Dexys Midnight Runners

Released: June 3, 2016

Songwriter: Phil Coulter

[Verse 1]
In my memory I will always see
The town that I have loved so well
Where the kids played ball by the old gasyard wall
And we laughed through the smoke and the smell
Going home in the rain, running down the dark lane
Past the jail and down behind the fountain
Those were happy days in so many ways
In the town I loved so well

[Verse 2]
There was music there in the Derry air
Like a language we could all understand
I was proud on the day when I earned my first pay
When I played in a small pick-up band
There I spent my youth and to tell you the truth
I was sad to leave it all behind me
For I learned about life and I'd found me a wife
In the town I loved so well

[Verse 3]
But when I returned how my eyes have burned
To see how a town could be brought to its knees
By the armoured cars and the bombed out bars
And the gas that hangs on to every tree
Now the army's installed by that old gasyard wall
And the damned barbed wire gets higher and higher
With their tanks and their guns, oh God, what have they done
To the town I loved so well

[Verse 4]
Now the music's gone but they carry on
For their spirit's been bruised, never broken
They will not forget but their hearts are set
On tomorrow and peace once again
For what's done is done and what's won is won
And what's lost is lost and gone forever
I can only pray for a bright, brand new day
In the town I loved so well
I can only pray for a bright, brand new day
In the town I loved so well

Dexys Midnight Runners (currently officially Dexys, their common nickname; sometimes styled with and sometimes without an apostrophe) are an English pop band with soul influences, who achieved their major success in the early to mid-1980s. They are best known in the UK for their songs “Come On Eileen” and “Geno”, both of which peaked at No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart, as well as six other top-20 singles.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Dexys went through numerous personnel changes over the course of three albums and thirteen singles, with only singer/songwriter/co-founder Kevin Rowland remaining in the band through all of the transitions and only Rowland and “Big” Jim Paterson (trombone) appearing on all of the albums. By 1985, the band consisted only of Rowland and long-standing members Helen O'Hara (violin) and Billy Adams (guitar). The band broke up in 1987, with Rowland becoming a solo artist. After two failed restart attempts, Dexys was reformed by Rowland in 2003 with new members, as well as a few returning members from the band’s original lineup (known as Dexys Mark I). Dexys released their fourth album in 2012 and a fifth followed in 2016.

more tracks from the album

Let the Record Show: Dexys Do Irish and Country Soul

From the album

Let the Record Show: Dexys Do Irish and Country Soul (2016)

Dexys Midnight Runners popular songs

The Town I Loved So WellDexys Midnight Runners

Dexys Midnight Runners

Let the Record Show: Dexys Do Irish and Country Soul