"The Old Main Drag" lyrics

"The Old Main Drag"

When I first came to London, I was only sixteen
With a fiver in my pocket and my old dancing bag
I went down to the 'dilly to check out the scene
But I soon ended up upon the old main drag

There the he-males and the she-males paraded in style
And the old man with the money would flash you a smile
In the dark of an alley, you would work for a five
For a swift one off the wrist down on the old main drag

In the cold winter nights, the old town, it was chill
But there were boys in the cafés who'd give you cheap pills
If you didn't have the money, you'd cajole and you'd beg
There was always lots of Tuinal on the old main drag

One evening as I was lying down in Leicester Square
I was picked up by the coppers and kicked in the balls
Between the metal doors at Vine Street, I was beaten and mauled
And they ruined my good looks for the old main drag

In the tube station, the old ones who were on the way out
Would dribble and vomit and grovel and shout
And the coppers would come along and push them about
And I wished I could escape from the old main drag

And now I'm lying here, I have had too much booze
I've been spat on and shat on and raped and abused
I know that I am dying and I wish I could beg
For some money to take me from the old main drag


Writer(s): Shane Patrick Lysaght Macgowan
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