The Greatest Living Englishman

Here we are then, here we are

Notes from a suicide

And he will never ever be

The greatest living Englishman

It's such a melancholy blue

Or a grey of no significance

Plastic coated surfaces

A space to place his suitcase

As he's bussed from A to B

But it's such a melancholy blue

The curtains round the bed are drawn

Broadcast voices from the ward

The humming of machines are heard

But there are distances between

Yes, there are distances between

His aspirations visited him nightly

And amounted to so little

Too much self in his writing

Now he will never ever be

The greatest living Englishman

The engine shifts into second gear

They're all aboard accounted for

It's a journey he must make alone

The black sheep boy is leaving home

It's been rehearsed a thousand times or more

He's well prepared of that he's sure

But still it's such a melancholy blue

He's erased a page of history

Much as he'd intended to

He wouldn't speak or show you he was happy

Though you'd meet him with your eyes

There was a wall that always stood between you

He'd shut himself outside

And the love that he engendered

Would never be enough

For him to feel alive

Warm and tender

He'd shut himself outside

Not a fake nor a sham

But dug in deep and fighting

The world could not embrace a man

With so much self in his writing

Well he was never gonna be

The greatest living Englishman

He had ideas above his station

Minor virtues go unmentioned

Little England you fit like a straightjacket

Hemmed by the genius of others

He said "to conquer the world is not to leave a trace

Remove even the shadow of the memory of your face"

A grey of no significance