If you're feeling that the winter
Went on far too long,
And our national fiscal policy
Could possibly be wrong,
Cast your mind back to last year,
Recall the soaking Jubilee
When we awaited the Olympics
Somewhat trepidaciously.
Before...
It didn't feel like summer.
There was an awful lot of rain
And there were sort of gale-force winds
And it was really cold again.
I thought I'd leave my vest off -
It was July, for heavens sake,
But I had to put it on again.
And all the tans were fake.
The shops were stocked with shorts and tops:
Frankly, we didn't care.
Jumpers, leggings, brollies, boots
Were our survival wear.
There were huge security issues.
Strikes threatened. OMG.
Could we afford to pay the bills?
Would we be shamed, Olympicly?
During...
When the Olympics were half over
It had rained a bit, it's true,
But there was sun, and smiley faces,
And lots of red and white and blue,
And we were managing SOME MEDALS
And our athletes were MAGNIF.
And I tried to do some exercise
And so felt really stiff,
But the opening was marvellous,
History, culture, lights,
Lark Rise to Candleford, industry,
An Olympic night of nights!
A vast and lively musical,
And THE QUEEN parachuted down
And streams of gorgeous athletes
And the CAULDRON'S fiery crown!
Wotta lotta work went in!
Wotta brilliant show!
Wotta lotta people helped
To do it with Seb Coe!
After...
Well, the rain had drifted in again
And things were a bit flat
But the Olympic weather was quite good..
How did they manage that?
We won a lot of medals:
Third place on the chart.
We saw the determination
Of the Brit team taking part.
All those years of training!
Bodies honed to the nth degree!
Their sacrifices backed by cash
From John Major's Lottery!
It might have made us conscious
Of being only couch athletes -
I've never seen so many families
Cycling in the streets!
London's skyline backdropped
The arena's 'O' of light
Enclosing movement, music, people -
A last gigantic party night.
And 70,000 VOLUNTEERS!
We showed what we could do!
We may be broke and battered
But we really saw it through.
So no, we probably couldn't afford it
And the rain did settle in
But I was confident they'd sort it out
For the Paralympics to begin.
And then: THE PARALYMPICS!
What a triumph! What a show!
Those amazing paralympians!
All that get-up-and-go!
All that training. Dedication
Banished clouds of limitation:
Inspiration to the nation,
Cause for true appreciation.
We held our breath for athletes,
Cheered them on their way.
We laughed with the presenters
And asked 'Is it OK?'
Disability was out there
As the athletes went for gold,
Allowed to show its sense of humour
And we watched it all unfold.
I didn't want to let it go.
It was ours! So why should we?
Let's celebrate it all again
Retrospectively !!
