Song for Britannia (Reap the Fruits)

gistfile1.txt

I wrote this song in 1993, in response to a round of UK handwringing about its historical decline 
(now laughably minor in contrast to Brexit.) 

It has a bit of a reggae beat. If someone is interested I could share chords & melody. 
 
Tears from across the sea
Cry the kingdom that used to be
Your sun is going down forevermore
Losing faith and losing heart
Traditions sacred torn apart
Hopelessness has hushed the lion's roar

Wheel it spins
Some lose, some win
See how the mighty fall
I'd like to lend a hand
But I'm not sure you'll understand
Perhaps I'm only adding to your woe
But you reap the fruits of what you sow

A nation once that ruled the seas
Conquering armies swept with ease
Through peaceful lands with war and butchery
An empire built on broken backs
Torture rape and sneak attacks
Ruthlessness deceit and treachery

India fell
You robbed her well
Hundred years or more
Trouble in the China lands
You forced the opium in their hand
Now back this curse the winds upon you blow
You reap the fruits of what you sow

The Irish and the Scottish clans
First to suffer your demands
Five centuries ground underneath your heel
Across the ocean many flee
Britannia’s host of misery
To carve America with wagon wheel (pronounce Ameri-kay)

Links in a chain
Again and again
Followed to their source
The sun it cannot bear to see
The poison of your felonies
The seeds of hate you planted long ago
Now reap the fruits of what you sow

And still your conscience justifies
You only hoped to civilize
Like the rapist speaks of love at his trial
The evil of what you began
Today bears bitter fruit in many lands
Into the fire I cast your pale denial

Please understand
I'm trying to lend a hand
Speak the truth of what you have done
Your blood is flowing in my veins
Your grief it echoes in my brain
And honesty is hard to hear I know
You reap the fruits of what you sow