Madness - Overture lyrics

This is the story of the
Liberty Of Norton Folgate

Old Jack Norris
The musical shrimp and the cadging ramble

A little bit of this
Would you like a bit of that

But in weather like this, you
Should wear a coat, a nice warm hat
A needle and thread the hand stitches of time
Battling Levinsky versus Jackie Burk
Bobbing and weaving, an invisible line

So step for step and both light on our feet
We’ll travel many along dim silent street

Would you like a bit of this
Or a little bit of that? (Misses)
A little bit of what you
Like does you no harm, you know that
The perpetual steady echo of the passing beat
A continual dark river of people
In it's transience and in it’s permanence
But, when the streetlamp fills
The gutter with gold
So many priceless items bought and sold

So step for step and both light on our feet
We’ll travel many along dim silent street
(together)

Once round Arnold Circus
And up through Petticoat Lane
Past the well of shadows
And once back round again
Arm in arm, with an abstracted air
To where the people stare
Out of the upstairs windows
Because we are living like kings
And these days will last forever

Cos sailors from Africa
China and the archipelago of Malay
Jump ship ragged and penniless
Into Shadwells Tiger Bay
The Welsh and Irish wagtails
Mothers of midnight
The music hall carousel enspilling
Out into bonfire light
Sending half crazed shadows
Giants dancing up the brick wall
Of Mr Trumans beer factory, waving
Bottles ten feet tall

Whether one calls it
Spitalfields, Whitechapel, tower Hamlets
Or Banglatown we’re all dancing
In the moonlight, we’re all
On borrowed ground

Oh, I’m just walking down to
I’m just floating down through
Won’t you come with me
To the Liberty of Norton Folgate but wait!
What’s that? Dan Leno
And the Limehouse golem

Purposefully walking nowhere
Oh I’m happy just floating about
(Have a banana) on a Sunday afternoon
The stallholders all call and shout
To no-one in particular
Avoiding people you know
You're just basking in you're own company
The technicolour world’s going by
But you're the lead in your own movie

Cos in the Liberty of Norton Folgate
Walking wild and free
In your second hand coat happy just to float
In this little taste of liberty
A part of everything you see

They’re coming left and right
Trying to flog you stuff you
Don’t need or want
And a smiling chap takes your hand
And drags you in his Uncles restaurant
(ee yar, ee yar, ee yar)

There’s a Chinese man trying hard
To flog you moody DVDs
You know? You’ve seen the film
It’s black and white, it’s got no sound
And a man’s head pops up and down
Right across your widescreen TV
(Only a fiver, 'Ow much?)
(Alright, two for eight quid)
(Ee yar, ee yar, look, I'm givin' it away)
(Givin' it away)

Cos in the Liberty of Norton Folgate
Walking wild and free
In your second hand coat happy just to float
In this little piece of liberty
You’re a part of everything you see

There’s the sturdy old
Fellows, pickpockets, dandy’s, extortioners
And night wanderers, the feeble, the ghastly
Upon whom death had placed a very sure hand
Some in shreds and patches
Reeling inarticulate full of noisy
And inordinate vivacity
That jars discordantly upon the ear
And gives an aching sensation to
Both pair of eyeballs
(Noisy and inordinate vivacity)

Ohhhh ahhhhhh ahhhhh etc etc

In the beginning was a fear of the immigrant
In the beginning was a fear of the immigrant
He's made his way down to the dark riverside

In the beginning was a fear of the immigrant
In the beginning was a fear of the immigrant
He’s made his home there down
By the dark riverside

Ohhhh ahhhhhh ahhhhh etc etc

He made his home there down by the riverside
They made their homes there
Down by the riverside
The city sprang up from the dark river Thames

They made their home there
Down by the riverside
They made their homes there
Down by the riverside
The city sprang up from the
Dark mud of the Thames i’ll say it again

(Ha ha ha, that's right)

'Cos in the Liberty of Norton Folgate
Walking wild and free
And in your second hand coat
Happy just to float
In this little taste of liberty
Cos you’re a part of everything you see
Yes, you’re a part of everything you see

With a little bit of this
And a little bit of that
A little bit of what you
Like does you no harm and you know that

Ohhhh ahhhhhh ahhhhh etc etc

This is the story of the
Liberty Of Norton Folgate

Old Jack Norris
The musical shrimp and the cadging ramble