On Down The River - Joel Plaskett

When I was young I would go down to the Thames

And watch the rusty freighters leaving on the tide

The crew all leaning on the rails along the side

Hey Lad, you want to hitch a ride?

I used to go there ‘cos I had to get away

From all the hustle of the Dagenham estate

The endless houses every one of them the same

The dirty diesel traffic roar

The river was an open door

Oh how it called me from my bedroom down the hallway

Out through the doorway it led me down the road

Out of the city rolling to the sea

Free

Walk down the Heathway along the Chequers Lane

In past the motor works beneath the gantry crane

Between the slag heaps and the rusty railway train

They’d never see me here again

On down the river I could wish myself away

On a rusty freighter bound from London to Bombay

On down by the river I imagined I could be

Free

My father used to ask me «Billy where you been?»

I’d tell him truthfully «I've been down the river Thames»

He knew that someday he would stand and watch me go

On down the river

On down the river

On down the river

I could wish myself away