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Billy Bragg – Bad Penny (1991) | Track profile | Dork

Tracks
Billy Bragg
Don’t Try This at Home
Bad Penny

TRACK

Bad Penny

Release date: 1st June 1991

From Don’t Try This at Home

Adult Alternative

Spotify More on Billy Bragg

About This Track

"Bad Penny" is a track by Billy Bragg, from the album Don’t Try This at Home, released 1st June 1991. It's filed under Alternative. Full lyrics are available below. Dork has published 1 article about Billy Bragg.

About the Artist

Billy Bragg

Billy Bragg

Lyrics

Bad Penny

I have a letter from her

When she worked for the "Woman's Realm"

And all the things she promised me

She promised herself as well

She said, "I want my freedom."

And ran off along the beach

It's hard to love a girl so near

Yet so far out of reach

Yet so far out of reach

And she steals more than she buys

You can see it in her eyes

And she'll come back as soon as she's ready

She's a bad penny

She came back when the tide came in

And introduced her friend to me

She said, "Don't ring while he's here."

And gave me back my poetry

She expected me to understand

As she's always done this before

And now she asks me

"Why don't you send me poems anymore?"

Send me poems anymore

And she steals more than she buys

You can see it in her eyes

And she'll come back as soon as she's ready

She's a bad penny

Then she comes back and asks me

To sing all her favourite songs

As if she's never been away

As if she's done nothing wrong

But I've come to the conclusion

That she doesn't realize a thing

And she probably still thinks I love her

And she doesn't know that it's a sin

She doesn't know that it's a sin

And she steals more than she buys

You can see it in her eyes

And she'll come back as soon as she's ready

She's a bad penny

She'll come back as soon as she's ready

She's a bad penny

She'll come back as soon as she's ready

She's a bad penny

Lyrics provided by LRCLIB

View full lyrics page →

Track details

From Don’t Try This at Home

1991

Listen

Album

Don’t Try This at Home

17th September 1991

Release year

1991

1Accident Waiting to Happen
4:01
2Moving the Goalposts
2:34
3Everywhere
5:01
4Cindy of a Thousand Lives

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Billy Bragg, Vol. 2

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Scholarship Is the Enemy of Romance (Janice Long Session, 18th December 1985)Best of Billy Bragg at the BBC 1983 - 2019

Days Like These (John Peel Session, 20th August 1985)Best of Billy Bragg at the BBC 1983 - 2019

Tank Park Salute (John Peel Session, 12th May 1991)Best of Billy Bragg at the BBC 1983 - 2019

No-One Knows Nothing Anymore (Latitude Festival Live, 18th July 2014)Best of Billy Bragg at the BBC 1983 - 2019

Accident Waiting to Happen (John Peel Session, 12th May 1991)Best of Billy Bragg at the BBC 1983 - 2019

Fear Is a Man's Best Friend (John Peel Session, 27th July 1983)Best of Billy Bragg at the BBC 1983 - 2019

It Says Here (Janice Long Paris Theatre London Live, October 1999)Best of Billy Bragg at the BBC 1983 - 2019

The Saturday Boy (David Jensen Session, 22nd December 1983)Best of Billy Bragg at the BBC 1983 - 2019

Like Soldiers Do (David Jensen Session, 22nd December 1983)Best of Billy Bragg at the BBC 1983 - 2019

Brickbat (John Peel Session, 13th October 1995)Best of Billy Bragg at the BBC 1983 - 2019

Goodbye, Goodbye (Phill Jupitus Live, 30th March 2007)Best of Billy Bragg at the BBC 1983 - 2019

This Gulf Between Us (John Peel Session, 13th October 1995)Best of Billy Bragg at the BBC 1983 - 2019

Between the Wars (John Peel Session, 18th September 1984)Best of Billy Bragg at the BBC 1983 - 2019

The Man in the Iron Mask (David Jensen Session, 22nd December 1983)Best of Billy Bragg at the BBC 1983 - 2019

Levi Stubbs' Tears (Glastonbury Live, 26th June 2015)Best of Billy Bragg at the BBC 1983 - 2019

A Lover Sings (John Peel Session, 18th September 1984)Best of Billy Bragg at the BBC 1983 - 2019

Way over Yonder in the Minor Key (Bob Harris Live, 6th May 2012)Best of Billy Bragg at the BBC 1983 - 2019

The Busy Girl Buys Beauty (Janice Long Paris Theatre London Live, October 1999)Best of Billy Bragg at the BBC 1983 - 2019

The Warmest Room (John Peel Session, 2nd September 1986)Best of Billy Bragg at the BBC 1983 - 2019

View all tracks by Billy Bragg →

A Lover Sings (John Peel Session, 18th September 1984)Best of Billy Bragg at the BBC 1983 - 2019
4:06
Accident Waiting to Happen (John Peel Session, 12th May 1991)Best of Billy Bragg at the BBC 1983 - 2019
4:01
Between the Wars (John Peel Session, 18th September 1984)Best of Billy Bragg at the BBC 1983 - 2019
2:40
Brickbat (John Peel Session, 13th October 1995)Best of Billy Bragg at the BBC 1983 - 2019
2:57
Can't Be There Today
City of Heroes
Days Like These (John Peel Session, 20th August 1985)Best of Billy Bragg at the BBC 1983 - 2019
1:54
Fear Is a Man's Best Friend (John Peel Session, 27th July 1983)Best of Billy Bragg at the BBC 1983 - 2019
2:38
Freedom Doesn't Come for FreeThe Million Things That Never Happened
3:22
Freedom Doesn't Come For Free
3:22

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Mika, Jade Bird and Billy Bragg have joined the Latitude Festival 2025 lineup

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27 Feb 2025 • 11:45 am

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—Sexuality (London Remix)

—Bad Penny