Illegal Attacks

So what the fuck is this UK
Gunnin' with this US of A
In Iraq and Iran and in Afghanistan

Does not a day go by
Without the Israeli Air Force
Fail to drop its bombs from the sky ?

How many mothers to cry ?
How many sons have to die ?
How many missions left to fly over Palestine ?
'Cause as a matter of fact
It's a pact, it's an act
These are illegal attacks
So bring the soldiers back
These are illegal attacks
It's contracts for contacts
I'm singing concrete facts
So bring the soldiers back

What mean ya that you beat my people ?
What mean ya that you beat my people ?
And grind the faces of the poor

So tell me just how come were the Taliban
Sat burning incense in Texas
Roaming round in a Lexus
Sittin' on six billion oil drums
Down with the Dow Jones, up on the Nasdaq
Pushed into the war zones

It's a commercial crusade
'Cause all the oil men get paid
And only so many soldiers come home
It's a commando crusade
A military charade
And only so many soldiers come home

Soldiers, soldiers come home
Soldiers come home

Through all the blood and sweat
Nobody can forget
It ain't the size of the dog in the fight
It's the size of the fight in the dog on the day or the night
There's no time to reflect
On the threat, the situation, the bark nor the bite
These are commercial crusades
'Cos all the oil men get paid
These are commando crusades
Commando tactical rape
And from the streets of New York and Baghdad to Tehran and Tel Aviv
Bring forth the prophets of the Lord
From dirty bastards fillin' pockets
With the profits of greed

These are commercial crusades
Commando tactical raids
Playin' military charades to get paid

And who got the devils ?
And who got the Lords ?
Build yourself a mountain
Drink up in the fountain
Soldiers come home

What mean ya that you beat my people
What mean ya that you beat my people
And grind the faces of the poor

Lyrics by:
Brown / Wills / Maxfield

Format:
Released September 2007:
Illegal Attacks (Radio Edit) / Illegal Attacks (Album Version) (Fiction, ILLEGAL1, Promo CD)

Released 17th September 2007:
Illegal Attacks / Illegal Attacks (Sway Soldier Story Remix) (Fiction, 172 466-8, CD)
Illegal Attacks / Illegal Attacks (Sway Soldier Story Remix) (Fiction, 172 466-9, 7", 1 of 2)
Illegal Attacks / Keep What Ya Got (BBC Live Lounge Session) (Sway Soldier Story Remix) (Fiction, 174 546-4, 7", 2 of 2)

UK chart position:
#16

Also available on:
The World Is Yours (4.10)

Details:

 

 

 

 

Top row: Ian Brown voices his opposition to the Iraq War. The UK and USA had blood on their hands from the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Second row: The War in Afghanistan began on 7th October 2001, as the US military's Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was launched, along with the British military, in response to 9/11. The UK has, since 2002, led its own military operation, Operation Herrick, as part of the same war in Afghanistan. The character of the war evolved from a violent struggle against Al-Qaeda and its Taliban supporters, to a complex counterinsurgency effort. In this photo, soldiers with the 101st Division Special Troops Battalion, 101st Airborne Division watch as two Chinook helicopters fly in to take them back to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, November 2008. The Soldiers searched a small village in the valley below for IED making materials and facilities.
Third row (left): U.S. President George W. Bush attempts, without success, to persuade French President Jacques Chirac on a military course of action.
Third row (right): Bush had no such problem gaining the support of UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. Post 9/11, Bush and Blair introduced rafts of new security legislation in the 'War on Terror'.
Fourth row: United States Secretary of State Colin Powell holding a model vial of anthrax while giving a presentation to the United Nations Security Council. Prior to the war, the governments of the United States and United Kingdom claimed that Iraq's alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) posed a threat to their security, and that of their coalition allies. These claims were later proven to be false.
Fifth row: The allies employ Shock and Awe in the bombing of Baghdad. Limited bombing began on 19th March 2003 as United States forces unsuccessfully attempted to kill Saddam Hussein. Attacks continued against a small number of targets until 21st March when, at 1700 UTC, the main bombing campaign of the US and their allies began. Its forces launched approximately 1700 air sorties (504 using cruise missiles). Coalition ground forces had begun a 'running start' offensive towards Baghdad on the previous day. Coalition ground forces seized Baghdad on 5th April, and the United States declared victory on 14th April 2003.
Sixth and seventh rows: The statue of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is toppled in Firdos Square, 9th April 2003.
Eighth and ninth rows: Images of torture and humiliation of prisoners in Abu Ghraib by military police personnel of the United States Army. US Army Private Lynndie England, seen here holding a leash attached to a prisoner collapsed on the floor, was convicted by a US Army court martial for abusing prison detainees.
Tenth row: 18th January 2005 - Samar Hassan, 5, screaming and splattered in blood, moments after her parents are killed; US soldiers fired on their car when it failed to stop at a checkpoint in Tal Afar, Iraq. Samar's brother was sick, and the family - all five children huddled in the back of the car - were on their way home from the hospital.
Eleventh row: An Iraqi woman and child look on as U.S. Army Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team search the courtyard of their house during a cordon and search in Ameriyah, Iraq, August 2007.
Twelfth row: Due to its ongoing commitment to the 'War on Terror', the UK felt the full force of a terrorist attack on 7/7, in the 7th July 2005 London bombings. These were a series of coordinated suicide attacks on London's public transport system during the morning rush hour. The bombings were carried out by four Muslim men, three of British Pakistani and one of British Jamaican descent. At 08:50, three bombs exploded within fifty seconds of each other on three London Underground trains, a fourth exploding an hour later at 09:47 on a double-decker bus in Tavistock Square (left). The explosions appear to have been caused by home-made organic peroxide-based devices, packed into rucksacks and detonated by the bombers themselves, all four of whom died. 52 other people were killed and around 700 were injured. The masked face of Davina Turrell (right), being helped to safety near Edgware Road, became the defining image of the London bombings.
Thirteenth row: Smoke rises after the Israeli Air Force strikes tunnels linking southern Gaza to Egypt, in the border Gaza Strip town of Rafah, February 2009. Israel routinely targets the tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border, which it says are being used by Gaza's Hamas leadership to smuggle weapons into the Palestinian territory. Palestinians claim that the tunnels are necessary for the transportation of basic food supplies that are not available in Gaza, because of Israel's closure of its border crossings and seaports. Speaking about his vow never to perform in Israel, Ian said in February 2006, "Palestine is the biggest open-air prison in the world."
Fourteenth row (left): Anti-war protesters (including one Ian Brown) gather in front of Westminster and in Hyde Park in 2003. Beginning in 2002, and continuing after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, protests against the Iraq war were held in many cities worldwide, often coordinated to occur simultaneously around the world. After the biggest series of demonstrations on 15th February 2003, New York Times writer Patrick Tyler commented that there were two superpowers on the planet, the United States and worldwide public opinion. According to the French academic Dominique Reynié, between 3rd January and 12th April 2003, 36 million people across the globe took part in almost 3,000 protests against the Iraq war. Europe saw the biggest mobilization of protesters, including a rally of 3 million people in Rome, and 1 million in London.
Fourteenth row (right): Brian Haw, seen here with Tony Benn, has lived in a peace camp in London's Parliament Square since 2001, becoming a figurehead for the anti-war movement in England. Police mounted a night-time operation to dismantle his display on 23rd May 2006.
Fifteenth row: In January 2007, Tate Britain unveiled 'State Britain', a major art commission by Mark Wallinger. This was a recreation of the entirety of Brian's display, just before it was raided by police.
Sixteenth row: In October 2007, Ian Brown added his signature to a 'Stop the Iraq War' petition, presented to UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Bottom row: Six years after the invasion of Iraq, anti-war demonstrators stage a rally in New York (19th March 2009).

Illegal Attacks, featuring Sinead O'Connor as guest vocalist, was Ian's most explicit protest song to date. The opening notes of the song are plucked softly in arpeggios, which are juxtaposed with a confrontational opening line. The song then pulses with an ominous, grinding cello, and culminates with Ian calling for the return of British soldiers to their homeland.

Marvin Gaye's 1971 LP, 'What's Going On', is Ian Brown's idealised template for social and political commentary. The Stone Roses' frontman holds the album to be a crowning achievement, as evidenced by his 'What a Trip' interview from 22nd November 1989. The album is told from the perspective of a Vietnam War veteran returning to the country he had been fighting for, and seeing nothing but injustice, suffering and hatred. Featuring introspective lyrics about drug abuse, poverty and the Vietnam War, the album was the first to reflect the beginning of a new trend in soul music. The album closes with a reprise to its opening theme, a feature of Ian's third solo LP, Music Of The Spheres; a 30-second instrumental reprise of the opening track, F.E.A.R., brings the 12" to a close.

Illegal Attacks cover artwork.

Back To Ian Brown Songs