Henry Cow - Nine Funerals Of The Citizen King

Down beneath the spectacle of free
No one ever let you see
The Citizen King
Ruling the fantastic architecture of the burning cities
Where we buy and sell
La la la la la la la la la la la la
That the Snark was a Boojum all can tell
But a rose is a rose is a rose
Said the Mama of Dada as long ago as 1919

You make arrangements with the guard
Halfway round the exercise yard
To sugar the pill
Disguising the enormous double-time the king pays to Wordsworth
More than you or I could reasonably forfeit to buy...
Double-time the king pays to Wordsworth
More than you or I could reasonably buy...
If we live (we live) to tread on dead kings
Or else we'll work to live to buy the things we multiply
Until they fill the ordered universe

Down beneath the spectacle of free
No one ever let you see
The Citizen King
Ruling the fantastic architecture of the burning cities
Where we buy and sell
La la la la la la la la la la la la
That the Snark was a Boojum all can tell
But a rose is a rose is a rose
Said the Mama of Dada as long ago as 1919...