This is a song about money (of course!) "Pretty Green" refers to the colour of One Pound Notes at the time (for younger UK readers, back in 1980, there was no such thing as pound coins, £1's were all paper notes, just like fivers, and the ink was of a greenish colour, hence the title). The message of the song is dead simple, they teach you all sorts of stuff at school, but they don't teach you the basic that you've got to have money in the pocket to do anything in this world. Still true today, huh?

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