Let The Symbol Of Our Nation Be A Pub!

The Scottish and the Welsh now have their own assemblies
While the English are left wondering "Just exactly who are we?"
It's a question that needs answering - before the battle's lost
And the forces of the Right bedeck themselves in George's Cross
We need to reassert an idea that can create a nation
That's united out of choice and not by pigmentation
A symbol of inclusion from which nobody is barred
Something we can point at and say "That is who we are!"

So let the symbol of our nation be a pub!
Because it symbolises the things in life that are English and are good
Irrespective of your faith, sexual preference or race
Let the symbol of our nation be a pub!

Yes, the nature of our island is not unlike a pub
It's crowded and it's noisy, and bits keep dropping off
The regulars don't change much, though the landlords come and go
And the decor was quite fashionable a hundred years ago
Music, thought and football pour from every table-town
There's a thousand ancient rules and yet not one is written down
We like to make out we're parochial and shy
But a look along the menu tells you that's a bloody lie

So let the symbol of our nation be a pub ...

And it might appear to strangers that the welcome's not too warm
But respect given for free is not worth anything at all
And if you've got an idea or just like to have a laugh
Then it won't be very long before you're sitting at the bar
And there'll always be some old sod who is mumbling in his pint
About the other pubs around here which he's never been inside
We'll all laugh politely though we wish he'd bugger off
So we can enjoy a place which we will not admit we love

So let the symbol of our nation be a pub ...

(c) M J Hibbett, 2003