Cooper Clarke Back Beat

So house proud Yet nowt inside This Terrace house But family Mum outside Dressed up in her pinny Gabby Anny Gossiping over washing line With nosy nextdoor neighbor Proudly polishing The front door step Sweeping nothing up Using vinegar and newspaper To shine the windows pristine clean Just before Dad comes home After he has been the pub Expecting his Tea placed on the table While kids are out gleefully a playing From dawn until sunset So as not get under mother's foot And expect a clip around the ear And come Saturday Whence I and "R"-Kid meet up For a bevy before the game We act as paperboy deliverers So Dad can pick And give us his betting slip To wager on the G,Gee's Then 4 or 5 pint's well oiled later We stumble through the turnstile To win draw or loose Always leaving vocally hoarse To once again quench our thirst In the pub with the shortest que Until however many pints later We begin the long hard journey home Hailing any taxi willing to pick us up In our weaving drunken state Mixed kebab and soggy chips in hand Condiments smudged all across our face This a day back in the life Of the past working class At work and play On any given day Street or city Predominantly Up Industrial North Where as the saying goes By Eck it's Grimm up there Why on earth would anyone Wish or want to live there in the 1st place Unless you are surrounded by the sense of community of these people And the witty sardonic caustic black sense of humor unlike anything other in the world That elevates the poor to the healthiest of all As love and laughter is without a shadow of a doubt the best medicine in the world And even better than that it costs little or nothing at all