Lyrics Billy Bragg

Billy Bragg

Northern Industrial Town

It's just a northern industrial town

The front doors of the houses open into the street

There's no room for front gardens

Just a two-up, two-down

In a northern industrial town

And you can see the green hills 'cross the rooftops

And a fresher wind blows past the end of our block

In the evenings the mist comes rolling on down

Into a northern industrial town

And there's only two teams in this town

And you must follow one or the other

Let us win, let them lose

Not the other way round

In a northern industrial town

And the streetlights look pretty and bright

From the tops of the hills that rise dark in the night

If it weren't for the rain, you might never come down

To your northern industrial town

And on payday they tear the place down

With a pint in your hand and a bash 'em out band

Sure they'd dance to the rhythm of the rain falling down

In a northern industrial town

And there's plenty of artists around

Painters, steal cars, poets, nicked guitars

'Cause we're out of the black and we're into the red

So give us this day our daily bread

In a northern industrial town

But it's not Leeds or Manchester

Liverpool, Sheffield nor Glasgow

It's not Newcastle-on-Thyne

It's Belfast

It's just a northern industrial town

Merry Christmas, war is over

In a northern industrial town