Oh to turn back the clock
If only for just the odd day
Remind people how we lived
In that less than recent way.
Travel by train on British Rail
No franchise problems occur
Catch any train you want
That was going to anywhere:
No worries as to which
Will take this ticket of mine,
British Rail owned the the lot
Ran every one on each line.
Travel in comfort in a world
That's almost of your own.
No wi-fi, laptop,or tablets,
No intrusive mobile phone.
No intrusion of your peace
From the wage paying berk
Who doesn't seem to realise
There's more to life than work
No having to sit and listen
To the minutiae of his life
From that boring loud voiced
Twat talking to his mistress or wife.
No profit going to foreign lands,
Every bit owned by this nation
In those days of many lines, with
Hamlets having their own station.
Not so many polluting lorries
Hauling their various loads
Most went by rail those day so
Less congestion on less roads.
Give me back my Sundays
I really liked that the best
Give me back a six day week
With its traditional day of rest.
Oh I know I'm just a silly old fart
And I've got to that certain stage
Supposed to show the wisdom
That comes with advancing age.
But I come from a time when
No so many had that obsession
Of living life at such a pace and
Craving each latest possession.
Progress is progress but
With so much we valued lost
I wonder if sometimes it does't
Come at much too high a cost.
