And it was a house party of a girl I was seeing
But it started in a Leicester Square night club
And it was a club with a name like "Oxygen" Or "Ozone" or "Onyx"
But her house was in a part of west I'd otherwise never visit.
And three floors up only meant there were two to go
But there was a hammock on the rooftop
And it brought perspective from the pavement
But time away always makes me miss it.
And running from a jacking was a past time
But so was arguing about Sony Versus Nintendo
And only a fool would think roles wouldn't change
But friends took growth in arms as a graduation
And these friends were still so young
But their new bodies were so impatient
And they targeted boys who looked like us
But younger
And I walked home on a new route.
But I console myself with the mantra: I'm good, I'm good.
And I'm as good as I was at twelve
But something could be done at seventeen
And that something was exercise my right to cowardice
"But life's pressures often get me down/
sometimes I feel there's not a lot to smile about so I frown.
And I talk a whole heap of badness/
because my life is a whole heap of madness"
But I can't say I lived every line
And years prior gave us Channel U with More fire.
But Boy in the Corner admitted a weakness I needed
And it might not have been the voice for all boys in my school
But it brought me closer to the friends I used to walk home with
And Dizzee's rhymes contained a lot of
Buts,
And poetry teachers always want
Buts,
Ands,
out of classrooms
But Dizzee wrote them
And I couldn't focus no matter the lesson
But knew like Dizzee there was more to brick walls
And I began to forge my own path
But have drifted in the years that passed
And I try to breathe in weed while looking like I know how to
But accidentally exhale before the smoke reaches my lungs
And I was trying to remember where I was
But senses were dulled the chat of this girl hogging the blunt
And she was so at home in a house like this
But doubt she has ever been in another's
And she recalls her disgust of seeing a mother with her young child in a McDonalds
But hasn't been the type of tired that puts you on the quickest route to putting a smile on the face of a loved one.
And she can't fathom how anyone could wear nike when their sweatshops have child labour
But she's quiet on seeing a whole classrooms eyes light up like nothing else at the sight of all white air force ones.
And all the guy cutting lines in this circle says is "It's the best, it's from Bolivia"
But she's more than happy to make a straw out of twenty quid
And not say shit
But I feel sick
And I want to see a friend here
But they're either at uni or smoking something stronger
And this city is for the taking
But everyone who's grown up here has become intimidated
And this boy with the same hair same same height same shirt as me asks if I came with Ollie's friends
But I don't know who Ollie is
And I doubt I've got much in common with him
But tonight I do
And I get off the roof the hard way
But the easy route's considered
And I'm going down the stairs to leave
But I'm stopped by the girl I was seeing
And I had completely forgotten about her
But she's been looking for me all night
And she asks what's the matter
But I stay silent
And her fingers hold my wrists
But I shirk them away
And keep walking
But she's in front of the door
And is still smiling
But I don't know what to tell her
And I know she'll be understanding because she has been since the night we met at that shit night club
But I can't give an inch
And I don't know how to admit that I don't feel safe here
But don't fit in any of the places I've grown up in either
And accumulating age runs parallel to accumulating a weight that these years don't deserve
But instead I say it's not in my interests to hang around her
Spoilt,
Posh,
Dick-
-head,
Friends.