They're going to build a motorway through my back garden
No one can explain why I came to be chosen
They're going to build a motorway they're ripping up the trees
Soon the lorries will be zooming through my cabbages and peas

Word came from the Council, it was just about a plan
I didn't understand, it sounded very grand
They talked of urban re-development, improving the environment
They says to ease the traffic flow with it and my back garden had to go
Well I don't know
I suppose that those who started it must know best
And I wouldn't like my vegetable patch to stand in the way of progress

They're going to build a motorway through my back garden
No one can explain why I came to be chosen
They're going to build a motorway they're ripping up the trees
Soon the lorries will be zooming through my cabbages and peas

The brother lives in Lilac Grove, it's just across the street
I've not seen him for weeks, we've always used to meet
And have a pint or two at Paddy Lowe's, it's just a heap [bad word] now
The pawnshop's disappeared, so's the barber's where we always used to go
Well I don't know
These noisy great machines are working non-stop
And funny things are growing and it looks as though the bomb's dropped

The bulldozers are closing in now on my back garden
No one can explain why I came to be chosen
The bulldozers are closing in, they've ripped up all the trees
Soon the lorries will be zooming through my cabbages and peas

I don't go out much any more, can't find my way around
Wind nearly knocked me down, there's tunnels underground
And just to get about from place to place it's like a bleedin' steeplechase
Day and night the traffic flows, it's best to plug your ears and hold your nose
Well I suppose
I'm better off than some, don't think I'm just sour
And I'm grateful for the grandstand view I'm getting of [bad word] hour

They've built an eight-lane motorway through my back garden
No one can explain why I came to be chosen
They've built an eight-lane motorway, they've ripped up all the trees
Now the lorries zoom where once I grew my cabbages and peas