The Last of England

[Verse 1]
Billy came home from the war
To Appledore, drifting in the carpark of
The second church to be sold since spring
And in his redlining is a wing
A feather to the throttle, God
The absent father who stopped calling

[Pre-Chorus]
I got bored to madness that June
Spitting at the sun
Hollowing the moon

[Chorus]
And then we were the last of England
Rotten to the core
When came a fireblight, hallelujah
Ripped us shore to shore

[Verse 2]
And what we lost that year
Came clear in the emigration of
Whose conscription
Not called out in the sound mirror
But I was cruising, Gawain in the mist
There as we kissed
Up against the Pendle Hill oak
The green king
Deep in doggerland woke

[Pre-Chorus]
I got born into this sadness
Just like you
Cried the white horse of the sun
To the inverted moon

[Chorus]
And there we were, the last of England
Rotten to the core
When came a fireblight, Hallelujah
Ripped us shore to shore

[Bridge]
And by Mabon
Were you dancing the broom?
By the light of the burning pier
Or were you gone?

[Instrumental Break]

[Outro]
To the last
Rotten to the core