Crumbling Empire

Road like the surface of the moon A Detroit neighbourhood left to ruin Girl at the wheel showing me the sight Of this crumbling empire Following suit in the Atlantic mirror Under the Byker Bridge, they shiver It's one for me, and one for the dead And one for my crumbling empire I'm not preaching, I'm just talking I don't wear the shoes I used to walk in But I can't help thinking where they'd take me In this crumbling empire My old man worked on the rail yard Betting his trade on the electrical bars It got privatised, the work degraded In this crumbling empire My mother delivered most of the kids in this town My step-dad drove in a tank for the crown It left them homeless, down and out In their crumbling empire And I'm not preaching, I'm just talking I don't wear the shoes I used to walk in But I can't help thinking where I'd be In this crumbling empire In this crumbling empire In this crumbling empire In this crumbling In this crumbling empire I was a kid when they threw him out Livin' of the streets down Camden town Under the arches, strung wide out In our crumbling empire 25 years on crack and dope Bagging the painful synthetic hope Just another kid failed by these blokes In their crumbling empire I'm not preaching, I'm just talking I don't wear the shoes I used to walk in But I can't help thinking where they'd take me In this crumbling empire In this crumbling empire In this crumbling empire In this crumbling empire In our crumbling empire (oh) In their crumbling empire In our crumbling empire (oh) In our crumbling empire (oh) Yeah (oh) Oh, oh Oh, oh Oh, oh Oh, oh