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1954 London
After the Ball the Musical - Oh, What a Century It's Been Lyrics
The song is written by Noël Coward.
Oh, what a century it's been,
From George the Third to Queen Victoria.
We've never had to think: 'Sic transit gloria.'
Oh, what a century it's been.
But happy foreigners with jealous eyes
Can only gaze at us in odd surprise.
Oh, how indeed,
Ah, how indeed,
Could any lesser, lower breed
Be even vaguely guaranteed
to understand.
This tomb of kings deserved this dear, dear land.
This race so certain of its quality
And so convinced of its innate superiority.
Oh, what a century it's been.
None can deny the upward trend of it.
And though we very nearly reach the end of it,
What innovations we have seen!
A British transformation scene.
We've seen her birth of Queen Victoria
And the death of William Pitt,
And then we won the battle of Waterloo.
Which gave our island story a
Certain lift, you must admit -
And if you don't, we do.
We've seen the National Gallery open
And the Houses of Parliament burn,
The introduction of income tax,
Which gave us quite a turn.
We've seen the late Prince Consort
On a magic-lantern screen.
What a happy and glorious,
Most meritorious
Century it has been.
We've read The Daisy Chain and Romany Rye
And passionately clung
To Walter Scott and Emily Brontë too.
We're rather cross that so many buy
The works of Charlotte Yonge,
But nonetheless they do.
We simply worship Christina Rossetti
And we're mad about Tennyson's Maud,
We love to be up an apple tree
With Mrs. Humphrey Ward.
From William Blake to Kipling,
With the Brownings in between
What an unsupersed-able
Wonderf'ly read-able century this has been.
What an unsupersed-able
Wonderf'ly read-able,
Drink-able, feed-able,
?
Follow my lead-able,
Oh yes indeed-able,
Century this has been.
Review: After the Ball the Musical Lyrics
After the Ball the Musical Lyrics
SYNOPSIS
Oh, What a Century It's Been
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