20 Greatest Songs That Said F*** You To Authority

8. Tramp The Dirt Down - Elvis Costello

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-BZIWSI5UQ Not exactly unique, but another hate-fuelled anti-Thatcher song makes the list here, this time sung by Elvis Costello. Never has a song about a particular individual been performed with such contempt as this. The coldness in Costello's eyes when singing it live says all you need to know about his feelings and experience of living under Thatcher. This wasn't a money-spinner, but a true expression of anger and hatred. Perhaps the most powerful imagery used in the song comes from the title: 'Well I hope I don't die too soon. I pray the lord my soul to save. Oh I'll be a good boy, I'm trying so hard to behave. Because there's one thing I know I'd like to live long enough to savour. That's when they finally put you in the ground, I'll stand on your grave and tramp the dirt down.' Whether Costello has gone too far or not, you can't knock his brutal honesty. A Thatcher fan, he certainly wasn't.
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Recent English graduate and Newcastle United nut. Rom-Com enthusiast, Bob Dylan fan-boy and expert poacher of eggs.