.....this town, this city, this, Manchester.
     Everywhere, everywhere you look, is concrete,
The houses, the flats, the schools, the shops,
     concrete, upon concrete, upon concrete.

     The people, hardened faces with hardened stares,
The children, hardened faces with hardened stares and there
By thier side, the hard face of the dogs ready for battle,
     (and they be the ones owned).

     Manchester, everywhere you look, is everywhere concrete until........

     I was once a beggar man, a cup of sugar cadged,
a little milk and there was my neighbour, a ten pence for
The electric and a smile,
     a neighbour breaking every, every concrete prison
Thrown upon her, every authoritarian stare of hate,
     everywhere they place the bollards,
Was every way she grinned at their jealousy,

    Upon a day there, she says to me,
'Never see the concrete mix, never place
a day only won upon the tarmac of a road,
     never see only the corpse of maggoted dogs
about the back of sheds,
     Never place a crown of grey upon our heads,
That's not you, that's not me and certainly,
     never The Manchester they want to kill.'

     Upon this city the buses trawl and so too,
the hookers whores and thieves, the scag and
Council block resin, the ghetto bird and blues and twos -
     But none are grey and all would be lost if just one,
Just one of character saying fuck off to each,
     were lost to nowt but the hard and granite -
The concrete and prison as yet again,
     Lost we are to befallen states of neglect,
Yet, everyone, everyone, everyone wants to be here,
.............where all are seen, where all are alive and never known,
for concrete they want you to worship they want you to.................accept!

............a mancunian be perhaps the only one I know of, for the jealousy of others for his, her, poverty and still there, behind scabbed lips and crusted face - a being only knowing;-.................Grace!

Michael J Waite 6th November 2020

Elbow please accept thanks not only for me pinching this from your Manchester Apollo gig but, for an actual breathtaking integrity you have that knows all things North West. Your music has kept me company for long, and I do venture singing The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver when not shouting at my walls.

Bless ya Guy Garvey and all Kru Elbow.

Much love. xxx