Watching the news is alarming at the moment - like history repeating itself. Reg wrote this song Troop Movements in the Ukraine, first released in 1980 on Mental As Anything's second album Espresso Bongo. Who would have thought that this song would be so relevant 42 years later.
Lyrics
I read it in the paper
I saw it on the news
I heard it on the radio
Troop movements in the Ukraine
Missile silos in the sugar cane
No desire to die in an Asian swamp
They've got no proper toilets
They've go no modern shops
I've been learning Russian
And I'm visiting a Mosque
I'll build a steel house
No matter what it costs
Who wants to be in the military army
From force of habit, persuasion by law
I'd rather stay here and survive the war
By hiding in a grain elevator
I read it in the paper
I saw it on the news
I heard it on the radio
Troop movements in the Ukraine
Missile silos in the sugar cane
I don't mind missing on the pleasures of looting
I don't mind missing out on death by shooting
I'll worry about motor car accidents
Cancer and the politics of rooting
Written by Reg Mombassa