Along the line I remember a time
Of saplings tied to stakes for who knows what crime
We were young and the world was raw
Now all these years later, it's not like that no-more

I remember the rubble of the old depot
The pit-line we called the Yellow Brick Road
Burnt-out cars on top of the hill
And scramblers racing about on the field

[chorus:]
Why is it such a surprise to find
We've grown up together and the years have been kind
So mellow and leafy you've grown since last time
I walked along the line

To grow is to change, to leave yet remain
Weathered and lined, still I recognise your face
Streets so familiar, was I ever away?
Yet with subtle shifts the sharpness fades

Life has a way of forcing a rhyme
A hazy rehash of some other time
Like birdsong, the sound of kids playing in the street
The aching remembrance that once it was me

[chorus:]
Why is it such a surprise to find
We've grown up together and the years have been kind
So mellow and leafy you've grown since last time
I walked along the line

From Rocky Hill down to Ryhope Dene
The subbie, the fields, the factories and streets
I'm a working class kid off a council estate
And my heart will always be there