It's been a long dry season in tinderbox town

And the ghetto cars go cruising up and down and round and round

With tinted windows and the screech of tires

Poverty likes to ride in the best disguise

The boys get bored, set fire to the sheds at the end of my street

The thick black smoke rises up into the dusk

Sirens scream out across the hills

Turn into the close as the boys all swagger.

I've got no quarrel with you brother

But the war is getting closer 

Down at the Union there we stood

And embraced like brothers should

The fire catches when your back is turned

And now we watch as the city burns

And now we watch as the city burns 



We used to joke about the colour of our skins

We used to joke about the names of God

But now the racist cops come round

Put your cousin up against the wall

A little crowd gathers round and takes up sides

The white trash come out of their doorways and mutter

There's a macho stand off with sullen faces all around

And all the middle ground is washing away

And no one really wants it there anyway

It's a time of pack dogs brother

And the war's getting closer 

Down at the Union there we stood

And embraced like brothers should

The fire catches when your back is turned

And now we watch as the city burns

And now we watch as the city burns 



And I, I accuse you, you want so much

But you give nothing of yourself

And I, I believe you, you want so much

But you keep nothing of yourself