Down In the Tube Station At Midnight

The distant echo of
faraway voices
boarding faraway trains
To take them home
to the ones that they
love and who
love them forever
The glazed, dirty steps
repeat my own
and reflect my thoughts

Cold and uninviting
partially naked
Except for toffee
wrappers and this
mornings paper,
Mr Jones got run down
Headlines of death
and sorrow, they tell
of tomorrow
Madmen on the rampage
And IÕm down
in the tube station
at midnight

I fumble for change
and pull out the queen,
smiling, beguiling

I put in the money
and pull out a plum,
behind me

Whispers in the
Shadows, gruff blazing
voices Hating, waiting

ÓHey boyÓ they shout
ÒHave you got any money?Ó
And I said ÒIÕve a little
money and a take away
curry, IÕm on my
way home to my wifeÓ
She'll be lining up
the cutlery, you know
sheÕs expecting me,
polishing the glasses
and pulling out the corkÓ

And IÕm down in
the tube station at
midnight

I first felt a fist and
then a kick
I could now smell
their breath
They smelt of pubs and
wormwood scrubs
and too many right wing
meetings
My life swam around
me It took a look and
drowned me in its own
existence
The smell of brown
leather, it blended in with
the weather

It filled my eyes, ears,
nose and mouth, it
blocked all my senses
CouldnÕt see,
hear, speak any longer

And IÕm down in
the tube station at
midnight

I said I was down
in the tube station at
midnight

The last thing that I saw
as I lay there on the floor
was Jesus saves
painted by an atheist nutter
And a British Rail
poster read have an awayday
a cheap holiday, do it today

I glanced back on
my life and thought about
my wife Ôcause they
took the keys and sheÕll think
its me

And IÕm down in the
tube station at midnight,
the wine will be flat
and the curryÕs gone cold
IÕm down in the tube
station at midnight
DonÕt want to go
down in a tube station
at midnight