UNIT A Bleak & Bloody Day

This ballad is respectfully dedicated to every boy and girl who ever spent time in a children’s home, especially if their residence there was caused by the loss of their parents. It was never my intention to write another of my grim, depressing epistles; on the contrary this is a celebration of victory...a hard won, difficult victory, true, but it speaks of a boy and a girl from similar circumstances who triumph over adversity. As the great Japanese writer Yukio Mishima stated in Forbidden Colours: as the water rises, so does the boat.

A boy has been alive for 14 lonely years;
he turns his head away so no-one sees his tears.
They put him in a home with other girls and boys;
sitting alone at night is what he most enjoys.
The Milky Way, resplendent, glitters overhead
and later he watches Antares glowing red.

His drunken stepfather would beat him up for fun,
resentful that the boy was not his real son.
As for the mother, well, I don’t believe she cared;
a rift between them that could never be repaired.
So now he stares at stars so very far away,
determined to survive each bleak and bloody day.

A girl has been alive for 14 lonely years;
she turns her head away so no-one sees her tears.
They put her in a home with other girls and boys;
sitting alone at night is what she most enjoys.
The Milky Way, resplendent, glitters overhead
and later she watches Antares glowing red.

Her drunken stepmother would slap her face for fun,
as she inherited a daughter, not a son.
As for the father, well, I don’t believe he cared;
a rift between them that could never be repaired.
So now she stares at stars so very far away,
determined to survive each bleak and bloody day.

Andy Martin – Vocals, Hammond Organ, ARP 2600.
Keilan Knight – Guitar.
Fabian Fritze – Bass Guitar.
Colin Murrell – Drums.

Text & Music – Andy Martin.

Email – [email protected]
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Band Camp address – unit-united.bandcamp.com