I went down to my youth club .
Man at the door said,
" No way ! , it's all full up " .
Baseball boots
squeaking in the rain .
Council estate on a Friday night .
Sixteen years old ,
and I'm bored again .

Doorway kids hiding
in the centre of town .
Panda cars
keep cruising around .
And my mother told me ,
" Don't stay out late " .
As she watches t.v.
in a trance-like state .

The doors of opportunity
are slammed in my face .
Nothing to do
in this forgotten place .
All we have is music
and street-corner culture .
With the echoing bang
of a hollowed out future .

I tried to join
my local football team .
Sign on the door said ,
" We are out of your league ! " .
I need some excitement ,
and I need it bad .
This concrete wasteland
is driving me mad .

Down the train station ,
Saturday at noon .
Just hanging around
with the local youths .
We don't have tickets
'cos we're going nowhere .
Then someone says ,
" Oi you , chicken or dare ! " .

The next train through
is the inter-city express .
Hundreds of tons
of railway diesel excess .
Ninety miles per hour
on a non-stop course .
British Rail's version
of the modern iron horse .

Here it comes now ,
heading into our dead-end town .
You can hear the rails ping
as it's bearing on down .
I want to stand on the track
but there are people all around .
Edge of the platform is the place to be.
If I fall now , I'm just local history .

Then someone pulls me back ,
in the nick of time .
But I felt the pressure wave
from the locomotive line .
Station master , getting in a strop ,
" You lot ! , leave now or I call the cops " .
And I didn't mind taking the blame ,
I was hooked ; dangerous game .

Next day found me ,
further up the line .
Trespassers will...
but not this time .
Standing by the track
waiting for a train .
This is such a rush ,
things will never be the same .

Here comes a loco ,
thundering down on me .
Two feet from the track .
Face on now and I want to see .
Hit by the wall of sound
as it screams by relentlessly .
Rocked by the ferocity
of hurtling machinery .

My adrenalin levels
are going through the fuckin' roof .
Carriages whizz by me
in a blur of greens and blues .
If I reached out my hand
it would take my fingers to the bone .
Six seconds of intensity ,
then it's gone , and I'm alone .

Next train that comes ,
I'm gonna stand a little closer .
Nothing beats the thrill ,
on the edge of overdosing .
The shock-wave pressure
of a high-speed locomotive train,
is an adrenalin-junkie fix
in an adolescent brain .

To hell with this .
I need a bigger hit .
I'm gonna stand between the rails ,
like Piggy , pickin' up sticks .
Here comes the inter-city .
So I take up my position .
Close my eyes, and cross my arms .
Next stop , locomotive heaven .