch in the afternoon _ and then feeling a bit giddy.
Feeling a bit fluey.
Then they diagnosed _ poliomyelitis, or infantile paralysis.
_ Ian survived with damage to his arm and leg.
He was placed in a school for children with special needs.
_ _ _ [D#] Chaley made me strong, physically and mentally.
The rule at Chaley was if you fell over you had to get yourself up.
Otherwise you shouldn't really be there.
[C] _ [F]
[Gm] Hit me with [F] your rhythm [Gm] sticks.
[Fm] Hit me.
[Gm] He was hardened up enough to survive art [Am] school and take [F] on the 70s pub rock scene.
But it wasn't easy.
[Gm] _ [G#m] [N] I definitely got the vibe when we were first trying to get a deal for him
that people couldn't really quite handle the idea of having a 35-year-old cripple as a lead person in a pop band.
Couldn't handle that.
We used to live in Cheerlep, [Em] half way.
[D] _
Three top ten hits on [Em] indie label Stiff earned a major label deal.
But compromise wasn't on the agenda.
1981 was the year of the disabled.
_ Which meant 1982 everyone was going to be alright. _
_ So I thought that's a load of bullo.
So I wrote a song.
Hello to you out [Am] there in normal land.
_ [G] You may not comprehend my [Am] tale or understand.
[G] Using the word spaz always used to get on my tits quite severely.
And _ _ so I thought well, you know, _ I'll make a band called Spastic and the Autistics.
And we'll go around.
And my friend Spate, he goes, no, no, Spasticus Autisticus.
The freed slave.
Based on the Kubrick epic, you know.
I am [Em]
Sparticus.
And I have to confess, it just came to me.
You know, I'm Spasticus.
I'm Spasticus.
_ _ Autisticus.
He went, more, more, more.
_ _ _ _ [B] _
I [E] _ _ _ obviously _
_ _ _ [Em] knew there was a risk that I was going to alienate a lot of people.
And they were going to get the hump of me.
What's this fucking, you know, spazzer doing squeaking?
Well I wasn't moaning.
I was actually doing the opposite of moaning.
I was yelling. _ _ _ _
_ _ _ But the Spastic society felt Dewey's ironic rant was undermining their good work.
It was certainly critical of it to begin with.
For the fear that it would strengthen people's mistaken or wrong images about disability and about Spastic people in particular.
I've nobbled [F#] upon the cobbles.
[E]
Dewey seemed set for bigger success with his new label.
But the complete lack of airplay for Spasticus effectively marked the end [F#] of his chart career.
Its true [B] meaning [E] was understood all too late.
By that time I'd got [D] over the initial _ [Em] almost kind of gut reaction which had been a critical one.
Into a better [E] understanding of what this was actually about.
What it was trying to achieve and above all what kind of person Ian was.
I don't think at any time that I spoke to him that he actually got an angry response from disabled people. _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [Em] That was the only song from that album that we included in our live set.
And we played it every gig from that until a few months ago when Ian passed away.
Every single gig we always did it.
11 more [C#] appliances [D] in leather and [A] elastic.
[Em] 100 [C#m],000 thank yous [A] from 27 _ _ [E] Spasticus.
I don't know what the opportunities are for re-releasing records.
But maybe if it was coming out today it would have a very different reaction.
And maybe it would make a big impact.
Although musical tastes have moved on a bit of course in 20 years.
Tim Yo.
Yo.
_ Maybe in 50 years time they'll see what he was talking about and it will become an important song again.
I _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Spasticus. _ _
[G] I think it's a song that is still waiting _