Don't Let the Bastards Grind You Down

Tattoos tell it on open forearms
A motto mumbled on Yorkshire farms
School boys pass it in secret notes
A joke that screams from soldier’s throats

Don’t let the bastards grind you down
A mock Latin phrase round many a town
Don’t let the bastards grind you down

Blind men sing it in Arabic
Bass drums feel it in every kick
Hidden in graffiti on park walls
Written on the back of bathroom stalls

Don’t let the bastards grind you down
A mock Latin phrase round many a town
Don’t let the bastards grind you down

Illegitimi non carborundum
Hear it in the beat of every drum
It’s the sacred within the profane
Many have found it in this refrain

Don’t let the bastards grind you down
A mock Latin phrase round many a town
Don’t let the bastards grind you down

Don’t let the bastards grind you down
A mock Latin phrase round many a town
Don’t let the bastards grind you down