We didn't have nowhere to live,
we didn't have nowhere to go
til someone said
"I know this place off Burditt Road."
It was on the fifteenth floor,
it had a board across the door.
It took an hour
to prise it off and get inside.
It smelt as if someone had died;
the living room was full of flies,
the kitchen sink was blocked,
the bathroom sink not there at all.

Ooh, it's a mess alright,
yes it's
Mile End.

And now we're living in the sky
I never thought I'd live so high,
just like Heaven,
if it didn't look like Hell.
The lift is always full of piss,
the fifth floor landing smells of fish
not just on Friday,
every single other day.
Below the kids come out tonight,
they kick a ball and have a fight
and maybe shoot somebody if they lose at pool.

Ooh,
it's a mess alright,
yes it's
Mile End.

Nobody wants to be your friend
cos you're not from round here, ooh
as if that was
something to be proud about.
The pearly king of the Isle of Dogs
feels up children in the bogs.
Down by the playing fields,
someone sets a car on fire
I guess you have to go right down
before you understand just how,
how low,
how low a human being can go.

Ooh,
it's a mess alright,
yes it's
Mile End.