A Hundred Challenging Things a Boy Can Do

It was a coal town
He spent his whole life in a hole in the ground
Smashing pieces of earth
He never really saw the sky
It was a hard life
But little black rocks make the televisions work
And put food on the table
Until the unions cast him aside
Now there’s a hundred challenging things a boy can do
When you’ve waved goodbye and held more tears in
Than anyone ever should
And all my sorrows pale to insignificance
That’s why I love you
She was in a strange land
She taught herself to read from doing crosswords
And hiding her accent
She cast her dreams aside
She had a spark in her eye
She never saw her son on his wedding day
Or our cherry blossoms, falling down from the sky
Now there’s a hundred challening things a boy can do
When you’ve waved goodbye and held more tears in
Than anyone ever should
And all my sorrows pale to insignificance
That’s why I love you
No coal mines
No not a trace
Now shopping malls take their place
No picket lines
The sacrifice
Dreams overrun
Hopes for a future for her son, in Ollerton
Now there’s a hundred challenging things a boy can do
When you’ve waved goodbye and held more tears in
Than anyone ever should
And all my sorrows pale to insignificance
That’s why she loves you
A hundred challenging things a boy can do
Wave goodbye
Wave goodbye
A hundred challenging
Say goodbye to you