Bonfire Night

I'm the lighterman of Lambeth
I've been him all my life
I've been enforcing blackout rules
Since 1939
Elsie lived in Silvertown
My love for her cut deep
She's gone and lost her heart to
That brave fella wearing green

Let the bombs rain down
I see the tracer fire dancing in the clouds
The houses go up like tinder stacks
It was oh, so cruel
But she was never mine to lose
She was never mine to lose

I saw them on my night patrol
Saw their kissing silhouettes
In the flare of the incendiaries
That lit up the orphanage
Where I was scared to venture
My brave brother he ran in
They say he's with the angels
But I'll never be free of him

Let the bombs rain down
I see the bonfires the whole year round
She lies across the bed from me
With a phantom in between
I scrape and scrounge
But there's a better man in the ground
There's a better man in the ground

I walk the river in the dead of night
Raised in the lap of the last of the gaslights

It's 1969
The last of Elsie's in her bed
Broken down and bent by
Half a million cigarettes
Her voice is razor-frail but
I can hear her song
Says they buried the wrong son

Let the bombs rain down
To bury this electric neon town
I'm far too old to break a heart
And my shadow's growing thin
She goes to him
The lamps are growing dim
They don't burn like they used to