The war'd not long been over
and the future seemed so bright
We gathered in the church hall
He said there's work in England
some stranger with these hands
the land where I was born
We sailed for Southampton
And the moon was sinking quickly
as we looked back to the land
And I held on to the railing
Now when we came to England
Took a train to Paddington
And I rubbed my eyes in wonder
and I had skills to share
Songs to sing and joy to bring
But no blacks, no dogs, no Irish,
But I wiped away my tears,
Now the first place that I found to rent,
it didn't have a bathroom
The next place barely had a roof,
sometimes you have to lie
well it wasn't what I'd planned
But I cooked the Christmas dinner,
I became a foster mother,
took a hundred children in
Loved everyone, kissed everyone,
no matter what their skin
And they offered me an MBE,
So I asked if I could trade it
for the things I really need
Like bed sheets and pillow slips
And the Mayor, listened to me
and he made this promise proud
And the keys of the new house
through the streets of our town
Our tyres slashed, win dows smashed,
our youth club burned down
And I prayed that my children
As I wiped their smeared faces
And the words of the stranger
Weren't the words of welcome now
And the river was bleeding
And at four o 'clock one morning
They took me down to Deptford
where ra ging fires roared
Thirteen would die that night,
the flames could not be fanned
And still the smell of New Cross
But as the people gathered
and beneath the brooding skies
I said my name is Phoenix
For these hands where the years of love
they bear the scars of pain
and these hands will again
And though these hands are old now,
well they've got more to give
But these hands don't forget,
And though the walls are rising,
now you may think Corby's gone
So whoever is your neighbour,
link arms and make a stand
And we will face the future
Whoever is your neighbour,
link arms and make a stand
And we will face the future
4.8
