Rumours Of War

(By Billy Bragg, from the album "Don't Try This At Home")

There were soldiers marching on the common today
They were there again this evening
They marched up and down, like seabirds on the ground
Before the stormclouds gathering.

I must buy whatever tinned food is left on the shelves
They are testing the air-raid sirens
They've filled up the blood banks and emptied the beds
At the hospital and the asylum.

I saw a man build a shelter in his garden today
As we stood there idly chatting
He said "No, no, I don't think war will come."
Yet still he carried on digging.

Everything in my life that I love
Could be swept away without warning
But the birds still sing, and the church bells ring
And the sun came up this morning.

Life goes on as it did before
And the country drifts slowly to war.