Stroll through this race of rats in slow-mo, yo
Roll up an eighth perhaps it’s so cold, oh
On goes the baseball cap - it’s so low
But you can’t see the face - this man’s an old pro

Swore I’d never take you back…I won’t cope
How it ever came to that I don’t know
My Dad fought for you…went through the war it’s true
My Mum left from a Caribbean shore for who?
And they promised us gold-laced streets
Gangsters grinning through their gold-plate teeth
Milking this until they’re filthy rich
Brains, gut and heart - what you built me with
Boarding school daddy pays for the best of us
State school mini-wage for the rest of us
And you made it so the future’s more than scary
But it forced me from the norm to be a more extraordinary one
To sing, dance or act, despite having a thin chance of that
I’d do anything to stay out of the trap
It’s the power of the pound sterling
It hurts you won’t look at me now, now I’m not about earning
Still I think I love you, even though I don’t trust you
I know it sounds funny but I must do
Cos you stay in my veins
Like the Smith in my name
From the tiny little island that I came

Chorus

If you can take the time, time to understand me
Maybe we’d make it right and we’d be happy
If you could just be true I know I’d be there for you…for you
My heart could beat with yours create a harmony pure
Moving like seeds ashore…forever more
And you don’t believe in me still I feel so sure…so sure
Always…Always…Always

Green and pleasant when the sun’s out
I can see the centre of your soul from a window in your Mum’s house
But some doubt you’ve got anything good to give
Like Lot’s got a spot with a hood to live
And they never see your pretty side
What a pity I see it stay tricky all city-wide
But I guess it’s nothing new
On V day they promised homes for heroes and still it wasn’t true
That spelled a lack of shelter
10 years on and the Windrush helped ya
Hired hands earned nothing in return
And that hurt turned into something that kids learn
But we dealt with it quickly
Felt that we were strictly second class
Hell they rebelled in the Sixties
Remember when you burnt yourself in ‘81
Ash blew so high it made it hard to see the sun
But still a Baby boom followed
The promise of tomorrow
A third generation carried the same sorrow
Some of us learnt to channel it through our music
Maybe even use it as something therapeutic
And looking back every hit song had…
The whiff of a good relationship gone bad
But hey to quote a poet and a big one too
“The course of true love never did run smooth”
…It’s for you

Chorus

If you can take the time, the time to understand me
Maybe we’d make it right and we’d be happy
If you could just be true I know I’d be there for you…for you
My heart could beat with yours create a harmony pure
Moving like seeds ashore…forever more
And you don’t believe in me still I feel so sure…so sure
Always…Always…there for you!