Transport of Delight - Flanders and Swann

Some people like a motorbike,
Some say a tram for me,
Or for bonny Annie Laurie
By the lay them down a dee.
Such means of locomotion seem rather dull to us,
The driver and conductor of a London omnibus.

Hold very tight please! Ting-ting!
Hold very tight please! Ting-ting!

When you are lost in London
And you don't know where you are
You'll hear my voice a-calling
"Pass further down the car!"
And very soon you'll find yourself inside the terminus,
In a London transport diesel-engined 97-horsepower omnibus.

Along the Queen's great Highway I drive my merry load
At 20 miles-per-hour in the middle of the road.
We like to drive in convoys - we're most gregarious:
The big six-wheeler scarlet-painted London transport diesel-engined 97-horsepower omnibus.

Earth has not anything to show more fair
Mind the stairs! Mind the stairs! Mind the stairs!
Earth has not anything to show more fair
Any more fares? Any more fares? Any more fares? Any more fares? Any more fares?

When cabbies try to pass me, before they overtakes,
I sticks me flippin' 'and out and jams on all me brakes,
Then jackal taxi drivers can only swear and cuss
Behind that monarch of the road,
Observer of the Highway Code,
That big six-wheeler scarlet-painted London transport diesel-engined 97-horsepower omnibus.

I stops when I'm requested although it spoils the rides
So he can shout "Gert out of it, we're full right up inside!"
We don't ask much for wages, we only want fair shares
So cut down all the stages and stick up all the fares.
If tickets cost a pound a piece
Why should you make a fuss?
It's worth it just to ride inside
That 30-foot-long by 10-foot-wide
Inside that monarch of the road,
Observer of the Highway Code,
That big six-wheeler scarlet-painted London transport diesel-engined 97-horsepower, 97-horsepower omnibus.

Hold very tight please! Ting-ting!


Footnotes

Annie Laurie: slang for Army lorry


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