RAY COLLINS

"as i roved back to york street"
Words an Music by Ray Collins.

as i roved back to york street ‘round what’s left of sailortown
to find again my childhood days ‘midst the changes all around
i was met by rusted gantries stark berths lying bare
no surly gangers curses tore through the dockland air

where once my kith ‘n’ kin set out to sail the seven seas
there’s desolation all around nothing’ but redundancy
now it’s mobile pen it’s forklift truck shovel bulk and block
with container box efficiency they’ve killed the belfast dock

no more wine nor whisky in barney conway’s pub
where casual dockers fought ‘n’ cursed and drank away their sub
the queens and joe mckibbens they have vanished too
there’s nothing’ left here any more they’ve shipwrecked the whole bloody crew

where once my parents' parents lived just a stone’s throw apart
a great big ugly motorway has ripped out the district’s heart
‘twas not the bomb nor bullet that ruined our dockland
but the callous rate of progress care-of city hall’s heartless plans

you may think this sentimental just an old fool’s dream
to keep harkin’ back to the memories of the way things had been
but despite all the hardships and a hovel for a home
we were always rich in friendship it’s all we ever owned