now it s been 25 years or more i ve roamed this land from shore to shore from tyne to tamar severn to thames from moor to vale from peak to fen played in cafes pubs and bars i ve stood in the street with my old guitar but i d be richer than all the rest if i had a pound for each request for duelling banjos american pie it s enough to make you cry rule britannia or swing low are they the only songs we english know seed bark flower fruit they re never gonna grow without their roots branch stem shoot they need roots after the speeches when the cake s been cut the disco s over and the bar is shut at christening birthday wedding or wake what can we sing til the morning breaks when the indians asians afro celts it s in their blood below their belt they re playing and dancing all night long so what have they got right that we ve got wrong seed bark flower fruit they re never gonna grow without their roots branch stem shoot they need roots and haul away boys let them go out in the wind and the rain and snow we ve lost more than we ll ever know round the rocky shores of england we need roots and a minister said his vision of hell is three folk singers in a pub near wells well i ve got a vision of urban sprawl there s pubs where no one ever sings at all and everyone stares at a great big screen overpaid soccer stars prancing teens australian soap american rap estuary english baseball caps and we learn to be ashamed before we walk of the way we look and the way we talk without our stories or our songs how will we know where we come from i ve lost st george in the union jack it s my flag too and i want it back seed bark flower fruit never gonna grow without their roots branch stem shoot we need roots haul away boys let them go out in the wind and the rain and snow we ve lost more than we ll ever know round the rocky shores of england we need roots 