The Plays the Thing [The Peel Sessions]

[Verse 1]
How could he know so much?
How could he bear such knowledge?
How could he dare to write it in the plays?
What is it Shakespeare'd say
If he came back today?
Surely he'd recognize these mortal coils

[Verse 2]
How do we carry on?
No-one knows where they fit in
No-one knows who they are or where they've been
What does the writer mean?
How do we play this scene?
What didn't Shakespeare know that wе do now?

[Bridge]
Stiffen the sinews
Wеar hard-favour'd rage
All history's drama
The world is a stage

[Interlude]
"There is a history in all men's lives
Figuring the nature of the times deceas'd;
The which observ'd, a man may prophesy
With a near aim, of the main chance of things
As yet not come to life, which in their seeds
And weak beginnings lie intreasured
Such things become the hatch and brood of time..."

[Verse 3]
Oh, but the show goes on
On through the seven ages –
That of the world must mirror man's, in fact
Here comes the seventh act
See how the mirror's cracked
Here comes sans everything for humankind

[Bridge]
To capture the conscience
Of nations and kings
All history's drama –
The play's the thing
The play's the thing
The play's the thing
The play's the thing

[Outro]
How could he know so much?