Preservation: Act 1 lyrics

(Sung by The Tramp)

I'll sing a song about some people you might know
They made front pages in the news not long ago
But now they're just part of a crowd
And I wonder where they all are now.

Where have all the Swinging Londoners gone?
Ossie Clark and Mary Quant
And what of Christine Keeler,
John Stephen and Alvaro,
Where on earth did they all go?
Mr. Fish and Mr. Chow,

(Sung by Working Class Man, Middle Class Man and Upper Class Man)

I'm just a simple working man
Gettin' by the best I can
In this crazy mixed-up muddled-up world that I live in.

I'm a middle class sort of a guy
I'm not rich but I get by
Pretending that I know just what I'm doin'.

I'm a well bred upper class sort of chap,
I don't care much about this and that

(Sung by The Tramp)

Once under a scarlet sky I told you never ending lies,
But they were the words of a drunken vagabond
Who knew very well he would break your heart before long
Oh forgive me Genevieve.

Now I've come back to see Sweet Lady Genevieve,
This time I'll give you some security
And I will make promises I can keep
So will you come back to me Sweet Lady Genevieve.

(Sung by The Tramp)

I'm sitting by the side of a river
Underneath the pale blue sky
I've got no need to worry, I'm in no hurry
I'm looking at the world go by.

Just sitting in the midday sun,
Just soaking up that currant bun,
With no particular purpose or reason
Sitting in the midday sun.

Everybody say I'm lazy
They all tell me get a job you slob,

Once upon a time
In a faraway land
Lived a villain called Flash
He was such a wicked man
He terrorized the people
He broke arms and crushed hands
He ruled with a fist and he purchased all the land

Then he plowed up the fields and cut down the trees
For property speculation
And he did it all for a pot of gold
And for his own preservation

The people were scared

(Sung by Johnny Thunder and Chorus)

See Johnny Thunder sitting on his motorbike
Riding along the highway,
Rock and Roll songs from the nineteen-fifties
Buzzing around in his brain.
Johnny Thunder he's one of the original bebop generation
And he's got no time for complicated music or too much sophistication.

He's one of the survivors,
The motorbike riders.

instrumental

(Sung by Chorus and Scared Housewives)

You'd better run, you'd better fly.
Hide your daughters, hide your wives.
Lock your doors and stay inside
Here comes Flash.

There's no way that you can win,
You must obey his every whim,
Or else he's going to do you in.
Here comes Flash.

He will smile at you, be a friend to you,
Then he's gonna screw you just like that.

(Sung by Flash and his Cronies in their Den)

I spy with my little eye
Anything here that I can buy.
I see a little thatched cottage
Looking so neat
With compulsory purchase we can buy it up cheap.
Then we'll pull up the floor boards,
Knock down the walls,
Rock the foundations,
Until the house falls.
Like a pack of cards,
Crashing to the ground.
Then we'll build a row

(Sung by Chorus)

Daylight over the Village Green early in the morning.
Daylight over the hills and valleys heralding the morning.
Daylight over the mountains, daylight on the Village Green,
Daylight over the field and the factories.
Another night has gone away and here comes yet another day.

See the early morning risers walking round with bleary eyes.

(Sung by The Vicar)

Some people say that life is a game, well if this is so
I'd like to know the rules on which this game of life is based.
I know of no game more fitting than the age old game of cricket
It has honour, it has character and it's British.
Now God laid down the rules of life when he wrote those Ten Commandments
And to cricket those ten same rules shall apply.