Lyrics to
The Eton Rifles

This version of The Eton Rifles was released by The Jam in 1979.

Our The Jam Songs profile has The Eton Rifles lyrics from 1979 and most if not all of the lyrics by The Jam that we have here at Decade Lyrics.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to The Jam or about the 1970s in general.

Sup up your beer and collect your fags –
There’s a row going on down near Slough
Get out your mat and pray to the West
I’ll get out mine and pray for myself

Thought you were smart when you took them on,
But you didn’t take a peep in their artillery room
All that rugby puts hairs on your chest
What chance have you got against a tie and a crest?

Hello-Hurray – what a nice day for the Eton Rifles, Eton Rifles
Hello-Hurray – I hope rain stops play for the Eton Rifles, Eton Rifles

Thought you were clever when you lit the fuse,
Tore down the house of commons in your brand new shoes,
Composed a revolutionary symphony,
Then went to bed with a charming young thing

Hello-Hurray – cheers then, mate. It’s the Eton Rifles, Eton Rifles
Hello-Hurray – an extremist scrape with the Eton Rifles, Eton Rifles

What a catalyst you turned out to be:
Loaded the guns, then you run off home for your tea –
Left me standing like a guilty schoolboy…

What a catalyst you turned out to be:
Loaded the guns, then you run off home for your tea –
Left me standing like a naughty schoolboy…

We came out of it naturally the worst:
Beaten and bloody, and I was sick down my shirt.
We were no match for their untamed wit,
Though some of the lads said they’d be back next week.

Hello-Hurray – it’s the price to pay to the Eton Rifles, Eton Rifles
Hello-Hurray – I’d prefer the plague to the Eton Rifles, Eton Rifles

Hello-Hurray – it’s the price to pay to the Eton Rifles, Eton Rifles
Hello-Hurray – I’d prefer the plague to the Eton Rifles, Eton Rifles

Eton Rifles, Eton Rifles!
Eton Rifles, Eton Rifles!

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The Jam has released many songs over the years besides The Eton Rifles. The Jam released songs from 1977 to 1992 spanning across albums like This Is The Modern World, In The City, All Mod Cons, Setting Sons, Sound Affects, Dig The New Breed, The Gift, and Extras. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by The Jam.

If you're a fan of 1970s songs looking for more songs from 1979 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and The Eton Rifles by The Jam

When you decide to study the lyrics to The Eton Rifles, you're looking at the words, verses and background chorus from the 1979 song by The Jam. Some of the lyrics to The Eton Rifles have clear meanings and some contain metaphorical references. Like most songs, only The Jam and their collaborators know the full story behind any of the their songs.

You can understand the lyrics to The Eton Rifles if you take apart the structure of the words. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to The Eton Rifles" means the words set to the music of The Eton Rifles, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by The Jam. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to The Eton Rifles and the lyrics to The Eton Rifles are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of The Jam who came here looking just for the lyrics to The Eton Rifles, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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