You can only hold your breath so long
for soon the news is gonna come to town.
Go tell the bishop better bless his ground
cos soon your spires,
they're coming falling down.
We won't have to say our prayers,
cos there'll be no one at home.
We've lived on the book and broken all the stairs.
Cos we're coming down to help ourselves,
we're coming down to help ourselves.
Empty your shells,
it didn't do so much good asking,
didn't do so much good asking.
Up to now,
up to now,
up to now.
There's a man behind every door
who always seems to ask me what am I doing there.
He has a castle for his home,
he's the meanest miser that we've ever known.
You say you worked hard for your star,
but in truth you got off before the streets were
red and took more than you share.
So we're coming down to help ourselves,
we're coming down to help ourselves.
Empty your shells,
it didn't do so much good asking,
didn't do so much good asking.
Up to now,
up to now,
up to now.
Time to start was yesterday,
but that old English music makes a fool of me.
But now I'm going down the road,
I hope a fiddler's tree is gonna help us free.
There's a note upon your door,
it won't get read till it's too late to wonder why we put it there.
Cos we're coming down to help ourselves,
we're coming down to help ourselves.
Empty your shells,
it didn't do so much good asking,
didn't do so much good asking.
Up to now,
up to now,
up to now.