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Once I Saw the River Clean Lyrics
[Verse 1]
Once I saw the river clean
Distant future, wait for me
I grow pleasing to the eye
And the cue will cue for me
Once I saw the river clean
Soon the clock will strike for me
Childish mind anticipates
Grown-up mind consummates
[Verse 2]
I walked with my grandmother
Down a windblown Chester Road
With her fifty-two new pence
For her twenty number-tens
And my forty-five pence too
Demand metal guru
Once with hearts securely stacked
Then we walked all the way back
[Verse 3]
I walked with my grandmother
Along the groan of Talbot Road
In the gardens by the graves
I can just about behave
Arrogant and paranoid
All around, see fathead youth
Look into their brutal eyes
But only if you want the truth
[Verse 4]
Once I saw the river clean
Scratching up the latest scheme
Time will come but it hasn't yet
Someone’s out to get me
I walked with my grandmother
Cornbrook Street, where incomplete
She would never be again
A Dublin dancer, free and young
Once I saw the river clean
Distant future, wait for me
I grow pleasing to the eye
And the cue will cue for me
Once I saw the river clean
Soon the clock will strike for me
Childish mind anticipates
Grown-up mind consummates
I walked with my grandmother
Down a windblown Chester Road
With her fifty-two new pence
For her twenty number-tens
And my forty-five pence too
Demand metal guru
Once with hearts securely stacked
Then we walked all the way back
I walked with my grandmother
Along the groan of Talbot Road
In the gardens by the graves
I can just about behave
Arrogant and paranoid
All around, see fathead youth
Look into their brutal eyes
But only if you want the truth
Once I saw the river clean
Scratching up the latest scheme
Time will come but it hasn't yet
Someone’s out to get me
I walked with my grandmother
Cornbrook Street, where incomplete
She would never be again
A Dublin dancer, free and young
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(correct or incorrect) I love the lyrics, and to me they paint a picture of Morrissey looking back when he was a small lad. I love skill in the words: 'With her fifty-two new pence, For her twenty number-tens, And my forty-five pence too, Demand metal guru..'. Amazing! ^_^
It's a memory picture to highlight certain themes: pollution, addiction, mortality, upbringing, environment, opportunity, etc.