Dirty Old Town - NOT Pogues!

"Dirty Old Town" is not Irish. It was written by Ewan MacColl about Salford, the town where he grew up. During rehearsals of a play about the industrial north by MacColl, they found that a scene-change was taking too long, so he sat down and wrote "Dirty Old Town" to cover it, completing it in about ten minutes.

It is a tragedy that the Pogues ever got hold of "Dirty Old Town"  and ruined it by raucous shouting. The melody and lyrics are dreamy and wistful: "dreamed a dream by the old canal", "clouds are drifting across the moon", "smelled the spring on a smokey wind" (Salford Council objected to "Salford wind"!)"saw a train set the night on fire" - wonderful imagery.

The trouble with starting on 3+ as many tabs do, is that you can't get the E (in key of G) which is needed. So I suggest moving up the harp and starting on 7+, like this.


6+ 6-   7+  8+  8- 7+  8+  7+   6+
I found my love by the gasworks croft

8+      9+  10- 9+ 8+  8-  7+ 8+
Dreamed a dream by the old canal

10-    9+ 8+   8- 7+   8+  7+ 6+
Kissed my girl by the fact'ry wall

6- 7+ 8+  8-    8- 7+ 6-  7+
Dirty old town, dirty old town