Back-Alley Girl

It's a
Dull Monday morning
You skip college with your mates
Buy a pack or eight
Go to last period
Miss asks why you're late
You just grin and wink
Just go and frustrate

You're sparking up joints round the back of Gregg's
Guys'll give anything for a bit of head
And you know you're drowning but don't say a word
Just puff, pass, shut up
That's how we do in this world

You've got four kid sibs and a bus ticket
That you overuse to get away from it
All the shouting and screaming and spamming your phone
What's a girl got to do to get some time alone?

I saw you outside at quarter past nine
Hopping on some randomer's motorbike
Watch your hair fly by as you cling on tight
And you laugh, and I wonder what it's like

Living up life on the backstreets
Tryna find God at the end of a cigarette
Dark nights, strange men, and the smell of nicotine
And you know that you're not done yet
Ask the homeless guy on ninth if he's got a light
Then sit down beside him and ask about his life
You listen to his stories well, but
Never heed his warnings
Back-alley girl

Your parents are throwing up a fuss about grades
You don't give a shit, you just laugh in their face
I'm sure you'll learn soon enough, babe
You won't survive in this world with no give and all take

You walk out, run your mouth, head in the clouds
No one wants to come out and parties are too loud
So you sit in the park and think it's over now
Update your Snapchat story, in case your mates are around

You dye your hair crazy colours with quid shop dye
Just to make your parents even more pissed off, I
Know I shouldn't like your mess of a life
But somehow it pulls me back in each time

Say fuck it, give twenty to a busker, smile
Pet a stray dog you nicknamed Buster, while
You dance round the streets, put your arms around me
And now I'm on my feet, and I sing to you, see?

Living up life on the backstreets
Tryna find God at the end of a cigarette
Dark nights, strange men, and the smell of nicotine
And you know that you're not done yet
Ask the homeless guy on ninth if he's got a light
Then sit down beside him and ask about his life
You listen to his stories well, but
Never heed his warnings
Back-alley girl

Back-alley girl

Back-alley girl

Soon the sky will fall
Won't be long before we lose it all
Soon we'll fall
And she says

Love's fragile and temporary
But I'm glad, at least, that you're here with me
If one night's all we've got, let's make the best of it
Stop by at a bench if we need to rest a bit

Twenty-nine hours I spent by your side
May have been the best of my goddamn life
You know I don't know your name
Or remember your face
Doesn't matter, all the same
Let's be one for today
And she said

You're living up life on the backstreets
Tryna find God at the end of a cigarette
Dark nights, strange girls, and the smell of nicotine
And you ask yourself if you're done yet
Am I done yet?

Living up life on the backstreets
Tryna find God at the end of a cigarette
Dark nights, strange men, and the smell of nicotine
And we know that we're not done yet
Ask the homeless guy on ninth if he's got a light
Then sit down beside him and ask about his life
You listen to his stories well, but
Never heed his warnings
Back-alley girl

My back-alley girl
My back-alley girl
My back-alley girl
Back-alley girl, back-alley girl
My back-alley girl