Tell the King

Info

Tell the King is track #8 on The Libertines' debut album, Up the Bracket, and is credited to Doherty and Barat. In a 2008 interview, Doherty revealed that "Tell the King" was inspired by "Someday" by The Strokes.

Tell the King is often requested at gigs, particularly Doherty solo gigs, where fans shout, "Tell the King!" and Doherty replies, "No, YOU tell the fucking king!” As well as being a live favourite, the track has been covered more than once by artist Graham Coxon.

An original demo version was released in 2003 as a B-side to The Libertines single, Don't Look Back Into the Sun. The demo is sometimes wrongly thought to include vocals from Scarborough Steve, the original vocalist in The Libertines; however, this has been proven false.

Appearing on

Live at O2 Academy Glasgow (1)	The Libertines	Album	2016-02-19
Time For Heroes	The Libertines	Album	2007-10-29
Dont' Look Back Into the Sun (Original demo version)	The Libertines	Single	2004-09-14
Live For Spanish TV	The Libertines	Session	2003-07-15
Up the Bracket	The Libertines	Album	2002-10-14
Conversations in Eden (Intro 2 + 5 songs and chatter)	Peter Doherty	Session	Unknown
Conversations in Eden (Intro 1)	Peter Doherty	Session	Unknown
The 77 Demos (B-side demo)	The Libertines	Demo	Unknown

Concerts

Live @ Olympia	The Libertines	Music Hall, Paris	2016-03-09
Reading Festival 2015	The Libertines	Reading	2015-08-30
Rock en Seine 2015	The Libertines	Domaine national de Saint-Cloud, Saint-Cloud	2015-08-29
3Arena Dublin	The Libertines	3Arena Dublin	2015-07-09
Ahmad Tea Music Festival	The Libertines		2015-06-27
Glastonbury 2015	The Libertines	Glastonbury	2015-06-26
Benicàssim Festival	The Libertines	Benicàssim, Spain	2014-07-19
BST, Hyde Park, London	The Libertines	Hyde Park, London	2014-07-05
Glasgow Barrowland	The Libertines	Glasgow, Scotland	2014-06-29
La Maroquinerie	Peter Doherty	Paris, France	2013-02-04
Le Cabaret Vert	Peter Doherty	Charleville-Mézières, France	2011-08-27
Show more concerts
The Other Rooms, Newcastle	Carl Barat	Newcastle,England	2010-10-20
Reading Festival	The Libertines	Reading, UK	2010-08-28
Live in Copenhagen	Peter Doherty	Copenhagen, Denmark	2009-04-09
Royal Albert Hall Live	Peter Doherty	London, UK	2008-07-12
The Mass	Peter Doherty	Brixton, London	2008-06-17
Glasgow Barrowlands (1)	Peter Doherty	Glasgow, Scotland	2008-05-18
Rhythm Factory	Peter Doherty	Whitechapel, London	2007-12-16
An Evening With Pete Doherty Pt.2	The Libertines	Hackney Empire, London	2007-04-12
Fine Line Music Cafe	The Libertines	Fine Line Music Cafe, Minneapolis; Minnesota US	2004-10-08
Brick Lane Festival	Peter Doherty		2004-09-12
Rhythm Factory	Peter Doherty	London (Whitechapel), UK	2004-07-13
Piss Me Off (At the Rhythm Factory)	The Libertines	London (Whitechapel), UK	2004-04-14
Rock Against Racism	The Libertines	London, UK	2004-03-16
Manchester Academy	The Libertines	Manchester, UK	2004-03-01
Duke of Clarence	The Libertines	London, UK	2004-02-18
The Forum, 2003	The Libertines		2003-12-16
CGBG, New York	The Libertines	New York, USA	2003-04-30
Shinjuku Liquid Room, Tokyo	The Libertines	Higashi, Shibuya, Tokyo	2003-04-13
Live @ Liverpool Academy 1	The Libertines	Liverpool, UK	2003-02-24
Sticky Fingers	The Libertines	Stockholm, Sweden	2002-12-18
Le Cat, Bordeaux	The Libertines	Bordeaux, France	2002-12-01

Lyrics

I've got a little secret for ya

Even now there's something
To be proud about
You come up the hard way
And they'll remind you every day
You're nothing

Oh my words in your mouth
Are mumbled all about
You're like a journalist
How you can cut and paste and twist
You're awful

Tell it to your king
Tell him everything you know
Tell him you know how I feel
Tell him you know how I feel at the palace gates
Oh I'm all levered off my face
And just to work out what it's all about
And see snakes in eyes
And danger signs

If you were late you mustn't dare complain
And you won't like this at all
There's nothing to break your fall

Oh tell it to your king
Tell him everything you know
And you know how I feel out of place
Until I'm levered off my face
And I can't work out what your on about
Didn't they explain
You have to play the game, oh-oh

Jack drinks and smokes his cares away
His heart is in the lonely way
Living in the ruins
Of a castle built on sand