Lyrics London Song -

London Song

Where the road runs down
To the river bank
And the mudlarks search on the shore
Where the watermen set sail
For the towns upstream
Upon a golden course to Runnymede
Where the water’s edge
Meets the squares and the streets
The river 'knows the mood
Of kings and crowds and priests'
Take tea in the gardens
Drunk for a penny or two
Stars will lead you home
Sailing on the English way
Racing on the high tides
Here by the riverside
Reaching for the day’s last light
When the Houses fall
And the flames meet the sky
Turner takes his boat out
To catch the light
And far downstream the Alice is clean gone
In the dark she slipped away
Racing on the English way
Sails against the skyline
Down by the water’s edge
Reaching for the last light
Time and tide wait for no man
A river passing by
As the crowds fade away
The fires grow cold in the east
Skylon rises in a brave new world
The clocks are stopped
And boats are held
Time and tide wait for no man
And now the ship has sailed
And the crowds fade away
But by the water’s edge
At the end of the road
I still reach for the day’s last light
Lost rivers of London
Long lost rivers of London
By the palace and the abbeys
By the lakes in the parks
Black waters rise
From one hundred springs and wells
Lost rivers of London town
Long lost rivers of London town
Underneath the houses on the
Old Kent Road
If you listen very hard
You can hear the river flow
Headwaters out on the hills
And the meadows
Run through the fields
To the city streets
Paved with stone
And after the rain
Through the cracks in the pavement
The rivers will rise
As they make their way
To the shore
Lost rivers of London town
Long lost rivers of London town
Canute sailed the Effra
On the high spring tide
Now the black river hides
Under Turnagain Lane
Lost rivers of London
Long lost rivers of London town
Lost rivers of London
Long lost rivers of London town
The Fleet and the Tyburn
And the Neckinger
The Westbourne and the Walbrook
And the river Effra
After the fire
After the storm
Post-war London
Six years on
At the side of the Thames:
Skylon…
Broken walls
An end to all good things
Open skies
Seen through roofless houses
But down by the Thames
Three-hundred feet above the river
Soaring higher than church spires:
Skylon…
Rising up before me;
Floating in midair
I lost myself in wonder
It was something from Dan Dare
A vision of the future
A beacon in the night sky
A promise of much better days
A new Jerusalem
Looking up at Skylon
Lost in a dream of impossible things
A brave new world to come
Underneath the Skylon
Colours in a grey world
A pick-me-up for the nation
The work of giants
Here in London Town…
Bells fall silent
Thrown to the ground
Books are burning
Fired at low tide
But down by the Thames
Mighty marvels will arise
Science lighting up the dark nights:
Skylon…
A vision of the future
Rising at the water’s edge
The turning wheels of industry
Invention and makers of wonder
We’ll be the new Elizabethans
Explorers of distant land
Make ourselves a better place
A new Jerusalem
Looking up at Skylon
Lost in a dream of impossible things
A brave new world to come
Underneath the Skylon
Colours in a grey world
A pick-me-up for the nation
The work of giants
Here in London Town…