Green and Grey

The time I think most clearly,
The time I drift away,
Is on the bus ride that meanders up these valleys of green and grey.
I get to think about what might have been,
And what may yet come true,
And I get to pass a rainy mile
Thinking of you.
And all the while,
All the while,
I still hear that call
To the land of gold and poison
That beckons to us all.
Nothing changes here very much,
You used to say it never will.
The pubs are all full on Friday nights,
And things get started still.
We spent hours last week with Billy boy
Bleeding, yeah, queuing in casualty
Staring at those posters we used to laugh at
Never, never land
Palm trees by the sea.
Well, there was no need for those guys to hurt him so bad
When all they had to do was knock him down,
But no-one asks too many questions,
Like that, anymore,
Since you left this town.
And tomorrow brings another train,
Another young brave steals away,
But you're the one I remember,
From these valleys of the green and the grey
You used to talk about winners and losers all the time,
As if that was all there was
As if we were not of the same blood family,
As if you lived by different laws.
Do you owe so much less,
To these rain-swept hills
Than you owe to your good self?
Is it true that the world has always got to be
Something that seems to happen somewhere else?
For god's sake, don't you realise,
That I still hear that call?
Do you think you're so brave just to go running
To that which beckons to us all?
And tomorrow brings another train,
Another young brave steals away,
But you're the one I remember,
From these valleys of the green and the grey
No, not for one second,
Did you look behind you,
As you were walking away.
Never once did you wish,
Any of us well,
Those who had chosen to stay
And if that's what it takes to make it,
In the place that you live today,
Then I guess you'll never read these letters that I've sent
From the valleys of the green and the grey...
Valleys of the green and the grey.