Roots

Now it's been 25 years or more

I've roamed this land from shore to shore

From Tyne to Tamar, Severn to Thames

From moor to vale, from peak to fen

Played in cafes, pubs and bars

I've stood in the street with my old guitar

But I'd be richer than all the rest

If I had a pound for each request

For 'Duelling Banjos', 'American Pie'

It's enough to make you cry

'Rule Britannia', or 'Swing low...'

Are they the only songs we English know?

Seed, bark, flower, fruit

They're never gonna grow without their roots

Branch, stem, shoot

They need roots

After the speeches, when the cake's been cut

The disco's over and the bar is shut

At christening, birthday, wedding or wake

What can we sing 'til the morning breaks

When the Indians, Asians, Afro-Celts

It's in their blood, below their belt

They're playing and dancing all night long

So what have they got right that we've got wrong?

Seed, bark, flower, fruit

They're never gonna grow without their roots

Branch, stem, shoot

They need roots and

Haul away boys, let them go

Out in the wind and the rain and snow

We've lost more than we'll ever know

'Round the rocky shores of England

We need roots

And a minister said his vision of hell

Is three folk singers in a pub near Wells

Well, I've got a vision of urban sprawl

There's pubs where no-one ever sings at all

And everyone stares at a great big screen

Overpaid soccer stars, prancing teens

Australian soap, American rap

Estuary English, baseball caps

And we learn to be ashamed before we walk

Of the way we look, and the way we talk

Without our stories or our songs

How will we know where we come from?

I've lost St. George in the Union Jack

It's my flag too and I want it back

Seed, bark, flower, fruit

Never gonna grow without their roots

Branch, stem, shoot

We need roots

Haul away boys, let them go

Out in the wind and the rain and snow

We've lost more than we'll ever know

'Round the rocky shores of England

We need roots...