Second Hand Car Spiv - The Kinks

Spiv: I was born a slum gutter infantile

Brute-force educated, delinquent juvenile

I am a product of mass produced factory fodder

Streets full of tenement blocks, rat infested filth and squalor

I left school, went straight on the dole

And unemployment’s no enjoyment

Welfare State owned my mind and my body and my soul

So I worked my way up to be a second-hand car spiv

But don’t judge me harshly because I’m just a slum kid

I built up my business with a quick wit and fist

So don’t double-cross me or my hoods will dissect you

With their black jacks and shivs

Slum kids never get a break, they’ve got to fight their way up

Beg and steal, wheel and deal

Sweat blood to earn a buck

I didn’t want to work on the factory floor

I wasn’t content, I wanted more

Than be a slave to a lathe

Work all day and go home bored

So a second-hand car spiv was what I became

I built an empire because I used my brains

Chorus: He was a second-hand car spiv up from the slums

So don’t judge him harshly because he’s just a slum kid

Then he moved into property, stocks and shares

Spiv: And into high finance and you’ve got to agree

That running a multi-million corporation

Sure beats selling cars second-hand

Chorus: Once he sold old worn out heaps to the punters on the street

Spiv: Now I’m in control of the country as a whole

And the world is at my feet

Chorus: The world is at his feet

Spiv: Power, power, I’ve got power oozing out of me

And when you think of all the things I’ve done

It says a lot for one

Who worked his way up from the streets

Yes I’m a second-hand car spiv

Do a deal, buy and sell

It’s my trade, I know it well

Make a sale, ring the bell

And let the suckers go to hell

Bank the profits, count the change

Another sucker comes your way

Life is a crooked game

And slum kids never change