Words and music by jimmy nail
Walking on cobbled stones, little bits of skin and bone
Jumping on the tram car for a ride
I can remember then, I was just a boy of ten
Hanging around the old keyside
Now all the capstans and the cargo boats
And stevadores are gone
To where all the old ships go
But memories just like the seas live on
'Cause that was when coal was king,
The river a living thing
And I was just a boy, but it was mine,
The coaly tyne
This was a big river,
I want you all to know that I was proud
This was a big river, but that was long ago,
That's not now, that's not now
My father was a working man,
He earned our living with his hands
He had to cross the river every day
He picked up a union card out of the neptune yard
Mouths to feed and the bills to pay
Then came a time for him to sail across the seas
And far away
Finally when that war was won
You brought him home and home he stayed
And when his days were done, under a golden sun
You took him back to where he longed to be,
Back to the sea
For this was a big river,
I want you all to know that I was proud
This was a big river, but that was long ago,
That's not now
That's not how
That's not now
The neptune was the last to go,
I heard it on my radio
And then they played the latest number one
But what do they do all day?
And what are they supposed to say?
What does a father tell his son?
If you you believe that there's a bond between our future
And our past
Try to hold on to what we had,
We build them strong, we built to last
'Cause this is a mighty town,
Built upon solid ground
And everything they've tried so hard to kill,
We will rebuild
For this was a big river
I want you all to know that I'm so very proud
This was a big river, but that was long ago,
That's not now
And this is a big, big, river,
And in my heart I know it will rise again
The river will rise again
