This Is England is a 2006 British drama film written and directed by Shane Meadows. The story centres on young skinheads in England in 1983. The film illustrates how their subculture, which has its roots in 1960s West Indian culture, especially ska, soul and reggae music, became adopted by white nationalists, which led to divisions within the skinhead scene.
In 2010 a spin-off series set three years after the film, This Is England '86, was shown on Channel 4. A sequel, set two and a half years after the previous series, This Is England '88, was broadcast in December 2011. The third and final instalment, This Is England '90, is due in 2012.
Shaun (Thomas Turgoose), a 12 year-old schoolboy, gets into a fight at school after someone makes an offensive joke about his father, who died in the Falklands War. On his way home Shaun runs into a group of young skinheads led by Woody (Joe Gilgun), who feels sympathy for Shaun and invites him to join the group. They accept Shaun as a member and he finds a big brother in Woody, while developing a romance with Smell (Rosamund Hanson), an older girl who dresses in a punky new wave style.
look at me what do you see
look at me and i cant believe what you have said
and what you have done so
you're starting to scare me
you're starting to scare me so much i cannot breath
i'm better than you
i'm better than you
three tracks is nothing 'coz we are the kings
i'm better than you
i'm better than you
i'm better than you so this is england
This is England
This is England
don't provoke what you can't see
don't you know it just is me
you can't believe what i said
its not the way that you walk
its just the way that you talk
you seem to think your much better than me
i'm better than you
i'm better than you
three tracks is nothing 'coz we are the kings
i'm better than you
i'm better than you
don't you just speak 'coz i'll rip you apart
This Is England
This Is England
This Is England
This Is England
What is this nation
What is the cause
Who are these people
This is England
What is this nation
What is the cause
Who are these people
This is England
What is this nation
This is England
This Is England
(Strummer/Rhodes)
I hear a gang fire on a human factory farm
Are they howling out or doing somebody harm
On a catwalk jungle somebody grabbed my arm
A voice spoke so cold it matched the weapon in her palm
This is England
This knife of Sheffield steel
This is England
This is how we feel
Time on his hands freezing in those clothes
He won't go for the carrot
They beat him by the pole
Some sunny day confronted by his soul
He's out at sea, too far off, he can't go home
This is England
What we're supposed to die for
This is England
And we're never gonna cry no moreBlack shadow of the Vincent
Falls on a Triumph line
I got my motorcycle jacket
But I'm walking all the time
South Atlantic wind blows
Ice from a dying creed
I see no glory
When will we be free
This is England
We can chain you to the rail
This is England
We can kill you in a jail
The British boots go kick them
Got 'em in the head
Police ain't watchin'
The newspapers been read
Who cares to protest
A (???) in the eye like a flare
Out came the batons and
The British warned themselves
This is England
The land of (il)legal dances
This is England
Land of a thousand stances
This is England
This knife of Sheffield steel
This is England
This is how we feel
This is England
This is England
Watch strap tight, he reels from indifference
Out of sight, emotional severance he pays to you
It's a walk in the park, it's a steal
So we all fall down at your heels
Watch strap tight, he's dreaming of reverence
Splintered light to feel insignificance
I've got plenty of time for you
I'm so ready to fly with nowhere to fly to
Pick yourself up just today
Can we get it together not throw it away
At the end of the day, you're going home
You find you're empty but it's way too late
An open letter was a quiet refrain
And when you hit the gas hard but the stop sign numbs
Can you hold yourself back when the red mist comes?
Yeah, when the red mist comes
Is it worth the mention this is not her fault?
But you never worked it, so plain to see
As the kids run screaming when the hand comes down
Is it your ideal democracy?
As the red mist comes
(As a point returns, we'll find you now)
As the red mist comes
(Always be one step behind you now)
As the red mist comes
When there's nothing left, what will remain?
Can you learn to find yourself again?
Through the wire comes the call
There's a family snapshot now discarded
You're going to join the ranks of the disenchanted
Good for you, it's coming true
Through the wire, through it all
There's a time to leave the past behind you
Come and join the throng of the disenfranchised
Good for you, so coming true
This is England, and you love me
I am England, yeah you love me
So much to learn, and so little time
There will always seem a thousand ways to be
(Through the wire, when you fall)
There's a picture that you've gone and broken
Try to tell them that in polite and pleasant company
It's not for free
This is England, and you love me
I am England, yeah you love me
For the attention for Mr Fibes
We have always had utmost faith in your abilities as an employee
It has however come to our attention in recent months
That you have been caught interfering, interfering in the worst possible way
You have clearly gone fishing, gone fishing
There once was a vicar who walked in this garden
No flowers would bend for him
He praised all the people who carried his crosses
And never confessed to his sin
There once was a mother who died in a hospital ward
In all dignity
She never expected from those who surrounded her
Giving all that she could give
Mother, look what you've done now
You've unravelled the masses
And shattered the sacred cow
Of all of the laws we should follow remorse
Some should be broken
And others we choose to ignore
La la la, la la la
Mother, could I be wrong now
It's a million to one
But I've always been sure somehow
These righteous remarks throwing stones in the dark
After all of these years, I'm still thinking of you
La la la, la la la
At the end of the day, at the end of the day
I'm going home
I hear a gang fire on a human factory farm
Are they howling out or doing somebody harm
On a catwalk jungle somebody grabbed my arm
A voice spoke so cold, it matched the weapon in her palm
This is England
This knife of Sheffield steel
This is England
This is how we feel
Time on his hands, the freezing in those clothes
He won't go for the carrot, they beat him by the pole
Some sunny day confronted by his soul
He's out at sea, too far off, he can't go home
This is England
What we're supposed to die for
This is England
And we're never gonna cry no more
Black shadow of the Vincent, falls on a Triumph line
I got my motorcycle jacket but I'm walking all the time
South Atlantic wind blows, ice from a dying creed
I see no glory, when will we be free
This is England
We can chain you to the rail
This is England
We can kill you in a jail
Hey, British boots go kick them and got 'em in the head
Police ain't watchin' the newspapers been read
Who cares to protest here, to the eye like a flare
Out came the batons and the British warned themselves
This is England
The land of illegal dances
This is England
Land of a thousand stances
This is England
This knife of Sheffield steel
This is England
This is how we feel
This is England
Welcome to our nation
Cultural devastation
Crooked politicians
Selling our rights away
This is England
Broken social system
Useless education
What are you fucking proud of
This land of hopeless glory
Is this England?
This is England
Fragmented family homes
Council estate warzones
Endless tabloid headlines