mysongbook.de

Henry's Songbook

© All original copyrights respected / For private use only



go to  de   Susannes Folksong-Notizen   English Notes  uk

Motorway Song

  • (Leon Rosselson)

    They're going to build a motorway through my back garden
    No one can explain why I came to be chosen
    They're going to build a motorway they're ripping up the trees
    Soon the lorries will be zooming through my cabbages and peas

    Word came from the Council, it was just about a plan
    I didn't understand, it sounded very grand
    They talked of urban re-development, improving the environment
    They says to ease the traffic flow with it and my back garden had to go
    Well I don't know
    I suppose that those who started it must know best
    And I wouldn't like my vegetable patch to stand in the way of progress

    They're going to build a motorway through my back garden
    No one can explain why I came to be chosen
    They're going to build a motorway they're ripping up the trees
    Soon the lorries will be zooming through my cabbages and peas

    The brother lives in Lilac Grove, it's just across the street
    I've not seen him for weeks, we've always used to meet
    And have a pint or two at Paddy Lowe's, it's just a heap of rubble now
    The pawnshop's disappeared, so's the barber's where we always used to go
    Well I don't know
    These noisy great machines are working non-stop
    And funny things are growing and it looks as though the bomb's dropped

    The bulldozers are closing in now on my back garden
    No one can explain why I came to be chosen
    The bulldozers are closing in, they've ripped up all the trees
    Soon the lorries will be zooming through my cabbages and peas

    I don't go out much any more, can't find my way around
    Wind nearly knocked me down, there's tunnels underground
    And just to get about from place to place it's like a bleedin' steeplechase
    Day and night the traffic flows, it's best to plug your ears and hold your nose
    Well I suppose
    I'm better off than some, don't think I'm just sour
    And I'm grateful for the grandstand view I'm getting of the rush hour

    They've built an eight-lane motorway through my back garden
    No one can explain why I came to be chosen
    They've built an eight-lane motorway, they've ripped up all the trees
    Now the lorries zoom where once I grew my cabbages and peas

    (as sung by The Black Family)

Susannes Folksong-Notizen

  • [1986:] It encapsulates the feelings many people, especially old people, experience at the hands of the planners regarding 'improvements' in our city environment. The sentiment is very relevant to us, as a new road has been threatening our house in Charlemont Street for the past ten years. This has led to uncertainty within the community and decay in the buildings. (Notes 'The Black Family')

Quelle: England

go back de  M-Index uk


Henry
© Sammlung : Susanne Kalweit (Kiel)
Layout : Henry Kochlin  (Schwerin)

aktualisiert am 28.05.2002