It was no personal defeat
That suicide on Downing Street
They found him burning in his car
He paid the price for what we are

A stroke of luck, a trick of fate
The life I build, the mess I make
Too young to retire, too old to live
This message all he had to give

Derek Bainbridge did not die in vain
And I will sing his sad luck story
Desperation is a warning flame
Now we stand or fall with Derek Bainbridge

He came 160 miles
To wipe away all those smug smiles
The empty hours dragging by
His spirit withered up inside

Derek Bainbridge did not die in vain
And I will sing his sad luck story
Desperation is a warning flame
Now we stand or fall with Derek Bainbridge

He felt the man that he could be
Was only wasted potential
He went swimming in the deep forbidden sea
Looking for that extra dimension
In a selfish blue nation

It was no personal defeat
That suicide on Downing Street
You cannot call us civilized
As long as one life is denied

Derek Bainbridge did not die in vain
And I will sing his sad luck story
Desperation is a warning flame
Now we stand or fall with Derek Bainbridge

Swinging on a one way pendulum
Driving down a dead end highway
Desperation is a warning flame
Now we stand or fall, do we stand or fall