Twenty Three - Stephen Duffy

I moved to town at 23

And launched myself in society

From a squat in Archway, N19

Looking for a thrill

I fell in love with Ecstasy

Which seemed to fuel my vanity

I swore to write just poetry

And live upon a hill

It wasn’t her my love, it was me

Looking for another way to see

Looking for another place to be

I sang my songs of Birmingham

How did you relate to them?

Did you dig the proleterian way

I got it wrong?

I bet you never thought I’d dream of you

More than that I’d fall for you

Walk just to bump into you

Like you bumped into this song

And I’d betray my childhood

Betray my class if I could

For a moment truly understood

A reason to believe

In ornamental flower beds

There in blooms the memory

Of all those who can’t come back to me

The love we have to leave