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
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