They formed in Hersham, UK in 1976. Sham 69 lacked the art school backgroun… Read Full Bio ↴They formed in Hersham, UK in 1976. Sham 69 lacked the art school background of many rock bands of the time, and brought in football chants, drinking songs and a sort of inarticulate political populism. The band had a large skinhead and hooligan following, which helped set the tone for the Oi! movement. Their concerts were notoriously plagued by violence, and the band ceased live performances after one of their gigs at Middlesex Polytechnic in 1978 was broken up by National Front skinheads fighting and rushing the stage.

Sham 69 released their first single, "Ulster", on Step Forward Records in August 1977, and its success in the independent charts prompted Polydor to sign the band. Their major label debut was "Borstal Breakout" in January 1978, followed by UK singles chart success with "Angels With Dirty Faces" (reaching number 19 in May 1978), "If The Kids Are United" (number 9 in July 1978), and "Hurry Up Harry" (number 10 in October 1978). The latter came from their second LP and first full studio album, That's Life.

They then started to move away from punk rock into a sound heavily influenced by classic British hard rock bands such as Mott The Hoople, The Who and The Faces, evidenced on their third album, The Adventures of the Hersham Boys. Sham 69 broke up after their fourth album. Pursey moved in a heavy metal direction after working with the remaining members of the Sex Pistols for a short time, under the name Sham Pistols. Dave Treganna joined the pioneering 1980s glam-punk-Gothic band, The Lords of the New Church, with Stiv Bators of The Dead Boys and Brian James of The Damned.

Pursey resurrected Sham 69 in the 1990s with a different line-up, but without major success. "If The Kids Are United" was used in a McDonald's advertising campaign, long after the rights to their songs had been sold. Pursey is a vegetarian, and appeared in the UK media condemning the use of one of his songs by what - he saw - as a multi-national animal and human abuser. The band gained further media attention when "If The Kids Are United" was played during UK Prime Minister Tony Blair's entrance at the 2005 Labour Party Conference. As a result of this, they were invited onto BBC TV's current affairs programme, Newsnight to sing a version of the song. Altered lyrics were sung, including "Mr. Blair / We know you care / So bring them home / Don't leave them there", referring to the troops remaining in Iraq after the the 2003 invasion.

In 2006, Virgin Radio listeners voted overwhelmingly for Jimmy Pursey to record a song to support England in the FIFA World Cup. The song was based on the Sham 69 hit, "Hurry Up Harry", and instead of the lyric being, "We're going down the pub", it was changed to, "We're going to win the cup!" The resulting single, "Hurry Up England" reached number 10 in the UK Top 40, becoming the band's first such hit for over 26 years.

In 2006 Jimmy Pursey left Sham 69, leaving guitarist Dave Parsons to carry on with a new singer. Sham 69 continues to tour in this new line up.

Unite and Win
Sham 69 Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

They say "It's the time of year"
But we're living in a land of fear
And they say, "Why don't you act your age"
But we're giving back what they gave
What does the future give you to, to believe in
They say they've no more left deceivin', can you see them

A new nation, of satisfaction

UNITE AND WIN!
Keep good moral (keep the light on?), for tomorrow
UNITE AND WIN!
Don't beg or borrow, no more sorrow
UNITE AND WIN!

They say, "We get our kids ready"
Follow me here, you see all you're rock steady
And they say that we're not in danger
But here I stand, the lonely stranger
What's going to happen to our youth, of tomorrow
If we don't change, then they won't know
We won't be there

A new nation, of satisfaction
UNITE AND WIN!
Keep good moral (keep the light on?) , for tomorrow
UNITE AND WIN!
Don't beg or borrow, no more sorrow
UNITE AND WIN!

I want the freedom that they swore
And promissed to give me
Then and only then will I be ready
To die for my country

A new nation, of satisfaction
UNITE AND WIN!
Keep good moral (keep the light on?) , for tomorrow
UNITE AND WIN!

Don't beg or borrow, no more sorrow
UNITE AND WIN! (repeat till end)

Overall Meaning

Sham 69's song "Unite and Win" is a call to action for the youth of the UK to come together and stand up for themselves in a time of political and social unrest. The beginning of the song acknowledges the current state of fear and mistrust that permeates the country, with lines like "living in a land of fear" and "giving back what they gave." Despite this, the chorus emphasizes the importance of unity and positive values for the future, with phrases like "new nation of satisfaction" and "keep good moral for tomorrow."

The second verse addresses the issue of the youth and their uncertain future. The lyrics ask "What's going to happen to our youth, of tomorrow / If we don't change, then they won't know / We won't be there." This expresses both a sense of urgency and hopelessness - the implication being that if the youth don't take action now, they won't have the chance to make a difference later. The final lines of the song state, "I want the freedom that they swore / And promised to give me / Then and only then will I be ready / To die for my country." This highlights the youth's desire for change and willingness to fight for it, but also acknowledges the broken promises and lack of progress made by the country's leaders.

Overall, "Unite and Win" is a powerful anthem urging youth to come together and make a change. It speaks to a generation frustrated by their place in society and their lack of representation in the political landscape.

Line by Line Meaning

They say "It's the time of year"
The people around us talk about the time of year, but we feel like we are living in fear and uncertainty.

But we're living in a land of fear
Despite the time of year, we feel like we are living in fear all the time.

And they say, "Why don't you act your age"
Our elders ask us why we don't act our age and be responsible, but we feel like we are giving back what they gave us.

But we're giving back what they gave
We are trying to be responsible and united, and to give back what we were taught.

What does the future give you to, to believe in
We wonder what the future holds and what we should believe in.

They say they've no more left deceivin', can you see them
Our elders claim they have nothing left to hide, but we still doubt their intentions and agendas.

A new nation, of satisfaction
We dream of creating a new nation, one that is satisfied and united.

UNITE AND WIN!
Our goal is to unite and win, together.

Keep good moral (keep the light on?), for tomorrow
We need to keep our morals strong and our determination bright, for the future ahead of us.

Don't beg or borrow, no more sorrow
We don't want to beg or borrow anymore, and we dream of a future without sorrow.

They say, "We get our kids ready"
Our elders claim they are preparing us for the future, but we feel unsure and out of place.

Follow me here, you see all you're rock steady
But we believe we can follow our own path and stay steady and strong.

And they say that we're not in danger
Our elders claim there is no danger ahead of us, but we feel like we are standing alone in the face of uncertainty.

But here I stand, the lonely stranger
We feel isolated and alone in our struggle to find a better future.

What's going to happen to our youth, of tomorrow
We worry about what will happen to the youth of tomorrow if we don't change the present.

If we don't change, then they won't know
We believe if we don't make a change now, the future generations won't know any better than we do.

We won't be there
We may not be there to guide them, and that thought scares us.

I want the freedom that they swore
We want the freedom that our elders promised us, and we won't settle for anything less.

And promissed to give me
We hold onto the promise they made us, and we are determined to make it happen.

Then and only then will I be ready
Only when we get that freedom, we will feel ready to fight and die for our country.

Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

TRACKS