about
We are 6 years on from the Grenfell Tower fire in London, where 72 people tragically lost their lives due to negligence from our government and the for-profit motives of companies, which led to cheap flammable cladding being used on buildings instead of safe alternatives. While the Fire Safety Act of 2021 addressed some recommendations made in the Grenfell inquiry, there are still issues with fire alarms, sprinkler systems, and cladding in many buildings.
The inquiry also revealed that recommendations from an inquest into a high-rise fire that lead to six deaths at Lakanal House, South London, in 2009 were not followed through on and that, if these had been actioned, the 2017 disaster could have been prevented. I was working in the nearby hospitals around the time of the fire and I remember listening to the stories of the school nurses treating children who were struggling with their mental health after losing friends in the fire. This made me so angry and I decided to write a song about how safe housing shouldn't require the sacrifice of life, it should be a basic human right.
Today, the companies that are still making a profit from unsafe and life-threatening practices should be fined to oblivion, and the government ministers that allow it to happen via lack of regulation should be in prison. Justice for Grenfell.
- Dan
lyrics
I haven’t seen this scale before,
Marked by a big black eyesore,
And they'll talk like it’s surprising,
It might have been a mistake,
It’s a failure to regulate,
And the blame lies with the state,
They put asbestos in the walls,
We wait to choke on it all,
We should rid of this, but the conflict is,
Someone's bottom line,
And when were glued to these burning tracks,
And there's no going back,
It’s time to face the facts,
That you built these death traps,
Another case, Another place, not being paranoid,
Unsafe buildings, in the masses, should be fixed, or destroyed,
Safe guards, after the fact, just don’t suffice,
Common sense, shouldn’t take, a fucking sacrifice.
As public outrage subsides,
You'll roll back promised programs, that try,
To fix this historic mess.
Lobbied by housing corporations,
They only care about payments,
Not the kids that could be burnt alive,
Wait till there’s fire climbing up the walls,
You say that you would change it all,
Home should be habitable and not flammable,
We shouldn’t have to say,
And when we built these burning tracks,
There's no going back,
It’s time to face the facts,
When you built these death traps,
Another case, Another place, not being paranoid,
Unsafe buildings, in the masses, should be fixed or destroyed,
Safe guards, after the fact, just don’t suffice,
Common sense, shouldn’t take, a fucking sacrifice.
We do not want your resignation,
Or a little load of compensation,
We’d be happy with the regulation,
So it doesn't ever happen again,
We do not want your resignation,
We do not want false conformations,
We would be happy if you take some actions,
Don't wait for deathtraps to happen.
credits
released July 26, 2023
Recorded, Mixed and Mastered by Daly George (Ranch Production House)
www.dalygeorge.com
Art by Nikiconstantine
nikiconstantine.tumblr.com
Song written and performed by Tape It Shut
Song written and performed by Tape It Shut
Special thanks to Jack Collier and Emma Dixon
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