Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

England Lost/Gotta Get A Grip

'England Lost' at least has a soupçon of wit, whereas 'Gotta Get A Grip' is unburdened by any humour at all

issue 12 August 2017

Two songs in which Sir Michael informs us that he is distressed by both Brexit and Donald Trump. Released with, according to the 70-year-old singer, ‘urgency’: he can see that we are in trouble and was naturally anxious to help us out. The first, ‘England Lost’, is at least redeemed by a soupçon of wit. Jagger explains that he went to see England play football but that they lost, and he got wet in the rain. But it then turns into a sort of state of the nation thing, by the simple addition of an apostrophe and the letter ‘s’. England’s lost, he bemoans, and chucks in an incoherent allusion regarding our preoccupation with immigration.

Then there’s ‘Gotta Get A Grip’, unburdened by any kind of wit at all. Here, Jagger complains that the world is led by lunatics and clowns.

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