little lad not playing football
little lad not in school
little sad he ain’t got no-one, to show him it ain’t cool
his mum works a couple of casual jobs
his dad he doesn’t know at all
his mum won’t tell for some reason, is she saving him from a fall?
starting on the road to nowhere
and getting there pretty swift
mate comes along in a stolen car, but this boy he don’t need a lift
other mates also got some hotter wheels
they’ll pick him up, and they’re going out tonight
but they ain’t making soup for the homeless man, they’re looking for a fight
are your swallows
free to fly?
they think they’re playing a big boy game, one of the crew they is all the same, they think they’re playing a big boy’s game......
his mate hands him a shiny gun
and a shiny 6 inch blade
he’s got all the tools, to run down the street, and dig himself an early grave six feet taller, or six feet under
which way is this gonna go?
and all the while, his inner self is none the wiser, and will it ever know? that’s them there on the corner
waiting by the rumble hall
it’s gonna go down...the biggest rumble of them all
fists start flying, the birds start crying
the road is a carpet of red
and soon they all scarper, ‘cept one who is lying there dead
and red blood don’t flow the same, when dead boy don’t have a name, red blood don’t flow the same..........
another life is needlessly taken
another mum loses a son
another little lad is being detained, another lad is on the run
everybody’s keeping quiet
nobody is saying a word
a grieving mum’s plea, and a dying breath, were the last things that were heard little lad laying low now
gun hidden under the floor
gets a little scared, and paranoid, with every knock at the front door
then he suddenly realises
he ain’t got the 6 inch knife
and sure as eggs, the old bill show up, and they got him looking at life
was it worth 2 minutes of fame, to kill or wound or maim, was it worth 2 minutes of fame?
is that a real running tear
running down ya cheek?
or is it just running from the Indian ink, where other tears never leak?
an’ what about those Swallows
on the sides of your hands?
are they free to fly, do they only fly back to familiar lands?
and eLL O Vee Eee and H A Tee Eee
are you capable of any, and will they set you free?
more sugar in your boiling water
and is that a shiny new bruise?
did you ever think about a different path, or read a book by Nicky Cruz?
he fought the Devil and made him tame, only had himself to blame, fought the Devil and he made him tame......
little lives all turned to dust now
and everyone is asking why?
little sad these are the stakes, when he really didn’t need to die
still can’t get my head around
what all this really means
big hard men all over the place, who never got to see their teens
communities asking why now
can’t believe it’s happened again
all the hope they had for all, now running down the drain
when’s it all gonna end my friend?
no more knives or guns and tears
think we’re living in cuckoo land, til all the bad men are ready to hear
they just playing a big boy game, one of the crew they is all the same was it worth 2 minutes of fame, to kill or wound or maim? until you hear the crying shame, it’s always gonna stay the same
These lyrics are about...a young man, or young men, taking the path that leads to pain and misery for people and communities...if only they had a football..., wm
