

Blue
van by the kerb My coat drinking in the rain
I missed the last bus by a minute Kicked a can down
Corporation Street
Someone laughed, I laughed louder Then the shutters came down on me
Hands on the roof of a borrowed car
The pavement tilted under me They said,
son, keep your head
I tried to sing my way home But I sang trouble instead
Oh, I got lifted before the morning
Cuffed for the mess I made
Mum, don't wait up at the window I'm only twenty yards from
grace
And everybody knows my name tonight
In the station, tea went bitter
One strip light buzzed over my shoes
They took my belt and my bravado
Left me small with the news
Dawn made saints of the paperwork
I saw my face in the hatch glass
Pale as a pub at noon
If freedom is a front door
I misplaced mine too soon
Oh, I got lifted before the morning
Cuffed for the mess I made
Mum, don't wait up at the window I'm only twenty yards from
grace
And everybody knows my name tonight
Blue van rolling off
I walked home changed