Chorus: Harvey Andrews Verses: Minutes of The Yardley Arts Club, 1949 The Yardley Arts Club is formed in the hope that it will become a long standing fellowship of men and women who, through mutual encouragement and individual effort, will stimulate all who have a desire to develop their appreciation and creation of the visual arts. It is our aim to extend an open invitation to all who respond to the beauty of life to join us in creating a pictorial record. We hope some of these representations may be of such promise that they will be handed down for all time in respect to their creators who lavished such loving care and time on them And they were Manet and Monet Van Gogh and Gaugin Rockwell and Rodin Cezanne and Sisley Pointer and Poussaint Wilkie and Whistler too They were artists their whole lives through Sunday 10th of July dawned bright and clear as members gathered to board the coach for the annual outing. Arriving at Ludlow, the club members settled down to lunch and then to sketching the castle and town. Artists were to be seen in various attitudes, some drawing buildings, others sketching the artists. Mr Rowley was to be seen propped in doorways, sitting on kerbstones, or draping himself langourously on people's doorsteps. At 7 o'clock in the evening it was decided by certain members that the return journey should be via Tenbury and the 100 House where, naturally, it was intended a stop should be made. Once there the more degenerate members revelled in the spectacle of the secretary, well known for her temperate habits, endeavoring to down the contents of a pint tankard, others were accepting their pints with such alacrity that eventually it proved necessary to extricate their owners from beyond the swing doors on the pretext of a group photograph. As we continued towards Droitwich Mr Vic Andrews gave us a solo. Apparently, he alone knew the words, and the bus microphone was employed to good effect by Mr Sam Bailey, who gave a fine rendition of "Suzanna's a funicle man". We have often heard this being sung, but now we have seen it we realise why it always makes people laugh. Our driver, somewhat mellowed by our stop, then took over the microphone and despite notices which stated that it was not to be used when the bus was in motion, gave us an excellent imitation of Bing Crosby, meanwhile driving with one hand. A further attempt was made to stop and have another, but Mr Rowley steadfastly refused. Mr Newman was last seen staggering along station road with a nightwatchman's lamp held on high, but those at the back of the bus reported that he did return it before setting off homeward with an unusually jaunty step. As we walked home we thought what a good day it had been, and hoped we should have another such in the very near future!

It's a wonderful day for dumping our rubbish At the side of the road Such a wonderful day for dumping our rubbish We can take a big load There's a plastic bag full of something smelly A mattress, a mower, a pram and a telly It's a wonderful day for dumping our rubbish At the side of the road It's a wonderful day for spreading our nitrates On all available fields Such a wonderful day for spreading our nitrates And increasing our yields And if it crawls or it creeps be it slugs or snails We can chemically kill it and it never fails It's a wonderful day for spreading our nitrates On all available fields It's a wonderful day, such a wonderful day For dumping bedding, digging, spreading And blowing things away It's a wonderful day for taking our shotguns And killing beautiful birds Such a wonderful day for taking our shotguns And culling deer in their herds There's foxes for hunting, badgers for baiting Pardon me, I mustn't keep the Prince of Wales waiting It’s a wonderful day for taking our shotguns And killing beautiful birds

I was never noticed, though I was always there Working with the others, doing my fair share But I was never noticed, the others got the praise So I just kept on working and hours turned to days Though I was never noticed, my work was always good But somehow, all the others, did better than I could As I was never noticed, I never made my mark The others held the spotlight, I laboured in the dark If I could start again, you'd see me very clear Big and brash and bright, the winner every year If I could start again, I’d make it to the top You'd all want to be me, if only I could stop Being never noticed, another also ran Too gentle and too caring To be a real man's man So being never noticed I just live everyday As best as I am able, and in my own sweet way Being never noticed, though I was always there Working with the others, doing my fair share But being never noticed, the others got the praise So I'll just keep on working, blending with the greys Never ever noticed, counting off the days

There's a crowd outside peering through his window And he strains to hear the words the people say There's a crowd outside peering through his window And he wishes that the crowd would go away He was happy, he was working one fine morning Then a friend waving a paper ran his way Now there's a crowd outside peering through his window And he wishes that the crowd would go away He was just a Joe, a John, a Phil, a Michael Just an ordinary man with feet of clay Now every move he makes the camera follows And all he's ever done is on display He'd never hurt a soul, he'd never argued He'd never dreamed his life could go astray Now there's a crowd outside peering through his window And he wishes that the crowd would go away Friends he trusted once have turned their faces Now he sits alone there every day Ex-lovers have been paid for their confessions For photographs and lies and hearsay He reads and reads and reads again the letters From strangers saying God comes if you pray But there's a crowd outside peering through his window And he wishes that the crowd would go away The phone rings in the hall he does not answer They're beating on his door, he stands at bay There's a crowd outside, a stone comes through the window Now he knows the crowd will never go away

Well, somebody had to come second I think it's the best that I've done As I entered the straight, the tape beckoned But he just chested past me and won Still, I'm only 18, I'll get faster I started this sport just for fun But there's lots more to learn, lots to master You don't just go out there and run Well, somebody had to come third love I gave it my lot, all the way I flew round that bend like a bird, love But then, it just wasn't my day Still, I'm 23, getting stronger And I'm certain I'm giving my all It's just that the distance seems longer And the pleasures beginning to pall Well, somebody had to come fourth, dear I tried just as hard as I could But the wind at this track's from the north dear And that never does me any good Still, at 30, you’ve got to be sure, love These youngsters are lacking the skill And I've grown to be fast and mature love I'll win, I believe that I will Well, somebody had to fill fifth place My legs were like lead at the end I know, it's a terrible disgrace, But that's it, I'm finished my friend At 35 nobody fears you Nobody cheers at your name No need for that blanket, no tears now You remember that early acclaim Well, somebody had to come last now Or else how could we have a race? I let all the others go past, how They elbowed and pushed and lost face Me? I enjoyed the fine weather And kept myself clear of their maul At 40, just finishing’s clever And the pleasures in running, that's all Well, I've never been first 'cross the line love I've not made a penny o’ brass But I reckon it all worked out fine love I just never reached the top class Now I see 'em all jiggered with joggin' Their faces distorted with pain Such grief, it makes me need a noggin Let's be first down the tavern again Such grief it makes me need a noggin Let's be first down the King's Head again

I could've worked a whole lot harder Could've listened to my father Could've forged ahead, rather than just drifted through Could've been a top man somewhere Could've done that, lived that dream there Could've been so keen there'd be so much to do I made mistakes that led me nowhere Mistakes that made me go where I found a locked door labelled déjà vu And though I see so clearly, every locked door cost me dearly As I look back I see that's how I grew And the one mistake I didn't make was you I wouldn't network with the winners Wouldn't get beyond beginners Always thought the sinners better than the saints could be I wouldn't join the corporation Wouldn't rise up to their station Always felt that levitation was too much for me I couldn't solve the big conundrum So I settled for the humdrum Decided that I didn't have a clue And though I see so clearly, they all thought it cost me dearly As I look back I see that's how I grew And the one mistake I didn't make was you I didn't make, that big mistake Though I made a lot of small ones Made a lot of trip and fall ones Now we're free, that's history So let's take our time don't hurry There's no need for all that worry 'Cause I'll never be a grafter It's not money that I'm after I just need to hear your laughter in the afternoon I'm not chasing any dream now Haven't got the perfect scheme now Let it all be as it seems, just one long honeymoon They can drive their big Mercedes On their journey down to Hades They can have the whole damn world till payment’s due Because now I see so clearly It'll cost them all so dearly For there's only so much time as we pass through

When I leave every morning I go out to my car It's big and it's bright and it says who you are And the neighbours all watch me and say I'll go far Yes, I'm on my way I cruise like a shark, I'm the great carnivore It's kill or be killed and that's all that life's for So I hire and I fire, but I guard my own door 'Cause I'm on my way The weak go to lunch and the losers go home When it comes to the crunch I work on alone When I leave, as I drive, I use my mobile phone 'Cause I'm on my way See that man over there, well he'll just have to go He's been here too long and his work's getting slow Besides, men over fifty, who wants to know? So he's on his way And that picture you see, it's me and the kid When I sued for divorce, you know what I did? I said you have him dear, I'm not making a bid 'Cause I'm on my way The kid's doing well, I pay for his keep I thank God every night as I lie counting sheep That his Dad's got the time to sing him to sleep 'Cause Mom's on her way

If you ever feel you’d rather talk it over with your father I’m here If you ever need that fiver, a chauffeur for a driver I’m here If you ever feel like thinking aloud when choice is shrinking And you’d like to talk whilst drinking a beer I’ll buy the pints and I’ll listen I’m here If you need a cook-a-luncher, a rustle-up-a-bruncher I’m here If you need someone to hold on when you’ve been knocked down and rolled on I’m here If you’ve ever been so lied to by someone your love was tied to I can tell you that I’ve cried too, King Lear But I promise I won’t joke, I won’t jeer I’m here Yes I’m here because that’s all I can be I’ve raised you and I’ve praised you, now you’re free And my days go by so fast, I’ve less future and more past And there’ll come that day at last I’ll disappear There’ll come that day at last I won’t be here So if you ever need a shoulder when your warm world’s getting colder I’m here If you ever need an old man to talk sport with your new man I’m here If you ever feel like some days your life is rainy Sundays And you only think of Mondays with fear Three sixty five days a year I’m here And if you ever feel that maybe you’d like to leave the baby I’m here If you need the family story, the mad, the bad, the gory I’m here If you need the why and wherefore, the this, the that, the therefore If you need someone to care for and be near If there’s no one else around I’m here Take the time, use me 'Cause I'm here

Now you're all past twenty-one We think it's time that you were gone Time you started on your own If you were birds, you would have flown We've had a talk, your Mom and me We're sorry if you don't agree You can shout and you can moan But Mom and me, we're leaving home You've had the best days of our lives So never doubt our love survives But when we think of all we've spent We think we should have charged you rent We've pushed the trolleys then we've queued To fill the fridge and buy the food The fridge was empty the next day So fridge and us, we're on our way 'Cause there's so much we've never seen So many places we've not been So many dreams we'd like to dream We'll trade conformity for cream And if you think we won't get far Well, sorry kids, we'll take the car You've got ten days, no time to grouse You see we've gone and sold the house You've taken all that we could bring You've never wanted for a thing In fact you've had it so damn good You wouldn't leave it when you could That's why we're taking all TVs To share our leisured life of ease And in a month, well, more or less You'll get our P.O. Box address 'Cause we're leaving home!

I don't like it here, It's cold and it's lonely and the light has gone I can remember when it always shone Shone on my very, very special one But now she's gone, and... I don't like it here Day after day the empty hours to fill Day after day the hours grow on their bill Me, I sit silent as an act of will Remembering still Remembering still When I wasn't here I had the morning and the clear blue sky I raced the river as the sun climbed high Made love in shadow where we used to lie My love and I My love, and... I don't like it here They talk like we're children in a nursery For we are old and such a mystery Locked in the prison of a history They'll never see And I don't like it here Waiting for God to come and find my door And when he does, my God, he'll get what for I've been the bull he's been the Matador The Picador, Toreador

I was born in 1900, Victoria was queen The first of seven children Only three made sweet sixteen It was hard but it was happy It was roses around the door 'Till we all saluted father As he went of to the war I was tea boy in the factory The day the news arrived Making mother one more widow But together we survived Now the century's near over I've watched it wax and wane And as I recall it All in all It's a life I'd live again At 18 I was courting, Mary filled my heart with pride 20 saw us married Stepping out there side by side The work was never easy But we did it day by day Saving halfpennies and farthings Till we'd ten pounds put away Then the slump took jobs and savings And I had a lot of time So I learned the old mouth organ Buddy, can you spare a dime? With two sons fast a'growing, 1925 Mary wanted so a daughter But her health it didn't thrive She died that distant summer But our daughter made it through Until the influenza took her At the age of two In the 30's I was busy Like all other folk deprived Picking coal from off the slagheaps My two sons and me survived '36 and I met Lucy We were married in the spring The boys were new apprenticed And we didn't fear a thing It was hard but it was happy It was roses around the door Till we both saluted my sons As they went off to the war I lost one in the navy A convoy in the med Once again for king and country Our name numbered with the dead The other lad was lucky And in 1945 Me and Lucy lit a candle Giving thanks he was alive I turned 50 then and wondered What the future held in store I'd work on to the pension If we all avoided war Soon my son walked down the aisle With a sweet girl as his bride She made me think of Mary As she stood there by his side I retired in the 60's To a bungalow downtown Did the gardening with Lucy Till the years just wore her down I lost her then with sorrow But remember her with joy And I'll take her flowers tomorrow When I go there with the boy For he is a fine great grandson Wears his cap the wrong way round And what I bought with a farthing Seems to cost the kid a pound And he asks me have I really Really lived the century And I wink and whisper ‘nearly’ And that's good enough for me I was born in 1900 Victoria was queen The first of seven children Only three made sweet sixteen

It's the journey, isn't it? That's why we're here It's the where we go in the time we've got It's the course we steer It's the journey, isn't it? The joy we make The dream we chase, the hope we hold The chance we take On the journey It's the journey, isn't it? The words we say The things we do to clear a path To make our way It's the journey, isn't it? The way we try The way we win, the way we lose The reason why, is the journey And it's so hard to make it alone It's desert sand, it's stormy seas, it's broken stone So when you came to me to walk along You made the stone a garden Made the sea a song For the journey It's the journey, isn't it? Short and unplanned From dark to light, from light to dark So here's my hand It's for the journey, isn't it? All else above For good or ill, for now, until There's only love Love's the journey