Lyrics :
I met my love by the gas works wall
Dreamed a dream by the old canal
I kissed my girl by the factory wall
Dirty old town
Dirty old town
Clouds are drifting across the moon
Cats are prowling on their beat
Spring's a girl from the streets at night
Dirty old town
Dirty old town
I heard a siren from the docks
Saw a train set the night on fire
I smelled the spring on the smoky wind
Dirty old town
Dirty old town
I'm going to make me a good sharp axe
Shining steel tempered in the fire
I'll chop you down like an old dead tree
Dirty old town
Dirty old town
I met my love by the gas works wall
Dreamed a dream by the old canal
I kissed my girl by the factory wall
Dirty old town
Dirty old town
Dirty old town
Dirty old town
My Dad's lot are from Ireland, He was brought up in Salford. Why can no one identify with a this song just because they are not from Salford. If it registers then it is relevant regardless of where you are from. Any way Luke Kelly could've sang the phone book and people would've loved it.
That line "I dreamed a dream by the old Canal". From the most cynical to the most jolly I feel like almost anyone can relate to that line with a look of regret, nostalgia, or longing. Only Luke Kelly could make such a line be filled with the essence of being a human.