Standard (EADGBE)

Now it's been twenty-five 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 and 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'

Its enough to make you cry

'Rule Britannia' or 'Swing Low'

Are they the only songs the English know?

Seed, bud, flower, fruit

They're never gonna grow without their roots

Branch, stem, shoots - they need roots

After the speeches when the cake's been cut

The disco is over and the bar is shut

At christening, birthday, wedding or wake

What can we sing until the morning breaks?

When the Indian, Asians, Afro, Celts

It's in their blood, below the belt

They're playing and dancing all night long

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

Seed, bud, flower, fruit

Never gonna grow without their roots

Branch, stem, shoots - we need roots

Haul away boys let them go

Out in the wind and the rain and snow

We've lost more than well ever know

Round the rocky shores of England

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

It's pubs where no one ever sings at all

And everyone stares at a great big screen

Over-paid 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 weve come from?

I've lost St George in the Union Jack

It's my flag too and I want it back

Seed, bud, flower, fruit

Never gonna grow without their roots

Branch, stem, shoots - 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