Video hit Billy Bragg

Billy Bragg - Swallow My Pride

Bragg told The Independent that the lyrics were inspired by the everyday frustrations of his relationship with his long-term partner, Juliet. "We've had a great time," he said, "and we have a lovely son, Jack, who's 19, and who's been lucky enough to have had a lovely childhood. But, you know, we have our days when we crack our heads, when I don't live up to her expectations of me and when she doesn't live up to my expectations of her. And this causes domestic friction. But the struggle in a relationship is where the sparks are, and I'm writing about things that frustrate me."

Bragg added that, lyrically he took certain artistic license. "I've never left home like my character in 'Swallow My Pride' has," he said, "but have I gone a few days without speaking [to her] I most certainly have. And have I been on tour and not phoned because I'm pissed off? Yes I have. If I were to suggest otherwise, my son would call me out as a liar."

The lyrics:

Here are the photos that I keep

Here's the empty bed where I lay my head to sleep

I dream about you but my dreams will not come true

'Til I'll swallow my pride and get back home to you.

I tell myself I'm in the right

But that don't keep me warm through another lonely night,

Can't live without you, even though you make me blue

Got to swallow my pride and get back home to you.

I know your love for me is deep,

But I'm the man who makes you cry yourself to sleep.

Oh how can a man be strong?

If he can't even lift up the telephone and say he's wrong

If I want you back again then I know what I must do

Got to swallow my pride and get back home to you.

Swallow my pride and get back home to you.