Number 41

I missed a rehearsal with Andy Gordon on Thursday due to a last-minute change of plan, but luckily I managed to use the time to write the ghosty song about subterranean London I had been promising to make for some weeks. I haven't finished it but the main verse and chorus and hook are established, as are the narrative voice and set up. It's very atmospheric and should work very well for us. Here's the first verse and chorus:

Number 41

Peer through the railings
At a strip of cobbles
Leading into the dark
Of a square mouthed tunnel

Can you see, can you hear
Can you feel it come?

Electrified along the track
The number 41

There is, of course, no such vehicle as the number 41, this number popped into my head from the internal incubator where songs are bred. The story is inspired by the old tram underpass at Holborn. The tunnel entrance still exists but the tram system was disbanded in the 1950s. Apparently the last train left Kingsway tunnel on 5 July 1952.

Here's the link which tells about the Kingsway tram underpass: http://underground-history.co.uk/kwupass.php

London is roasting

I've been sitting out on the cool grass in the shade 'playing in' my new song which is rather jazzy, while the dog catches flies. Now I'm back in the oven/studio listening to the jams from our last rehearsal. I never realised what a lovely laugh Andy Gordon has. Suprisingly high, but it sounds so generous. It's funny how you hear things differently when they are recorded. Perhaps normally I am too busy paying attention to my own voice. That would be about right.