TAB by Song : 226083
Tab List Area
1 Pages 1 Results
Ballad Of A Spycatcher by Leon Rosselson
Ballad Of A Spycatcher
Tuning: E A D G B E
[Intro]
D C
D C
[Verse 1]
D G
Now listen children while I sing this ballad I've just made
D A C
About a Peter (Wright, not Rabbit), a spycatcher by trade
D G
I'll sing of how he joined a special gang called MI5
D G D C D
Who guard the nation's secrets so that liberty may thrive
D7 G
And of how young Peter, quick to learn, soon got to know the ropes
D
The trick of picking locks
A C
The art of opening envelopes
D G
And of how the senior officers began their working day
D G D C D
By trying to solve the crossword... in The Times (needless to say)
[Chorus]
D7
But of all the strange things I'll relate
G
The strangest thing to me
D A C
Is that this doggeral I am singing contravenes the Rule of Three
D
For Nanny (God bless Nanny) Thinks it wouldn't do
G D G D C D
For you to know about the naughty things that grown-up people do
[Interlude]
D C
D C
[Verse 2]
D G
S.F. (Special Facility) was Peter's favourite toy
D A C
And night and day he played with it like any little boy
D G
For bugging rooms and tapping 'phones were things he loved the best
D G D C D
'Five years' said Wright 'we bugged and burgled at the state's behest'
D7 G
We bugged the Russian embassy which wasn't very chique
D A C
So we bugged the French, the Chinese, the Egyptians and the Greek
D G
Bugged Khrushchev's rooms in Clarriages and listened in with care
D G D C D
While 'K' decided on his tie and how to part his hair
[Chorus]
D7
But of all the strange things I relate
G
The strangest thing to me
D A C
Is that this doggeral I am singing contravenes the Rule of Three
D
For Nanny (God bless Nanny) Thinks it wouldn't do
G D G D C D
For you to know about the naughty things that grown-up people do
[Interlude]
D C
D C
[Verse 3]
D
They bugged colonial conferences
G D
Then they turned their minds to keeping tabs on millitants
A C
and 'lefties' of all kinds
D G
Trade-unionists and studens where the targests of their whiles
D G D C D
They burgled C.P. member's homes and stole the party's files
D7
And what did it add up to?
D7 G
And what did it avail?
D A C
All this bugging and burgling and intercepting mail
D
Did it save us from the Russians?
D G
Did it help to keep us free?
D G
Did it keep this country green and pleasant?
D C D
Did it buggery!
[Chorus]
D7
But of all the strange things I relate
G
The strangest thing to me
D A C
Is that this doggeral I am singing contravenes the Rule of Three
D
For Nanny (God bless Nanny) Thinks it wouldn't do
G D G D C D
For you to know about the naughty things that grown-up people do
D C
D C
[Verse 4]
D G
'The trouble was' said Wright 'That we often were mislead'
D A C
'And the Russians always seemed to be a step or two ahead'
D G
'For what ever MI5 knew, the Russians knew it too'
D G D C D
'And when we knew they knew we knew, they knew we knew they knew'
D7
Penkovsky, was he theirs or ours? A triumph or a con?
G A C
So back-and-forth and round-and-round the maisy dance went on
D G
While Peter set up operations Sunshine, Pigroot, Choir
D D C D
Dew-worm, Mole (what lovely names!) and saw them all mis-fire
[Chorus]
D7
But of all the strange things I relate
G
The strangest thing to me
D A C
Is that this doggeral I am singing contravenes the Rule of Three
D
For Nanny (God bless Nanny) Thinks it wouldn't do
G D G D C D
For you to know about the naughty things that grown-up people do
[Interlude]
D C
D C
[Verse 5]
D
'I fear the worst' says Peter
G
'And this I can't fogive:'
D A C
'For years the Secret Service has been leaking like a seive'
D G
'The evidence is growing there is someone placed on-high'
D G
'Who's tipping-off the Russians'
D C D
'A traitor and a spy'
D7
Was it Mitchell?
D7
Was it Hollice (The outfit's own D.G.)?
G
'Incredible!' I hear you say
A C
But Wright would not agree
D
His finger points to Hollice
G
'I'll unmask him if I can'
D G D C D
'He's ex-public school and Oxford, and I've never liked the man'
[Verse 6]
D
And now my tales grows farcicle
G
And should we laugh or cry?
D A C
For the C.I.A man Angleton names Wilson as a Spy
D G
And Cecil King in '68 decides to lead a coup
D G
Against the Wilson government
D C D
So strange it must be true
D7 G
And certain shady businessmen asked Peter for the gen
D A C
To do the dirt on Wilson and keep him out of Number 10
D G
And a group of senior officers tell Wright of their intent
D G D C D
To save us from the clutches of a Labour government
[Chorus]
D7
But of all the strange things I relate
G
The strangest thing to me
D A C
Is that this doggeral I am singing contravenes the Rule of Three
D
For Nanny (God bless Nanny) Thinks it wouldn't do
G D G D C D
For you to know about the naughty things that grown-up people do
[Interlude]
D C
D C
[Verse 7]
D G
Now I haven't time to tell you of those other dirty tricks
D A C
Like the plot to bump-off Nasser (but that was MI6)
D G D
And of how the C.I.A planned in 1965 to open up their sharky mouth
D C D
And swallow MI5 alive
D7 G
But one more thing I feel that I should bring to your attention:
D A C
For all his pains poor Peter never got his propper pension
D G
So why not buy his book yourelf and do the man some good
D G D C D
So he can die comfort as ex-spycatchers should
[Chorus]
D7
But of all the things I've told you
G
The strangest thing to me
D A C
Is that this doggeral I am singing contravenes the Rule of Three
D
For Nanny (God bless Nanny) Thinks it wouldn't do
G D G D C D
For you to know about the naughty things that spycatchers do
-------------