This City Swallows Sweethearts Whole

This city swallows sweethearts whole
with a tarmac tongue and a concrete soul
lovers from the suburbs, bagheads from Beswick
psychopathic pavements, rivers of sick
a bleary-eyed tragedy of electric night
beggar's hand reaching under cold neon light.

Hardmen in shirts, girls in short skirts
ten below freezing, porno dessert
taxis roll like killer whales at closing time
suicide boogie down a wobbly white line
queasy dancers in the middle of the road
fractured blondes in casualty mode.

In the jungle, the high-rise jungle
the nutters roam tonight
there's a storm moving in on the city
so do your coat up tight
there's a girl crying wolf on a mobile phone
there's a moon with a broken nose
there's a murdered phonebox with its teeth kicked out
in the gutter a single red rose.

O come all ye faithless, come black out with me
dig a dizzy hole where Sunday morning used to be
I'll crown you with a traffic cone
I'll bless you with a headbutt
I'll sweep you off your feet and straight into an ambulance.

Turn it in, turn it in
you Piccadilly pisspots
you ASBO lipstick skeleton crew
close down the nomenclature of 2.15am
the cigarette can't find your mouth
and the table avoids your elbow.

Bring back the shakey legs of a love that you lost
bring back the moon and the woodcutter's song
bring back the witch behind the hedge
bring back Cosmos Pete The Bury Bus Mong.