Garden of England

The Garden of England was burning all around me There were boarded up buildings and the orchards all were empty And I walk past the oak trees And we spread our dog's ashes in the breeze I ran along the footpath between the fields Retracing all my steps to see how it feels But I got lost, and I hate that I asked for directions, and I can't get back If I lived there my whole life, would I be the same? Drying out in the heat and soaking up the rain Looking the wrong way when I crossed the road The traffic lights turn red and I'm on my own Listening to all the songs we wrote When we thought the world was ours, but we should've known It all comes flooding back The fistfights in the locker room I feel my fists collide with you There was anger in your eyes Baptized our youths in bloodshed To prove ourselves for nothing To prove our worth to no one Vacant fathers, violent sons I stand up straight, get back to work Didn't care how much it hurt Try to be a man and toughen up With blood stains leaking through my shirt No wonder we grew up so fast Youth washed away by the broken glass The pounding pints and the kickings and beatings Dragged out wounded, limping, wheezing I cracked jokes and I couldn't focus My temper made my parents nervous The teachers told them I was useless And I still don't know what the truth is I thought that I could breathe but now I'm drowning I got lost in the landscape and somehow it still found me Now I'm standing at the top of the hill My lungs are on fire, the air is still