Today Began a Thousand Years Ago

I remember when the long ships sailed across the eastern sound
Toward the western skyline, where the greenest hills are found
And I remember when they stormed the cliffs along our jagged coasts
And the sentries in the villages who huddled at their posts
And didn't seem to know which way to go

Because today began a thousand years ago
Today began a thousand years ago

And I remember when King Richard rode out on the great crusade
I saw his armour shining, and I watched his glory fade
And I saluted good King John, whose greatest ever deed
Was signing Magna Carta for us all at Runnymede
A light of freedom shining from below

Today began a thousand years ago
Today began a thousand years ago

I remember how the lights went down when someone lit the fuse
The salad days, the slow malaise of the 20th Century blues
The nightingales still sang and there was music in the air
The clouds were gathering once again, high over Berkeley Square
And once again our young men had to go

Today began a thousand years ago
Today began a thousand years ago

Now the stones will tell their stories when the moss is peeled away
The sun will shine as brightly when tomorrow is today
And history will delight them with its mix of truth and lies
The world will never let the future in on its disguise
But the flowers on the heath will always grow

'Cause today began a thousand years ago
Because today began a thousand years ago