15 Years - The Levellers

I never was a violent man

Said the man in the bar with his head in his hands

Trying his best to understand the cause of his dismay

But years of gin have broken him

And left him cold where he fitted in

It’s too late to turn around and find another way

All the lights in the late night lock-in

Fade away when he gets in

And the girl from fifteen years ago

Has packed and gone away

She said it’ll never be what it used to be

What happened to all that energy

You took too many liberties, and I’m tired of being afraid

So night after night she took flight

Hiding swollen eyes and a wounded pride

The best years of her life denied, sold for liquid shares

All the lights in the late night lock-in

Fade away when he gets in

And the girl from fifteen years ago

Has packed and gone away

The victims of this world, are advertised on posters

A beach and a pretty girl, if you just take this potion

It’s another week 'til his cheque comes through

He’s got a fiver left now to spend on food

But the doors of the bars are open, and he breaks another rule

He sits on the stool that bears his name

His favourite glass is called the same

And he’s never kept waiting, 'cause he pays the landlord’s wage