8. PLEASANT LAND (2:51 Barnett)

I was born in a pleasant land
Of fields rich and green
Where folk of ancient lineage
Say everyone is free
And the smoke from old battlefields
Was fading from minds
The future was a-beckoning
For all human kind

But this view of Camelot
Was destined to fade
My rose tinted glasses
Got lost in the shade
I saw cracks in the facade
Saw veneer peel
Unreal expectations
That hard hearts could feel

Is there a land that claims to be free
Where people live in harmony and equality

Despite wars down the centuries
We’ve hardened with age
Still fists are thrust in faces contorted with rage
Minds have proved weaker than religion or skin
Can any land be a pleasant land
With such anger within

I’ve come to a pleasant land
Of fields wide and brown
Where folk from all around the world
Toil the country and town
But some have brought old battlefields
And refuse to forgive
And stoke the fires of emnity
In the nest where they live