(words and music by Joe Jackson)



Of all the stupid things I could have thought

This was the worst

I started to believe

That I was born at seventeen

And all the stupid things

The letters and the broken verse

Stayed hidden at the bottom of the drawer

They'd always been

And now I plough through piles

Of bills, receipts and credit cards

And tickets and the Daily News

And sometimes I just...



Wanna go back to my home town

Though I know it'll never be the same

Back to my home town

'Cause it's been so long

And I'm wondering if it's still there



We think we're pretty smart

Us city slickers get around

And when the going's rough

We kill the pain and relocate

We're never married

Never faithful not to any town

But we never leave the past behind

We just accumulate

So sometimes when the music stops

I seem to hear a distant sound

Of waves and seagulls

Football crowds and church bells

And I...



Wanna go back to my home town

Though I know it'll never be the same

Back to my home town

'Cause it's been so long

And I'm wondering if it's still there



Back to my home town

Though I know it'll never be the same

Back to my home town

'Cause it's been so long

And I'm wondering if it's still there



(C) 1986 Pokazuka Ltd. (ASCAP)