"Victoria" as written by and Raymond Douglas Davies....
Long ago life was clean
Sex was bad, called obscene
And the rich were so mean
Stately homes for the Lords
Croquet lawns, village greens
Victoria was my queen
Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, 'toria
I was born, lucky me
In a land that I love
Though I am poor, I am free
When I grow I shall fight
For this land I shall die
Let her sun never set
Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, 'toria
Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, 'toria
Land of hope and gloria
Land of my Victoria
Land of hope and gloria
Land of my Victoria
Victoria, 'toria
Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, 'toria
Canada to India
Australia to Cornwall
Singapore to Hong Kong
From the West to the East
From to the rich to the poor
Victoria loved them all
Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, 'toria
Victoria, Victoria, Victoria
Sex was bad, called obscene
And the rich were so mean
Stately homes for the Lords
Croquet lawns, village greens
Victoria was my queen
Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, 'toria
I was born, lucky me
In a land that I love
Though I am poor, I am free
When I grow I shall fight
For this land I shall die
Let her sun never set
Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, 'toria
Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, 'toria
Land of hope and gloria
Land of my Victoria
Land of hope and gloria
Land of my Victoria
Victoria, 'toria
Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, 'toria
Canada to India
Australia to Cornwall
Singapore to Hong Kong
From the West to the East
From to the rich to the poor
Victoria loved them all
Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, 'toria
Victoria, Victoria, Victoria
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I think it is maybe a little sarcastic, but inspite of "the rich being so mean", the narrator still loves his country. The song looks at both sides of it, yes back then life was clean but sex was "obscene".
Davies is really great at writing songs that express a fondness for something gone by without being completely reactionary conservative. You really can hear that best in "Village Green Preservation Society".
That little turn of the music, "Land of hope and Gloria"(a bridge?) makes me want to be British.
The song is more of a lament of the romantic aspect of Queen Victoria and her Empire, which was long gone, the romanticism of a generation which was prepared to spill its blood for the country they loved so dearly.
In short, rather than thinking of the politics of attitudes to colonisation, or more appropriately de-colonisation and post-imperial Britain (being the 1960's) it is a sort of patriotic and romantic love song, for an era that had disappeared forever.
It is a concept album - liner notes: "Arthur Morgan ... lives in a London suburb in a house called Shangri-La, with a garden and a car and a wife called Rose and a son called Derek who's married to Liz, and they have these two very nice kids, Terry and Marilyn. Derek and Liz and Terry and Marilyn are emigrating to Australia. Arthur did have another son, called Eddie. He was named for Arthur's brother, who was killed in the battle of the Somme. Arthur's Eddie was killed, too—in Korea"
So this song is very satirical and expresses how the working class should be proud of the Queen and The Empire - all falling apart during the 20th century.
Excellent lyrics!
To say that he's just making some sarcastic or denuncitory satirical statements about Britain would be a mistake, I think. He obviously has a lot of affection for the England of "Victoria." Some people look at:
I was born, lucky me
In a land that I love
Though I am poor, I am free
When I grow I shall fight
For this land I shall die
Let her sun never set
...and assume that the message is completely negative, as in, "Look at the poor ignorant peasant tricked into dying for foolhardy British patriotism."
I don't think that's the right way to look at it. I think Davies, while mindful of the drawbacks that Empire and the Victorian culture bring with them, is at least somewhat fondly disposed towards them.
You can discern the same sensibilities in Muswell Hillbillies and Village Green Preservation Society, to name just two.