Eric The Gardener Lyrics
'Cause it rained here all the time
Too many sniffs and colds
Got up his Roman nose
So he left it all behind for Eric the gardener to find
Eric the gardener
Eric the gardener will find Eric the gardener
Something of him would stay behind
Not in a Roman tomb or an Italian womb
But buried deep in English slime
For Eric the gardener to find
Eric the gardener
Eric the gardener will find Eric the gardener
With the rest of humankind
Dig deep and dig some more
Dig to the planet's core
Dig 'til you've gone out of your mind
But all you will ever find is Eric the gardener
All you can ever hope to find is Eric the gardener
A few pointers for anyone working out the meaning of this song:
1) Eric the Gardener is Eric Lawes, who in 1992 made one of the most important archeological findings in British history -a large collection of Roman coins and artefacts.
2) Julius Caesar's most famous saying translates as "I came, I saw, I conquered".
3) England has a rather damp climate
Eric the Gardener also refer to a comedy character, playe by Andrew McGibbon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_McGibbon "A Wiltshireman inclined to speak in gnomic, poetic utterances and non sequiturs".
Eric the gardner (Eric Lawes) will find Eric the Gardner (gnomic, poetic utterance and non-sequitur)
Most of what's down there is ordinary (gardner), but poetic - and will never give over its whole truth.
Extra historical notes: Although Julius Caesar did personally visit Britain in 55 and 54 BC, he did not die there nor lose any body parts. What he "left behind" was his legacy as the first man to extend the political and military reach of Rome to Britain.
Eric Lawes' find, the Hoxne Hoard, is not linked to Caesar's campaigns. It was buried hundreds of years later, near the end of Rome's influence. However, it's still a very likely inspiration for the song, since it was discovered only a few years before this album was released, and it was major news at the time.