I'm in the toilets of a shit old club
While all of these other boys are taking drugs
I'm talking with Bossman about love and loss and
Where life goes wrong
'Cause he works all night just to take home a wage
Selling chewing gums and lollipops and cheap aftershaves
To the boys in huaraches sniffing cocaine off car keys
All night long
And I say, "Mate
Don't you ever get sick of the sight
Of the drunken fights
And the smell of shit, sick and piss?
There's got to be more to life than this"
And he said, "Son, I've got no riches to boast
But see in luck and love, I swear I'm richer than most
I've got a wife and two kids
There's so much more to my life than this"
So no spray, no lay, no splash, no gash
Cheap aftershaves in exchange for cash
I'm not making a killing, bruv
But I'm making a living and that's enough
I'm on my way home in the backseat of a cab
And I'm talking with Bossman while I eat my kebab
I'll ask him if he's been busy, what time he gets off and is he
From 'round this way
'Cause he works all night on a 12-hour shift
With the gypsy jeans and the beauty queens and the lads on the piss
They've had a couple of shandies mixed with Charlie and Mandy
Every weekend's the same
And I say, "Mate, don't you ever get
Sick of abuse from the drunken youths
Leaning out your window being sick?
There's got to be more to life than this"
And he said, "Son, I've got no riches you see
But my son's at school and education ain't free
He'll be a doctor someday
If he wants a future, we've got to pay"
"So I'll drive all night with these drunken kids
Who need to stop to get cash or need to stop for a piss
I'm not making a killing, bruv
But I'm making a living and that's enough"
I'm at the counter of my local shop
Where Bossman's been working since we were kids in the blocks
Every Saturday night, he would serve me with my fake ID
When I was 15 years old
And he's still there now before I go to bed
And in the morning with the papers, a pint of milk and loaf of bread
He sleeps and he showers then works another 24 hours
You see it's taking its toll
And I say, "Mate, don't you ever get
Sick of this place stacking shelves every day?
Come on, bruv, you've got to admit
There's got to be more to life than this"
And he said, "Son, I'm barely making ends meet
But there's a war back home and people die in the street"
Said, "I thank God every day
That me and my family have got away"
"So I'll spend my life in this shop but it's sweet
'Cause I don't fight to survive and I don't fight just to eat
And I'm not making a killing, bruv
But I'm alive and I'm living and that's enough"