Soul of Albion

Well lately I've been thinking

About how we've come to be

This great nation of shop lifters

And reality TV

One heroic temper

Of nostalgia and tea

With one foot in the grave

The other in 1953

So I've been searching for the needle

The candle down the mine

That which moved earth and heaven

Once upon a time

The steady hands that laid down

The meridian line

The grand old dame

Of this great old pantomime

I'm looking for the union

I'm looking everywhere

From the hills of Caledonia

To the gates of Soho Square

I'm looking for a part of the old pantheon

I'm looking for the heart and the soul of Albion

I've looked on Deptford Broadway

And down Cold Comfort Lane

I looked on board the Windrush

All I found was lies and pain

And down the river in Westminster

They tried to wash my brain

With new towns and garden cities

Where the streets have glorious names

I've been to see the wizard

And the warrior queen

I've danced around the maypole

On the village green

In stately homes and council houses

They only talk of what they've seen

And where you come from

Where you're going

And where you've been

I've been looking for the union

I've been looking everywhere

From the hills of Caledonia

To the gates of Soho Square

I'm looking for a part of the old pantheon

I'm looking for the heart and the soul of Albion

Well I don't want to live in a biscuit tin

Inside these walled gardens full of whitewashing

I don't want to live where nobody understands

That nothing can wash off all the blood on our hands

I don't care about your history or the shade of your skin

All are welcome in this house I'll let anyone in

I'd like to string up the old empire on a gallows pole

And say this is not our heart and this is not our soul