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Cruel Britannia

from AGES by Andy Thornton

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about

How do we tell our kids the truths about our country's past?

This is an attempt - inspired by the Tory Party's performance in the 2017 election - to tell my son how the instinct of British protectionism runs very very deep.

lyrics

Look around you see these buildings,
Don't you think they're mighty boy?
See how those who went before you
placed each stone with pride and joy
All the years of island trading
Gold and goods from foreign lands
Made a country so amazing
Soon we'll leave it in your hands

And here's your story that we'll place
Inside your civic DNA
British men of faith and valour
Stopped the shame of human trade
Wilberforce and Holy Bible:
How the hearts and minds were changed
Not a word of chain and rifle
Bearing those who rule today

Cos this is cruel Britannia
Britannia ruled the waves
Then stole the land
And made the people slaves
All that you see This mighty city
Knew no pity then called itself “Great “Britain

I come from the generation
Whose wallcharts of the modern world were
coloured in to show the nations
Safe beneath our British rule
All that's left is London city
Trading off the blood long gone
From blacker skins whose liberty was
Sacrificed to make us strong

Chorus

This tainted beauty
From guns and duty that
Slaughtered for “Great” Britain
So count your blessings
Count the money in your hands
See the portraits of the men who made us grand
Not the faces of the labourers we damned
To build up Sterling as we went stealing
The riches of our mother earth

Now I've uttered the unspoken
Let me tell you this my son
You've just joined the world's awoken
Who don't see this as Kingdom come.
Who don't see every man an island

Surrounded by a hostile sea
But know that fear is broken down
When can have as each one needs

Not like cruel Britannia..
Britannia ruled the waves and stole the land
Superior to each race
Name them rightly - the high and mighty
The British psyche
Was made in cruel Britannia.

credits

from AGES, released August 26, 2020
Instruments, voices, writing, production by Andy Thornton
Mixed by Rafe McKenna

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Andy Thornton UK

Andy Thornton has been writing songs since the day he first picked up a guitar at age 14. His instinct for telling a story is only equalled by his passion to get beneath the surface of everyday life and unveil the secrets of the human heart; whether it be anger, frustration, tenderness, love or hope of justice. ... more

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