To Have & To Have Not Lyrics - Billy Bragg

Up in the morning and out to school 

Mother says there'll be no work next year 

Qualifications once the golden rule 

Are now just pieces of paper 

Just because you're better than me 

Doesn't mean I'm lazy 

Just because you're going forwards 

Doesn't mean I'm going backwards 

If you look the part you'll get the job 

In last year's trousers and your old school shoes 

The truth is, son, it's a buyer's market 

They can afford to pick and choose 

Just because you're better than me 

Doesn't mean I'm lazy 

Just because I dress like this 

Doesn't mean I'm a communist 

The factories are closing and the army's full 

I don't know what I'm going to do 

But I've come to see in the Land of the Free 

There's only a future for the chosen few 

Just because you're better than me 

Doesn't mean I'm lazy 

Just because you're going forwards 

Doesn't mean I'm going backwards 

At twenty one you're on top of the scrapheap 

At sixteen you were top of the class 

All they taught you at school was how to be a good worker 

The system has failed you, don't fail yourself 

Just because you're better than me 

Doesn't mean I'm lazy 

Just because you're going forwards 

Doesn't mean I'm going backwards