Chorus
How did we survive oh How did we survive
If you listen what they’re saying now we shouldn’t be alive
It’s a wonder that we made past the tender age of five
Oh how did we oh how did we survive
Well the paint on cots and beds was laced with zinc and lead
Which we swallowed chewed and sucked without a care
There were no safety caps or lids to deter enquiring kids
and no gates to stop you falling down the stairs.
We’d drink water from the hose till it squirted down your nose
or share a drink between your friends and didn’t die
And your mum said good clean dirt could neither harm nor hurt
So we’d eat toffees covered o’er with fluff and flies
Well we rode our bikes for miles in just sandals shorts and smiles
With no helmets, lights or padded seats or gears
And we’d ride around in packs with coats streaming out the back
and fluorescent ‘spokey dokey’s’ on our wheels
And we’d spend hours building carts from both nicked and borrowed parts
And then hurtle down Pitts Hill at break neck speeds
Then we’d puff and pant for breathe cuz we’d scare ourselves to death
Cuz only cissies had brakes on their trusty steeds
We ate pudding peas and chips we ate chocs and cherry lips
sherbet dabs and meat with every meal
We were never overweight cause we were outside with our mates
Running hell for leather down the fields
And we’d go out to play and we’d stay out all the day,
Up the pit heap on the shraff-tip or the park.
No such thing as mobile phones so you couldn’t call back home
And no one worried if you got back after dark.
There wasn’t much TV no video or DVD
I think we lived life at a slower pace
And we used to go for walks or just meet your mates and talk
Bit like chat rooms I suppose but face to face
We didn’t have PC’s, Internet or USB’s
We’d play war games using old brush stales for guns
We weren’t gentle or genteel, we played ‘em rough and real
with more than just a risk of damage to your thumbs