Dirty Old Town

Album: Alan Lomax and the Ramblers with Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger (1956)
Play Video
  • I found my love by the gaslight crawls
    Dreamed a dream by the old canal
    Kissed my girl by the factory wall
    Dirty old town, dirty old town

    I heard a siren from the docks
    Saw a train set the night on fire
    Smelled the spring on the smoky wind
    Dirty old town, dirty old town

    Clouds are drifting across the moon
    Cats are prowling on their beat
    Springs a girl in the streets at night
    Dirty old town, dirty old town

    I'm going to make a good sharp axe
    Shining steel tempered in the fire
    We'll chop you down like an old dead tree
    Dirty old town, dirty old town Writer/s: Ewan MacColl
    Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 5

  • Neal Lewing from Polson Montana UsaWho owns the recording rights to Dirty Old Town?
  • Karen Pidcock from Kaslo, Bc CanadaSO grateful for Ewan MacColl’s songs! From Dirty old Town to The First Time ever I saw your face (not a better love song’s been written)!
  • Dh from Lancashire The correct lyric is "Salford wind". The song is written about Salford.
  • Jeff from MichiganI believe the first verse is gas works "croft".
    I believe the third verse is "screams" a girl in the street at night.
  • Paolo from CaliforniDavid Byrne did not cover this. He did a completely different song by the same name.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Carol Kaye

Carol KayeSongwriter Interviews

A top session musician, Carol played on hundreds of hits by The Beach Boys, The Monkees, Frank Sinatra and many others.

Corey Hart

Corey HartSongwriter Interviews

The Canadian superstar talks about his sudden rise to fame, and tells the stories behind his hits "Sunglasses At Night," "Boy In The Box" and "Never Surrender."

Lita Ford

Lita FordSongwriter Interviews

Lita talks about how they wrote songs in The Runaways, and how she feels about her biggest hit being written by somebody else.

Rosanne Cash

Rosanne CashSongwriter Interviews

Rosanne talks about the journey that inspired her songs on her album The River & the Thread, including a stop at the Tallahatchie Bridge.

Kevin Godley

Kevin GodleySongwriter Interviews

Kevin Godley talks about directing classic videos for The Police, U2 and Duran Duran, and discusses song and videos he made with 10cc and Godley & Creme.

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie Combination

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie CombinationSong Writing

In 1986, a Stephen King novella was made into a movie, with a classic song serving as title, soundtrack and tone.