The sun never sets
The blood never dries
The selfless sacrifice
Of the butchers maligned
The sun never sets
The blood never dries
Lest we forget

The sun never sets
Teardrops never dry
This deathless bloodshed
Of the whetted knives
For your sons you never wept
The fruitless sacrifice
Of the master butchers

Never trusted in the dark
Pecuniary villeinage
A decaying realm to rapine and plunder

Like maggots colonizing
Contagious disease contaminating
Expansionist plague to pillage & conquer

The union of cruciate & saltire
The callous cruciate & saltire
To beneficiate the graveyard of empire

In the name of his tyrannical majesty
To serve the imperialist tragedy
A cruel serving sovereignty
A subjugating murderous monarchy

Recollections of the past, revised, laundered, tainted & poisoned
But I'll raise a toast to the memory of those who served in the
West African squadron
Merciful overlords

In the name of diabolical oligarchy
In the kingdom of demise rules supremacy
Solipsistic crowned nobility
Stern reigning gunboat diplomacy

Recollections of the past, revised, condemn, taint & poison
But I'll raise my glass to the memory of the wretches who
Served in the preventative squadron

I salute
Those who tugged at the master butcher's apron strings

The sun never sets
The blood never dried
The fruitless sacrifice
Of the butchers benign
The sun it never sets
The blood never dries
Lest we forget
That the master butchers still whet their knives


Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings

The Master Butcher's Apron Lyrics as written by Jeff Walker Daniel Wilding

Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

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The Master Butcher's Apron song meanings
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  • +2
    Song Meaning

    This song's about British Imperialism.

    First off, taking a look at the title: 'Butcher's Apron' was a common derogatory term for the Union Jack, especially among the Irish.

    "The sun never sets" This is a phrase applied to many empires, so named because they were so vast that it was always daytime in some area or another. It was commonly used to refer to the British Empire in the 19th century.

    "The blood never dries" 'The Blood Never Dried' is a book that tells the history of the British Empire from a very leftist/anti-imperial perspective, much like A People's History of the United States. This line was used to point out that Great Britain's Empire was maintained through constant warfare and atrocities.

    There are quite a few other lines that suggest themes of imperialism ("Expansionist plague to pillage and conquer") and historical revisionism ("Recollections of the past, revised, condemn, taint, and poison"), but the aforementioned lines are the main clues that this refers specifically to Britain.

    ThatShadowGuyon February 06, 2014   Link

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