Dirty Old Town
MacColl Ewan Lyrics
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Dreamed a dream by the old canal
Kissed my girl by the factory wall
Dirty old town, dirty old town
Clouds are drifting across the moon
Cats are prowling on their beat
Springs a girl in the streets at night
I heard her sigh from the decks
Saw a train set the night on fire
Smelled the spring on the smoky wind
Dirty old town, dirty old town
I'm going to take a good sharp ax
Shining steel tempered in the fire
We'll chop you down like an old dead tree
Dirty old town, dirty old town
The lyrics of MacColl Ewan's Dirty Old Town is a reflection of the bittersweet memories and nostalgia of the singer about his hometown. The first verse talks about how the singer found his love in the dimly lit town where the only source of light was the gaslight. The reference to the canal suggests a romantic date with his lover. However, the setting of the kiss is unromantic and desolate; it is by the factory wall, a reminder of the town's working-class roots. The phrase "Dirty old town" that repeats after each verse signifies both a fondness for a place and the recognition that it has its downsides.
The second verse talks about the town at night, with the moon's clouds and prowling cats. The imagery of a girl in the streets suggests the underbelly of the town with its seedy nightlife. The lyrics capture a sense of danger, with the "prowling" cats and the darkness everywhere. The third verse is about the singer's sensory perception of the town, the sound of the girl's sigh from the deck, the sight of a train lighting up the town, and the smell of spring amidst the smoky wind.
The final verse takes a stark turn in tone. The singer plans to take a good sharp ax to chop down something or someone described as an old dead tree. This can be interpreted in many ways, including the capitalist system that the factory could represent, the dangers of the seedy nightlife of the town, or the singer's reckoning with his memories of the town.
Line by Line Meaning
I found my love where the gaslight falls
I discovered my love in a dimly-lit area of the city
Dreamed a dream by the old canal
I had a dream near the outdated waterway
Kissed my girl by the factory wall
I shared a kiss with my lover near a manufacturing plant
Dirty old town, dirty old town
This city may have its issues, but it's still home to me
Clouds are drifting across the moon
The sky is overcast and the moon is obscured by these clouds
Cats are prowling on their beat
Felines are wandering around their designated areas
Springs a girl in the streets at night
Girls roam the streets in the evenings, possibly for work or recreation
I heard her sigh from the decks
I listened as she breathed heavily from the elevated platforms
Saw a train set the night on fire
I observed how the locomotive illuminated the dark surroundings
Smelled the spring on the smoky wind
I inhaled the scent of the season on the hazy breeze
I'm going to take a good sharp ax
I intend to use a well-made, sharp ax
Shining steel tempered in the fire
The metal was heated and strengthened until it shone
We'll chop you down like an old dead tree
We will cut you down like a lifeless, aged tree
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: EWAN MACCOLL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Queerienlannister
[Verse 1]
I found my love by the gasworks croft
Dreamed a dream by the old canal
Kissed my girl by the factory wall
[Refrain]
Dirty old town, dirty old town
[Verse 2]
I heard a siren from the docks
Saw a train set the night on fire
Smelled the spring on the smoky wind
[Verse 3]
Clouds are floating across the sky
Cats are prowling upon their beat
Spring's a girl in the streets at night
[Refrain]
Dirty old town, dirty old town
[Verse 4]
I'm going to make a good sharp axe
Shining steel tempered in the fire
We'll chop you down like an old dead tree
@susiebarrett9155
I love this song as born there but lived on the South Coast most of my adult life! However very proud of my Dirty Old Town! Brilliant song, brilliant singer, brilliant writer.
Thank you Susan Barrett
@reddwing4368
If for nothing else
This song makes Ewan
My hero
@saralynfosnight5139
I probably heard this song in the early 1960s and have loved it ever since. It's a beautiful melody and evocative of many mill towns in the U.S. and the UK. I remember driving through Pittsburgh in the 1940s, and it was just like this song. Everything covered with coal dust. The houses slack-jawed and falling apart. It was grim along Route 40 in those days, which is how my dad drove us to Ohio to visit family. It also stank. Nothing can smell as bad as coal slag, except maybe the dead fish smell of Gloucester, Mass., during the days when it was a major fishing port. Goddawful! Yes, I agree with Steve Jepson below. Such songs should not be forgotten. Just because we no longer see so much manufacturing here doesn't mean it has gone away, taking with it its awful stench and rank poverty. It has merely gone to the Third World to wreck their environment and destroy their citizenry. All in the name of progress, that deadly curse.
@mindurownbizness1388
This man has not been described as a national treasure. He may not have appreciated the phrase in any case. Ewan was a lifelong socialist born in Salford. He was vilified by the British establishment for supporting working class causes and culture and his work is mostly ignored by the British establishment for the same reason. This enormously important character needs to be given his place in British cultural heritage and to be rehabilitated in the same way that Alan Turing has been rehabilitated. It's shocking that his work in bringing to life the lost ballads of working people is not celebrated more widely. He wrote a lot of beautiful songs in addition. Wake up people. You have been systematically disconnected from your past by orchestrated means; culturally managed and this includes the X-Factor.
@grosvenorclub
Not sure about that . I heard his music regularly at folk clubs back in the 1960's and its was often university students that went to those places. But you are right in that not many people realise who wrote the song originally .
@jerrysimon6938
I think you're somewhat exaggerating about "the British establishment". But he did do some important cultural work around folk songs generally, and wrote some very fine songs. (None of which are Americana, Blues or Country, by the way!)
@lizziechan4906
@@jerrysimon6938not sure you can exaggerate about the British establishment!
@Deedsofwill
Great voice ,tainted political narrative
@philbirkmyre3348
This song brings back memories of my dad, this was one of his favourites, thank you Ewan for the memories
@-Deena.
I love my dirty old town 🧡