Desolation Row

Kids of today, we here them say, no respect, what do you expect Always hanging around on the streets, doing nothing and nothing to do Is it their fault in this decaying society or should the blame lie with you Dirty, unkempt, drug using, smoking, car thieving, layabouts, so say you Mature you say, Old and wise but always telling the kids, pushing your own advise Was it not you that petitioned to have the youth club demolished and razed Was the noise from a hand full of teenagers so unbearable that you became enraged Is it their fault that there is no employment and if there is, its on the minimum wage Yes you live in your own world of self righteousness and predictability, what a pity Wash the car on Sunday routinely, mow the lawn Saturday on a regular robotic rota, see Call the kids animals, brain dead, layabouts, ashamed now, ashamed of yourself, you outa be You have led a privileged life, all bridge clubs and playing golf, you lost reality OK, so Tom may be a nuisance, he smokes, throws beer cans in your garden, leans on your car I agree with you, Toms like that and if we are truthful, he probably will not go very far Then I did hear that he landed a job, begins next week, not the best job washing glasses in a bar But just to get a chance of work experience is something in these parts, well done Tom, hoorah The point is, he is trying to make a difference in what he sees as a useless existence, its true Where as you, Mr Success, from a different time and era well it was easier then, Manager was you Indexed linked pension now but in your time it was all company car, fringe benefits and salaried too You probably had a staff of ten, including a personal secretary to do most of your work for you Not all the kids are the same, Jodie is sixteen, trained hard to be an athlete since she was aged eight Damned hard work she has put in over the years, non smoker, non drinker, I think it is great Jodie grew up on the same dirty, over populated, crime ridden, drug problematic, council estate As Tom did but she chose to change her life by getting up early and doing something about it, mate You were one of the lucky one's born at the right post war time, no recession, how neat An economy on the up, war damage to mend, plenty of opportunities and money to spend, oh great Now you while away the day with your guaranteed pay, standing at the gate scolding at the street You never had the misfortune to be a hungry kid in a broken home, with very little to eat Think yourself lucky you got a nice paid for home, with a big garden and central heating not cold Like the tenement blocks, the people you resent have to live, so high in the sky, its scary, I’m told For believe me they are bigger, better, higher people and one day, they may drop a bomb on the old These streets still scare me and I grew up here, They are painted with blood not rolled gold So get of your high horse and bless the lord for all the things he gave to you and yours The unfortunate keep themselves to themselves unless you wanna change that course If you cannot see how privileged life has been for you, go now, go inside and lock your doors For one day, the kids may get really angry at their lot in life and unleash a destructive force