Mum is looking tired, Dad's feeling old
They've been here thirty years, still ain't seen no streets of gold
Mum packed her cases at the age of nineteen
She was gonna go to England, she would live like a Queen
She would build her own house, she would raise 'nuff kids
Sometimes I know she wishes that she never did
But what's done is done, what's past is past
The only questions now - how long can she last?
There's little future for the children in a world they never made
So tell me where's the future for the middle aged
Mum's gotta put her future in the hands of the Lord
Hope she goes to heaven for her final reward
Worked her finger to the bone to make her life better
Tried to be a citizen, they wouldn't let her
Residential areas gave a message to Mum
You were O.K. in the jungle you'll be fine in the slum
But in the slum there were houses little better than shacks
Signs in the window - 'No Irish - No Blacks'
Wife and husband with nowhere to go
Winter coming on and they'd never seen snow
They sat that life isn't easy, then you die
But you can't give up you have to give it a try
When there's youth there's hope no matter how bad it seems
They knew that one day soon they would achieve their dreams.

When Dad was a lad he was bad
But check him out now it's kinda sad
He came here to England he thought he'd do well
He knew more about the English than they knew 'bout themselves
Question him on Africa, he'd give you some crap
About the place across the sea where all the people are black
Where they lived in grass houses where they didn't wear clothes
Where every last person had a bone through their nose
But what did he care, he was in the U.K.
Where people co-existed in a civilised way
With this kind of thinking his brainwashed mind
Couldn't cope, he lost hope and now he's lost and blind
Forget about the future he's just living for now
He tried to succeed but didn't know
To deal with rejection at the sight of his face
All the isms and schisms concerning his race
He would stay here for ten, twenty years at the most
Take his family home and live high post
When Daddy arrived that was his master plan
His wife was the woman and he was the man
But life was so hard it near destroyed their souls
Some couples went mad some reversed their roles
Young gifted and black they were a perfect team
And now they can't go back they lost it all for a dream.