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The Alarm — The Stand
Album: Declaration
Avg rating:
5.6

Your rating:
Total ratings: 579









Released: 1984
Length: 4:41
Plays (last 30 days): 0
Oh I have been out searching with the black book in my hand
And I've looked between the lines that lie on the pages that I tread
I met the walking dude,religious, in his wom down cowboy boots
He walked liked no man on earth
I swear he had no name (had no name)
I swear he had no name

Come on down and meet your maker
Come on down and make the stand
Come on down, come on down,
Come on down and make the stand.

As I crawled beneath the searchlights
Looking through the floorboards of this life
I met Doctor Strangelove's cousin
He bore the marks of time
"Hey! Trashcan where you going boy
Your eyes are feet apart
Is that the end you're carrying Shall I play the funeral march" (play the march)
"Play the funeral march"

Come on down and meet your maker
Come on down and make the stand
Come on down, come on down,
Come on down and we'll make the stand.

Come on down and meet your maker
Come on down and make the stand
Come on down, come on down,
Come on down, we'll make the stand.

When I looked out the window
On the hardship that had struck I saw the seven phials open
The plague claimed man and son
Four men at a grave in silence With hats bowed down in grace
A simple wooden cross,
It had no epitaph engraved (it had no)
It had no epitaph engraved.

Come on down and meet your maker
Come on down and make the stand
Come on down, come on down,
Come on and make the stand

Come on down and meet your maker
Come on down and make the stand
Come on down, come on down,
Come on down, and we'll make the stand.
Comments (53)add comment
Nice touch playing this on St David's Day. :-) 
 martymoose15 wrote:

I never want to hurt my ears again listening to this song ...


Turn your volume down a bit...you have it on too loud if it hurts your ears.  I know it's a great song and all but hearing loss is permanent, friend.  Cheers.
"Well, Ramona likes her malt liquor
And a band from Wales that's called The Alarm
She said she cried when they broke up
She still plays their records at the snake farm"

Ray Wylie Hubbard, 'Snake Farm'
c.
 Baby_M wrote:
When it grows up, it wants to be a Clash song.
 
There's worse things a song could become! 
I don't think it wants to become anything else than a cool, lively tune, which it already is imho. 
I'll take a stand with them anytime 
 Baby_M wrote:
When it grows up, it wants to be a Clash song.
 
Exactly!  A Christian-Punk Clash?
Sounds more like Midnight Oil than Rain in the Summertime Alarm.
Sounds like a rerelease to my ears- have the LP somewhere and dont remember it sounding like this. Still enjoying it a lot - 8
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Found it - version I have - this song is just over 1 min long and is voice / guitar / harmonica only! Maybe they expanded it and released a single or put it on a later CD version

Listening to rest of lp right now - pd good 
A stanza missing from the posted lyrics, from right before the final chorus':


Come roll out the red carpet come bugler sound the horn
The hero is returning gotta welcome him to his home
Don't say I didn't warn you, this prophecy's coming true
The cavalry is thundering riding over the hill
Riding over the hill

ger-man:
 Clash-Kopie, aber gut.
 
Joa, aber Ende der 80er zusammen mit New Model Army eine feste Indie-Größe.
 Proclivities wrote:

Yeah, back then their music was often criticized for sounding too much like The Clash and/or U2, especially by the UK press.
 

I remember The Alarm taking a lot of heat for supposedly imitating U2. That take becomes clearer when you hear/remember the band's song "Rain in the Summertime"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Clash-Kopie, aber gut.

Greetings from Bavaria to all the listerners outside. Stay safe.
Only just realised this is about the Stephen King novel. Blow me.

It's still shit though.
Love it. Something about this song moves me; sorry, not sorry!!
I never want to hurt my ears again listening to this song ...
 Proclivities wrote:

Yeah, back then their music was often criticized for sounding too much like The Clash and/or U2, especially by the UK press.
 
I actually thought this was Midnight Oil. Sounds just like 'em.


Like retarded Joe Strummer
You rarely hear the Alarm on UK stations nowadays - with the exception of the very occasional airing of '68 Guns' of course - so thanks RP for this! Loved the album when it came out (I was 19, gulp!), and hearing this brings back some happy memories
 Baby_M wrote:
When it grows up, it wants to be a Clash song.
 
Yeah, back then their music was often criticized for sounding too much like The Clash and/or U2, especially by the UK press.
Likely the most popular song from the band who was cut from opening the Under A Blood Red Sky show due to weather. The substitute was Bono personally serving hot tea to a miserably wet audience.
Randall Flagg aka walkin dude  makes his first appearance in King's 1978 apocalyptic novel, The Stand.
And Trashcan Man arrives with a nuclear warhead.
For what it is, it is not bad; it's just that there are are others who excelled.
 whomhow wrote:
the Clash for poor? {#Eh} 4.

 

I thought "levellers" but not as good. 3.
the Clash for poor? {#Eh} 4.
Thanks for playing this! I saw their free concert at UCLA, back in 86. The large crowd was full of energy and crushing those in the front row. For you fans, check out the videos on Youtube. A great moment for me at age 17. Sure, I don’t listen to their music much anymore, but they had their moment. 
When it grows up, it wants to be a Clash song.
"A" for effort and energy.  I guess the overall aesthetics aren't great, but I still like it.   
Hadn't heard this since Ronald Reagan ruled (1st term).
StrongBad beat on your Alarm...
a Pox on you all, somehow this is a good follow up to DP, haven't heard it in ages
i'd prefer some real joe strummer to this poor-man's excuse for same. could we hear something from the mescaleros next, please?
Just hooked my friend up to show them how great this service is. What a downer to start with this song.
Buzz killer. :-&
A while ago Depeche Mode and now this, well, this THING.
Originally Posted by OiZo: It sounds indeed like The Clash.
Hmmm... my first thought was Midnight Oil.
This is the worst song I\'ve heard on this station. I think I\'d rather hear the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack than this; in fact I know I would. Worse than disco, what else can I say?
Originally Posted by OiZo: It sounds indeed like The Clash.
Yep. And not a very good imitation. A mediocre tune from a mediocre (at best) album. :(
Originally Posted by utopiapark: Wow I can't believe you're playing this Bill. I love these guys. They're like U2 if U2 had punk roots, .
The Alarm does have punk roots, inasmuch as they got together (like a thousand other bands) after getting a look at the Clash. I saw Mike Peters solo at the Guinness Fleadh a few years back and that was not good. Ah well.
How alarming. Dot puts on his black shirt and shuffles off to the shelter for cheap beer in little plastic cups. Dot
Another wonderful stroll down memory lane. Thanks!
Great song! Based on the Stephen King novel! Mike Peters is still out there, touring under the name \"The Alarm 2000\", with the blessing of the other guys. I saw the 20th Anniv. show he did at TT the Bears in Boston- just him, a laptop full of pictures from \"back then\" and his guitar. Very cool!
Wow I can't believe you're playing this Bill. I love these guys. They're like U2 if U2 had punk roots, they grew on me after a boss of mine played them at work every day for a while. :) I love a song of theirs called Unsafe Building it's from the same album that The Stand and Sixty Eight Guns is on. IMHO they also do a good version of Happy Christmas (War is Over) . Thanks Bill. You always surprise me.
There is a better version of this song on Declaration. Above average 80\'s band in my opinion , they got left in the dust by U2 as did alot of other bands
The only song of theirs I can remember is Sixty Eight Guns. I was never really impressed by what they did. A girl I once dated was a fan, 'cause she was a little bit of a punk (and they were sort of a punkband). Another thing I remember was they played on acoustic guitars, with distortion added. They left quite an impression after all, reading all this! (must be that -more or less- girlfriend).
bill, could you please play rain in the summertime, that is the best alarm song. thx. jeff
The Alarm did an all acoustic version of this .... can\'t remember which album ... but its MUCH much better than this version.
yeah. it IS better than most Alarm songs, but it is still a pretty bad Clash song.
pretty good Clash imitation ...