Second-Hand Car Spiv

(album: Preservation Act II - 1974)

[Sung by Spiv, Flash & Floosies]

[Spiv:]
I was born a slum gutter infantile
Brute-force-educated, delinquent juvenile
I am a product of mass-produced factory fodder
Streets full of tenement blocks, rat-infested filth and squalor
I left school, went straight on the dole
And unemployment's no enjoyment
Welfare State owned my mind and my body and my soul

So I worked my way up to be a second-hand car spiv
But don't judge me harshly because I'm just a slum kid
I built up my business with a quick wit and fist
So don't double-cross me or my hoods will dissect you
With their black jacks and shiv

Slum kids never get a break, they've got to fight their way up
Beg and steal, wheel and deal
Sweat blood to earn a buck
I didn't want to work on the factory floor
I wasn't content, I wanted more
Than to be a slave to a lathe
Work all day and go home bored

So a second-hand car spiv was what I became
I built an empire 'cause I used my brains

[Chorus:]
He was a second-hand car spiv up from the slums
So don't judge him harshly, 'cause he's just a slum kid
Then we moved into property, stocks, and shares
And into high finance

[Spiv:]
And you've got to agree
That running a multi-million corporation
Sure beats selling cars second-hand

[Chorus:]
Once he sold old worn-out heaps to the punters on the street

[Spiv:]
Now I'm in control of the country as a whole
And the world is at my feet

[Chorus:]
The world is at his feet

[Spiv:]
Power, power, I've got power oozing out of me
And when you think of all the things I've done
It says a lot for one
Who worked his way up from the streets
Yes, I'm a second-hand car spiv

Do a deal, buy and sell
It's my trade, I know it well
Make a sale, ring the bell
And let the suckers go to hell.
Bank the profits, count the change
Another sucker comes your way
Life is a crooked game
And slum kids never change