LETS ALL GO BACK TO THE 50’s

 

Come with me to the 50’s, when

Men were truly men. The

Beer was cheap and fags cost pennies.

You knew where you were back then.

 

Let’s all go back to the 50’s, when

Women all sat in the Snug. And

Knew their place when they got home, while

Men gave their forelock a tug.

 

We weren’t really poor in the 50’s, we

Were all in the same boat. You’d

Make ends meet or wind up on the street.

And sink if you couldn’t float.

 

Let’s put on our rose-tinted glasses, ‘cos

The sun will shine every day. There’ll be

Tuberculosis and Poliomyelitis,

And hunger for those who can’t pay.

 

Let’s all go back to the 50’s, lets

All re-trace our tracks.

People were free to put signs in the window;

‘No Irish, No Dogs, No Blacks!’

 

Do you remember the 50’s? Did

Your school days teach you well? When

They separated the wheat from the chaff,

Was yours that living hell?

 

Let’s all go back to the 50’s, when

We all kept ourselves to ourselves.

There was no foreign muck; you made your own luck,

But the pantry was full of bare shelves.

 

Come with me to the 50’s, where

We never had it so good. We’ll

Laugh and joke through the smog and the smoke,

As it chokes the neighbourhood.

 

Come on back to the 50’s, when

We still held the Empire at heart. You

Were better than them, if you had white skin.

They say that’s what set us apart.                                                                  

 

Let’s all go back to the 50’s, when

Some slept six to a bed; with

Overcoats for blankets, and

Someone’s feet by your head.                                                                    

 

Sometimes it feels like the 50’s, as the

Past and the present combine. But

Silent shipyards, and abandoned pitheads,

Are now a sign of the time.

 

Struggle and strife blights people’s lives,

In place of hope and respect; while

The young grow old living life on the dole,

And kids still die of neglect.