I want you to be the way

i want you to be

and when you're not

it hurts me

like shredded tape 

something sticky

for security

wrapped tight around a metal box

to imitate security

there's a blue sky over me

but the fear is on me


in a place where ball games are strictly forbidden

luxury 2-bedroomed apartments

overlook the traffic lights

next to the rails

it's a hot day

it's a, it's a hot day

a lazy day for some

but i'm bringing from the inside

all these things


i see a wall

i know it's gonna fall down

maybe hurt somebody

after it's been 

tagged and fly posted

it's a rush job

it looks good for long enough

knock em out and sell em

move on 

it's a fast buck

and the race is on

to get in get out

get what you want

get out

it's the short-term

the long-term can look after itself

unless you happen to be living here

i've got to stop


(chorus)

people are squinting to block out the sun

complaining or soaking it up

praying for rain the next minute

for a scorched earth

what's it worth

enough is never

enough

let's have a little moan

put the world to right

sit back and watch it all slide by

it's a view from a train

pay somebody else to drive

see the suits

i see the suits sunning themselves on the steps

of the supermarket

and i think of you and i'm alone like this

burning from the inside


i found a new door

i didn't know where it went

i went through

i came out in this shopping mall where

boys wear england shirts

and west ham shirts and arsenal shirts

and the boys from dagenham wear jackets

called harlem

grinning at the door at the

Ann Summers sex shop

it's st. georges day

and all the old people smile

the young people look hungry

looking for a new door

i'm in the sun

at the back of the shops

where the purple weed thins are pushed against the doors that say 

fire exit

the smell of grease

there's a broken glass thing under my feet

the boys stop for a smoke in the sun 

and watch girls cross from the job centre

to the station

a drunk stands in the door of a pub

a bunch of pea sticks in one hand

a cheery carrier bag

hanging in the other

hanging in the other


girls in england shirts read the papers 

and giggle at the table in the cafe

offering homemade dinners 

it's good food

but your clothes come out smelling of grease

i got my back to the rail at the end of the ally

by the bypass you might have seen me

scratching all these things

inking it out

deliver us from temptation

and doubt

there's an abandoned trolley

call safe at radio 1


on and on and on

and another england shirt out in the sun

spring falls in pink

on the blacktop and cracks

black and yellow tape covers the scene, of a break in

and every time i think of you i get my peace back


*chorus*