Madness - The Liberty Of Norton Folgate

This is the story of the Liberty of Norton Folgate Old Jack Norris, ‘The Musical Shrimp’ And the cadging ramble A little bit of this Would you like a bit of that? But in weather like this You should wear a coat, a nice warm hat A needle and thread The hand stitches of time Battling Lavinski versus Jackie Burke Bobbing and weaving an invisible line So step for step and both light on our feet We’ll travel many a long, dim, silent street Would you like a bit of this Or a little bit of that missus A little bit of what you like does you no harm You know that The perpetual steady echo of the passing beat A continual dark river of people In their transience and in its permanence But when the streetlamp fills the gutter with gold So many priceless items bought and sold So step for step and both light on our feet We’ll travel many a long, dim, silent street - together Once round Arnold Circus Up through Petticoat Lane Past The Well of Shadows And once back round again Arm in arm with an abstracted air, to where The people stared at the upstairs windows Because we are living like kings And these days will last forever Cos sailors from Africa, China and the Archipelago of Malay Jump ship ragged and penniless into Shadwell’s Tiger Bay The Welsh and Irish Wagtails – mothers of midnight The music hall carousal is spilling out into bonfire light Sending half crazed shadows, giants Dancing up the brick wall Of Mr. Truman’s beer factory Waving bottles ten feet tall Whether one calls it Spitalfields, Whitechapel, Tower Hamlets or Bangle Town We’re all dancing in the moonlight We’re all on borrowed ground Oh I’m just walking down to I’m just floating down through Won’t you come with me? To the Liberty of Norton Folgate But wait, what’s that Dan Leno and a Lime house Gollum Purposefully walking nowhere Oh I’m happy just floating about (have a banana) On a Sunday afternoon The stall holders all call and shout (to no-one in particular) Avoiding people you know You’re just basking in your own company The Technicolor worlds going by But you’re the lead in your own movie Cos in the Liberty of Norton Folgate Walking wild and free In your second hand coat Happy just to float In this little taste of liberty A part of everything you see There coming left or right Trying to flog you stuff you don’t need or want And a smiling chap takes your hand and drags you In his uncles restaurant (here, here, here, here) There’s a Chinese man trying hard to flog you moody DVDs You know you’ve seen the film, its black and white, it’s got no sound And a man’s head pops up and down right across you wide screen TV Only a fiver (how much?) Alright two for eight quid (‘Ere y’ar, look look, I’m giving it away) Cos in the Liberty of Norton Folgate Walking wild and free In your second hand coat Happy just to float In this little piece of liberty You’re a part of everything you see Cos it’s steady old fellows, pickpockets, dandies, extortioners and night wanderers The feeble, the ghastly upon whom death had placed a very sure hand Some in shreds and patches, reeling inarticulate full of noisy and inordinate vivacity Which jars discordantly upon the ear and give an aching sensation to both pair of eyeballs (noisy and inordinate vivacity) In the beginning I’d the fear of the immigrant In the beginning was the fear of the immigrant He’s made his way down to the dark riverside In the beginning was the fear of the immigrant In the beginning was the fear of the immigrant He made his home there by the dark riverside He made his home there down by the riverside They made their homes there down by the riverside The city sprang from the dark river Thames They made their home there down by the riverside They made their homes there down by the riverside