Ewan MacColl 1949
Ewan MacColl wrote Dirty Old Town about Salford, Lancashire, England, the city where he was born and brought up. It was originally composed for an interlude to cover an awkward scene change in his 1949 play Landscape With Chimneys, set in a North of England industrial town, but many people now erroneously regard it as a traditional song.
I found my love on the gasworks croft, Dreamed a dream by the old canal; Kissed my girl by the factory wall, Dirty old town, dirty old town. Heard a siren from the docks, Saw a train set the night on fire; Smelt the spring on the smoky wind, Dirty old town, dirty old town. Clouds a-rolling across the sky, Cats a-prowling upon their beat; Spring’s a girl in the street 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.