Be home before the streetlights go on

the magic's either there or it's not
you can't force it
the magic's either there or it's not
and god knows you can't force it

the magic's either there or it's not

I'm thinking about a magic time
and a magic place
when the dew is forming on the grass
it's forming on the windscreens of the cars
and you can hear it now
you can hear your mum saying
just be home before the streetlights go on
be home before the streetlights go on

it's a magic time and a magic place

cos the magic's either there or it's not
you can't force it
the magic's either there or it's not
god knows you can't force it

just be home before the streetlights go on
so dash home through those
long summer twilights
dash home with grass stains on our knees
and the oily smell of the ocean
not far away filling your noses

dash home through those roast-filled kitchens
the bbq backyards
the sullivans on tv loungerooms
the onkarparinga bedrooms
and the dennis lillee driveways

yeah
just be home before the streetlights go on

cos the magic's either there or it's not
you can't force it
the magic's either there or it's not
oh no you can’t force it

so end that game of continuous tips
light the last welcome spring
fire the final ball shooter
wrap up the slip n slide
pull the stumps from the ground
pick up the sloppy joes marking the tryline
jump down from thunderbird 3
put your surfboard on your head
and turn from the beach
because the day is over
the icy poles eaten
the sunnyboys sucked
galaga switched off
and he pinnies are flashing
game over game over

cos the magic's either there or it's not
and you can't force it
the magic's either there or it's not
and god knows you can't force it

you just have to be home before the streetlights go on
be home before the streetlights go on
yeah
be home before the streetlights go on

so straggle down those streets
run through the fences
up the boulevards
look for the flicker of the light
watch it shoot along the telegraph poles
and time it
make sure you know the time of
its arrival outside your mum's window
exactly

ah the dew forming on the grass
use the sound of the mr whippy van
coming around the corner

just be home before the streetlights go on
just be home before the streetlights go on
just be home before the streetlights go on

Oh do you remember that night out
Do you remember that time?
walking home through the streets still cobbled with stones,
the low gutters towards and past the E1
past Angel Alley streets on the
bright fruit stalls on the street market,
and the cold faces past Ilford and the Island
where Billy Bragg first played
and the girls in black jackets
smoking Silk Cut cigarettes at bus stops
as if their lives depended upon it
as if their lives depended upon it

because London still exists
London still exists

and the lorries are passing through Wapping
(they ain't stopping)
They're going all the way
On down the A-Road
to Dagenham and Greys Thurrock
Bitsea, Battersea etc and so forth

because you remember the song
you remember the way it was
the Angel Alley streets
descending days
expiring work visas,
and the loves we lost,

Jamaican-sounding summers
Or trips to the Westway,
Portabello pubs across mini-cab nights
Nigerian navigation back through football streets
reverberating all the way from Stamford Bridge
and across to night
to the home of the Hammers,
and oversized cans of Tennants
in the hands of grown men
London still exists x 3

There's the underground arteries and
the black soot tunnels that
Make you believe that Victoria is still on the throne
hiding in an enclave is Dickens
with a filthy-fingered glove
to grab you and say
"hey come here mate,
What are ya doin'
Come here "

oj the slanting terraces
extending the threading streets and
all the sadness that descends upon me;
all the sadness that descends upon me
the low-pressure bathtaps,
the lime-fuzz around the top of the kettle,
the rim of the pots.

London still exists x 3

Oh and tell me
oh won’t you tell me
is it still raining there in Fulham
is it still raining there in Hammersmith
is it still raining there in Paddington
or Shepherd's Bush
is it still raining there in Croydon
or Leicester Square
on Waldorf Street
Portabello Road
is it still raining there up on Saville Row
is it still raining there in Brick Lane

just say one thing
if you ever come back just drop by
if you ever come back just drop by
and have a cup tea
with me
with me

because

London still exists
London still exists
London still exists

She is in the blinding sunlight
She says that she's alright
She tells me not to call
She's taken my number
Off her wall

At the end of my roads
She is in a shack in Protester Falls
Beds of bracken
What will happen?
What will happen?

We lose people in the sunlight
Lost in the shadow
Lost in the silence
Ah we will fight and she'll take flight
Back to Spring Hill
Back to Redcliffe
A house in the blinding sunlight

the girl I loved
Who didn't love me
What happened to her
And where is she?

She is in the blinding sunlight
She says that I'm alright
She is in the blinding sunlight
She tells me I'm alright

And there's a radio
In an old leather case
Where did she go?
It all connects
It all makes sense
In faces and silence
We lose people in the sunlight
In the shadows
And in the silence

She is in the blinding sunlight
She says that she's alright
She tells me not to call
She's back at Spring Hill
Back in Redcliffe
Back on the sandy path
The back of Protester Falls

She is in the blinding sunlight
She is in the blinding sunlight

The girl I loved
Who didn't love me
girl I loved
Who didn't love me

She is in the blinding sunlight
in the blinding sunlight
in the blinding sunlight
in the blinding sunlight