The Pride of Wapping Wharves

Verse 1

Old Father Thames is a tricky old bloke

Scurry past the sailors in the soot and the smoke

Beneath the red brick wall

Where the iron cranes grow tall

Looking at the river like a mirror getting broke

Pre-Chorus

Oh the ropes are spinning fast

As the ships are drifting past

Moving all the sugar and the tea

Wapping is the only place for me

Chorus

Wopping by the water with a rattle and a bang

Wopping where the tavern door is swinging on a tang

See the bridge a-rising

High against the sky

Where the tugboats whistle

And the muddy birds fly

Wopping by the water is the heart of every man

Verse 2

Stumble down the stairs where the wharfinger stands

Checking all the crates with his leathery hands

Spices from the east

For a proper Sunday feast

Piles of the cotton for the dresses in the lands

Pre-Chorus

Oh the ropes are spinning fast

As the ships are drifting past

Moving all the sugar and the tea

Wapping is the only place for me

Chorus

Wopping by the water with a rattle and a bang

Wopping where the tavern door is swinging on a tang

See the bridge a-rising

High against the sky

Where the tugboats whistle

And the muddy birds fly

Wopping by the water is the heart of every man

Bridge

Mind the gap and mind your feet

Tide is high and narrow street

Blackened glass and heavy gates

Waiting while the engine grates

Chorus

Wopping by the water with a rattle and a bang

Wopping where the tavern door is swinging on a tang

See the bridge a-rising

High against the sky

Where the tugboats whistle

And the muddy birds fly

Wopping by the water is the heart of every man

Wopping by the water is the heart of every man