Mile End - Intellectual

[Verse 1]

We didn't have nowhere to live

We didn't have nowhere to go

'til someone said, "I know this place off Burdett Road"

It was on the fifteenth floor

It had a board across the door

It took an hour to prise it off and get inside

It smelt as if someone had died

The living room was full of flies

The kitchen sink was blocked

The bathroom sink not there at all

Ooh, it's a mess alright

Yes, it's Mile End

And now we're living in the sky

I'd never thought I'd live so high

Just like heaven, if it didn't look like hell

The lift is always full of piss

The fifth floor landing smells of fish

Not just on Friday, every single other day

Below the kids come out tonight

They kick a ball and have a fight

And maybe shoot somebody if they lose at pool

Ooh, it's a mess alright

Yes, it's Mile End

(muttering)

Oo-ooh

Nobody wants to be your friend

'Cause you're not from round here, ooh

As if that was something to be proud about

The pearly king of the Isle of Dogs

Feels up children in the bogs

Down by the playing fields, someone sets a car on fire

I guess you have to go right down

Before you understand just how

How low, how low a human being can go

Ooh, it's a mess alright

Yes, it's Mile End

(Don't do that! Leave it out!)

(muttering)