Strongly interested and outspoken about green anarchism issues the band have built up a strong and devoted fanbase, despite being nearly universally ignored by mainstream critics. The band have been spokespeople for a number of issues including campaigning against the Criminal Justice Act (and its measures against rave parties) and various anti-capitalist and environmental issues. They continue to tour extensively around Britain and Europe but maintain a mutual dislike with the music press which stems from their early days.
Burford Stomp
Levellers Lyrics
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Ran to Cromwell's Call
Four hundred honest men
Now waiting by the wall
They'll bury us down further in the ground,
Than we ever dug down for a living.
Seven years of fighting for the
We are four hundred honest men,
And nothing have we got,
For Free-born John is in the Tower
And tomorrow we'll be shot.
They'll bury us down further in the ground,
Than we ever dug down for a living.
Seven years of fighting for the
Dead Man's Shilling.
In Levellers' song Burford Stomp, the lyrics chronicle the story of four hundred men who ran to Cromwell's call and ended up waiting by the wall. The song seems to be a nod to a 1649 incident that occurred in Burford, Oxfordshire, where soldiers from the New Model Army mutinied and refused to fight or engage in any further hostilities. The mutiny was led by Leveller leaders Robert Lockyer and Richard Rainsford, who believed that they had not been compensated fairly for their role in the Civil War. The song reflects the disillusionment and frustration that these men must have felt as their efforts went unrecognized and they were faced with dire consequences, including being shot.
The chorus of the song, "They'll bury us down further in the ground, Than we ever dug down for a living. Seven years of fighting for the Dead Man's Shilling," speaks to the idea that the soldiers felt as though they had put in years of hard work for nothing. The "Dead Man's Shilling" referred to the practice of impressment, where recruiters would slip a shilling into a man's drink and he would wake up to find he had been enlisted in the army. This was considered a dishonest and exploitative tactic by the soldiers, who believed that they were being taken advantage of by those in power.
Line by Line Meaning
Four hundred honest men
A group of 400 truthful men.
Ran to Cromwell's Call
They responded to Cromwell's request.
Four hundred honest men
The same group mentioned in the first line.
Now waiting by the wall
They're currently waiting next to a wall.
They'll bury us down further in the ground,
They will bury the men deeper into the earth than they've ever dug for their living
Than we ever dug down for a living.
We've never dug this deep in search of a livelihood.
Seven years of fighting for the
For seven years, they fought for the
Dead Man's Shilling.
Wages for a risky and deadly job.
We are four hundred honest men,
Four hundred truthful men.
And nothing have we got,
They've got nothing.
For Free-born John is in the Tower
Since Free-born John is imprisoned in the Tower,
And tomorrow we'll be shot.
They'll be executed tomorrow.
They'll bury us down further in the ground,
The same as line 5.
Than we ever dug down for a living.
The same as line 6.
Seven years of fighting for the
The same as line 7.
Dead Man's Shilling.
The same as line 8.
Contributed by Aubrey W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
jaford2
"400 honest men ran to Cromwell's call, 400 honest men now waiting by the wall... " What a terrible travesty!
Pat Kelly
Choon