It was a coal town He spent his whole life in a hole in the ground Smashing the pieces of earth He never really saw the sky It was a hard life But little black rocks make 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 And 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 challenging things a boy can do And you've waved goodbye and held more tears in Than anyone ever should And all my sorrow pales 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 And there's a hundred challenging things a boy can do (Hundred challenging, hundred challenging) (Hundred challenging things a boy can do) And you've waved goodbye and held more tears in Than anyone ever should All my sorrows pale in to insignificance That's why she loves you (Hundred challenging, hundred challenging) (Hundred challenging things a boy can do) Hundred challenging, hundred challenging Hundred challenging things a boy can do Hundred challenging, hundred challenging Hundred challenging things a boy can do (Wave goodbye) Hundred challenging, hundred challenging (Wave goodbye) Hundred challenging, say goodbye (Wave goodbye) Hundred challenging, hundred challenging (Wave goodbye) Hundred challenging, say goodbye to you