Intro
F
[Verse 1]
F A# C F
I speak on behalf of the next generation
F A# C F
Our sons and daughters, their children to come
F A# C F
What will we leave them for their recreation
F A# C F
An oil slick, a pylon, an industrial slum
[Chorus]
Eb A#
Leave them a flower, some grass and a hedgerow
Ab A#
D hill and a valley, a view to the sea
Eb A#
These things are not ours to destroy as we want to
Ab A# F A# C F
D gift given once for eternity
[Verse 2]
F A# C F
We plunder, we pillage, we tear and we tunnel
F A# C F
Trees lying toppled, they finger the sky
F A# C F
Building a land for machines and computers
F A# C F
In the name of progress the farms have to die
[Chorus]
Eb A#
Leave them a flower, some grass and a hedgerow
Ab A#
D hill and a valley, a view to the sea
Eb A#
These things are not ours to destroy as we want to
Ab A# F A# C F
D gift given once for eternity
[Verse 3]
F A# C F
Fish in the ocean polluted and poisoned
F A# C F
The sand on our beaches, all stinking and black
F A# C F
We and our tankers and banks and investments
F A# C F
Say, "Never worry, the birds will come back"
[Chorus]
Eb A#
Leave them a flower, some grass and a hedgerow
Ab A#
D hill and a valley, a view to the sea
Eb A#
These things are not ours to destroy as we want to
Ab A# F A# C F
D gift given once for eternity
[Verse 4]
F A# C F
When the last flower has dropped its last petal
F A# C F
When the last concrete is finally laid
F A# C F
The moon will shine cold on a nightmarish landscape
F A# C F
Our gift to our children, this world that we made
[Chorus]
Eb A#
Leave them a flower, some grass and a hedgerow
Ab A#
D hill and a valley, a view to the sea
Eb A#
These things are not ours to destroy as we want to
Ab A# F A# C F
D gift given once for eternity
F
Eternity
F
Eternity