When I was young Dark were the trees Houses are now where there once were fields And summers were long The trains ran on steam I was a boy from the home counties "And don't drop your aitches" my mum said to me If you want a job where your hands will be clean But there was no way I'd dress in grey And go up to London to earn my pay Having to say "thank you" and "please" I was a boy from the home counties
And now I'm as free as the times let me be And no one's the guv'nor apart from me So I'll mow your lawn or I'll prune your trees Cause I am a boy from the home counties I don't want your house and I don't want your car I reckon I'd die if I was like you are So spade in my hands And mud on my knees I am a boy from the home counties Spade in my hands And mud on my knees I am a boy from the home counties