Chipped and bitten dolls heads in a basket up for sale The loneliness of markets drag a shadow like a whale These are hard times given But if hard times win, you're begging in hell Your dad could hide a bottle in an eyelid, in a shell Your mother makes a dish nobody's mother makes as well These are dark times risen But if dark times win, you're wishing in hell Oh, we've seen it all before Boys on the cove selling worms to the boats coming ashore ♪ Dogs out in the rubbish that the cat's already delved Your brother tans his muscles to the sound of factory bells All gods forbidden, you buy your peace on 99 shelves The schools are cold and violent, and the television's loud Every park a cemetery, holes and muddy mounds This is our great island, and our good people shutting it down Oh, they've seen it all before Boys on the cove selling worms to the boats Boys on the cove selling worms to the boats Boys on the cove selling worms to the boats coming ashore ♪ Oh, you've seen it all before ♪ Boys on the cove selling worms to the boats Girls at the hearth knitting words and breaking oaths Man stripping cars singing songs from the road And rats in the bars licking coke from the hose There's a crash overboard and a wink for the host Boys open-armed selling worms to the boats coming ashore