I'm laying on the pavement
And the last thing I recall
Picked up by the arms and legs
And taken from the hall
For squaring up to culture
In the circle and the stall

All because they're playing wagner at the opera
All because they're playing wagner at the opera

Hurt can make you act without
Apology or regret
Over half a century
But still I can't forget
Ideology makes a mockery
Of the string quartet

All because they're playing wagner at the opera
All because they're playing wagner at the opera

When they came to take me
I was standing on a chair
I can't keep quiet
I have something to declare
Listen to my rattle
For my rattle says "beware"

All because they're playing wagner at the opera
All because they're playing wagner at the opera

A rattle for remembering
The rattle of the chains
A rattle for remembering
The rattle of the trains
From warsaw down the decades
To hell and home again

All because they're playing wagner at the opera
All because they're playing wagner at the opera

For everyone we lost
I swing the rattle loud and long
I swing it 'til I drown out
All the music and the songs
This tattoo will last forever
And my memory is long

Here's to no more playing wagner at the opera
Here's to no more playing wagner at the opera
Here's to no more playing wagner at the opera