Town Cryer

WelshSteve

https://soundcloud.com/steve-lewis-36/town-cryer

This is a song about how the place in which I grew up has slowly fallen into ruin. As a kid I use to love going 'into town'...to Woolworth's, the record shops and all sorts of other great places.

Now there's nothing much left.

Town Cryer

In the centre of this town it’s raining

The rich get gold and the poor get none

Charity packs another bag to leave and says

There was hope but now it’s gone

The Emperor's clothes are never old

To hold on to his toys he’ll give pennies

His box full of nothing’s almost empty now

And his chain is hanging heavy

Crier

Crier

We need a Town Crier

This town is crying

The clock tick-tocks yet time stands still

Cobwebs creep down with the ivy

From the rooftops to the pavements like a varicose vein

To suffocate so sublimely

Manakins abandon their windows

Leaving nothing behind but their price

Say goodbye to ‘hellos’ on these empty streets

There’s nothing left now but silence

Crier

Crier

We need a Town Crier

This town is crying

In the centre of this town there’s nothing

Just coffee shops broken telephone boxes

No dancefloors no cinemas showing the greats

Where once opportunities knocked

Peacocks become even bolder

The streets becoming theirs to keep

In the centre of this town it’s raining

And the water’s getting deep

Crier

Crier

We need a Town Crier

This town is crying

(They say the lights were always bright in this town

There was always magic in the air)

sidshovel

Excellent piece.

Wonderful song, you painted a vivid picture of an encroaching urban desert!

Some truely brilliant lines in there Steve, I enjoyed it very much.

One to be proud of there!

Well done.

Sid

sidshovel

RainyDayMan

That's really poignant and nostalgic and melancholy. The guitar picking adds to the moody, sparse atmosphere

With your chorus I'd be tempted to stretch out the "crier" progressively turning it into a wail.

eg Crier, Cri-er, We need a town Cri-i-i-er (it feels a bit too restrained to me). Then maybe return to that clipped, constrained feel for the final line.

"Leaving nothing behind but their price" - that's a great line. I like this one too:

"Peacocks become even bolder"

Really nice.

ChrisPrice

I'm drawn in right away with that intro. Loving the way it builds and that chorus is just fabulous. What really makes this is your lyrics which are beautiful. Melancholy is the right word, yet there's almost a psychedelic vibe to this too. I like some of the fx you use on the vocals. This is superb.😀