Strawbs - To Be Free lyrics

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The gilt-edged invitation came<br />

And I said "What can this mean?<br />

To attend the coronation<br />

As the first guest of the Queen<br />

And sit upon her right hand<br />

Where the Prince is normally seen?"<br />

The maids of honour stared at me<br />

And registered surprise<br />

To see a man of such good taste<br />

Appear before their eyes<br />

Now bring rather humble<br />

I adopted a disguise<br />

As the Minister of State<br />

For Mass Environment Controls<br />

Who condemn the working classes<br />

For inhabiting the holes<br />

That belong to Queen and Country<br />

But do not permit their souls<br />

To be free like me.<br />

<br />

The perspex chandelier<br />

Began to melt and slip away<br />

One million candle-powered<br />

It kept the night at bay<br />

While the power station workers<br />

Were busy making hay<br />

The workers in the fields<br />

Were engaged in self-defence<br />

Which involved the use of barbed wire<br />

As a self-containing fence<br />

But as a means of self-protection <br />

It was needlessly immense<br />

I stopped to ask them for a light<br />

They pointed at the sun<br />

Which raised their hopes of harvesting<br />

A better crop than guns<br />

Can ever mass produce<br />

At the expense of anyone<br />

Who is free like me.<br />

<br />

The solitary peasant<br />

In his home above the lake<br />

Raised high on wooden stilts<br />

Has made the singular mistake<br />

Of revolutionary conduct<br />

At the celebration wake<br />

His urban counterpart<br />

Engaged in mundane occupation<br />

Enjoys the chance of laughing<br />

At the Queen's humiliation<br />

At the hands of Ministers of State<br />

For Rehabilitation<br />

Now the power station worker<br />

Though his aim is too disjointed<br />

Finds himself around the corner<br />

While his gun is never pointed<br />

He is ever at the ready<br />

He desires to be annointed<br />

And be free like me.