Language   

Hard Times of Old England

The Copper Family
Back to the song page with all the versions


OriginalNew version by Billy Bragg
HARD TIMES OF OLD ENGLAND

Come all brother tradesmen that travel alone,
O, pray come and tell me where the trade is all gone,
Long time I have travelled and cannot find none,
And it's O, the hard times of old England,
In old England very hard times.

Provisions you buy at the shop it is true,
But if you've no money there's none there for you.
So what's a poor man and his family to do?
And it's O, the hard times of old England,
In old England very hard times.

If you go to a shop and you ask for a job
They will answer you there with a shake and a nod.
That's enough to make a poor man to turn out and rob,
And it's O, the hard times of old England,
In old England very hard times.

You will see the poor tradesmen a-walking the street
From morning till night for employment to seek.
And scarcely they have any shoes to their feet,
And it's O, the hard times of old England,
In old England very hard times.

Our soldiers and sailors have just come from war,
Been fighting for their King and their country sure,
Come home to be starved better have stayed where they were,
And it's O, the hard times of old England,
In old England very hard times.

So now to conclude and to finish my song
Let us hope that these hard times they will not last long.
And I may soon have occasion to alter my song,
And sing O, the good times of old England,
In old England very good times.
HARD TIMES OF OLD ENGLAND RETOLD

For five generations my family have farmed,
by horse and by tractor, by hoe and by hand,
but that won't stave off the bank's latest demand.
Singing, oh, the hard times of old England,
In old England very hard times.

Time was, I could sell what I grew at the shop,
Then Tesco's turned up, all of that had to stop.
Now I can't make a living out of my crop.
Singing, oh, the hard times of old England,
In old England very hard times.

More and more of our village gets sold every day,
To folks from the city who are happy to pay,
For their holiday cottage to stand empty all day
Singing, oh, the hard times of old England,
In old England very hard times.

The Countryside Alliance expects, I suppose,
My support when they're marching to bloody Blair's nose,
But they said not a word when our post office closed.
Singing, oh, the hard times of old England,
In old England very hard times.

The hedgerows my grandfather tended have gone,
And with them the lapwing and the corncrake's sad song.
I fear I'll be carried off before long.
Singing, oh, the hard times of old England,
In old England very hard times.


And now to conclude and to finish my song;
Let's hope that these hard times they will not last long,
And I may soon have occasion for to alter my song
Singing, oh, the hard times of old England,
In old England very hard times.

LAST CHORUS: And sing, oh, the good times of old England,
In old England very good times.


Back to the song page with all the versions

Main Page

Note for non-Italian users: Sorry, though the interface of this website is translated into English, most commentaries and biographies are in Italian and/or in other languages like French, German, Spanish, Russian etc.




hosted by inventati.org