The time I think most clearly The time I drift away Is on the bus ride That meanders Up these valleys of green and grey I get to think about what might have been And what may yet come true And I get to pass the rainy mile Thinking of you And all the while, all the while I still hear that call To the land of gold and poison That beckons to us all Nothing changes here very much You used to say it never will The pubs are all full on Friday nights And things get started still We spent hours last week with Billy-Boy Bleeding, yeah, queuing in casualty Staring at those posters we used to laugh at Never-never land, palm trees by the sea Well, there was no need for those guys to hurt him so bad When all they had to do was knock him down But no one asks too many questions like that anymore Since you left this town And tomorrow brings another train Another young brave steals away But you're the one I remembe From these valleys of the green and the grey You used to talk about winners and losers all the time As if that was all there was As if we were not of the same blood family As if we lived by different laws Do you owe so much less to these rain swept hills Than you owe to your good self? Is it true that the world has always got to be something That seems to happen somewhere else? For God's sake Don't you realize That I still hear that call? Do you think you're so brave Just to go running To that which beckons to us all? And tomorrow brings another train Another young brave steals away But you're the one I remember From these valleys of the green and the grey No, not for one second Did you look behind you As you were walking away Never once did you wish any of us well Those who had chosen to stay And if that's what it takes to make it In the place where you live today Then I guess you'll never read one of these letters that I sent From these valleys of the green and the grey