Big River

Walking on cobbled stones, little bits of skin and bone

Jumping on the tram car for a ride

I can remember then, I was just a boy of ten

Hanging around the old quayside

Now all the capstans and the cargo boats

And stevedores are gone

To where all the old ships go

But memories just like the seas live on

'Cause that was when coal was king,

The river was a living thing

And I was just a boy, but it was mine,

The coaly tyne

For this was a big river,

I want you all to know that I was proud

This was a big river, but that was long ago,

That's not now, that's not now

My father was a working man,

He earned our living with his hands

He had to cross the river every day

He picked up a union card out of the neptune yard

Mouths to feed and the bills to pay

Then came a time for him to sail across the seas

And far away

Finally when that war was won

You brought him home and home he stayed

And when his days were done, under a golden sun

You took him back to where he longed to be,

Back to the sea

For this was a big river,

I want you all to know that I was proud

This was a big river, but that was long ago,

That's not now

That's not how

That's not now

The neptune was the last to go,

I heard it on my radio

And then they played the latest number one

But what do they do all day?

And what are they supposed to say?

What does a father tell his son?

If you believe that there's a bond between our future

And our past

Try to hold on to what we had,

We built them strong, we built to last

'Cause this is a mighty town,

Built upon solid ground

And everything they've tried so hard to kill,

We will rebuild

For this was a big river

I want you all to know that I'm so very proud

This was a big river, but that was long ago,

That's not now

And this is a big, big, river,

And in my heart I know it will rise again

The river will rise again