When I first came to London I was only sixteen

With a fiver in my pocket and my ole dancing bag

I went down to the dilly to check out the scene

And I soon ended up on the old main drag



There the he-males and the she-males paraded in style

And the old man with the money would flash you a smile

In the dark of an alley you'll work for a five

For a swift one off the wrist down on the old main drag



In the cold winter nights the old town it was chill

But there were boys in the cafes who'd give you cheap pills

If you didn't have the money you'd cajole or you'd beg

There was always lots of tuinol on the old main drag



One evening as I was lying down by Leicester Square

I was picked up by the coppers and kicked in the balls

Between the metal doors at Vine Street I was beaten and mauled

And the ruined my good looks for the old main drag



In the tube station the old ones who were on their way out

Would dribble and vomit and grovel and shout

And the coppers would come along and push them about

And I wished I could escape from the old main drag



And now I'm lying here I've had too much booze

I've been shat on and spat on and raped and abused

I know that I am dying and I wish I could beg

For some money to take me from the old main drag



(Shane MacGowan)



SONG: A Pair Of Brown Eyes



One summer evening drunk to hell I sat there nearly lifeless

An old man in the corner sang where the water lilies grow

And on the jukebox Johnny sang about a thing called love

And it's how are you kid and what's your name and how would you bloody know



In blood and death 'neath a screaming sky I lay down on the ground

And the arms and legs of other men were scattered all around

Some cursed some prayed some prayed then cursed

Then prayed then bled some more



And the only thing that I could see

Was a pair of brown eyes that was looking at me

But when we got back labeled parts one to three

There was no pair of brown eyes waiting for me



And a rovin' a roving' a rovin' I'll go

For a pair of brown eyes



I looked at him he looked at me all I could do was hate him

While Ray and Philomena sang of my elusive dreams

I saw the streams and rolling hills where his brown eyes were waiting

And I thought about a pair of brown eyes that waited once for me



So drunk to hell I left the place sometimes crawling sometimes walking

A hungry sound came across the breeze so I gave the walls a talking

And I heard the sounds of long ago from the old canal

And the birds were whistling in the trees where the wind was gently

laughing



So a rovin' a rovin' a rovin' I'll go

For a pair of brown eyes

For a pair of brown eyes



(Shane MacGowan