verse 1
F#m
I remember, I remember when my world was hardly grown
D C#7
And the daughter of a dead dull king ascended to the throne
F#m A B F#dim
And though I was just a lad at school I saw it all with scorn
F#m E A G#
The solemn, sacred emptiness, the monumental yawn
A E
And the slime exuding daily from the sycophantic slugs
D C#7
And the coronation ashtrays and the coronation mugs
A E
And the rows of urban (?) mummies with their maggot-eaten brains
D C#7
All the swarms of bloated blowflies the majestic turd sustains
F# E B C#
Droves of decorated duchesses like newly-painted slums
F E B C#
Kneeling flunkeys, praying monkeys, loyal holes for royal crumbs
F# G# C#7
And the well-heeled sharks discreetly selling tickets for the show
F# D#m G#m C#
Park lane balconies with champagne at a thousand quid a throw
F# E B C#7
“Come and cheer the golden fairy queen, forget your daily cares,
F# E B C#
For she radiates a glory that a grateful nation shares”
F# E B C#
And the pageantry, the panoply, the sanctified decay
F# E D C#7
But I knew the hour was coming that would sweep it all away
F#m A B D
Now time has me in a corner, and I’m moth-eared (?) from the fray
A E B
But Her Majesty is reigning still today
Chorus
F#m E
With a glass cage around her and an absence in her eyes
D C#
And though regiments around her they can’t take her by surprise
F# A E
She’s as poised as a picture, she’s a sight for all to see
D C# F#m
With a glass cage around her on her Silver Jubilee
D C#m B
With a glass cage around her she feels free
verse 2
F#
I remember 1956, division East and West
D C#7
British paratroops in Suez, Russian tanks in Budapest
F#m A B F#dim
And the peaceful marchers singing for the dream that must come true
F#m E A G#
Of a world free from the nightmare we’ve since grown accustomed to
A E
And the Cuban missile crisis with the rumors flying round
D C#7
While the Queen was in her secret bomb-proof palace underground
A E
And the violence exploding when anger made a stand
D C#7
For a peasant people burning in a torn and tortured land
F# E B C#m
And the monarch walked her corgis behind the palace wall
F E B C#
Never once betraying what she felt or if she felt at all
F# G# C#7
While her husband shout his mouth off like a walking blunderbuss
F# D#m G#m C#
She gave birth to royal children with a minimum of fuss
F# E B C#7
Maintained her wax-worked dignity as she trot the royal dance
F# E B C#
Fulfilled her royal functions in a kind of royal trance
F# E B C#
Balmoral, Ascot, Sandringham, the ship-launching routine
F#m E D C#7
Palace banquets, garden parties, ever-smiling and serene
F#m A B D
Unique symbol, model woman, never seeing, always seen
A E B
So we watched her as she played at being queen
Chorus
F#m E
With a glass cage around her and an absence in her eyes
D C#
And though regiments around her they can’t take her by surprise
F# A E
She’s as poised as a picture, she’s a sight for all to see
D C# F#m
With a glass cage around her on her Silver Jubilee
D C#m B
With a glass cage around her she feels free
verse 3
F#
She seems so commonplace a woman in her fuddy-duddy hats
D C#7
But she doesn’t stand in bus queues or live in high-rise flats
F#m A B F#dim
She doesn’t ride the rush hour or cycle down the Strand
F#m E A G#
And she doesn’t play maracas in the Ivy Benson band
A E
And she doesn’t shop for bargains, she’s never on the dole
D C#7
And if she does the football pool, she doesn’t tell a soul
A E
And she doesn’t need to bother with the inland revenue
D C#7
Though she’s royally rewarded for the things she doesn’t do
F# E B C#m
With palaces and properties and to keep her in good cheer
F E B C#
Her working wage of one point seven million pounds a year
F# G# C#7
Her royal plane, her royal train, a costly royal yacht
F# D#m G#m C#
And lucrative investments in only God knows what
F# E B C#7
Oh, the magic of the monarchy, the mystery sublime
F# E B C#7
Growing gracefully and effortlessly richer all the time
F# E B C#
She’s the rock of hope and glory in the quicksand of despair
F#m E D C#7
For although the pound may tumble, although panic fills the air
F#m E D C#7
Although government may crumble, and the cupboards nearly bare
F#m E D C#7
Though the stairs begin to rattle, and the rats begin to stare
F#m A B D
She enfolds in mystic unity her subjects everywhere
A E B
And we know we’re safe from harm while nanny’s there
Chorus
F#m E
With a glass cage around her and an absence in her eyes
D C#
And though regiments around her they can’t take her by surprise
F# A E
She’s as poised as a picture, she’s a sight for all to see
D C# F#m
With a glass cage around her on her Silver Jubilee
D C#m B D F#
With a glass cage around her she feels free