Hope Street Lyrics

Lyric discussion by Lederin 

Cover art for Hope Street lyrics by Levellers

I love this song and ironically there's a "Hope Street" near me that is scarily similar to this =P

It's about the desolation you find in slum/council estates in city/urban areas, particularly in the 70-90's with Thatcher (shudder) the Miners Strikes etc etc - it tackles everything: Verse 1 - Unemployment (there were 3 million unemployed in the late 70's) verse 2 - Homelessness (repossession was common too, if you couldn't pay) Verse 3 - Gambling Addiction (People turn to it when they have no money) Verse 4 - the "regulars" idea in the pubs / living on a estate Verse 5 - The Useless endeavours of the council to helps "The kids" when it was them who "put them there" in the fist place by not giving them a chance.

The "ties of blue" refers to the middle class, council works, civil servant types who just give up on these “down-and-out” types, and “don’t even seem to care”

Hehe....in case you couldn't tell I come from a English working/lower middle class background ^_^; so this makes sense to me =P

My Interpretation