Alas ATOS

(to the tune of Greensleeves)

 

1          Alas ATOS they do me wrong,

To treat me so robotically,

I was down and out, they stopped my dole,

I’m sick and homeless, in poverty.

 

(Chorus)

ATOS said they really care,

When statistics is all they want for their boss,

ATOS said they’re truly fair,

When all that concerns them is profit and loss.

 

2          They called me in for an interview

Where two flights of stairs blocked my wheelchair

But ATOS said I was fit for work

It was my fault I couldn’t get there

 

3          My doctors said that grief and abuse

Had caused me to be clinically depressed

But ATOS said I was fit for work

As long as sometimes I could get dressed.

 

4          I showed them my appointment card

For last-ditch chemotherapy

But ATOS said I was fit for work

If before I died I could bend my knee

 

5          But my friend witnessed the interview

And there’s a tape which will reveal

That ATOS isn’t fit for work

In evidence ready for my appeal

 

Lyrics by Oliver Swingler and Making Waves Community Choir

Based in Cullercoats, near Newcastle