12.Mile End
We didn't have no where to live, ／ we didn't have nowhere to go
／ 'til someone said
'I know this place off Burditt Road.' ／ It was on the fifteenth
floor, ／ it had
a board across the door. ／ It took an hour ／ to pry it off and
get inside. ／ It smelt as
if someone had died; ／ the living-room was full of flies, ／ the
kitchen sink was blocked,
／ the bathroom sink not there at all. ／ Ooh, ／ it's a mess
alright, ／ yes it's ／ Mile End.
／ And now we're living in the sky! ／ I'd never thought I'd live
so ／ high, ／ just like
Heaven ／ (if it didn't look like Hell.) ／ The lift is always
full of piss, ／ the fifth
floor landing smells of fish ／ (not just on Friday, ／ every
single other day.) ／ Below the
kids come out tonight, ／ they kick a ball and have a fight ／ and
maybe shoot somebody if
they lose at pool. ／ Ooh, ／ it's a mess alright, ／ yes it's ／
Mile End. ／ [mumbled
mutterings... you love it...]／ Oo-ooh ／ Nobody wants to be your
friend ／ 'cause you're
not from round here, ／ ooh ／ as if that was ／ something to be
proud about. ／ The pearly
king of the Isle of Dogs ／ feels up children in the bogs. ／ Down
by the playing fields,
someone sets a car on fire I guess you have to go right down ／
before you understand just
how, ／ how low, ／ how low a human being can go. ／ Ooh, ／ it's a
mess alright, ／ yes it's
Mile End. ／ (don't do that! Leave it out!) ／ Bababa... ／
Lalala...
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