A short drive over the Pennines from where I live would once have taken you straight into Lancashire, and one of the first towns you'd come to would be Oldham. A touchy subject that, because Oldham ceased to be a Lancashire town back in 1974 when it was swallowed whole by the sprawling beast that is Greater Manchester. Oldham elders still bear the scars.
Musically, Oldham gave birth to The Inspiral Carpets, N-Trance and Bernard Cribbins.
Lyrically, I found more songs that mentioned Will Oldham or Andrew Loog Oldham than the town itself, but Thea Gilmore's My Beautiful Defence does find her "in a café on Oldham Street"... although that still probably isn't in the town itself.
Thank heaven then for Hull-born Everything But The Girl whose song Anytown starts out by mourning the loss of individuality to many northern towns...
Over dale and over hills
I'll take you through the cotton mills
To the ginnels where we played
And where are friendships all were made
I'll take you through the cotton mills
To the ginnels where we played
And where are friendships all were made
Still they came and tore them down
And now we live in Anytown
They came and tore it down
And now this place could be Anytown
And now we live in Anytown
They came and tore it down
And now this place could be Anytown
...before Tracy reveals in the song's closing moments...
Summer in the driving rain
I can hear the Oldham train.
300 miles from Oldham, next week, down to the south east coast to pay tribute to a recently departed visitor who immortalised our destination in song.
No comments:
Post a Comment