John from Tracks LP by The Powdered Earth

John’s my name, I ain’t no landed squire
Everyone’s the same when they need fuel for the fire
Bin man, housewife, copper, young or old
A local bloke providing folk with comfort from the cold
The soft coal from the Forest will not sell
Customers know what they want; I serve my clientele
We don’t all have an equal piece of pie
But on my cart you’ll find only the best you can buy

Warm, I’ll keep you warm
The time is nigh when I’ll come by in blackened uniform
And though the morning’s dark
My horse and cart will break the day before the meadowlark

I haul it from the Midlands, through the crossroads of the land
Shovels, sacks, and sturdy backs, we do it all by hand
It keeps me fit, though sometimes it might land me in a jam
A plain upstanding citizen is all that I am
The horse is fed, the coal won’t haul itself
I live a humble life but every visit brings me wealth
Beast and man can greet me without fright
It’s only Queen and country can conscript me for a fight

Warm, I’ll keep you warm
The time is nigh when I’ll come by in blackened uniform
And though the morning’s dark
My horse and cart will break the day before the meadowlark

A bullet took my hat off but I had no time to mope
Dangling from a chopper in the mountains on a rope
I did my bit, so when I go upstairs to meet The Boss
I hope they let my hearse traverse that blessed Gloucester Cross
A rifleman, dutiful and strong
Suez, Malta, Cyprus, my service two years long
I came back to a world that hadn’t changed
But if we’d never gone, it might have all been rearranged

Warm, I’ll keep you warm
The time is nigh when I’ll come by in blackened uniform
And though the morning’s dark
My horse and cart will break the day before the meadowlark

• Folk
• Olafur Arnalds
• beck
• brian wilson
• simon and garfunkel
• sufjan stevens
• United Kingdom