The Living End – West End Riot

The Living End – West End Riot is the fourth single off The Living End’s debut self-titled album.

The song is about two boys who are born and raised in two different areas, who play together in the streets with toy guns, but who grow up to live very different lives, with their childhood fun being nothing more than a memory. The song is based on the West and East sides of Melbourne, even though in later years the feud has died down. A lot of East Melburnians like the lines ‘There’s a man from the West working at a factory, there’s a man from the East who runs the whole company’ from the reputation the West side has. A crowd favourite, it is often played at the end of a show, most notably at Festival Hall in 2006. The song appears on the PlayStation 2 video game World of Outlaws: Sprint Cars 2002.
Edited Extracts from Wikipedia®

The Living End – West End Riot Lyrics

There’s a kid who was born and was raised in the west
There’s a kid from the east who never really fit in with the rest
Every week they would meet in the street with their friends
With the guns that they made and the caps that they stole
They would fight to the death

This time
We’ll have victory
Last time
Ended in defeat
Our town
Becomes a battleground (hey)
Battleground (hey)
Battleground

West end riot (riot)
West end riot (riot)
We’ll be here next saturday
With our guns and our heads held high
So listen up boys
You’d better not cry this time

See a bum on the street that you think you recognize
Young kid never looked so bad when he was only 4 foot high
6 o’clock running home I don’t wanna be late
Another saturday of sun and war
Shared with our mates

This time
We’ll have victory
Last time
Ended in defeat
Our town
Becomes a battleground (hey)
Battleground (hey)
Battleground

West end riot (riot)
West end riot (riot)
We’ll be here next saturday
With our guns and our heads held high
So listen up boys
You’d better not cry this time

Boys will be boys playin’ up
And making lots of noise
Never used to talk about the future
Never thought that we’d have to care so
West end riot!

There’s a man that was born in the west workin’ at a factory
There’s a man from the east who now runs the whole company
How they’ve grown on their own, not like the kids they used to be
Saturdays of sun and war are just fond memories

West end riot (riot)
West end riot (riot)
We’ll be here next saturday
With our guns and our heads held high
So listen up boys, you’d better not cry
So listen up boys, you’d better not cry
So listen up boys, you’d better not cry this time