The duo began in Cleveland, England. Moving to London in 2003, they quickly made a name for themselves on the folk circuit. By 2005 they had graduated to appearing at the Cambridge Festival. They were then invited to support Seth Lakeman on tour and picked up ringing endorsements from both Seth and from Radio 2's Bob Harris. They are becoming one of the major names in the bubbling UK folk/contemporary scene.
Debbie Palmer (now Debbie Hanna) provides a clasically-trained voice to match Stu Hanna's brilliant musicianship to stunning effect. The Megson sound is unique, refreshing and winning admirers both within and beyond the music industry.
Recordings commenced with "On the Side" in 2004 - a top quality mixture of folk classics and self penned more contemporary folk. In 2006 the EP "Megson" was released with new and live tracks -and shows a distinctive cutting edge sound which is clearly maturing into something very special indeed. In July 2007 the second full album, "Smoke of Home" was released (with production assistance from Sean Lakeman - ex Equation) - now followed in late 2008 by a homage to the folk songs of their home town - "Take Yourself a Wife".
After two albums looking back towards their roots maybe Megson should now return to the contemporary edged folk which won them such aclaim and which gave them such a fresh sound in a very competitve music genre? But Megson probably don't care - they are not in this for audience but for quality - and there is loads of that in whatever they do.
Megson are enchanting to see live - good looking, incredibly professional and nice people!
www.megsonmusic.co.uk
Generation Rent
Megson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To the boss man's beat just to keep my feet
I even but a bit of money in a jar
To buy me a car but I don't get far
Don't waste your life away, every day so my parents say
So my parents say
And when they ask if I'll ever move out
I just plead and shout that I've still got nowt singing
Oh oh oh oh oh,
All we want's a place of our own,
But I never can see how anybody like me
Is ever gonna make it out alone, so we gotta sing
Oh oh oh oh oh,
All we want's a place of our own,
But the ladder got bent, generation rent's
Gonna find, they're never gonna own
A place of our own
I met my missus in the pouring rain,
Ever since that day I've never quite been the same
We got married with a kiss and a cough
Dressed up like a toff, I'm still paying it off
We spent our honeymoon
Watching boon in her parents room
Now we take each day at a time
Six cars, one drive, don't know how we survived, singing
Oh oh oh oh oh,
All we want's a place of our own,
But I never can see how anybody like me
Is ever gonna make it out alone, so we gotta sing
Oh oh oh oh oh,
All we want's a place of our own,
But the ladder got bent, generation rent's
Gonna find, they're never gonna own
A place of our own
Now we've got three kids of our own
We'll try not to moan if they don't leave home
We'll just build another three meters back
Let the bedrooms stack 'till the steel beams crack
And on that glorious day, my darling daughter came to say
I want to introduce gran to my fella'
I said go down and tell her
She's living in the cellar singing,
Oh oh oh oh oh,
All we want's a place of our own,
But I never can see how anybody like me
Is ever gonna make it out alone, so we gotta sing
Oh oh oh oh oh,
All we want's a place of our own,
But the ladder got bent, generation rent's
Gonna find, they're never gonna own
A place of our own
The lyrics of Megson's song "Generation Rent" paint a vivid picture of the struggles faced by young people in the current economy. The opening verse depicts a reality many find themselves in – working tirelessly and putting away money in the hope of one day achieving what is now becoming a distant dream for many millennials – owning their own home. The second verse takes on the challenges of building a life with someone you love, and the financial strain that comes with making a commitment of marriage. The final verse shows a cyclical nature of the trend; the singer's own daughter faces similar challenges, unable to afford anything better than living in a cellar.
The chorus repeats the same desire "All we want's a place of our own," and the hopelessness of the situation is summed up in the statement "But the ladder got bent, generation rent's gonna find, they're never gonna own a place of our own." The sense of injustice is palpable in the song, as is the collective feeling of having little control over the situation. The powerlessness that comes with the unfair economic climate is emphasized throughout the song, and the only response seems to be singing out their frustrations.
Line by Line Meaning
I've been working every hour of the week
I've been working overtime every day
To the boss man's beat just to keep my feet
To keep up with the work pressure of the company
I even but a bit of money in a jar
Saved small amounts of money for buying something special
To buy me a car but I don't get far
Curtailed my desires to buy an automobile in the absence of proper funds
Don't waste your life away, every day so my parents say
Avoid squandering my life and adding value to it instead
And when they ask if I'll ever move out
When they inquire if I am going to leave their house
I just plead and shout that I've still got nowt singing
I plead and shout back saying that I don't have enough money
All we want's a place of our own,
All we need is a home to call our own
But I never can see how anybody like me
I never can see myself achieving it
Is ever gonna make it out alone, so we gotta sing
It's an impossible task, so we have to use music to take refuge in
But the ladder got bent, generation rent's
The upward mobility plan failed, it is still a struggle for Generation Rent
Gonna find, they're never gonna own
They're going to come to terms with never being able to own anything
I met my missus in the pouring rain,
I met my wife amidst a downpour
Ever since that day I've never quite been the same
Since that day, my life has not remained the same
We got married with a kiss and a cough
Got married with excitement and a little bit of nervousness
Dressed up like a toff, I'm still paying it off
We spent a lot on our wedding attire, and I'm still paying for it
We spent our honeymoon
Our honeymoon was spent
Watching boon in her parents room
We watched TV in her parents' room during our honeymoon
Six cars, one drive, don't know how we survived, singing
Six people, one car, and we're amazed at how we all survived to tell the tale
Now we've got three kids of our own
Now that we have three children
We'll try not to moan if they don't leave home
We will try not to complain too much when our children don't grow up and decide to leave home
We'll just build another three meters back
We'll just build a bit further away from our current location
Let the bedrooms stack 'till the steel beams crack
The bedrooms will stack until the steel beams give out
And on that glorious day, my darling daughter came to say
And on a beautiful day, my daughter told me
I want to introduce gran to my fella'
I'd like to introduce my boyfriend to my grandmother
She's living in the cellar singing,
She's currently situated in the basement singing this tune with us.
Writer(s): Debbie Hanna, Stu Hanna
Contributed by Alaina O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
hithotrecordings
Love, love love it! It cheers me up every time I hear it in spite of the 'generation rent' message. In years gone by this would have been a No.1 chart single, the hook is so catchy! Well done, both!
Nic Rawlinson
This is a modern masterpiece!
Nebula the Velvet Queen
This is amazing! Deserves a million views tbh
Mike McGibney
Great song! Came across it via Radio 2 Folk Awards. Looking forward to hearing more of your music!
tomlettman
Magnificent in every respect, lyrics, performance, vibe and video.
RobMacKendrick
Bloody brilliant! Forwarding to all my former students! Heard it on Celtic Music Radio.
Lizzie Standen
I've listened to this song a hundred times the past week. It's so catchy. I get the lyrics. I love this song.
Josh Dutton
My favourite folk song of all time. It’s so poignant... but I can dance to it too!
Paul49myspace
There is hope for pop/folk. A new Generation of music makers on their way!
Steve Darroch
Bloody excellent right on the money - sharing for Africa - great song
WELL DONE!