Show Of Hands - Arrogance Ignorance and Greed

Show Of Hands - Arrogance Ignorance and Greed

Arrogance, Ignorance and Greed
( by Show of Hands)


All I wanted was a home
And a roof over our heads
Somewhere we could call our own
Feel safer in our beds
There was a storm of money raining down
It only touched the ground
With a loan I took I can't repay
And the crock of gold you found

At every trough you stopped to feed
With your Arrogance, your Ignorance and Greed.

I never was a cautious man
I spend more than I'm paid
But those with something put aside
Are the ones that you betrayed

With your bonuses and expenses
You shovelled down your throat
Now you bit the hand that fed you
Dear God I hope you choke

At every trough you stopped to feed
With your Arrogance, your Ignorance and Greed.

You're on your yacht, we're on our knees
Through your Arrogance, your Ignorance and Greed.

Toxics bring you tact and soul
Poisoned every watering hole
Your probity, you exchanged for gold

Working man stands in line
The market sets his price
No feather bed, no golden egg
No one pays him twice

To enter thrift and caution
Your only sound advice
You know you doubt yourself and meaning
And alone at every dice

At every trough you stopped to feed
With your Arrogance, your Ignorance and Greed.

I pray one day we'll soon be free
From your absolute indifference
Your avarice, incompetence
Your Arrogance, your Ignorance and your Greed.


Show of Hands is an English acoustic roots and folk duo comprising singer-songwriter Steve Knightley and multi-instrumentalist Phil Beer. In recent years they have been accompanied on tour and in the studio by jazz double-bassist Miranda Sykes. Steve Knightley and Phil Beer met as teenagers while playing in different bands in Exeter, Devon, where they grew up. They eventually got together and for a short period played in pubs and clubs, even undertaking a disastrous summer tour of Sweden when they were both 16. As school finished, their lives went separate ways. Knightley went to university in Coventry, collected a degree and teaching qualifications, and ended up in London playing music in a rock band in his spare time. For Phil Beer the leap to professional musician was immediate. Throughout the years he played with many different people, including the Arizona Smoke Revue and then from 1984 with the Albion Band. In the mid 1980s Knightley returned to live in the West Country, and so he and Phil Beer got together casually to play a few shows. This continued until 1991 when it became obvious that the partnership had the potential to become a full time career. Beer left the Albion Band and Show of Hands was born.