All lyrics written and copyrighted by Casey Bennetto, 2004.
Annotations written by Loki Carbis, 2009; revised in 2014.
The assistance and advice of Casey Bennetto in the creation of these annotations is gratefully acknowledged.
This page is intended for informational purposes only.
John Howard was a Liberal politician who had previously served as Treasurer under Malcolm Fraser. He succeeded Downer as Leader of the Opposition.Howard: I was an angel in the beginning:
I thought of playing, but not of winning
So frail and weak, so meek and mild,
I was the world’s most agreeable child
I had my share of schoolyard beatings
I made my fair and frightened bleatings
But I began to understand
What they held in their bullying hands…
I want power! I want power!
I want to smell my own ambition in flower!
I want a sense of domination and control!
Wanting to bat or bowl regardless of one’s team’s current disposition is a well-known characteristic of control-freak cricket players everywhere. Wanting to do both at once is a level of control addiction unfortunately common in politics.I want to bat! I want to bowl!
I want power! I want power!
The kind where servant-girls bring tributes by the hour!
And I won’t rest until I rule the school!
Then I’ll be hip, then I’ll be cool.
Band: You’ll be empowered, John Winston Howard
Howard: Not a single soul alive to call me coward!
Band: You’ll be the big big cheese
Howard: I won’t say sorry, I won’t say please!
Band: You’ll be empowered, John Winston Howard
Howard: They’ll pay for every time I scraped and bowed and cowered
I’ll do what must be done
To make John Howard number one!
Band: Number one!
Howard: At university I took my hisses
My slings and brickbats, my hits and misses
But ev’ry moment mocked and cursed
Increased my hunger, increased my thirst
And so the party fed my ambition
They let me lead the Opposition
Howard was Leader of the Opposition from 1985 to 1989, and led the party to defeat in the 1987 federal election.They let me lead, then tore me down
Howard had decided after 1989 that the only way he would return to the leadership was if the party asked him to, rather than going through the division of a leadership struggle. The retirement of his longtime foe in the party, Andrew Peacock, was also a factor in his rise.But that won’t happen this time around…
I want power! I want power!
Not just to sit in Opposition and glower!
I want to turn this mother loose!
“Show me the money” was a catchphrase of Cuba Gooding Jnr.’s character in the 1996 movie Jerry Maguire.Show me the money! Give me the juice!
I want power! I want power!
I’ll give Australia a gorgeous golden shower
And I won’t rest until I rule!
Then I’ll be cool, then I’ll be cruel.
Band: You’ll be empowered, John Winston Howard
Howard: I’ll show that Keating joker how his grapes have soured
Band: You’ll be the man in charge
Howard: I’ll go ballistic, I’m livin’ large!
Band: You’ll be empowered, John Winston Howard
Pru Goward and her husband David Barnett’s book, “John Howard, Prime Minister“ was released in 1997, and thus covered virtually none of the time he actually was the Prime Minister.Howard: With a biography by Pru and David Goward
And when it comes to be…
I’ll make the bastards bow to me!
And when it comes to be…
BOW TO ME!
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