[Verse 1] Eighteen-fifteen, the guns fall quiet at last, Wellington's glory, but the bill comes in fast — Debt stacked up past double the whole nation's year, No default, no printing press, just patience and nerve. Britannia didn't welch, she didn't debase the coin, She balanced her ledgers, penny to pound, line by line. [Chorus] Piano piano, paying down Waterloo, Niente default, solo sudore e virtù — Primary surplus, growth doing the heavy part, Lentamente, lentamente, it's an art. Thirty percent by nineteen-fourteen, watch it fall, Piano piano — patience pays for all. [Verse 2] Eighteen forty-two, Sir Robert Peel takes the floor, Brings the income tax back, knocking on England's door — Seven pence in the pound, a "temporary" claim, Funny how "temporary" taxes never leave the frame. Gladstone in fifty-three stood up with a plan so bold, Vowed he'd abolish it — that promise turned out cold. [Chorus] Piano piano, paying down Waterloo, Niente default, solo sudore e virtù — Primary surplus, growth doing the heavy part, Lentamente, lentamente, it's an art. Thirty percent by nineteen-fourteen, watch it fall, Piano piano — patience pays for all. [Verse 3] Eighteen forty-four, the Bank Charter shuts the door, Gold anchors every note the printers pour, No devaluing shortcuts, no inflationary cheat, Just parsimony — that stinginess of state — Hoarding every shilling like it's hard to replicate, Frugal housekeeping turning deficits to wait. [Bridge] Northcote's sinking fund, eighteen seventy-five, Feeding the debt downward, keeping the plan alive. Goschen, eighty-eight, took the consols in his hand, Three percent to two-and-three-quarters, calmly planned, Then down again to two-and-a-half, the coupon shaved thin, Conversion senza panico — that's how old empires win. [Chorus] Piano piano, paying down Waterloo, Niente default, solo sudore e virtù — Primary surplus, growth doing the heavy part, Lentamente, lentamente, it's an art. Thirty percent by nineteen-fourteen, watch it fall, Piano piano — patience pays for all. [Verse 4] Railways rising, factories humming through the smoke, Industry's engine pulling harder than the yoke, GDP climbing while the debt stayed pinned in place, Denominator growing at a steady, patient pace. No crisis needed, no creditor's revolt, Just decades of discipline, no sudden jolt — Empire's credit shining, triple-A and true, Lenders lined up trusting what Britannia'd do. Consol yields falling, confidence the prize, Virtue compounding slowly before the world's eyes. [Outro] Compare it later to the forties' quiet squeeze, Financial repression, rates held down with ease — But this one here was virtuous, grinta e sudore true, Piano piano... addio, Waterloo. [Chorus] Piano piano, paying down Waterloo, Niente default, solo sudore e virtù — Primary surplus, growth doing the heavy part, Lentamente, lentamente, it's an art. Thirty percent by nineteen-fourteen, watch it fall, Piano piano — patience pays for all.
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