Words and music by jimmy nail      Walking on cobble stone, little bits of skin and bone   Jumping on the tram car for a ride   I can remember then, I was just a boy of ten   Hanging out along the old quayside   Not all the capstans and the cargo boats   And stevadores are gone   To where all the old ships go   But memories just like the seas live on      That was when coal was king,   The river a living thing   And I was just a boy, but it was mine,   The coaly tyne      This was a big river,   I want you all to know that I was proud   This was a big river, but that was long ago,   That's not now, that's not now      My fther was a working man,   He earned our living with his hands   He had to cross the river every day   He picked up a union card out of the neptune yard   Mouths to feed and the bills to pay   Then came a time for him to sail across the sea   And far away   Finally when the war was won   You brought him home and home he stayed      And when his days were done, under a golden sun   You carried him to where he longed to be,   Back to the sea      This was a big river,   I want you all to know that I was proud   This was a big river, but that was long ago,   That's not now      The neptune was the last to go,   I heard it on my radio   And then they played the latest number one   But what do they do all day?    And what are they supposed to say?    What does a father tell his son?    If you you believed that there's a bond between our future   And our past   Then try to hold on to what we had,   We build them strong, we built to last      'cause this is a mighty town,   It's built upon solid ground   And everything they tried so hard to kill,   We will rebuild      This was a big river   I want you all to know that I was proud   This was a big river, but that was long ago,   That's not now   This is a big river,   And in my heart I know it will rise again   The river will rise again