It’s written by Scott Gorham, Lynott and Gary Moore.

Outside the window the neon flashes
In the morning light
Down on the sidewalk there’s a woman with a problem
But she don’t know how to fight
She’s destitute and broken down
She softly whispers, is there no one around
And no one hears the sound
Her knees give way and hit the ground

This is the toughest street in town

Growing up in the 80’s, there was no internet. We lived apart and you knew the people in the street, in the town and maybe some other people in another town. Long distance phone calls were expensive and people sent letters to relatives.

A lot of us felt there was something bigger, more exciting out there, so we wanted out. And then we had peers who were more than happy to sell narcotics or work in the steel mill.

And the streets were tough.

Tough in the sense, that people would bash you just for the sake of bashing you as new immigrants adjusting to life in a new world, with different cultures. But everyone eventually got on, as everyone had jobs and everyone worked hard.

People from all the different religions and races appreciate hard work and commitment to betterment. And it became fun to walk down to the local pub, play pool, listen to AC/DC’s “Back In Black” album on the jukebox, have a few drinks and anything else that came with going out.

Then when the banks and the copper mill started closing, the drug dealers and hookers moved into the main street. Suddenly, you had a seedy side. And the drug dealers brought with them all the addicts from every nearby town, who would urinate and defecate in front of shop doors, pass out in parks, break into houses and just be general troublemakers. And suddenly we had homeless people in the street and suddenly we had homeless people dying.

It’s just another black spot
Where far too many people have died
It’s just another graveyard
And there’s not too many people left alive

Every town developed black spots, but the people of the place cared enough to re-birth it. If it was a steel town once upon a time, it became a coffee artsy town or a tech town or a green town and so forth.

And the toughest street in town became the nicest.