Late Last Night
(Scott Ainslie)
2008
Late last night, rich and powerful men
Set the dogs loose – on our throats again:
Break out the flags, strike up the band….
It’s the money, – you know it is.
Somebody pulls a trigger – and somebody gets rich.
But there ain’t a thing in this whole wide world
Worth the life of one boy, or the life of one girl:
That’s something that money can’t buy.
No use crying – over a little spilled milk,
When someone makes a killing, somebody gets killed.
There’ll be no cross by the side of the road:
No photographs. No plastic rose.
And what wouldn’t I give for a kiss on the cheek,
the touch of your hand, my knees get weak.
That’s something that money can’t buy.
Late last night, rich and powerful men
Set the dogs loose – on our throats again:
Break out the flags, strike up the band….
Written in the harmonic style of the 1920s and 30s, this song came into being on the night Russia invaded the Republic of Georgia in 2008. I would sing the same about any people, any country, any war.