Rivers

Our history runs down our rivers Down our rivers to the sea Reminds us of the things that matter Home and heart and history And all our sins will be forgiven Washed away to set us free By the rivers that run through our homesteads By myth and modal melody I traced these rivers from the cities to the seas To remind me of what I already know I traced the shorelines through a thousand histories To remind me an island is my home An island is my home I traveled far across this country Northumberland to Southern Downs I wandered up the rolling Humber And down the Thames to London town Countless lives were lived and lingered In the cuts, swerves, and the fells I left a tapestry called England And life and those who lived it well I traced these rivers from the cities to the seas To remind me of what I already know I traced the shorelines through a thousand histories To remind me an island is my home An island is my home Round here the sky is a little closer A little closer to the ground It's hard for someone to get lost here Harder still to get found Though I've seen a thousand rivers From the Mississippi to the Rhine The only place that I'll lay my hat down Is by an English riverside I traced these rivers from the cities to the seas To remind me of what I already know I traced the shorelines through a thousand histories To remind me an island is my home An island is my home So place your trust into the sea It's kept us safe for centuries It shaped our shores and steadily Its care has brought us, come When I die, I hope to be buried out in English seas So all that then remains of me Will lap against these shores Until England is no more