London You’re a Lady

[Verse 1]
London you're a lady
Laid out before my eyes
Your golden heart is pulsing
Between your scarred-up thighs
Your eyes are full of sadness
Red busses skirt your hem
Your headdress is a ring of lights
But I would not follow them

[Verse 2]
Your architects were madmen
And your builders sane but drunk
But amidst your fading jewels
Shine acid house and punk
You are a scarlet lady
Your streets run red with blood
My darling, they have used you
And covered you with mud

[Verse 3]
It was deep down in your womb, my love
I drank my quart of sin
While Chinamen played cards and draughts
And knocked back Mickey Finns
Your blood is like a river
And its scent is beer and gin
Your hell is in the summer
And you blossom in the spring

[Verse 4]
September is your purgatory
Christmas is your heaven
When the stinking streets of summer
Are washed away by rain
At the dark end of a lonely street
That's where you lose your pain
'Tis then your eyes dry up, my love
And sparkle once again