《The Stately Homes Of England》歌词

[00:00:00] The Stately Homes Of England - Noel Coward and Orchestra/Gertrude Lawrence

[00:00:05] Lord elderly lord borrowmere

[00:00:07] Lord sickert and lord camp

[00:00:10] With every virtue every grace

[00:00:12] Ah what avails the sceptred race

[00:00:16] Here you see the four of us

[00:00:19] And there are so many more of us

[00:00:21] Eldest sons

[00:00:22] That must succeed

[00:00:25] We know how caesar conquered gaul

[00:00:27] And how to whack a cricket ball

[00:00:29] Apart from this our education

[00:00:31] Lacks co-ordination

[00:00:34] Though we're young

[00:00:35] And tentative

[00:00:36] And rather rip-representative

[00:00:38] Scions of a noble breed

[00:00:41] We are the products of those homes

[00:00:44] Serene and stately

[00:00:46] That only lately

[00:00:48] Seem to have run to seed

[00:00:50] The stately homes of England

[00:00:52] How beautiful they stand

[00:00:54] To prove the upper classes

[00:00:56] Have still the upper hand

[00:00:58] Though the fact that they have to be rebuilt

[00:01:01] And frequently mortgaged to the hilt

[00:01:03] Is inclined to take the gilt

[00:01:05] Off the gingerbread

[00:01:07] And certainly damps the fun

[00:01:09] Of the eldest son

[00:01:11] But still we won't be beaten

[00:01:13] We'll scrimp and scrape and save

[00:01:15] The playing fields of eton

[00:01:17] Have made us frightfully brave

[00:01:19] And though if the van dycks have to go

[00:01:21] And we pawn the bechstein grand

[00:01:23] We'll stand

[00:01:24] By the stately homes of England

[00:01:32] Here you see the pick of us

[00:01:34] You may be heartily sick of us

[00:01:36] Still with sense we're all imbued

[00:01:40] Our homes command extensive views

[00:01:42] And with assistance from the jews

[00:01:44] We have been able to dispose of

[00:01:46] Rows and rows and rows of

[00:01:49] Gainsboroughs and lawrences

[00:01:51] Some sporting prints of aunt florence's

[00:01:53] Some of which were rather rude

[00:01:56] Although we sometimes

[00:01:58] Flaunt our family conventions

[00:02:00] Our good intentions

[00:02:03] Mustn't be misconstrued

[00:02:05] The stately homes of England

[00:02:07] We proudly represent

[00:02:09] We only keep them up

[00:02:11] For americans to rent

[00:02:13] Though the pipes that supply the bathroom burst

[00:02:16] And the lavatory makes you fear the worst

[00:02:18] It was used by charles I

[00:02:21] Quite informally

[00:02:22] And later by george IV

[00:02:24] On a journey north

[00:02:26] The state departments keep their

[00:02:28] Historical renown

[00:02:30] It's wiser not to sleep there

[00:02:32] In case they tumble down

[00:02:34] But still if they ever catch on fire

[00:02:36] Which with any luck they might

[00:02:38] We'll fight

[00:02:39] For the stately homes of England

[00:02:43] The stately homes of England

[00:02:45] Though rather in the lurch

[00:02:47] Provide a lot of chances

[00:02:49] For psychical research

[00:02:51] There's the ghost

[00:02:52] Of a crazy younger son

[00:02:53] Who murdered in 1351

[00:02:55] An extremely rowdy nun

[00:02:58] Who resented it

[00:02:59] And people who come to call

[00:03:01] Meet her in the hall

[00:03:03] The baby in the guest wing

[00:03:06] Who crouches by the grate

[00:03:08] Was walled up in the west wing

[00:03:10] In 1428

[00:03:12] If anyone spots

[00:03:13] The queen of scots

[00:03:14] In a hand-embroidered shroud

[00:03:16] We're proud

[00:03:17] Of the stately homes of England