Northern evening, chill as can be
Just as the Lowries were leaving the factories
My co-pilot, along for the trip
Was given some Guinness
But it didn't quite do the trick
& There we settled, or so I'm told
Truth is you don't remember much
Till you're 5 years old
Or thereabouts, & then for a while
The days are all wrapped up in cotton
With no end in sight
But I've seen it, I've seen the proof
The proof's in the picture
The picture's the truth
The three of us standing
Golden and rare
As the Manchester sun
That forever fixes us there
Oh how long will it be
Till I lose these memories
And sit with a blanket across my knees
In a house overlooking the sea
& Will it all have been enough
The boy, the north
The love
To fill up the spaces that lie in between
The shapes we were cut out to be
Winter morning, over the sea
500 miles from where it all kicked off for me
You arrived in a black and white scene
Cast in a picture and overnight
Then there were three
Well the journey home
Oh I don't recall
How I wish I'd committed it to memory
But, what I know
We took you home
& You slept on a chair
& Once you were here it was
Just like you'd always been there
Oh how long will it be
Till I lose these memories
And sit with a blanket across my knees
In a house overlooking the sea
& Will it all have been enough
The boy, the north
The love
To fill up the spaces that lie in between
The shapes we were cut out to be
Hold your horses, you're jumping the gun
I thought it was me who showed you how things are done
But you point and I follow your gaze
And I can't help but feel we live in a circle of days
Where I used to be one
And you are one now
Can't honestly tell you
It'll all make sense somehow
But it fits into some bigger plan
Like a teller of fortunes
Whatever you will be, I am
Oh how long will it be
Till I lose these memories
And sit with a blanket across my knees
In a house overlooking the sea
& Will it all have been enough
The boy, the north
The love
To fill up the spaces that lie in between
The shapes we were cut out to be