Cursed Land from SXXTStorm by Joel the Custodian

I cannot navigate by the sun, moon, stars
Cuz his monstrous fog is still consuming my car
It takes more than one or two bars
To adequately express my quest
And how I took it too far

If these hills are alive
Does this land have a heart?
Back in ‘92 chillin’ with a few goths in the park
Talking ‘bout Albion, England, psychic
Landscapes, empire, starving Irish
I walked many miles, I cycled, I drove
Up and down the country like Michael Gove
there’s so much natural beauty
Once you head outta town
but there’s some other force at work
Buried deep in the ground

Didn’t pick up on the vibes at first
But England is Envy
So, who’s really surprised it’s cursed
Blood diamonds, bloodlines
And blood money
When I die, can I be with
The peat bog mummies?
That’s not a river
That’s a burn or a brook
If you kill the land language
You never need to burn a book

I don’t know when the spell seeped in
But standing stones
They sat down and trees lost limbs
I searched under the bridges
And over the locks
If I find it, what will happen
When I open the box?

CHORUS
I’ve never been a well-versed man
But maybe I’ve experienced
The Waste Land first hand

I got a tip-off: excavate spaghetti junction
I taped off a parameter
Claiming under construction
As I dug, I heard voices: petulant, dour
Cacophony of curses, malevolent power
Hands got shaky, the shovel hit the heart
Of an Evil so alive, maybe I’ll be ripped apart
Your daughters are destined
For death by discouragement
All hope lost, dummy
This curse is permanent

No! This place is my home
At least I don’t have to face
All this hatred alone
Kae, how great are your poems!
The 3-sided coin disappears
When we put down the phones

Then sirens, rifles, drop that shovel
You shouldn’t be here
It’s just rocks and rubble
Zip wired, back of the van, ocular scan
In this black ops facility
I’m not a popular man
See, they venerate Churchill
Celebrate land grabs
Exonerate top brass
Give xenophobes back slaps
I’m sick of this back-and-forthery
What’s the most patriotic way
They’ll eventually choose to torture me?
‘Until you appreciate your
many, many freedoms
You gonna have to watch
Only Fools and Horses reruns’

CHORUS
I’ve never been a well-versed man
But maybe I’ve experienced
The Waste Land first hand

Alastair McIntosh:
England!
You carver-up of nations
For perpetual advantage!
Divided self’s divide-and-rule worldview
Yes, you, England!

• Hip-Hop/Rap
• UK
• dark
• independent
• Birmingham