Song Of The Old Communist Chords by Leon Rosselson

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[Bbm] _ He was one of those dogged old men who live in the past, telling stories you don't [Bb] want to know about how it was [F] then.
The hunger, the hardship, the hopes and the struggles of so [Bbm] long ago, and we must have looked bored, for like sparks from the cinders,
his eyes glowed with anger, his words seemed to [G] burn, he [Fm] said, I will be heard, [F] for my life is not over,
I've something to say yet, you [Bbm] something to learn, he [Bb] said, you who have nothing at all to believe in,
for you whose motto is money [F] comes first, who are you to tell us that our lives have been wasted and all that we fought for has turned [Bbm] into dust.
_ _ _ _ _ I was only a lad when we read that in Russia the workers, the Soviets, had taken all [F] power,
and the man they called Lenin who led them was our inspiration, his triumph [C] was our finest hour,
[Bbm] and I'll always remember how fear shook the wealthy like thieves who have just been caught out in [F] their crime,
but we who had known [F] only war and the workhouse rejoiced that a new world was born [Bb] at that time,
you can't know what it meant, and the pride that we felt to know working people,
people [F] like us could shake off the shackles, [Cm] could topple the palaces, [F] remake the world without ruler [Bbm] or boss,
_ it was this kept us going, this dream of a new world, through all those dark years of defeat and [G] despair,
when we who were proud to proclaim ourselves communists fought for that [Bbm] world free from hunger and fear,
it was down with the means test, no cuts in our wages, we want three pounds [Bb] a week and the seven hour [F] day,
and there wasn't a thing that we got but we fought for it, don't you know bosses give nothing [Bb] away,
and the strikes and the marches, the battles to beat off the bailiffs and coppers when hope [F] was still young,
hot heads and hot hearts, as we tested our power the workers triumphant, _ that [Bbm] was our song. _
_ _ _ _ For a time he was silent and lost in his memories, then but more softly his words came [F] again,
perhaps we hoped for too much, perhaps the cost was too much, there are things I know now that I couldn't [Bbm] know then,
we believed revolution was just round the corner and we were the vanguard to [F] bring it about,
and the other left parties we classed as class traitors, bourgeois social fascists of that we [Bbm] no doubt,
[Bb] and then the times changed we campaigned for the popular front, the old line [F] might never have been,
but we led the workers in combating fascism, Mosley in London and Franco [Bbm] in Spain,
_ _ _ _ _ we believed we were history's chosen and Soviet Russia our future, our [F] heart and our soul,
and the five year plan was a vision of plenty for us who'd lived half of our lives on [Bbm] the dole,
we knew of the trials and purges of course, and were shocked when we heard those old [F] comrades confess,
that yes we defended the first worker state in the face of the slander and lies of [Bb] the press,
and you who have nothing at all to believe in, for you whose motto [F] is money comes first,
for you to tell us that our lives have been wasted and all that we fought for has turned [Bbm] into dust.
_ _ _ _ _ You may think we were duped, well we paid for our dreams, broken lives, broken marriages, [F] jobs lost in jail,
some lost heart and left, some betrayed us for medals, there are [Eb] always some turncoats [F] whose souls are [Bbm] for sale,
but the best of us never surrendered our vision, [Bb] and we kept [Bbm] the faith through the [F] bleakest defeat,
do you think that was easy?
Surrounded by hatred, the sneer of indifference, the hurt of [Bbm] deceit,
and [Bb] our lives were made rich by the cause that we fought for, the friendship, the fellowship, _ [F] sharing one aim,
to transform society, end exploitation, and that day will come yet, and not in [Bbm] my time. _ _ _ _ _
_ And again he was silent, and what could we tell him?
That the world now was different, that he'd had [Fm] his day,
that an old man's dreams were not our [F] concern, but still there was something he wanted [Bbm] to say.
Now when I look back, I see what we fought against, homelessness, hunger, _ injustice [F] and war,
but what did we fight for, what dream did we strive for?
[Gb] I used to [F] know once, now I'm no longer [Bb] sure,
but you who have nothing at all to believe in, are you [Gm] whose motto [Bb] is, money [F] comes first,
how are you to tell us that [Bb] our lives have [F] been wasted and all that we fought for has turned into [Bbm] dust? _
_ _ _ _ He was one of those [F] lonely old men who live in the [Bbm] past, telling stories [Fm] you don't want to know,
about how it was then, the hunger and hardship, the hopes and the struggles of so [Bbm] long ago. _ _ _ _ _ _
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