Old blog serials don't die, they just get put on hold until inspiration takes us back.
And so we return to our musical journey around the British Isles, stopping today at the unfortunately named Lincolnshire port of Grimsby.
Lincolnshire lad Bernie Taupin penned the lyrics to Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting based on his experience of watching neighbouring gangs scrapping there at the weekend.
A year or so later, he wrote a rather more complimentary ode to the town...
Take me back, you rustic town
I miss your magic charm
Just to smell your candy floss
Or drink in the Skinner's Arms
No Cordon Bleu can match the beauty
Of your pies and peas
I want to ride your fairground
Take air along the quay
Oh oh Grimsby, a thousand delights
Couldn´t match the sweet sights
Of my Grimsby
Oh England you're fair
But there's none to compare with my Grimsby
Listening to Half Man Half Biscuit last week it occured to me there's a potential series in all the towns namechecked in their songs.
ReplyDeleteI'm always wary of stepping on the toes of the Half Man Half Biscuit Lyrics Project, venerable online institution that it is.
DeleteGood to see the return of this! I've only been to Grimsby once, when Mr SDS' band at the time played a gig there - unfortunately it's not a good memory as the evening was marred from the start by the rumour going round that some retrobates were planning to throw.... wait for it.... some raw meat onto the stage! For a band of anarcho-punk vegetarians this was a very worrying prospect and a bad time was had by all. But no meat.
ReplyDeleteWe need more of these ex-band stories, C!
DeleteAlways good to see the return of a series - Bernie certainly could write a song about almost anything back then (and not just any old song - a classic).
ReplyDelete