'This Is The Place': Watch poet Tony Walsh's (1) inspirational ode to Manchester at terror attack vigil
Tony, who performs as 'Longfella' recited the poem in Albert Square, to rapturous applause
(1) Tony Walsh also known as Longfella, is an English poet, performer and writer.
This is the place - 'Longfella'
In the north-west of
England. It’s ace, it’s the best
And the songs that we
sing from the stands, from our bands
Set the whole planet
shaking.
Our inventions are
legends. There’s now we can’t make, and so we make brilliant music
We make brilliant
bands
We make goals that
make souls leap from seats in the stands
Tony Walsh recites
This Is The Place at the Albert Square vigil
And we make things
from steel
And we make things
from cotton
And we make people
laugh, take the mick summat rotten
And we make you at
home
And we make you feel
welcome and we make summat happen
And we can’t seem to
help it
And if you’re looking
from history, then yeah we’ve a wealth
But the Manchester way
is to make it yourself.
And make us a record,
a new number one
And make us a brew
while you’re up, love, go on
And make us feel proud
that you’re winning the league
And make us sing
louder and make us believe that this is the place that has helped shape the
world
And this is the place
where a Manchester girl named Emmeline Pankhurst from the streets of Moss Side
led a suffragette city with sisterhood pride
And this is the place
with appliance of science, we’re on it, atomic, we struck with defiance, and in
the face of a challenge, we always stand tall, Mancunians, in union, delivered
it all
Such as housing and
libraries and health, education and unions and co-ops and first railway
stations
So we’re sorry, bear
with us, we invented commuters. But we hope you forgive us, we invented
computers.
And this is the place
Henry Rice strolled with rolls, and we’ve rocked and we’ve rolled with our own
northern soul
And so this is the
place to do business then dance, where go-getters and goal-setters know they’ve
a chance
And this is the place
where we first played as kids. And me mum, lived and died here, she loved it,
she did.
And this is the place
where our folks came to work, where they struggled in puddles, they hurt in the
dirt and they built us a city, they built us these towns and they coughed on
the cobbles to the deafening sound to the steaming machines and the screaming
of slaves, they were scheming for greatness, they dreamed to their graves.
And they left us a
spirit. They left us a vibe. That Mancunian way to survive and to thrive and to
work and to build, to connect, and create and Greater Manchester’s greatness is
keeping it great.
And so this is the
place now with kids of our own. Some are born here, some drawn here, but they
all call it home.
And they’ve covered
the cobbles, but they’ll never defeat, all the dreamers and schemers who still
teem through these streets.
Because this is a
place that has been through some hard times: oppressions, recessions,
depressions, and dark times.
But we keep fighting
back with Greater Manchester spirit. Northern grit, Northern wit, and Greater
Manchester’s lyrics.
And these hard times
again, in these streets of our city, but we won’t take defeat and we don’t want
your pity.
Because this is a
place where we stand strong together, with a smile on our face, greater
Manchester forever.
And we’ve got this
place where a team with a dream can get funding and something to help with a
scheme.
Because this is a
place that understands your grand plans. We don’t do “no can do” we just stress
“yes we can”
Forever Manchester’s a
charity for people round here, you can fundraise, donate, you can be a
volunteer. You can live local, give local, we can honestly say, we do charity
different, that Mancunian way.
And we fund local
kids, and we fund local teams. We support local dreamers to work for their
dreams. We support local groups and the great work they do. So can you help us.
help local people like you?
Because this is the
place in our hearts, in our homes, because this is the place that’s a part of
our bones.
Because Greater
Manchester gives us such strength from the fact that this is the place, we
should give something back.
Always remember, never
forget, forever Manchester.
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/tony-walsh-poem-manchester-vigil-13082050
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