This song is about Cornershop frontman Tjinder Singh's childhood and about his mother, who passed away around the time he made the song. The line, "When we let it up, let it breathe" is a reference to his mother's funeral pyre. The spoken-word part of the song is about his childhood summers spent racing friends through the alleys.
The "green goddess" is a reference to the army. In 1976, the Wolverhampton, England fire department was on strike, so the army was put in charge of fighting fires.
"Local dignitaries and labor counselors" refers to Singh's father, who was a counselor to the Labour Party.
See your Spotify stats (with number of plays and minutes listened) and discover new music.
Music data, artist images, album covers, and song previews are provided by Spotify. Spotify is a trademark of Spotify AB.