This track started out life as a bunch of bars I used to use when I was living my former incarnation as a drum and bass MC. When I started getting back into guitar based music I tried laying them over a few chords, and this is what came out...

Move to the sound

Snap Back

This is a song I wrote a long tim ago now... I was tired of working all week and then wasting my money in the pub every weekend... and I dreamed of travelling the world... now I seem to have come full circle! Maybe it's time for a holiday...

Work till you die

This is the first song I wrote after my days as a drum & bass mc. I was travelling in Indonesia, and had just bought myself a guitalele (a mini guitar). I'd had a t-shirt made with the slogan "Blood is Thicker than Oil" on the front a few months earlier in the build up to the Iraq invasion, and with Iraq having just been invaded it felt right that it should become a song. 

And now the story continues with Libya... watch this space

Blood is thicker than oil

A song about being 16 and getting way too stoned and ending up majorly paranoid... 

Too Stoned

I wrote this song whilst working at a call centre in Leeds, reminiscing about the days of my youth... So what is "the solution"? No idea I'm afraid, if you know, please tell me... :)

A Solution

I wrote this song after hearing one too many songs on mainstream radio about getting rich. I was also feeling very frustrated by the public acceptance of our countries role as one of the worlds largest arms dealers. The vocals style is very dated for me now, but people still love the track so it's gotta go up here!

Money Money Money

We've all been there... you're supposed to be going out dancing, but the sofa is just so comfy.. the fires alight, the TV's on, and suddenly the outside world just seems way too hectic and far away. Well, next time this happens, you have the remedy... the new single "These Days" from The Undercover Hippy is the perfect tonic to get you up out of the sofa and into that taxi!

These Days

Set for general release on 3/2/23

An upbeat and inspiring song about being miserable. The third single from the forthcoming album "Not Paying Attention" which drops in April.

Not Paying Attention

Hey Boy

Poor Little England

Greed

Fool Britannia

Hippy Dude

Dreamer

The first single from the new album "Monkey Suit"! To be in the music video, check this link: http://www.billyrowan.co.uk/star-in-the-official-video-for-last-chance-to-dance/

Pre-order the album here!
https://undercoverhippy.bandcamp.com/album/monkey-suit-2

Last Chance To Dance

This is a track inspired by the story of a friend I made in The Gambia. 

Long Way Down (feat. Batch Gueye)

Loosely based on a few true stories that happened over the space of one weekend! Guys, you know you've been there... Girls, sort it out! ;)

Boyfriend

So here we are again, in another recession... and we act all surprised, like this has never happened before! The refrain of this track is a Mandinka folk song from The Gambia... it warns us of the danger of the snake pit, and tells us to play our music loud to scare away the snakes! So turn up the volume and press play... :)

Global Recession

Truth & Fiction

One Heart One Life

Bristol Peeps

We Are Not Numbers (We Are Palestine)

A mix of political and social commentary, fusing folk, hip-hop, spoken word and acoustic pop.

Human Race

I wrote this song following the riots that took place across the UK in 2011. It was a response to the way in which our Government and media chose to demonise the young people involved, looking for an easy scapegoat, rather than looking at the social conditions and inequality that led us to that point.

Our Streets

I wrote this song about 5 years ago, but it's never been more relevant than today. The current refugee crisis is the largest we have seen since the second world war, but our governments are treating the victims like an invading army. Only through acknowledging our shared humanity and rediscovering our compassion can this crisis be averted. Please do what you can to help, however small.

Borders

The first single from the forthcoming album "Truth & Fiction" by The Undercover Hippy! Album out May 20th.

Rise & Fall

Lyrics:

We created the state in Iran 
We created the afghan Taliban 
We created the hate in Iraq 
That provided the spark for the ISIS clan 

We created this mess 
Playing the world now like a game of chess 
Anybody wanna guess 
Who the pawns are? 
Getting fucked like a porn star? 
Damn right that’s us 

Any fool can tell 
Banging on the door at the gates of hell 
You’d do well 
To educate yourself 
Instead of getting caught up 
trying to make your wealth 

Forget about yourself 
for one minute people look around the world 
how bad does it need to get 
before you get upset 
and realise that you can rebel 

CHORUS 
You think you know now what you know 
But you know what you see 
And you see what they show you 
So come along 
You think the world is set in stone 
Look around how many Romans d’you see? 
Everything that rises must fall 

Think you know now what you know 
But you know what you see 
And you see what they show you 
So come along 
You think the world is set in stone 
Look around how many Romans d’you see? 
Everything that rises must fall 


Give your more to receive your less 
How many gadgets you get for your pound of flesh? 
Forty hours a week of pure stress 
Just to be able to dress to impress 
While the rest of the world might as well be Mars 
Empire never really meant to last 
Throw rocks in a house of glass 
Like a madman living in Centreparcs 

But don’t listen to me 
Go read up on your history and you’ll see 
It’s never really what it’s supposed to be 
Looking through the lens 
Of the shit they show on TV but the news we see 
At best serves the interests of the powers that be 
Saying if you wanna drink tea 
And live in a democracy 
Then the market’s got to be free 

CHORUS 

Wages fall and they push up the prices 
These people don’t know what nice is 
Take a look at the crisis with ISIS 
Governments left to their own devices 

You might think that’s unrelated 
But the fact is reality is complicated 
And the backroom deals that seal the fate 
Of these countries never even get debated at all 

Even when the countries at war 
Even when all the young men fall 
And all because the energy companies still want more 
While the poor 
Here in the UK can’t even afford to stay warm 

While they struggle surviving 
Profits are rising 
Ask yourself why we support the violence 

CHORUS 

Everything that rises must fall x4

Rise & Fall (Radio Edit)

This is a montage of some of the rough sketch recordings I made with the band in preparation for the actual recording of the album. Hopefully this will give you an idea of what to expect from the album, and encourage you to go and pledge some money towards the recording costs by pre-ordering the album or choosing one of the many other perks! Pledge now at www.billyrowan.co.uk

"Monkey Suit" Album Rough Demo Montage

This a song about Brexit and the politics of division. It's about Britain's nostalgia for the days of empire, and how that fantasy has delivered us into the hands of populist opportunists and right-wing zealots. It's also about fat reggae bass and dirty clav lines!

The Undercover Hippy

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