Tramcar 41

Ah, the final lyrical piece has arrived this morning and the secret of the song is suddenly revealed.


Where are they going,
where were they from,

passengers electrified
on tramcar 41?

How to punctuate these lines causes me a bit of a dilemma - the above version makes the most grammatical sense - but the below makes more song sense:-


Where are they going,
where were they from?

Passengers electrified
on tramcar 41.

Anyone got any thoughts on punctuation when writing out lyrics as opposed to poetry?

Tramcar 41 (full lyrics)

First draft of the full lyrics - I was going to go deeper, but when I sung it, it didn't seem necessary. I will see how it feels in rehearsal with Andy G on Thursday.

I've been listening to Lhasa de Sela and now the song has slowed down and is rather influenced by her delivery.



Tramcar 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,
tram 41?

Clicks and murmurs echo
off cold stone in the dank.
The scent of an incident
lingers down the track.

Can you smell it, like thunder,
hearts that race as one,

electrified in unison
on tram 41?

A woman holds her purse tight,
staring into space
ignoring flirty chit chat
from an alcoholic face.

An orange drops from a bag
and rolls along the deck.
A boy kicks the fruit,
it bounces down the steps.

Where are they going,
where were they from,

the passengers who rattle by
on tramcar 41?