300 million years ago I was born
My father was the sun in carbon times
From the womb of Mother Earth
Below a swamp she gave me birth
Light trapped in the darkness of a stone
I am coal
The legions of the eagle walked Celtic land
It was a long 500 years of time
They carved my bones and called me jet
Then hung me round their Roman necks
A gift of love and beauty for a while
I am coal
Chorus
I am coal - I am coal
Progress and destruction in my soul
The lepidodendron tree died and them gave birth to me
I trade for blood for energy
I am coal
When Tudors wore the hollow crown there I lay
Naked underneath a northern sky
I fed bitter fires of hate
A thorn between the church and state
Waters of the Tyne flowed gently by
I am coal
Steam made profit out of power – men could dream
I was a revolution’s beating heart
I turned children into slaves
And never marked their infant graves
Britain was the workshop of the world
I am coal
Chorus
I killed by water, gas and fire, deep in hell
My seed was money in the solar bank
I made soap – I made your ale
Some say I even saved the whale
That volcano burning in your hearth
I am coal
Lionised and then despised down all my days
I’m likened to the buboes of the plague
Creative destructive force
Maybe I’ve not yet run my course
I surely was the best of British stone
I am coal
Chorus - then sing - “I am buried sunshine underground - I am buried sunshine underground”
