«Can you tell me where my country lies?»
Said the unifaun to his true love’s eyes
«It lies with me!» cried the Queen of Maybe
For her merchandise, he traded in his prize
«Paper late!» cried a voice in the crowd
«Old man dies!» The note he left was signed 'Old Father Thames'
It seems he’s drowned
Selling England by the pound
Citizens of Hope & Glory
Time goes by, it’s the time of your life
Easy now, sit you down
Chewing through your Wimpey dreams
They eat without a sound
Digesting England by the pound
Young man says «you are what you eat,» eat well
Old man says «you are what you wear,» wear well
You know what you are, you don’t give a damn
Bursting your belt that is your homemade sham
The Captain leads his dance right on through the night
Join the dance
Follow on 'til the Grail sun sets in the mould
Follow on 'til the gold is cold
Dancing out with the moonlit knight
Knights of the Green Shield stamp and shout
There’s a fat old lady outside the saloon
Laying out the credit cards she plays Fortune
The deck is uneven right from the start
And all of their hands are playing apart
The Captain leads his dance right on through the night
Join the dance
Follow on, a Round Table-talking down we go
You’re the show, off we go with
You play the hobbyhorse
I’ll play the fool
We’ll tease the bull
Ringing round diddle loud, loud diddle round
Follow on with a twist of the world we go
Follow on 'til the gold is cold
Dancing out with the moonlit knight
Knights of the Green Shield stamp and shout