Working Man's Café - Ray Davies

Looking for the working man’s cafe

In the shopping centre of the town

Looking for somewhere to fit in

In among the retail outlets

Bought a pair of new designer pants

Where the fruit and veg man used to stand

I always used to see him there

Selling old apples and pears

Chatting up the pretty girls

With knocked off goods in the van

Don’t you know he was a working man

Long ago he was a working man

And we sat in the working man’s cafe

The working man’s cafe

Everything around me seems unreal

Everywhere I go it looks and feels like America

We’ve really come a long way down this road

Improving our surroundings as we go

Changing our roots and culture

But don’t you know

Long ago there was a working man

Don’t you know we were all working men

And we’d sit and pass the time of day

At the working man’s cafe

I thought I knew you then but will I know you now?

There’s gotta be a place for us to meet

I’ll call you when I’ve found it

I only hope that life has made us a little more grounded

Hey man, I see you now

Oh oh, we were all working men

And here we are at the working man’s cafe

It’s really good to see us come so far

But haven’t we forgotten who we are

Taking out a larger loan

Equity relief and mortgages

We all seem to pass the time of day

Online at the internet cafe

And if you forget my face

In case you’ve forgotten just who I am

I’m the kid with the greasy spoon

Firmly held in my hand

Don’t you know I was a working man

Long ago we were all working men

And we sat and spent the time of day

At the working man’s cafe

Yeah, at the working man’s cafe