The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death Lyrics They smiled so much and waved their flags As she saluted to the military band Most of the people failed to see She had a broken bottle in the other hand And she took them by surprise When she took them by the throat And said "my friend you're not allowed to vote" But they shook it all off With a nervous laugh and cough "next time," she said "i'll let those people choke" [ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/h/housemartin\\... ] The people who grinned themselves to death Smiled so much they failed to take a breath And even when their kids were starving They all thought the queen was charming She polished all upon the wall And ran her hands right through her hair So if the lady took the time to call All the houses on the street would not compare And she thought it really funny That she hadn't any money But those she looked up to, they had But they shook it all off With a nervous laugh and cough And when they took her riches it was sad The people who grinned themselves to death Smiled so much they failed to take a breath And even when their kids were starving They all thought the queen was charming