The Architect

Having told you last time that comic verse is what I do best the first rhyming stuff I produced was a batch of song lyrics.In 1973 Jack, a friend who played guitar in a group had written a tune and wanted lyrics to it. I didn't have the tune in my head then so I wrote lyrics with a view to Jack writing a tune around my lyrics. I'd write lyrics to his tune once I knew it... which I subsequently did..altho' I don't think Jack liked thoseI was working for Northumberland County Council based in Newcastle upon Tyne and was in Byker where the old terraced houses were still occupied but rising up nearby was a huge concrete pile which became the Byker Wall. ( The picture above is not of Byker..it merely illustrates the ...the new moon Wi'the auld moon in her arm)

Here's the lyricsThe Architect

Rows and rows of terraced housesNo one here ever grousesThey don't mind their sooty fluesThey don't mind the outside loos"Slums, decayed with neglect"So says the architectThey're just slums, he'll pull them downThey don’t want their two-up, two-downFlats in blocks of fourBlocks with one front doorWith walls of plastic glassAnd lawns of concrete grassHis birth was pre-destined fateHis father had a big estateAnd he may have been a perfect foolBut he went to public schoolWhere he was taught to decideWhere the people should resideThey’re just slums etcHis mansion is Edwardian styleHis garden stretches half a mileHis wife wears a mink furAnd she is a CouncillorIn chamber walls of wood veneerShe helps to further his careerThey’re just slums etcDoes he like coloured plasticConcrete and bitumastic?Would he swap his silk and laceTo live in a placeThat he says with all his pompIt's what the people really wantThey’re just slums etcNow, the Council all applaudThey've won a Civic Trust AwardNo more pop-in neighbours, passers-byJust concrete walkways in the skyWho cares if the rents have soared?Who cares if the bairns are bored?***

The Byker Wall was awarded a Civic Trust Award ..so was I prophetic or what?In 1974 T Dan Smith the leader of the Council in the 1960's was tried and found guilty of accepting bribes from architect John Poulson. Many blocks of flats and walkways in the sky were pulled down because they were social failures, vandalised, riddled with condensation etc. never part of the original lyrics, I subsequently added the followingThe plastic faded, the work was shoddyAnd now, you can't find anybodyNot from the Council, nor the folks round hereThat thought them flats were a good ideaThey've all var nye disappearedWith huge Ratepayers' debts, still unclearedThey've got their houses back, no sooty fluesWith centrally heated inside loosWhen I think of all that condensationThey got no money, but the compensationIs that the Architect that screwed this townWas still banged up... when the flats came downJon Bratton copyright 1973-1993

So tunesters, if you've written a great tune, but you can't write the words you're come to the right place. These song lyrics and others in subsequent postings are free for you to use for your own tunesAll these until now unpublished lyrics are free to use with your music until royalties, or money is derived in any way from the song, become payable. Use the comments facility on each blog to say which lyrics you are using and leave your contact detailsYou compose the music and use my free lyrics to complete your song and when the song earns any income you need to share the royalties appropriately, per industry standardsAll lyrics remain the property of the copyright holder Jon Bratton.