There are two artists with this name:
1. A British rapper
2. A Finnis… Read Full Bio ↴There are two artists with this name:
1. A British rapper
2. A Finnish rock band

1. Mike Skinner (born November 27, 1978), more commonly known by his stage name The Streets, is a rapper from Birmingham, England. He was born in Barnet in North London and that's where his accent, sometimes called 'Mockney' by the press, comes from. You can hear his actual accent on the start of 'Fake Streets Hats' from his album The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living recorded in 2006. He moved to Birmingham shortly after he was born and is a Birmingham City fan. He has suffered from epilepsy since he was five.

He signed a five album record deal in 2002, and has fulfilled his contract by releasing five albums: Original Pirate Material (2002), All Got Our Runnin's (2003), A Grand Don't Come For Free (2004), The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living (2006), Everything Is Borrowed (2008) and Computers and Blues (2011).

When playing live, Skinner is joined by Kevin Mark Trail on backing vocals, Johnny Drum Machine on drums, Wayne Fibes on guitar and bass, Chris Brown on keyboards and Magic Mike on samplers.

In January 2011, Skinner's management announced that Skinner will no longer perform as The Streets.
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2. The Streets was a band originated from Turku, Finland in the early 1980's. Their most known song is Kestääkö siivet from the album Kestääkö siivet (1980), which is also featured on the soundtrack of Mika Kaurismäki's film Arvottomat (The Worhless) 1982.

The Streets were:

Asmo Kärkkäinen, guitar
Jouni Hemberg, lead vocals
Kari Laihonen, keyboard
Tapio Vesa, bass guitar
Eero Valkonen, drums

The Sherry End
The Streets Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Til the very end
We'll be just as friends
I've known you better
You've seen my worst
So let's invent worse

When a good night flounders and it's over
How good it was I tend to know

By adding up or rounding down
The evenings count of jokes

Me and my hilkshare are trying that team deciphered by other gangs
That's the thing I love about my fine brothers in slang
If it's got a funny story which mentions me
It's not for others in ear splash
It's ours, it's mad, it's many hours spent laughing at events past

We smirk or outsmart the quirk that will spark
The word which we will laugh at
It sparks around the crowd this work of art which we have found

Til the very end
We'll be just as friends
I've known you better
You've seen my worst
So let's invent worse

I love the craze of the latest phrase
Amazing mungrels of conjoinment
Crazy paving saying are a joy to say with mates
And girls all love the lingo
They curl right up and bingo
They go that extra smile
And they go that whole damn smock
I mean it though a joke from that one like that one was wrong
It makes no sense really
Shorten to a word and then to a nod
That is friendship to me
The secret handshake of three mad mates
It makes me pleased to share traits
In understanding absurdities that mean our brains play

Til the very end
We'll be just as friends
I've known you better

You've seen my worst
So let's invent worse

Overall Meaning

The Streets's song The Sherry End is a tribute to friendship, the kind of friendship that lasts for years, even when circumstances change and people grow apart. The opening lines of the song, "Til the very end, we'll be just as friends," set the tone for the rest of the song. The rapper, Mike Skinner, is reflecting on the strong bond he shares with his close friends. He acknowledges that his friends have seen his worst and he has seen theirs, but they still choose to remain friends.

The idea of inventing worse is interesting because it suggests that there is a degree of comfort in familiarity. It's easier to be with people who already know your flaws than to try and impress strangers. When things get tough, Skinner and his friends have each other to lean on. This line could be interpreted as a way of saying, "we've been through the worst, so we can handle anything that comes our way."

The second half of the song talks about the joy of sharing inside jokes and creating a language that only a select few can understand. Skinner highlights the unique language he shares with his friends, how they have invented words and phrases that are meaningful only to them. This is a mark of a deep relationship, where you are not just sharing good times, but also creating something that is uniquely yours. The unspoken bond between Skinner and his friends is affirmed by their shared language and experiences.

Line by Line Meaning

Til the very end
Our friendship will last until the end of our lives

We'll be just as friends
We will remain friends and not go beyond that

I've known you better
I understand you better than most people do

You've seen my worst
You have witnessed my lowest moments

So let's invent worse
Let's come up with new lows for me to hit

When a good night flounders and it's over
When a fun night starts to lose its luster and come to an end

How good it was I tend to know
I am usually able to assess how enjoyable the night was

By adding up or rounding down
Through some kind of calculation, whether precise or not

The evenings count of jokes
The number of jokes made throughout the night

Me and my hilkshare are trying that team deciphered by other gangs
My friends and I are using our own slang to try to figure out the meaning of another group's slang

That's the thing I love about my fine brothers in slang
This is one of the things I love about my close friends who share my slang

If it's got a funny story which mentions me
If there is a humorous anecdote that features me

It's not for others in ear splash
It's not meant for others to overhear

It's ours, it's mad, it's many hours spent laughing at events past
It's a shared experience that is exclusive to us and has resulted in many hours of laughter in the past

We smirk or outsmart the quirk that will spark
We either smirk at or outsmart the oddity that will make us laugh

The word which we will laugh at
The specific word that will make us laugh

It sparks around the crowd this work of art which we have found
The word catches on with the group and becomes a shared inside joke

I love the craze of the latest phrase
I enjoy the trend of using the newest slang phrases

Amazing mungrels of conjoinment
Creative and interesting combinations of words

Crazy paving saying are a joy to say with mates
Slang phrases can be both fun and satisfying to say with close friends

And girls all love the lingo
Even women enjoy using slang, especially popular phrases

They curl right up and bingo
They become instantly excited and enthusiastic

They go that extra smile
They smile more widely or brightly

And they go that whole damn smock
They go all out and get very into the slang, even to the point of wearing special clothing or accessories related to it

I mean it though a joke from that one like that one was wrong
I genuinely find something funny that others might not understand or recognize as a joke

It makes no sense really
The humor or enjoyment of the moment is not very logical or easily explained

Shorten to a word and then to a nod
The inside joke is so well-known that it can be expressed with just a word or a nod

That is friendship to me
This shared experience and understanding of inside jokes is a key aspect of what friendship means to me

The secret handshake of three mad mates
Our shared understanding and enjoyment of slang is like a secret physical greeting between three close friends

It makes me pleased to share traits
This commonality between friends is something that brings me happiness

In understanding absurdities that mean our brains play
We bond over shared appreciation of strange, even nonsensical things that appeal to our sense of humor

Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: MICHAEL GEOFFREY SKINNER

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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