WILLIAM BLOKE- 1996
WORDS and MUSIC: Billy Bragg - 1996
My understanding of a "Goalhanger" is that it refers to an individual who could be best described as a floater. To borrow an ice hockey reference, a goal suck. In other words someone who is interested in scoring goals and not helping in defending. Not a team player..
Bill used to refer to former Arsenal football player Ian Wright when he introduced this song, until Wright began playing with West Ham United (Bills football team).
WEST HAM UNITED FOOTBALL CLUBNotes
Chords: Keith Waclena <k-waclena@uchicago.edu> http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/keith/Chords:
[G] [Em] [D] [G]
[G] [Em] [D] [G]He's got the [G]bonhom[Em]ie [D] [G] of a [G]game show [Em]host [D] [G]
And his [G]handshake is so [Em]limp it's like [D]meeting a [G]ghost [G] [Em] [D] [G]
His a[Am]pologies are tired cos he [C]uses them a lot
His exc[Am]uses are so lame if they were [C]horses they'd be shotHe [G]lies through his teeth with im[B7]peccable grammar
In the [C]game [Em]of [Am]life he's just a dread[C7]ful goalhangerHe's keeping [G]all his options [Em]open [D] [G] till the [G]very last [Em]minute [D] [G]
Checking [G]every situ[Em]ation trying to [D]work out what's [G]in it [G] [Em] [D] [G]
Trying to [Am]pin him down's like nailing [C]water to a wall
He's inc[Am]apable of making a com[C]mitment at allLike trying to [G]knock in a nail with an in[B7]flatable hammer
In the [C]game [Em]of [Am]life he's just a dread[C7]ful goalhanger[D]Yesterday up[Em]on the stair [C]I met a [Em]man who's [Am] never there
He [D]won't be there a[Em]gain today
Well, [C]that's what [Em]he told [Am]me to say
[Am] [Am] [Am7] [Am] [Am7] [Am] [Am7]
[C] [G] [D] [Dsus4] [D]
[C] [G] [D] [Dsus4] [D]
[C] [G] [D] [Dsus4] [D]
[Am] [Am] [Am7] [Am] [Am7] [Am] [Am7]
[A] [A] [Asus2] [A]He's got the [G]natural arrog[Em]ance [D] [G] of an [G]exclamation [Em]mark [D] [G]
And he [G]wishes his [Em]bite was as [D]big as his [G]bark [G] [Em] [D] [G]
He's ap[Am]pealing to the referee at [C]every single stage
He's a [Am]fuzzy little bundle of [C]impotent rageAnd where he [G]ought to have patience he [B7]only has anger
In the [C]game [Em]of [Am]life he's just a dread[C7]ful goalhangerHe has a [G]lack of hu[Em]mility [D] [G] that de[G]fies imagin[Em]ation [D] [G]
And [G]hangs round like a [Em]fart in a [D]Russian space [G]station [G] [Em] [D] [G]
He [Am]doesn't even notice as he [C]sells you down the river
Cos he's [Am]one of life's takers and he's [C]looking for a giverHe [G]smirks and shrugs his shoulders as he [B7]drops another clanger
In the [C]game [Em]of [Am]life he's just a dread[C7]ful goalhanger
