[Northumbrian pipes instrumental]
MCMLXXX
(1980 in roman numerals)
Nineteen eighty
A year of unemployment and cold war darkness
darkness
N-N-Nineteen eighty
And England emerging from winters of harshness
harshness
The unrestrained era of disco was done
disco was done
A computerised age had begun
uh-huh
Dà yīng guó dōng běi bù de zhōng xīn
(The centre of the northeastern part of Great Britain)
zhōng xīn
Nineteen eighty
An exciting new chapter had been carefully written
written
Nineteen eighty
The future arrived on a hot day in August
With a new bridge over the Tyne
New bridge over the Tyne
Primary colours and geometric lines intertwined
Underneath an iconic black and yellow sign
Black and yellow sign
M-M-M-M-M-M-Metro
T-Tyne and Wear goes electro
Twenty hours a day from
South Hylton to Whitley Bay
Hurt-hurtling like-like an arrow
From Bank Foot down to Jarrow
In the baking heat and the driving seat
It's alreet
T-T-T-Tyne and Wear Metro
Su-subterranean yo-yo
A flash of cadmium yellow
M-M-M-M-M-Metro
And the escalators were the first I'd ever seen
Talk about a stairway to heaven so steep
And so high and so bright and so clean
[Brass band instrumental]
[English folk instrumental & Cheering]
You see me going to Byker to roam on the streets
Metro
Metro Metro
Or going to Whitley to lie on the beach
Metro Metro
You might see me at Central catching the train
Train
Or at St James watching the game
Metro
Got a little yellow ticket just in case they check us
The charvers run away from inspectors
I'm on the Metro all of the time
But you won't catch me with no twenty pound fine
Twenty pound fine
Sample our famous mackem wit
With the musings of the gadgy in Sunderland kit
Or the Magpies disembarking at St James' Park
Into a station which pulses with anticipation
-pation
My mate Chelsea was named and shamed
For failing to pay for her ticket
'Cause she gave them her name when the guard person came
It's her naughty Nexus secret
T-T-T-Tyne and Wear Metro
We all think of girls latino
oo-oo-oo
Sixty colourful stations in useful locations
G-G-G-Goes like a turbo
And canny craic from the get-go
So well-well why-why don't we go
M-M-M-M-M-Metro
Life in extremities, start at St James'
Progression, regression, so many changes
Rolling stock clatter and the platform chatter
Takes me back, take me back
High level clarity, brought back the memory
Take me to the city, to the coast, to the skyways
Take me to it all and the highways
Ride the M-train, take me home
And sometimes you have to just sit and listen
And lend the ear that wipes the tear away
Wipes the tear away
Haymarket, Monument, Manors, Byker, Chillingham Road, Walkergate
Wallsend, Hadrian Road, Howdon, Percy Main
Meadow Well, North Shields, Tynemouth, Cullercoats
Whitley Bay, Monkseaton, Shiremoor, Northumberland Park
Palmersville, Benton, Four Lane Ends, Longbenton
South Gosforth, Ilford Road, West Jesmond, Jesmond
Haymarket
M-M-M-M-M-M-Metro
All aboard the love train
These carriages are Cupid's domain
All aboard the love train
Yeah yeah yeah
These carriages are Cupid's domain
And I called him my Metro man
He had rain spattered glasses
When he boarded at Byker-huh
The decision to choose a certain seat
All aboard the love train
These carriages are Cupid's domain
I didn't know there would be space
Can change your life indelibly
And yet he squeezed onto the carriage
And into my heart
And was it fate or was it chance that brought him
To South Shields on the last Metro home?
I've seen it all
All aboard the love train
The break-ups, the make-ups
These carriages are Cupid's domain
The headaches and heartaches
Our eyes met at Monument Station
It's not just for if we're made to be
All aboard the love train
But I had a one-way ticket to the States
It's a journey into humanity
All aboard the love train
But she asked me on a date
All aboard the love train
So I went and it was great
And I ripped up my ticket
All aboard the love train
And stayed here
M-M-M-M-M-M-Metro
Subterranean yo-yo
It's a transport pioneer in the heart of Tyne and Wear
T-T-T-Tyne and Wear Metro
M-M-Makes you go retro
In the baking heat and the driving seat
It's alreet
M-M-M-M-M-M-Metro
I always wanted a solo
I guess we'll sing in a trio
I'm singing in my falsetto
L-L-L-L-L-L-Let's go
M-M-M-M-M-Metro
T-T-T-Tyne and Wear Metro