Newcastle blah blah blah

Tempo: Mid-tempo, driven by a gritty acoustic guitar and a steady, marching drumbeat)(Verse 1)Salt air used to sting a little different back thenWith the BHP smoke rising up over the glenWe had dirt under our fingernails, beer on our breathChasing the night between life and deathCheap terrace houses with the paint peeling downThe harbor was working, a steel-hearted townWe had the Cambridge on Friday, the surf at the beachEverything we wanted was right in our reach.(Chorus)But the edges got soft, and the colors bled outThey silenced the music and drowned out the shoutNow I walk down Hunter Street, looking for a sparkBut it’s just blah, blah, blah after darkYeah, it’s just blah, blah, blah in the dark.(Verse 2)Now the old shopfronts are painted in pastel and creamSelling twelve-dollar toast to a different dreamHigh-rises choking the ghost of the viewBuilt for the weekenders, out with the old, in with the newThe light rail glides by, so quiet and cleanSwept away the mess of the best days we've seenNoise complaints killing the last local bandTo protect the investors who don't understand.(Chorus)'Cause the edges got soft, and the colors bled outThey silenced the music and drowned out the shoutNow I walk down Hunter Street, looking for a sparkBut it’s just blah, blah, blah after darkYeah, it’s just blah, blah, blah in the dark.(Bridge)Merewether is crowded, but the crowd isn't the sameBeat-up old panel vans lost to the gameNow it’s luxury SUVs blocking the laneAnd they’re talking 'bout property prices and gainWe traded our leather for beige linen shirtsFunny how progress is the thing that hurts.(Guitar Solo - Melancholic, screaming but fading out)(Outro)It’s safer now.It’s cleaner now.It’s wealthier now…But it’s empty somehow.Just a manicured town.Just blah, blah, blah.Yeah, Newcastle... you're just blah, blah, blah.(Fade out on a single, clean guitar chord)