They buried my body on Christmas In the ground by the south river bank Worked to my death, for my very last breath I'd the Winchester bishops to thank Now the church held the keys to the brothel Lit the window with a burning red light While I teased the funds from the pockets of johns The bishop got rich in the night
But I didn't fall apart Through my years in the dark For my lover I guarded My pure, pure heart
And he meets me in the graveyard The graveyard where they made my bed Plants a white flower under cold stars On the grave of the forgotten dead
Now the bishops snuck off to fresh pastures While my grave was grown over with weeds No burial plots, just some forget-me-nots For the women they branded unclean The wasteland was claimed by the city They covered it with tenement slums For where we'd been left had never been blessed And they dug down and built on our bones
But every December With frost on his fingers My lover returns For he still remembers
To meet me in the graveyard The graveyard where they made my bed Plants a white flower under cold stars On the grave of the forgotten dead
The sun goes down and the last folk leave It's London Town on Christmas Eve My lover still wanders bereft and bereaved For he can't find the woman that he promised he'd meet The sun comes up on the cold, cold ground It's Christmas morning in London Town He lays on my grave and he cradles his head And as he hears the church bells, he knows that I'm dead
So London, don't mourn for your lovers Raise a glass for us glorious dead For beneath Southwark streets, we outlasted the priests And the city's raised up on our beds Though we're gone, London, do not forget
To meet us on Christmas In the graveyard where they made our bed Plant a white flower for the outcasts On the graves of the forgotten dead
Oh to meet us on Christmas In the graveyard where they made our bed Plant a white flower for the outcasts On the graves of the forgotten dead