©Ed Pickford mcps/prs

The future held such promise when he started at the school

Every day a new day full of learning full of rules

They taught him all about his world as by the years did roll

He was sixteen years a school kid now he’s sixteen on the dole.

 

Chorus:

And I’ve seen him in the city streets more times than I can tell

All around this country his face is known so well

As he wanders round killing time - his life one endless stroll

He was sixteen years a school kid now he’s sixteen on the dole.

 

At school he was no genius but still he didn’t care

He was strong and he was happy in the sun and in the air

Soon he would become a man and try to reach his goal

But the joy soon turned to bitterness at sixteen on the dole.

 

Chorus:

 

The world he sees about him is a world that doesn’t care

It shows him what a teenage kid should eat and drink and wear

Then through its glittering pop world makes him wander like a mole

He was sixteen years a school kid now he’s sixteen on the dole.

 

Chorus:

In time the gravestone of this crime will bear the victim’s name

And all the wreaths of flowery words won’t hide a nation’s shame

The politicians had no cure for cancer of the soul

He was sixteen years a school kid now he’s sixteen on the dole.

 

Chorus:

And I’ve seen him in the city streets more times than I can tell

 All around this country his face is known so well

As he wanders round killing time - his life one endless stroll

He was sixteen years a school kid now he’s sixteen on the dole.