Liberty of Norton Folgate
Madness

This is the story of the Liberty of Norton Folgate

Old Jack Norris, ‘The Musical Shrimp’
And the cadging ramble
A little bit of this
Would you like a bit of that?
But in weather like this
You should wear a coat, a nice warm hat
A needle and thread
The hand stitches of time
Battling Lavinski versus Jackie Burke
Bobbing and weaving an invisible line
So step for step and both light on our feet
We’ll travel many a long, dim, silent street
Would you like a bit of this
Or a little bit of that missus
A little bit of what you like does you no harm
You know that

The perpetual steady echo of the passing beat
A continual dark river of people
In their transience and in its permanence

But when the streetlamp fills the gutter with gold
So many priceless items bought and sold

So step for step and both light on our feet
We’ll travel many a long, dim, silent street - together

Once round Arnold Circus
Up through Petticoat Lane
Past The Well of Shadows
And once back round again
Arm in arm with an abstracted air, to where
The people stared at the upstairs windows
Because we are living like kings
And these days will last forever
Cos sailors from Africa, China and the Archipelago of Malay
Jump ship ragged and penniless into Shadwell’s Tiger Bay
The Welsh and Irish Wagtails – mothers of midnight
The music hall carousal is spilling out into bonfire light
Sending half crazed shadows, giants
Dancing up the brick wall
Of Mr. Truman’s beer factory
Waving bottles ten feet tall
Whether one calls it Spitalfields, Whitechapel,
Tower Hamlets or Bangle Town
We’re all dancing in the moonlight
We’re all on borrowed ground
Oh I’m just walking down to
I’m just floating down through
Won’t you come with me?
To the Liberty of Norton Folgate

But wait, what’s that
Dan Leno and a Lime house Gollum

Purposefully walking nowhere
Oh I’m happy just floating about (have a banana)
On a Sunday afternoon
The stall holders all call and shout (to no-one in particular)
Avoiding people you know
You’re just basking in your own company
The Technicolor worlds going by
But you’re the lead in your own movie
Cos in the Liberty of Norton Folgate
Walking wild and free
In your second hand coat
Happy just to float
In this little taste of liberty
A part of everything you see
There coming left or right
Trying to flog you stuff you don’t need or want
And a smiling chap takes your hand and drags you
In his uncles restaurant (here, here, here, here)
There’s a Chinese man trying hard to flog you moody DVDs
You know you’ve seen the film, its black and white, it’s got no sound
And a man’s head pops up and down right across you wide screen TV
Only a fiver (how much?)
Alright two for eight quid
(‘Ere y’ar, look look, I’m giving it away)
Cos in the Liberty of Norton Folgate
Walking wild and free
In your second hand coat
Happy just to float
In this little piece of liberty
You’re a part of everything you see

Cos it’s steady old fellows, pickpockets, dandies, extortioners and night wanderers
The feeble, the ghastly upon whom death had placed a very sure hand
Some in shreds and patches, reeling inarticulate full of noisy and inordinate vivacity
Which jars discordantly upon the ear and give an aching sensation to both pair of eyeballs
(noisy and inordinate vivacity)


In the beginning I’d the fear of the immigrant
In the beginning was the fear of the immigrant
He’s made his way down to the dark riverside

In the beginning was the fear of the immigrant
In the beginning was the fear of the immigrant
He made his home there by the dark riverside

He made his home there down by the riverside
They made their homes there down by the riverside
The city sprang from the dark river Thames

They made their home there down by the riverside
They made their homes there down by the riverside
The city sprang up from the dark mud of the Thames
I say it again

Cos in the Liberty of Norton Folgate
Walking wild and free
And in your second hand coat
Happy just to float
In this little taste of liberty
Cos you’re a part of everything you see
Yes you’re a part of everything you see

With a little bit of this
And a little bit of that
A little bit of what you like does you no harm
You know that


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Lyrics by Madness

  (A Portrait Of) Jennie   (waiting for) The Ghost Train   11th Hour   4 Am   4 B.F.   4am   A Day On The Town   A Town With No Name   Africa   Airplane   Airplane (Never Ask Twice)   Airplane A.K.A. Never Ask Twice   All I Knew   Animal Farm   Are You Coming   Are You Coming (With Me)   Are You Coming With Me   Baggy Trousers   Be Good Boy   Beat The Bride   Bed And Breakfast Man   Behind The 8 Ball   Behind The Eight Ball   Believe Me   Benny Bullfrog   Bingo   Black And Blue   Blue Skinned Beast   Brand New Beat   Burning The Boats   Call Me   Calling Cards   Cardiac Arrest   Chipmunks Are Go   Chipmunks are Go!   Circus Freaks   Clerkenwell Polka   Close Escape   Coldest Day   Communicator   Crying Shame   Dangerman A.K.A. High Wire   Day On The Town   Death Of A Rude Boy   Deceives The Eye   Decieves The Eye   Disapear   Disappear   Dont Look Back   Dont Quote Me On That   Dreaming Man   Drip Fed Fred   Driving In My Car   Dust Devil   E R N I E   E.R.N.I.E.   Elysium   Embarrasment   Embarrassment   Ernie   Fireball XL5   Flashings   Forever Young   Full house   Give Me A Reason   Going To The Top   Grey Day   Guns   Guns [*]   House Of Fun   How Can I Tell You   How Can I Tell You?   Huose of Fun [Video] [Multimedia Track]   I Chase The Devil   I Chase The Devil A.K.A. Ironshirt   I Pronounce You   I'll Compete   Idiot Child   If I Didn't Care   In The City   In The Middle Of The Night   In The Rain   In Wonder   Inanity Over Christmas   Israelites   It Must Be Love   It Must Be Love   Jennie ( A Portrait Of )   Jennie (A Portrait Of)   John Jones   Johnny the Horse   Keep Moving   Kitchen Floor   La Luna   Land Of Hope And Glory   Land Of The Hope And Glory   Leon   Light Of The Way   Lola   Lovestruck   Mad Not Mad   Madness   Madness (Is all In The Mind)   Madness [*]   Madness Song   March Of The Gherkins   Maybe In Another Life   Memories   Michael Caine   Micheal Caine   Misery   Missing You   Mistakes   MK II   Money, Money, Money   Mr Speaker (Gets the Word)   Mr Speaker Gets The Word   Mr. Apples   Mr. Speaker (Gets The Word)   Mr. Speaker Gets The Word   Mrs Hutchinson   Mrs. Hutchinson   Mummy's Boy   My Girl   My Girl [Live]   My Girl 2   Nail Down The Days   Never Ask Twice (AKA Airplane)   Never Ask Twice Aka Airplane   Never Knew Your Name   New Delhi   Night Boat To Cairo   Nightboat to Cairo   Nightmare Nightmare   No Money   Not Home Today   Nutty Theme   NW5   Oh   On The Beat Pete   On The Town   One Better Day   One Step Beyond   One Step Beyond [*]   One Step Beyond...   One's Second Thoughtlessness   Our House   Our House [*]   Our House [Special Remix]   Our House [Video] [Multimedia Track]   Overdone   Overture   Pac-a-mac   Perfect Place   Please Dont Go   Powder Blue   Primrose Hill   Prince   Prince [Edit]   Promises Promises   Prospects   Rain   Rainbows   Razor Blade Alley   Remembering all so clear   Return Of The Los Palmas 7   Riding on My Bike   Rise And Fall   Rockin in Ab   Samantha   Sarah   Sarah [*]   Saturday Night Sunday Morning   Saturday Night, Sunday Morning   Saturday Night/Sunday Morning   Shadow Of Fear   Shadow On My House   Shadow On The House   Shame And Scandal   Shut Up   Sign Of The Times   Simple Equation   Small World   So Alive   So Much Trouble In The World   Solid Gone   Song In Red   Stepping Into Line   Sugar And Spice   Sun and the Rain   Sunday Morning   Swan Lake   Swan Lake [Live] [Live]   Sweetest Girl   Take It Or Leave It   Taller Than You Are   Tarzan's Nuts   Tears You Can't Hide   Tears You Can’t Hide   Tears You Cant Hide   That Close   That Face   Thats The Way To Do It   The Business   The Communicator   The Ghost of Reverand Greene   The Harder They Come   The Hunchback of Torriano   The Liberty of Norton Folgate   The Opium Eaters   The Prince   The Return Of The Los Palmas 7   The Rise and Fall   The Sun And The Rain   The Sweetest Girl   The Wizard   The Young and The Old   Thunder And Lightning   Time   Time For Tea   Tiptoes   Tommorows Dream   Tommorows Just Another Day   Tomorrow's (just Another Day)   Turning Blue   Un Paso Adelante   Uncle Sam   Victoria Gardens   Vietnam   Waiting for the Ghost Train   Walking With Mr. Wheeze   Waltz Into Mischief   We Are London   We Are Love   When Dawn Arrives   White Heat   Wings Of A Dove   Wings of a Dove/The Sun and the Rain/Michael Caine...   Wonderful   Yesterdays Men   You Keep Me Hanging On   You Said

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