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William William Rodgers Sings the Yellow Pages

by William William Rodgers

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Teedubyabee
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Teedubyabee A wonderful collection that sits in the lineage of melodic, wry British observational eccentricity from the likes of Euros Childs, Stuart Murdoch, Ed Dowie & Clearlake. Great, too, to hear my born n' bred Blandford mentioned early doors in 'Slow Train'! Favorite track: Are We Still On?.
Y Gershon
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Y Gershon This album rested my unruly child
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1.
The dog days came in a blaze of heat We sat on the rock with our feet in the warm blue ocean The day was sweet I awake with a start and the air hangs heavy Stinking of sweat and factor fifty lotion Now I don’t want you to see me like this I don’t want you to treat me like this I don’t want you to see the bitterness That’s smudging my birthday mascara Tell me are we still on Now I’m tired of this body and all of its twinges I want a blue sky where no black cloud impinges Is that so much to ask Cos the cops came around and they’re still in the kitchen Looking for a boy who just about fits your description They’re telling me you shouldn’t treat me like this But I don’t want you to see the weakness That’s smudging my birthday mascara Tell me are we still on Are we heading for the scrapheap Or will life start again at sixty five Tell me are we still on
2.
Tell your ma, tell your pa, you and me are going shrimping Grab your net, let's pack the car, you and me are going shrimping Your blue john eyes, your blue john eyes I'm colour blind, your blue john eyes Like a stalagmite and a stalactite we've dangled and we've dribbled Took a thousand years or thereabouts but we finally made it to the middle The time is right, the tide is low, let's pack our bags, here we go Tell your ma, tell your pa, you and me are going shrimping
3.
no more will I go to Blandford Forum and Mortehoe on the slow train from Midsomer Norton and Mumby Road no churns, no porter, no cat on a seat at Chorlton-cum-Hardy or Chester-le-Street we won't be meeting again on the slow train I'll travel no more from Littleton Badsey to Openshaw at Long Stanton I'll stand well clear of the doors no more no whitewashed pebbles, no up and no down from Formby Four Crosses to Dunstable Town I won't be going again on the slow train on the main line and the goods siding the grass grows high at Dog Dyke, Tumby Woodside and Trouble House Halt the sleepers sleep at Audlem and Ambergate no passenger awaits on Chittening platform or Cheslyn Hay no one departs, no one arrives from Selby to Goole, from St Erth to St Ives they've all passed out of our lives on the slow train
4.
scarf weather again I left a bag of green on a memorial bench perched high up on the cliffside, grey-faced and lonely in the arsehole of the year all of the place was barred against intruders as I was getting ready to pack up my suitcase I went down to the strand to scratch my initials you came like a wave, washed them away and life would never be the same not since I'd caught the eye of your mermaid tattoo just below the collarbone, its tail out of view borne on a wave nude Aphrodite is sniffing at the breeze cos she's seen better days and swum better harbours in the back of elsewhere we danced unawares to Sonny and Cher til the barman saw us and called last orders I wrote postcards by night, left them out to yellow you opened up the door, let in the sea and life would never be the same nor the long hereafter ever so plain as when I returned your rap at the pane and I seem to recall the gleam of an anchor still fresh from the forge that swam into view on a mermaid tattoo
5.
Bleak Hut 00:45
6.
a cold night for a walk I rounded the corner and saw you there my carrier bag was clinking neon signs were blinking as rain poured in from the pier 77 walking sticks I thought you'd been buried fathoms deep in my diary like a first year crush or common room grudge a push then a shove the sea takes a bite wipes its mouth, draws it tight 77 walking sticks
7.
Sigh 03:08
on a rainy day we pooled our savings checked into a small hotel you had taken me on as your confidant when you thought that I had no one to tell in that gusty yard a fountain gargled your mouth caught mine off guard and I watched my heart turn a cartwheel as you unbound your scarf there we were, there we are now I know we haven't spoken since I spilled the beans and it somehow got back to you I remember stars went falling all around my ears were they falling round yours too? I could see I'd been the villain but didn't have the strength to admit that it was you who'd been wronged and that for someone so committed to dodging every shower you were drenched to the bone so sigh so sigh so sigh so sigh
8.
moonstone, pearl and amber a drawer full of beads playing cards and baubles coins and rings and keys give em all to charity and if I die before you won't you burn my letters please stoke the fire with postcards and jaundiced diaries and if I die before you won't you check my books with care there's a petal from our wedding day and a lock of Charlie's hair all the rest is dust and rubble you'd have to be daft to keep you are all that's left of me if I die before you...

about

Recorded January 2020 at Woodbine Street Studios. Produced by John Rivers with Eddy Hewitt as assistant engineer
Photo by Vlad Cristian-Costache
Thanks to Josh Herring for help with arrangements

credits

released April 15, 2022

Pete Churchill: accordion/backing vocals
Ben Muirhead: string bass
Beth Bellis: viola (1, 4, 8)
Rachel Nicholas: viola (7)
Alicia Gardener-Trejo: flute (6)
Dom MacMillan-Scott: classical guitar (7)
Eddy Hewitt: percussion

All songs written by William William Rodgers except track 3 by Flanders & Swann

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William William Rodgers Birmingham, UK

"acutely aware, deeply felt songs" – The Quietus

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