Pledge

(1)

Pledge your mind
In the time of defeat
In the time of disease,
Time of disease  (2)
Only carry on

Pledge, spend
Go see Josie White
When the fuckers went to people for money
It meant Pledge

When the workers asked Nellie for money
She says “Pledge! Pledge!”
And the workers ask Nellie for money
She says “And, Pledge! Pledge! Pledge!”
When workers went to Nellie for money
She said “And, Pledge!”    (3)

And when they were children, and
Pledge! Pledge!

When I go to TV for money
They said “No dough! Pledge!”
Bono Pledge! (4)

When the workers went to Nellie for money
They said “Pledge!”
They says “We Pledge!"

You don’t see money!
Pledge!
When I went to government for money
They said “Two Oh One Oh Pledge!” (5)
Pledge...

When they ask for creative money
They says “Two Ten Pledge! Pledge!” (6)

Went to get money for download,
They said “Two Ten Pledge!”
They said “Two Ten Pledge!”

When I went to TV for money they said
“No dough! Rich! No!
Kidnap Bono! Pledge!”
Pledge! It's pledge...

They said to come pledge...
When I went to go to work for money
They said “Download Pledge! Download Pledge!”

Go back! Go back!
Where to get money?
Download, they says…

1. Take these with a grain of salt. 

Reformation reports that Daren Garratt says the song was written in the dressing room minutes before its debut performance on May 15, 2014 at Manchester Cathedral.

MES seems to have encountered the dreaded "pledge" when he contributed to Mutation, a kind of metal/grindcore supergroup album with members of Napalm Death, Hawkeyes, Cardiacs and Young Legionnaire. The album was apparently funded via pledge...

^

2. One also finds the lyric "Time of disease" in "Stout Man."

^

3.   Bob's scoop: "Nellie Pledge was the name of the character played by Hylda Baker in the comedy series Nearest and Dearest (1964-1973) which also starred that other famous son of Salford Jimmy Jewel..." Bazhdaddy speculates that "Nellie" could be Eleni, handling payroll for the band...

^

4. Gizmodo suggests that this is short for "Pro Bono" (Wikipedia): "Pro Bono is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment or at a reduced fee as a public service. Unlike traditional volunteerism, it is service that uses the specific skills of professionals to provide services to those who are unable to afford them."

However, Zack points out that "MES said 'U2 pledge' at Glastonbury 2015, so perhaps 'Bono' is a reference to Bono Vox and MES is pointing out the contrast between artists who have to beg for money in order to make an album and superstars who can afford to give their albums away for free, as U2 did in 2014 with Songs of Innocence." Note that MES pronounces it the way Sonny Bono pronounces his last name, which would seem to lend support to Gizmodo's theory, but "U2 Pledge" makes it seem likely he's just mispronouncing the U2 guy's name. 

^

5. Bazhdaddy suggests that this "refers to the 2010 UK general election which brought in a coalition government with an agenda of greatly reduced public spending in the name of austerity."

^

6. Or maybe "Two tier pledge." This would refer to tiered pledging, where a certain amount will land you in a certain "reward tier," in Kickstarter lingo. 

Live, Zack points out that MES has said "Went to PRS for pledge..." PRS is a musical copyright collective. There is also a PRS that manufactures electric guitars, but the former is the more likely reference, I would think.

^

Pledge: Fall Tracks A-Z

The Story of the Fall: 2015