Big steam engine whistle sings Never mind the thistle stings Before the Beatles did their thing And Skiffle took it on the chin We were building cars from wood we found From old pram wheels that don't go round And matches at the old showground Back when I was a boy We were bouncing marbles down the street It was chips and cards for once a week And Tuppence bought a bag of sweets After rationing was obsolete We had holes in every pair of socks Beano through the letterbox And our front door was never ever locked The whole day stretched on forever then Just dogs and dirt and oxygen And Bolton won the cup again Just as Macmillan's crew were moving in Dad says work was tough and times were lean As we lost a king and gained a queen And we gathered round that TV screen Back when I was a boy I know there's no returning to those days that seemed so free But these are only childhood memories The Russians put a man in space Now the Yanks are stepping up the race Mom says Grandma's gone to a far, far better place Now Johnny Ray's at number one And Frankel's a phenomenon While school went on and on and on and on Back when I was a boy Now it's PS3s and Wiis and stay-at-home technologies Well you and I had none of these They're far from our reality These days kids grow up so fast And nothing's really built to last And their world's not quite as meaningful and innocent As when I was a boy Big steam engine whistles, sings Never mind the thistle swings And before the Beatles did their thing But what's happening to Maryland? Now they built a wall from north to south They say to keep the East Berliners out And Dad says Castro better watch his mouth While Brian Poole says twist and shout Now they're rioting in Budapest While Tommy Dorsey's laid to rest And Bridget Bardot bared her breast Back when I was a boy I know there's no returning to those days that seemed so free But these are only childhood memories I know there's no returning to those days that seemed so free But these are only childhood memories