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Hilda’s Cabinet Band

[ Roud - ; Mudcat 41780 ; Lal Waterson]

The Watersons sang Hilda’s Cabinet Band—Hilda was the middle name of Margaret Thatcher—on the BBC North West documentary Hard Cash. It was produced by David Henshaw and directed by Liz Molyneux, and was first broadcast in March 1990. This track was also included in 2004 on the Watersons’ 4 CD anthology Mighty River of Song.

Lyrics

The Watersons sing Hilda’s Cabinet Band

Chorus (after each verse):
Dancing to Hilda’s cabinet band
Doing the one where you never turn around
Up the hall slowly, down the hall fast
And a dignified finish on your arse

Put your right boot in, put it in again
Poll tax your girl in the middle of the ring
Privatise your partner, do it on your own
Kick the smallest one amongst you, promenade home

Swing your lady half a mile up the centre aisle
Wage cut your neighbour, do it with a smile
Bow to the caller, dozie-dole the men
And deregulate the couple at the bottom end

Underneath the arches, make yourself at home
Walls made of cardboard, beds made of stone
Penny on the water, twopence on the sea
And threepence on the roundabout and round go we