I remember nights when we were young
They weren't very good they were rubbish
Running round Highroyds isn't fun
Just teenagers testing their courage

Standing outside nightclubs in the snow
Is not very cool or impressive
They let in all the girls from the year below
No need for I.D's with those dresses

Got news from afar
From a girl who knows who we are
She's still got my dinner money
She can keep it

Never had a fight that we haven't lost
We're not very tough or athletic
Once I had a boxing champ in a headlock
And when he gets out I'll regret it

Got keys to a car
Picked up a girl from Boston Spa
For fast food and the cinema
It's not worth it

Got word from down south
Well he had heard about it word of mouth
Haven't much stayed in touch
Since Highroyds

Let it go and let it go
And if I'm wrong then I won't know
'Cause no one's gonna tell me but a friend
But he has gone and Ian's gone
And everybody went along
And nobody was left here in the end

Got news from uncle Hugh
Through a second cousin once removed
It's too late there's a housing estate
It's called Highroyds

Got a text from an ex
She wants to know when we're in London next
"And will you write a song about me?"
I don't think so


Lyrics submitted by Rach146

Highroyds Lyrics as written by Charles Richard Wilson Andrew Robert White

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Highroyds song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

4 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment

    First Comment...

    Well I happen to have gone to the same school as 3 of the Chiefs.... St Mary's Catholic High School in Menston. And opposite was a mental hospital called, you guessed it, High Royds.

    This song is basically reminiscing about old times. Self explanatory really but the things about testing courage running round High Royds make more sense if you know it was a ofrmer mental hospital.

    And the bit near the end about it being a housing estate is now true. They are creating a "new village" called HighRoyds based around the old hospital. I had a look at the show house there - very nice! :P

    nidanon March 02, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This song reminds me of when I was a young(er)teenager and we had nowhere to go in our little town so we just used to hang about on the streets trying to find fun. 'teenagers testing their courage' And all the boys in year 11 fancied all the slaggy year 10 girls and not us year 11 girls! 'they let in all the girls from the year below/no need fo ID's with those dresses' Also, my 'gang' were sort of outsiders so maybe the reference about dinner money being stolen fits, too! That is, until we made friends with about 50 other kids who we previously thought were chavs but weren't. But that's besides the point. Great song, love the 'wooooh's!

    Hamathyon June 13, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    "Picked up a girl from Boston Spa," should be "picked up a girl from Potters Bar".

    RDDDDon June 13, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    No, it should be Boston Spa, which is a large village near Wetherby (Leeds). Also just to note, they remeniss about Highroyds being a housing estate. It is currently being converted into one. Its a former mental institution in Menston. That's why I thought when I first saw the title, it might have a sort of 'Strawberry Fields Forever' feel to it.

    All in all, not a bad song.

    mtaylor848on August 29, 2008   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Holiday
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday". I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
Album art
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Album art
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version. Great version of a great song,
Album art
When We Were Young
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Album art
No Surprises
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.