It's the Harrowing of the North
That land beyond the law
Raped and ruled by robber barons
From the Humber to the Forth
And as a matter of course
They never show remorse
For the havoc they wreak
Everytime they come north.
[x2]
Truth in our hands like a stone
So let's cast it
The Harrying has lasted
Since William the Bastard,
With the South in his hands,
And the capital mastered,
Turned his armies on the North
- And then trashed it
A hundred thousand dead
Hunger haunting our homes
Crows filling the sky
Dogs gnawing on bones
A statement of intent
Since set down in stone
Their castles loom over the land
And in the shadows we groan
It's the Harrowing of the North
That land beyond the law
Ruled and raped by robber barons
From the Humber to the Forth
And as a matter of course
They never show remorse
For the havoc they wreak
Everytime they come north.
[x2]
And from then to now
These are liminal lands
Often changing hands
With the shifting sands
Of their power struggles
And the rival demands
Of competing elites
And their money-grubbing scams
Kings never came north
Unless marching to war
Cannon fodder in the army
Is what northerners are for
Cheap labour, cheap lives
Out of sight out of mind
In the dark, satanic mills
And the deepest coal mines
Our blood and sweat's
The foundation of this nation
When we claim our share
We're told remember our station
On the fields at Peterloo
They said reform was the solution
But General Ludd's lads
Were drilling for the Revolution
And why not, eh?
We know they're never on our side:
Cavaliers on the Wear, gunboats on the Tyne
Merseyside went all out for the general strike
And a hundred pit villages have been left to die..
It's the Harrowing of the North
That land beyond the law
Ruled and raped by robber barons
From the Humber to the Forth
And as a matter of course
They never show remorse
For the havoc they wreak
Everytime they come north.
[x2]
We won't forget the miners
Or ever forgive Thatcher
The bitch will get lynched
If justice ever catches her
From Ashington to Orgreave
A class war was fought
The state against the people
A second Harrowing of the North
Go to Easington now, man
There's nothing fucking there
Just smack and dereliction
And the cold sea air
All over the north
You can still get a taste
Of what the Dome's Day Book meant by
"This land is waste"..
That land beyond the law
Raped and ruled by robber barons
From the Humber to the Forth
And as a matter of course
They never show remorse
For the havoc they wreak
Everytime they come north.
[x2]
Truth in our hands like a stone
So let's cast it
The Harrying has lasted
Since William the Bastard,
With the South in his hands,
And the capital mastered,
Turned his armies on the North
- And then trashed it
A hundred thousand dead
Hunger haunting our homes
Crows filling the sky
Dogs gnawing on bones
A statement of intent
Since set down in stone
Their castles loom over the land
And in the shadows we groan
It's the Harrowing of the North
That land beyond the law
Ruled and raped by robber barons
From the Humber to the Forth
And as a matter of course
They never show remorse
For the havoc they wreak
Everytime they come north.
[x2]
And from then to now
These are liminal lands
Often changing hands
With the shifting sands
Of their power struggles
And the rival demands
Of competing elites
And their money-grubbing scams
Kings never came north
Unless marching to war
Cannon fodder in the army
Is what northerners are for
Cheap labour, cheap lives
Out of sight out of mind
In the dark, satanic mills
And the deepest coal mines
Our blood and sweat's
The foundation of this nation
When we claim our share
We're told remember our station
On the fields at Peterloo
They said reform was the solution
But General Ludd's lads
Were drilling for the Revolution
And why not, eh?
We know they're never on our side:
Cavaliers on the Wear, gunboats on the Tyne
Merseyside went all out for the general strike
And a hundred pit villages have been left to die..
It's the Harrowing of the North
That land beyond the law
Ruled and raped by robber barons
From the Humber to the Forth
And as a matter of course
They never show remorse
For the havoc they wreak
Everytime they come north.
[x2]
We won't forget the miners
Or ever forgive Thatcher
The bitch will get lynched
If justice ever catches her
From Ashington to Orgreave
A class war was fought
The state against the people
A second Harrowing of the North
Go to Easington now, man
There's nothing fucking there
Just smack and dereliction
And the cold sea air
All over the north
You can still get a taste
Of what the Dome's Day Book meant by
"This land is waste"..
Contributed by giorgio - 2013/4/9 - 08:41
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Lyrics and Music by Neil O'Brien