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Rum Sodomy & The Lash
The Old Main Drag
When I first came to London I was only sixteen
With a fiver in my pocket and my ole dancing bag
I went down to the dilly to check out the scene
And I soon ended up on 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'll 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 cafes who'd give you cheap pills
If you didn't have the money you'd cajole or you'd beg
There was always lots of tuinol on the old main drag

One evening as I was lying down by 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 the ruined my good looks for the old main drag

In the tube station the old ones who were on their 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've had too much booze
I've been shat on and spat 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

(Shane MacGowan)

SONG: A Pair Of Brown Eyes

One summer evening drunk to hell I sat there nearly lifeless
An old man in the corner sang where the water lilies grow
And on the jukebox Johnny sang about a thing called love
And it's how are you kid and what's your name and how would you bloody know

In blood and death 'neath a screaming sky I lay down on the ground
And the arms and legs of other men were scattered all around
Some cursed some prayed some prayed then cursed
Then prayed then bled some more

And the only thing that I could see
Was a pair of brown eyes that was looking at me
But when we got back labeled parts one to three
There was no pair of brown eyes waiting for me

And a rovin' a roving' a rovin' I'll go
For a pair of brown eyes

I looked at him he looked at me all I could do was hate him
While Ray and Philomena sang of my elusive dreams
I saw the streams and rolling hills where his brown eyes were waiting
And I thought about a pair of brown eyes that waited once for me

So drunk to hell I left the place sometimes crawling sometimes walking
A hungry sound came across the breeze so I gave the walls a talking
And I heard the sounds of long ago from the old canal
And the birds were whistling in the trees where the wind was gently
laughing

So a rovin' a rovin' a rovin' I'll go
For a pair of brown eyes
For a pair of brown eyes

(Shane MacGowan)

Rum Sodomy & The Lash
The Old Main Drag