“She’s a liar, liar”: this anti–Theresa May song is one of the most popular songs in the UK

“Liar Liar” by Captain Ska, a British reggae and ska band, ranks fourth on the UK’s Official Charts, right behind songs featuring Justin Bieber and DJ Khaled. The video for the song has been viewed more than 2.4 million times on YouTube.

It’s not about sex, drugs, or rock ’n’ roll. It’s about British Prime Minister Theresa May.

The song’s popularity could pose a new and unexpected challenge to May just two days before the country’s next election. She has seen her lead cut in half, with her main challenger, Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, now trailing by just 8 points.

And now she’s facing the wrath of Captain Ska, a seven-year-old band founded by a trumpet player and producer named Jake Painter.

The bizarre music video for “Liar, Liar” literally has to be seen to be truly appreciated. It’s a mashup of clips from May’s speeches, shots of other conservative politicians shaking their heads, and a video of May holding hands with President Trump. It also shows May laughing in slow motion, as the lyrics “They’re having a laugh / Let’s show them the door then” are sung.

Throughout the song, lyrics criticize May’s Conservative Party and emphasize that she’s untrustworthy. The chorus is incredibly blunt:

She’s a liar, liar

You can’t trust her

No, no, no, no

As an example of May’s flip-flops, the song specifically points to a Conservative proposal to require individuals needing in-home health support services to pay for them on their own if they earn $130,000 or more. Critics started calling the proposal the “dementia tax,” and three days later, the Conservatives removed it from their platform.

Captain Ska sees it as another sign of May’s failures:

Nurses going hungry

Schools in decline

I don’t recognize this broken country of mine

The new version of “Liar Liar” is actually a remix of Captain Ska’s original single released in 2010, which protested rising college tuition costs, cuts to the public sector, and the coalition government led by previous Prime Minister David Cameron.

“I’ve been in the industry for 15 years and Captain Ska is the result of my total frustration with the apathetic response to the most right-wing government in decades,” Painter said in a recent interview with the Guardian.

Captain Ska doesn’t mention Corbyn’s Labour Party in the song, but the band’s feelings about May and the Conservatives are clear. The song’s popularity suggests that millions of others share those sentiments. And that could be bad news for May.

Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?

Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:

First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.

Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.

So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)

If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via