Newcastle stands in front of the mirror getting ready
Sam Ryder serenades in the background
A backdrop of the night to come is seen in the reflection
A wrap commemorates the end of a good night in toon
The city known for its nightlight
Where you go for the best night
Is where you want to end right?
—
And they head out
Onto the street
Into the crowd blended with people from all walks of life
Speaking more languages than can be counted
Making up plans in their heads
Overhead the pigeons live
And for a moment you believe you’re soaring the streets
Seeing this United Kingdom unite in our fight for what’s right
Unite with Ukraine
In our every waking breath
They are thought of and fought for
In this city that united in pride
Proud of where we came from
Proud of who we are
Proud of our passion
And passionate to show the world what we can achieve
These songs in our hearts beats strong
like a music anthem
The way our feet stomp
In line with the beat
Never skipping a step
The record may scratch
But inside it’s all made of the same thing
The thing that unites us in friendship
Our love for music
—
Newcastle is alive at night
The way it moves around you
Finding you space and comfort within its walls
Like a child returning home there’s always room for you here
The theatres, the museums, the arts, the music
Like a tree they’re setting root
They’re being watered and Newcastle is giving way for them to be seen
—
The poet writes about the tracks of their favourite songs
How the past resurrects with every new old tune they listen to
Like the tracks of Newcastle that never skip a beat
The ones that run through her streets
Connecting me to you and you to them and them to everyone else
In the heart of it
Lies the train station connecting South to North
East to West
Newcastle is standing strong
Just a heartbeat away from the major cities
It’s the bridge that holds them all together
—
The beating heart of Newcastle is home to craft ale brewers, top- class chefs
The Angel of the North
Grainger Street
And Grainger Market
These household names
Carry more than just that
They are what connects us to those who don’t even know us
They are symbols at the heart of this great city
They keep us warm, they keep us fed
Within their halls, roam people from all walks of life
Going from stalls to the retails
They’ll naturally re-tell their exploits to all those who are willing to listen
To the tales of their new lifestyle
Creating a new lifeline
Creating new links for a lifetime
—
The poet down the street is composing prose about this city
About the music in the air and before you know it
You’re in love with a city
—
To be in love with a city
Is to drown in a cosmic pool of invigorating freedom every night
And yet in the morning although the mouth is dry, the air is hardly stale
And still you can’t help but want to be romanticised once again
Allow the city to grab you by your arms and spin you into the night once more
You dance and you dance, and you dance and although you’re out of the house you still feel at home
Because that’s what it is
Newcastle
Is home