Chumbawamba - The World Turned Upside Down Lyrics

Brilliant lyrics and sentiments.

The Rebel Spell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqVSVNRKqv4

A scottish singer (Dick Gaughan) sings the best version of this english song written by a jewish man. I'm only sorry we couldn't have elbowed an Irishman in somewhere!

veri gud

Thank you 😍

I thought this was called The Diggers' Song. Surely this is "The World Turned Upside Down": https://genius.com/Chumbawamba-the-world-turned-upside-down-lyrics

The lady singing here has a great voice.

I love this song except then ending... Is there a version without that alarm clock?

Just realized, that alarm clock was there because it bookended the tracks on the "Timebomb" EP!

how about now?

I haven't heard all the versions but of those I have have this is by far my favourite. I am a bit biased though, Chumbawamba have to be my favourite band of all time, all things considered. Lou's voice is like honey poured on sweet dessert. She also once drew a Timebomb on my T Shirt at a party after one of their gigs so I am a bit biased as I said earlier.

Love Lou to bits, but wring voice for this entirely. It's not a honey song...

Not the traditional turn"World Turned Upside Down" it is not on YT. You either get this or Coldplay:/

mattbod or Hamilton :/

She has too sweet a voice for the lead singer of a hard left anarchist group lol

She is a very snobby upper class bitch I am afraid playing at being an Anarchist

The wrong words are being sung. Ruins it.

THE DIGGERS SONG

Diggers Song, A 17th century ballad for those that dont know,
You noble Diggers all, stand up now, stand up now,
You noble Diggers all, stand up now,
The waste land to maintain, seeing Cavaliers by name
Your digging do distain and your persons all defame
Stand up now, Diggers all.
Your houses they pull down, stand up now, stand up now,
Your houses they pull down, stand up now.
Your houses they pull down to fright poor men in town,
But the gentry must come down and the poor shall wear the crown.
Stand up now, Diggers all.
With spades and hoes and ploughs, stand up now, stand up now,
With spades and hoes and ploughs, stand up now.
Your freedom to uphold, seeing Cavaliers are bold
To kill you if they could and rights from you withhold.
Stand up now, Diggers all.
Their self-will is their law, stand up now, stand up now,
Their self-will is their law, stand up now.
Since tyranny came in they count it now no sin
To make a gaol a gin and to serve poor men therein.
Stand up now, Diggers all.
The gentry are all round, stand up now, stand up now,
The gentry are all round, stand up now.
The gentry are all round, on each side they are found,
Their wisdom's so profound to cheat us of the ground.
Stand up now, Diggers all.
The lawyers they conjoin, stand up now, stand up now,
The lawyers they conjoin, stand up now,
To arrest you they advise, such fury they devise,
But the devil in them lies, and hath blinded both their eyes.
Stand up now, Diggers all.
The clergy they come in, stand up now, stand up now,
The clergy they come in, stand up now.
The clergy they come in and say it is a sin
That we should now begin our freedom for to win.
Stand up now, Diggers all.
'Gainst lawyers and 'gainst priests, stand up now, stand up now,
'Gainst lawyers and 'gainst Priests, stand up now.
For tyrants are they both even flat against their oath,
To grant us they are loath free meat and drink and cloth.
Stand up now, Diggers all.
The club is all their law, stand up now, stand up now,
The club is all their law, stand up now.
The club is all their law to keep poor folk in awe,
Buth they no vision saw to maintain such a law.
Glory now, Diggers all.

this is the diggers song not world turned upside down

+Megan Keith correct however chumbawamba in English rebel songs 1381-1914 called this the diggers song so finding the world turned upside down is very hard in fact I couldn't find it so uploaded it myself

+rccarmadben The Diggers Song on English Rebel Songs is a completely different song than this one. (It's the original 17th century version) Both are on the same album.

+Megan Keith I know that was my point

+rccarmadben

Diggers Song, A 17th century ballad for those that dont know,
You noble Diggers all, stand up now, stand up now,
You noble Diggers all, stand up now,
The waste land to maintain, seeing Cavaliers by name
Your digging do distain and your persons all defame
Stand up now, Diggers all.
Your houses they pull down, stand up now, stand up now,
Your houses they pull down, stand up now.
Your houses they pull down to fright poor men in town,
But the gentry must come down and the poor shall wear the crown.
Stand up now, Diggers all.
With spades and hoes and ploughs, stand up now, stand up now,
With spades and hoes and ploughs, stand up now.
Your freedom to uphold, seeing Cavaliers are bold
To kill you if they could and rights from you withhold.
Stand up now, Diggers all.
Their self-will is their law, stand up now, stand up now,
Their self-will is their law, stand up now.
Since tyranny came in they count it now no sin
To make a gaol a gin and to serve poor men therein.
Stand up now, Diggers all.
The gentry are all round, stand up now, stand up now,
The gentry are all round, stand up now.
The gentry are all round, on each side they are found,
Their wisdom's so profound to cheat us of the ground.
Stand up now, Diggers all.
The lawyers they conjoin, stand up now, stand up now,
The lawyers they conjoin, stand up now,
To arrest you they advise, such fury they devise,
But the devil in them lies, and hath blinded both their eyes.
Stand up now, Diggers all.
The clergy they come in, stand up now, stand up now,
The clergy they come in, stand up now.
The clergy they come in and say it is a sin
That we should now begin our freedom for to win.
Stand up now, Diggers all.
'Gainst lawyers and 'gainst priests, stand up now, stand up now,
'Gainst lawyers and 'gainst Priests, stand up now.
For tyrants are they both even flat against their oath,
To grant us they are loath free meat and drink and cloth.
Stand up now, Diggers all.
The club is all their law, stand up now, stand up now,
The club is all their law, stand up now.
The club is all their law to keep poor folk in awe,
Buth they no vision saw to maintain such a law.
Glory now, Diggers all.

@rccarmadben No, that wasn't your point.

"this is the diggers song not world turned upside down"
"Chumbawamba in English rebel songs 1381-1914 called this the diggers song."

You are simply wrong about this, and Megan Keith is right.

This is a good version but I will always love Leon Rosselson's best. He is the guy who wrote it and his was the first version I ever heard.

i recommend you to look up karan casey's version, my absolute favourite.

Ready for Duty. Green Star Salute.

Billy Bragg has made his money preserving and popularising the great folk songs of recent centuries, and supporting oppressed people at home and abroad.  If he lives in a million pound mansion he's earned it.  I don't hate a person because they're rich, but I'll hate them if they got rich by exploiting other human beings and the environment. 

Ask Chumbawumba if they sold out and now live in milllion pound mansions, after they spent years developing and performing anarchist and socialist music. Were they like Billy Bragg? Did they sell out...

Common land wasn't owned in common, it is one bundle of rights over land, The Lord of the manor may 'Own' the land but that doesn't invalidate the rights at common any more than it invalidates the Crowns right to move troops over that land in time of war (all property is vested in the Crown). As the diggers were active when the crown was abolished the issue of land rights was open and they declared it should be based on useage ie those who till it, rather than 'ownership' from the crown

that doesn't matter what matters is how he treats everyone around him

Yes. They took over enclosed land (privately owned) and cultivated it for the common good.

From the leaflet: "... Lords of Manors, do cause the Trees and Woods that grow upon the Commons, which you pretend a Royalty unto, to be cut down and sold, for your own private use, Thereby the Common Land, which your own mouths doe say belongs to the poor, is impoverished, and the poor oppressed people robbed of their Rights... "

The land which was referred to as the Commons was the de facto property of the elite, as they had acquired their property with the force of their ancestors and prevented others from tilling it with the force of law. The levellers rejected the notion of property and held that everyone had a right to receive sustenance from the earth. One of the first political pamphlets printed was called "Land and Freedom" by Gerrard Winstanley and explicates this notion quite succinctly.

I dn't get the Diggers. Common land was not wasteland- it was owned in common and the Diggers privatised it. Have I got this wrong?

Yes you have got this wrong. Common land under the English manorial system was not owned in common. It was a part of a feudal holding that was used by peasants at the will of a feudal lord, who held his land at the will of the king. Common land was not particularly useful land, as prime timberland and arable land were held by the lord and granted to tenants as he saw fit. This common, or "waste" land was available for peasants to gather firewood from or to let their animals graze but their use of it was limited. One could not simply build a house there or begin to farm there.

Originally, peasants were individually granted tenure over small strips of land which they were allowed to work in exchange for paying rent to the feudal lord, who in turn either paid taxes or made a military levy available to the king. Peasants typically had few rights as tenants and could have their tenancy revoked at will of the lord. Over centuries, these strips of land became consolidated in the hands of wealthy aristocrats who bought rights to the land off of the lords. This left the peasant tenants without land of their own to work and they were either forced to move away or to work the landlord's land for meager wages. This process extended eventually to the "common" lands as well and came to be known as encosure.

Meanwhile, population was growing exponentially and agricultural production was stagnating. Food prices were reaching all time highs in the 1600s and by this point most peasants did not own the produce of their labor as they had under the tenancy system. Their meager wages were being cut into severely by having to buy back the food they had grown themselves for the landlord.

It was under these conditions that the diggers came together, declaring it a sin to work for a landlord. These dispossessed peasants began to move onto the last common lands, planting food in the subpar soil and building homes in defiance of the feudal lords. What they did was not privatization, not only because the land was privately held in the first place, but because they did not think of themselves as owning the land or owning the product of their agriculture. They intended to work the land in common and share the entirety of the produce among all people.

Shortly after the diggers were violently suppressed, most of the remaining common lands were privatized and the feudal system was formally abolished in 1660, completing the process of enclosure.

Yes, you have! The world turned upside down!

Does it matter if Billy Bragg lives in a million pound mansion?
he earned his money and a mansion is hardly a means of production, is it.
It's not as if he bought a factory and exploits people.

There's a difference between personal property and private property.

bye, bye my dear Chumba!!!!

great job and thanks for the lyrics

shame they miss the last 2 verses, would have been a good cover.

This is really great. But my fave cover will always be The Barracudas's.

Yet another brilliant Leon Rosselson song. It's a real shame that no-one seems to have heard of him.

Thank you!