Let England Shake (Demo) Lyrics
The west's asleep, let England shake
Weighted down with silent dead
I fear our blood won't rise again
Won't rise again
[Verse 2]
England's dancing days are done
Another day, Bobby, for you to come
Home and tell me indifference
Is won, won, won
[Chorus]
Smile, smile Bobby, with your lovely mouth
Pack up your troubles, let's head out
To the fountain, the fountain of death
And splash about
Swim back, back, back, back, back, back, back, back
[Verse 3]
Until the day is ending
And the birds are silent
And the insects are courting
And by the shores
And by the shores, heavy stones are falling
Smile, smile Bobby, with your lovely mouth
Pack up your troubles, let's head out
To the fountain, the fountain of death
And splash about
Swim back and forth, back, back, laugh out loud
Back, back, back, back
[Outro]
Take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
About
The opening track to the demos counterpart to Let England Shake. The song, one of the most popular and well received when Let England Shake was released is shown here in a stripped back version.
The song has a very interesting rhythmic structure where it skips a beat every other bar, and in this demo it becomes very obvious that this structure comes from chopping a sample of. Istanbul (Is Not Constantinople) by The Four Lads.
In the original, the beat is not skipped, but in this sample, the last word is cut off. In Let England Shake, PJ Harvey is inspired by the sample to create the main melodic hook of the song and uses the chopped up sample as inspiration for the rhythm as well
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
- 1.Let England Shake (Demo)
