Thankyou, Mr Hoskins

At school we read our history books which told of queens and kings Of those who sat upon the stage and always pulled the strings But now those empty pages once hidden from our sight Are brought out from the darkness and out into the light So thankyou, Mister Hoskins, I'll raise a glass to you As from the bigger picture, we find a world that's new As through a glass seen darkly now standing out so true A world once out of focus comes clearly into view Talk not of Pitt or Walpole, of Tory or of Whig But underneath that roof of straw the smell of hens and pigs We see through the kaleidoscope and find the daily bread As you take us to the heartbeat where our forefathers tread So thankyou, Mister Hoskins, I'll raise a glass to you As from the bigger picture, we find a world that's new As through a glass seen darkly now standing out so true A world once out of focus comes clearly into view Into those dry statistics, you breathed a heartfelt breath Those goods and chattels listed, as life melts into death Among the beans and barley who would not be content All in the house that Jack built, and left his testament So thankyou, Mister Hoskins, I'll raise a glass to you As from the bigger picture, we find a world that's new As through a glass seen darkly now standing out so true A world once out of focus comes clearly into view So thankyou, Mister Hoskins, I'll raise a glass to you As from the bigger picture, we find a world that's new As through a glass seen darkly now standing out so true A world once out of focus comes clearly into view