Grenfell was much older then,
Out of favour with the crowd.
Wrapped in a cheap skin of plastic and tin,
To make the skyline proud.
I wonder if they knew what they’d done,
If they didn’t think or didn’t care,
And if they spared a thought at all,
For the families living there.
On June 14 an alarm screams,
A small kitchen fire burns,
A soft glow in the window,
No need for concern.
But the fire hides for a moment,
Then it turns to strike,
Ferociously feasting on the façade,
Racing upward flight by flight.
And London is burning tonight,
Deliberately set alight,
We might not make it out alive,
Saved some money but paid the price.
And London is burning tonight,
Avarice and greed set it on fire,
We wait, watch and wonder why,
London’s burning tonight.
The tower is blazing now,
But everything is fine,
Your home might be burning,
But please stay inside.
There’s no need to be afraid,
Help is almost here,
Sirens cut through the dirty air,
And then they disappear.
The desperate calls are answered,
Words careful and calm,
“Stay right where you are,” they say,
A policy gone too far.
And here on the ground crowds gather ’round,
And they watch and scream and cry,
Praying for a miracle,
For those still trapped inside.
And London is burning tonight,
Deliberately set alight,
We might not make it out alive,
Saved some money but paid the price.
And London is burning tonight,
Avarice and greed set it on fire,
We wait, watch and wonder why,
London’s burning tonight.
The world watched on for sixty hours,
As the flames were laid to rest,
While the spin doctors rehearsed the lines,
That would serve them best.
The government blamed the workers,
The corporations did the same,
Serving the stock at all cost,
Letting someone else take the blame.
Some screamed at the powers that be,
But they already knew,
Every warning locked away,
Safely hidden from me and you.
Risk assessed and understood,
And quietly pushed through,
As long as they make their targets,
They have nothing much to lose.
And London is burning tonight,
Deliberately set alight,
We might not make it out alive,
Saved some money but paid the price.
And London is burning tonight,
Avarice and greed set it on fire,
We wait, watch and wonder why,
London’s burning tonight.
From the twentieth floor you choke or fall,
Discarded warnings on the floor,
“Show me the bodies,” one MP called,
“Or there’s no problem at all.”
Corners cut, reports faked,
Signed off, ticked, approved,
A thousand warnings buried deep,
But they will never find the proof.
So shut your mouth, don’t say a word,
Forget the things you saw,
The truth was bought and paid for,
And your silence will save us all.
No apology, no justice,
Just an endless circle of blame,
And we sit here doing nothing,
So nothing’s gonna change.
Seventy two names we couldn’t save,
So we wrote them on a wall,
Silence built the tower,
And silence watched it fall.
Silence built the tower,
And silence watched it fall.