The Best Country in the World

In my primary school assembly, I sang with folded hands Of green and pleasant lands where I was made Now my autumn years approach me, my home's still England's soil These days how I recoil from the parade As we turn from compassion, leave our fellows out to die Oh, who will slay the dragon of the me, myself, and I? I don't know how it happened, and I'll never work out why We consented for to lie down in this grave We consented for to lie down in this grave But I won't sing (sing), I won't cheer every blunder As they steer us toward the thunder, with our banners all unfurled I won't sing (sing), I won't raise my voice in wonder Serenade as we go under, "The best country in the world" Now we're ex-Europeans, oh how sweet the hard-won freedoms To turn desperate human beings from our shores without delay And when school term is over, what's 10,000 odd Land Rovers Queueing at the cliffs of Dover, but a price we're glad to pay We must keep all for ourselves, our empty supermarket shelves Our overcrowded prison cells, our classrooms crumbling to bits Striking doctors, striking teachers and no railway lines to reach us We would fight them on the beaches, but the beach is full of shit But the beach is full of shit So I won't sing (sing), I won't cheer every blunder As they steer us toward the thunder, with our banners all unfurled I won't sing (sing), I won't raise my voice in wonder Serenade as we go under, "The best country in the world" Oh, three cheers for the drivers, we are science deniers Surely petrol will supply us, when East Anglia's submerged Dig for coal, dig for victory, and if that sounds contradictory To our goals for 2050, well, we never meant a word The lungs of London's boys and girls are filling up with poison As the oceans slowly boils and we expand the motorway Oh, you old fool Britannia, can you be so cruel, Britannia? Bow to fossil fuel, Britannia, it's your children who will pay It's your children who will pay So I won't sing (sing), I won't cheer every blunder As they steer us toward the thunder with our banners all unfurled I won't sing (sing), I won't raise my voice in wonder Serenade as we go under, "The best country in the world" The best country in the world So don't sell me a story of a land of hope and glory Well, this land was broke by Tories with their hands inside the till And if you want me patriotic, put the people over profit But while they're getting richer off it They never, they never ever will So let's hear you sing (raise up your voice and let them) For every balls-up and blunder (hear you rejoicing) As we sail into the thunder (as we drink down the poison) If it's all that we deserve (as we waste away) So let's hear you sing (raise up your voice and let them) All the world will watch in wonder (hear you rejoicing) As we tear ourselves asunder (as we drink down the poison) Never after to be heard (as we waste away) Let's hear you sing (raise up the banners) Won't you smile for the cameras? And you mind your fucking manners As the storm begins to surge (as we waste away) Let's hear you sing (raise up the banners) Like an ancient demon church choir (as you smile for the cameras) As you're fleeing from the wildfire (and you mind out your manners) With these rotten bones of empire (and all history will damn us) Etched forever (as we sing) with the words "The best country in the world"