The album came into being as two of The Housemartins, Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway formed The Beautiful South upon the former's breakup in 1988. The Beautiful South therefore were seen as the next guise of The Housemartins. Both bands had already had two greatest hits albums: The Housemartins in 1988 (Now That's What I Call Quite Good) and 2004 (The Best of The Housemartins), and The Beautiful South in 1994 (Carry on up the Charts) and 2001 (Solid Bronze).
The sleeve of the album contains an introduction to it and a brief history of the band by long term friend and fan of the bands, journalist and radio DJ Stuart Maconie. It also contains artwork from throughout the bands' careers and gives the names of all the members of both bands throughout their duration.
A BBC review of the album stated "Often misunderstood and overlooked by the barometer of cool, Heaton and his minions have beavered away nevertheless and become two of the finest exponents of pop Britain has ever had", whilst the Manchester Evening News declared "the early work shows them as being a jewel in our pop heritage."
The album reached #15 in the UK Albums Chart and was certified platinum.
Flag Day
The Housemartins Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Not enough Robin Hoods
Too many halos not enough heroes
Coming up with the goods
So you though you'd like to change the world
Decided to stage a jumble sale
For the poor, for the poor
It's a waste of time if you know what they mean
Try shaking a box in front of the Queen
'Cause her purse is fat and bursting at the seams
It's a waste of time if you know what they mean
Too many hands in too many pockets
Not enough hands on hearts
Too many ready to call it a day
Before the day starts
So you thought you'd like to see them healed
Got Blue Peter to stage an appeal
For the poor, for the poor
It's a waste of time if you know what they mean
Try shaking a box in front of the Queen
'Cause her purse is fat and bursting at the seams
It's a waste of time if you know what they mean
Flag Day, Flag Day, Flag Day
The Housemartins’ song "Flag Day" addresses the issue of social inequality, specifically the discrepancy between the wealthy and the poor. The opening lines criticize the surplus of people who aspire to be a Florence Nightingale, a famous British nurse and social reformer, rather than a Robin Hood, the legendary character who helped the poor and oppressed. The song highlights the scarcity of individuals who act as heroes by standing up for the underprivileged community instead of taking archetypal roles that depict altruism but lack the substance to instigate any change.
The lyrics then criticize the charity events and collections as they do not capture the roots of the problem, which require more comprehensive solutions. The lines "it's a waste of time if you know what they mean, try shaking a box in front of the Queen, 'cause her purse is fat and bursting at the seams" suggest that charity alone can not bridge the gap and enforce notable modification. The song stresses the need for society to unite and strengthen the cause to counteract the oppressive system, emphasizing that too many people leave the problems to others, and as a result, nothing gets accomplished, and the problems heighten.
Overall, the song could be viewed as a call for individuals to take more proactive roles in affecting change instead of relying on surface-level solutions that do not solve systemic injustice.
Line by Line Meaning
Too many Florence Nightingales
There are too many people who seek to help others with basic needs without addressing larger issues of inequality.
Not enough Robin Hoods
There are not enough individuals who act as activists to fight larger systemic problems of inequality.
Too many halos not enough heroes
There are too many people who think themselves as good and religious but not enough people who take real actions to help others.
Coming up with the goods
People need to take part in action rather than just talking about issues.
So you thought you'd like to change the world
The song is talking about people who want to make a change, but are not necessarily doing it in the right way.
Decided to stage a jumble sale
This is referring to people who think they can change society with small-scale charitable events, but they are not enough to create real change.
For the poor, for the poor
The charity events are usually targeted towards the poor, but they are not enough to help them out of poverty.
It's a waste of time if you know what they mean
Charitable events, if done without a larger systematic change, are not enough to bring about true equality.
Try shaking a box in front of the Queen
This is criticizing people who think that the wealthy and powerful will help to fix these problems if asked in the right way. The Queen here is a symbol for any powerful figurehead.
'Cause her purse is fat and bursting at the seams
The implication here is that the Queen has a lot of money, but is unwilling to spend it on social causes.
Too many hands in too many pockets
This is criticizing people who act selfishly and not in the interest of the greater good.
Not enough hands on hearts
People are not doing enough to help others with true compassion.
Too many ready to call it a day
There are too many people who are unwilling to put in the effort to create real changes.
Before the day starts
This is a metaphor for not even starting the process of making a change.
So you thought you'd like to see them healed
This is a continuation of the criticism of people who think they can make a change with small charitable events without tackling larger systemic problems.
Got Blue Peter to stage an appeal
This is a reference to a UK TV programme that often airs charitable appeals, but this won't address long-term inequalities.
Flag Day, Flag Day, Flag Day
The repetition here is to emphasize the title of this song, which refers to the day the rescue boats began to look for migrants in the Mediterranean Sea in 2015.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind