Released: June 9, 2008

Songwriter: UB40

Producer: UB40

In our youthful condemned nation
The truth speaks for itself
That in a time of darkness
Someone cried for help

So we told a simple story
Of innocence and lies
How the truth became so twisted
In a single judge's eye

A brave new rainbow nation
Was floating on the tide
In a sea of expectation
And a humble sense of pride

But the wave of solidarity
That swept across our land
He's broken on the rocks
Left lifeless on the sand

It all seemed very simple
Let the guilty take the blame
We can sing our songs of freedom
And put them all to shame

Shine a light into the dark
Let them hear his name
But the more we try to change things
The more they stay the same

A brave new rainbow nation
Was floating on the tide
In a sea of expectation
And a humble sense of pride

But the wave of solidarity
That swept across our land
He's broken on the rocks
Left lifeless on the sand

No one else but Tyler
Knows exactly what he's missed
He's a man that's disappearance
Is slowly ceasing to exist

And the only contribution
That he has left to give
Is the simple tragic story
Of the life he's never lived

A brave new rainbow nation
Was floating on the tide
In a sea of expectation
And a humble sense of pride

But the wave of solidarity
That swept across our land
He's broken on the rocks
Left lifeless on the sand

UB40

UB40 are an English reggae and pop band, formed in December 1978 in Birmingham. The band has had more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart. They have been nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album four times, and in 1984 were nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Group. UB40 have sold over 70 million records. The ethnic make-up of the band’s original line-up was diverse, with musicians of English, Irish, Jamaican, Scottish and Yemeni parentage.

Their hit singles include their debut “Food for Thought”, “Red Red Wine” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love”. Both of these also topped the UK Singles Chart, as did the band’s version of “I Got You Babe”. Their two most successful albums, Labour of Love (1983) and Promises and Lies (1993), reached number one on the UK Albums Chart.

On January 24, 2008, it was announced that Ali Campbell would be leaving the group after 30 years. It was reported by some Birmingham newspapers on 13 March 2008, that Maxi Priest would be the new lead singer of UB40 and had recorded a cover of Bob Marley’s “I Shot the Sheriff” with the band.