Alex Campbell was the first full time solo folk singer I saw perform and I thought “that’s the life for me!” Others thought so too, but weren’t lucky enough to find the gift of an audience.
lyrics
I was clearing out the attic
When I found this battered case
With its handle broke and that old word ‘folk’
Still stencilled on its face
Now it's cobwebbed and it's dusty
But it takes me to the past
And it was 1969 I opened this guitar case last
When they said try your luck in London
That's where the rainbow ends
But I got lost in lonely London
With so many friends
I got lost in lonely London
Where the rainbow ends
You should have seen the big man Alex
When he sang us up a storm
He had heart and soul, and he set the goal
If you wanted to perform
So I bought myself a Gibson,
Just the same as Alex had
And I practised night and day
Until I drove my parents mad
I knew every Seeger ballad
I knew every Campbell song
And I sang them right, every day and night
Till I'd been on that road too long
'Cause there were others out there working
Singing choruses galore
But there was only one called Alex
We were all just one clone more
So I climbed up to the attic
With this bent and battered case
With its handle broke and that old word ‘folk’
Still stencilled on its face
Now it's been for too long silent
With its memories of the past
So it's time it went to someone
Who could make it sing at last
So try your luck in London
That's where the rainbow ends
But don't get lost in lonely London
With so many friends
Don't get lost in lonely London
Where the rainbow ends