This number is, like its cousin The Newstead Arch (also on this site), inspired by a dream I had in June 2018. Whereas the former work featured a 14 year old boy, here the protagonist is a 10 year old girl (unless she really is 100 as the lyric sugg…
This number is, like its cousin The Newstead Arch (also on this site), inspired by a dream I had in June 2018. Whereas the former work featured a 14 year old boy, here the protagonist is a 10 year old girl (unless she really is 100 as the lyric suggests) of possibly extra-terrestrial origin. The Whitchurch tunnel still exists – it managed to survive the wanton destruction instigated by Lord Beeching in 1963 in which he ordered the closure of 4,000 railway stations and the removal of 6,000 miles of track, nearly one third of Britain’s rail network. There are no words for the complete contempt I have for this vile aristocrat. The musical inspiration for part of this number is I Should Have Known Better by Wire although I never actually quote from it. Again I sought to utilise 3 bass guitars in a harmonic progression, a practise normally denied to this instrument.
The girl was 10 years old...
or maybe she was a hundred.
A zero does not signify ‘nothing’.
Check your semantic reactions.
I stood in the Whitchurch tunnel
waiting for the rain to stop.
I could hear the sound of laughter
from the track bed on the top.
When I stepped outside the sun shone,
not a single cloud remained.
There before me stood a girl;
no sign that it had ever rained.
She alerted my attention
to a steam train overhead.
While I saw her mouth move I could
not discern a word she said.
(I thought it might be important.)
Steam locomotives fill my head;
they run on my one track mind.
Andy Martin – Vocals, Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, ARP 2600.
Fabian Fritze – Bass Guitar (Left).
Keilan Knight – Bass Guitar (Right).
Colin Murrell – Bass Guitar (Centre), Drums.
Text & Music – Andy Martin.
Email – [email protected]
Paypal address – [email protected]
Band Camp address – unit-united.bandcamp.com
