Second - Hand Car Spiv Lyrics - Kinks

Sung by Spiv, Flash and Floosies 

Spiv: I was born a slum gutter infantile, 

Brute-force educated, delinquent juvenile. 

I am a product of mass produced factory fodder, 

Streets full of tenement blocks, rat infested filth and squalor. 

I left school, went straight on the dole 

And unemployment's no enjoyment, 

Welfare State owned my mind and my body and my soul. 

So I worked my way up to be a second-hand car spiv, 

But don't judge me harshly because I'm just a slum kid. 

I built up my business with a quick wit and fist, 

So don't double-cross me or my hoods will dissect you 

With their black jacks and shiv. 

Slum kids never get a break, they've got to fight their way up. 

Wheel and deal, beg and steal, 

Sweat blood to earn a buck. 

I didn't want to work on the factory floor, 

I wasn't content, I wanted more 

Than to be a slave of a lathe, 

Work all day and go home bored. 

So a second- hand car spiv was what I became. 

I built an empire because I used my brains. 

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Chorus: He was a second-hand car spiv up from the slums, 

So don't judge him harshly because he's just a slum kid. 

Then he moved into property, stocks and shares, 

Spiv: And into high finance and you've got to agree 

That running a multi-million corporation 

Sure beats selling cars second-hand. 

Chorus: Once he sold old worn out heaps to the punters on the street, 

Spiv: Now I'm in control of the country as a whole, 

And the world is at my feet. 

Chorus: The world is at his feet. 

Photos 

Spiv: Power, power, I've got power oozing out of me, 

And when you think of all the things I've done 

It says a lot for one 

Who worked his way up from the streets. 

Yes I'm a second-hand car spiv. 

Do a deal, buy and sell, 

It's my trade, I know it well. 

Make a sale, ring the bell 

And let the suckers go to hell. 

Bank the profits, count the change 

Another sucker comes your way. 

Life is a crooked game, 

And slum kids never change.