Lyrics Mark Knopfler

Mark Knopfler

Laughs and Jokes and Drinks and Smokes

Laughs and jokes

And drinks and smokes

And no lights on the stairs

We were young, so young

And always broke

Not that we ever cared

Not that we ever cared

Well, the holes in the walls

Were such a lot

Welcome to London town

But when you’re new to it all

And you think you’re hot

You’re not planning on hanging around

People would go on their different ways

I left to start a band

A note came through the letter box

In your childlike hand

Oh, laughs and jokes

And drinks and smokes

And no lights on the stairs

We were young, so young

And always broke

Not that we ever cared

Not that we ever cared

One day I rode to where you were

The doorbell jangled a note

They buzzed me in

I climbed the stairs

In my boots and leather coat

There’s an old brass

Standing there at the top

Without her witch’s broom

It almost seemed like a knocking shop

When the girls came out of their rooms

And they all stood around

And stared at me

Two brunettes and a blonde

Then the old brass shrugged and said

We don’t know where she’s gone

Later on I picked up the ball

And I took off down the line

I suppose by then I’d realised

You’d run into hard times

Oh, laughs and jokes

And drinks and smokes

And no lights on the stairs

We were young, so young

And always broke

Not that we ever cared

Not that we ever care