A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A spoken word.
A spoken word.
A spoken word.
A spoken word.
An unreleased song.
A spoken word.
A spoken word.
See Night Fighter (Ballad Of A Songwriter).
A spoken word.
A spoken word.
An alternative title of Millwall.
An unreleased song. Previously known as The Stranger.
A spoken word.
A spoken word.
A spoken word.
See Naked Flame.
A spoken word.
See I Am A Child.
A spoken word.
A spoken word.
Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross
To see a fine lady upon a white horse
Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes
She shall have music where-ever she goes
See The Spirit Lives.
A spoken word.
A spoken word.
A spoken word.
The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts,
All on a summer day:
The Knave of Hearts, he stole those tarts,
And took them quite away!
An early title of Hors D'Oeuvres.
An unreleased song.
An unreleased spoken word.
An early title of The Game.
See South Africa.
A spoken word.
An unreleased song.
See If.
An unreleased song.
See One Of Those Days In England (Parts 2-10).
A spoken word.
A spoken word.
See Ten Years Ago.
An unreleased song.
See You Don't Need Money.
See Work Of Heart.
A spoken word.
"Paul has sent me a missive regarding Stanley Matthews and Ration Books both of which I saw plenty of when I was 7 years old. I can remember being at Bloomfield Road at about the age of 10 thinking that Stan was getting on for a footballer even then, and that we were probably seeing the last of the best of him right there and then. In other words, even then I saw him as being rationed. This was particularly focused in those of us who were that young and who realised at that time that this was one of the greatest footballers of all time in action 5 or 6 miles away. And it all happened on a 2 weekly basis, with gluts at Christmas and Easter."
"This would have been put into even greater focus by the fact that sweets came off the ration when I was just a year or 2 younger than this."
"It is difficult to go that far back in time and realise all of the things that you were thinking as a 9 year old but I can remember clearly, and I mean very clearly, that I had thrown Christianity away as any kind of feasible and/or genuine spiritual abode, completely and for good at about the age of 7 or 8."
"Finally, when I was perhaps coincidentally at the same age that Matthews was when I saw him playing as a boy I returned in thought to that period of my youth where not a lot had been right but there had been a few shining examples of how humans can achieve and in so saying Stan, for me and for a load of other 10 year olds, was in the right place at the right time."
"'Ration Books of Matthews out there on the wing....' is me in my fantasy queue with my 2 weekly ration of Stanley in a little green book that opens out into pictures of that five yard dash and that famous angle as he delivered the cross from the byline....and I hand it over the counter to receive that location again. Where were you when the flood came?"
(Stormcock e-mail list via Paul Davison, 21st September 2000)
A spoken word.
A spoken word.
An unreleased song.
An unreleased song.
An unreleased song.
An unreleased "cowboy song" performed by Roy & Chips in 1977 tour.
An unreleased spoken word.
See Bank Of The Dead.
A spoken word.
An unreleased song. Later known as Candide.
An unreleased song performed by Chips (sung by Henry McCullough) in 1977 tour.
A spoken word.
See St. Thomas.
A Frank Zappa song. Performed live in 1999 with Nick Harper, Roy acting the Devil.
Tom Tiddler's Ground was/is a children's game related to tag or as we used to call it, tig. Instead of being tagged, you could declare that you were on Tom Tiddler's Ground and therefore couldn't be touched. The song was written for parents in hope of reminding them of the freedoms of childhood, but I always think of it as being written for children. It is not so much anti-Christian as antidogma.
The first verse takes the form of a compliment to the listener on finally being able enough to have waded through all the enforced religious dross and to have opened her mind enough to be able to listen to something that is actually opposed to Onward Christian Soldiers.
I appear in the first verse briefly as the man who is very unwilling to wear any kind of messiah's jacket or have anyone wear me as one. I'm also hopefully opening a new dawn of care for what actually is on the world, as opposed to what I think shouldn't be, i.e. political dogma, religious fantasy and extremeism, general belief in the impossible and other such means of force.
I throw fundamentalist belief crap under one umbrella in this song. When you hear me sing the word "ice", you all know that I've tried to encompass the lot. The rest is self explanotary. Real freedom from all of the forces that be. Freedom and force are different universes. The mere concept of either remains elusive!
But there must always surely be a love nest in Tom Tiddler's Ground, where you and I can't be touched and where don't have to have "Eden" drummed into them for the simple reason that every day they wake up, they wake up into it, into the sweet joys of childhood, into the fantastic garden.
(Roy Harper, Troubadours Of British Folk, Volume 2, Rhino Records, 1995)
A spoken word.
See Bank Of The Dead.
A spoken word.
Watford Gap is a service area on the M1 motorway. It was notorious for appallingly bad and over-priced food.
Chopper Ronnie's Fan Club refers to supporters of Chelsea FC, whose captain at the time was Ron Harris - nicknamed "chopper" for his, um, "robust" style of play. Chelsea supporters had a bad reputation back then as hooligans - notably the Shed contingent - hence stick the heroes boot in. Stamford Bridge was Chelsea's home ground - also, where Harold stuffed the Vikings 1-0 but lost the next home game to the Normans...
(John Ries)
When the day is done, and the ball has spun
The ball is the thing which is bowled at the batsman, often with spin
and/or pace, who then tries to hit it for runs - or more often than not
just tries not to get out.
In the umpire's pocket away,
The umpire is a bloke who stands at the opposite end of the pitch or
"wicket" to the batsman and makes decisions as to the rules of the
game. There are 2 umpires, one for each end, and these are normally
elderly statesmen of the game who's views should never questioned, even
though they may be short-sighted old ********s.
And all remains, in the groundsman's pains,
The groundsman is the bloke who lovingly and painstakingly prepares
the pitch and is constantly blamed by losing teams for his bad pitches.
For the rest of time and a day.
There'll be one mad dog and his master, pushing for 4 with the
spin.
When batting against a slow spin bowler, a batsman may be able to get
a boundry (4 runs) by reading the spin of the ball correctly and with
good timing tickle it behind him and round the "wicketkeeper"
(basically the same as a backstop) with just a defensive forward push
shot.
On a dusty pitch, with two pounds six, of willowwood in the
sun.
A traditional cricket bat is made of willowwood and weighs 2lb 6.
When an old cricketer leaves the crease, you never know whether
he's gone,
The crease is the area of the pitch where the batsman stands to play
the ball, just in front of the stumps - "leaving the crease" means
you're "out" (bowled, caught, runout....), your own personal innings
has ended...
If sometimes you're catching a fleeting glimpse, of a twelfth man
at silly mid-on.
Silly mid-on is a fielding position close to the bat (and not often
used) which is generally a silly place to stand! The twelfth man is a
substitute fielder.
And it could be Geoff, and it could be John,
Ref to two old star players, Geoff Boycott (one of Englands greatest
ever batsman and controversial Yorkshireman) and John Snow (fast
bowler, but not quite as famous as Geoff). Both were quite old England
players at the time when this was written (Geoff Boycott actually went
on for many years more, though John Snow retired quite soon after I
think).
With a new ball sting in his tail.
A new ball is given to the fielding team at the beginning of each
innings (each team has usually two innings each) and also after so many
overs (there are six balls bowled in an "over") and usually given to
the fast bowlers, who will be more fired up with it as it's more
dangerous than the old one.
And it could be me, and it could be thee,
And it could be the sting in the ale.........sting in the ale.
Pissed again! :-)
When the moment comes, and the gathering stands,
And the clock turns back to reflect,
On the years of grace, as those footsteps trace,
For the last time out of the act.
This is all just nostalgic references to the day when the "old
cricketer" retires (if this needs any explantion :-)).
"Years of grace" is a reference to Dr W.G. Grace - the greatest English
cricketer of the nineteenth century.
Well this ways of life's recollection
The hallowed strip in the haze,
This just refers to the pitch - basically a 22 yard strip specially
prepared in the middle on the cricket ground.
The fabled men, and the moonday sun,
Are much more than just yarns of their days.
More nostalgic ramblings.
See I Hate The White Man.
See And Yet.
A spoken word.
Last updated: Sat Jan 16 09:33:23 GMT 2010