Sailortown from Emperor (2022) by Anthony Toner

Sailortown

Me and Elaine we’ve been hanging around in what was once Sailortown,
drinking cheap red wine by the light of the Belfast moon,
There’s nobody left here that works at the docks,
it’s all urban renewal and apartment blocks.
Summer is fading, winter will be coming soon.

The walls in the city have a lot to say about the UVF and the IRA.
It’s cold by the river, but the sky is full of stars.
But these walls say nothing about who I am,
when I’m singing in the garden at the Rotterdam,
doing ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ and ‘Whiskey in the Jar’

And I know they’re tearing it down, street by street;
Look out below, there goes the ground beneath your feet…

Elaine’s mother thinks I’m some kind of crook,
she meets me at the door with a dirty look.
My welcome round there is starting to wear thin.
Cause I promised everybody I’d knuckle down,
but my grades weren’t good enough this time round.
All my time runs out in the end.

And I know they’re tearing it down, street by street;
Look out below, there goes the ground beneath your feet…

Me, I can’t wait to be rid of school,
but Elaine’s got a place at Liverpool.
By the time September comes, she’ll be gone.
And she says she’ll text me every day,
but that’s something she feels she has to say.
She’ll call me once at Christmas, and then move on.

Me and Elaine we’ve been hanging around
in what was once Sailortown.

• Folk
• singer-songwriter
• Belfast