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Down The Bright Stream

by Vinny Peculiar

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1.
When I was young I lived with my mom and my dad in an English village I played out and I had fun in an English village After school freezing in the pool with an unfortunate kid called Steve Who impaled himself on the rusty spike when he was climbing a tree Story time class one form a line in the English village Stig of the Dump and Down Bright Stream in the English village There goes the bell the it’s end of the day that means its time to go home My cousin Gail keeps calling for me I wish she’d just leave me alone My father’s fallen asleep on the chair in the English village Mother puts a rocket my sister’s hair in the English village The cricket team is playing on the green the Boys Brigade are tracking on the hill There’s a girl from our school in Mayfair magazine and the thought of her is making me ill…in a good way Everything stops at 7 o’clock on the dot in the English village We all gather round watch Top of the Pops in the English village When my Granddad says what’s the matter with him is it a girl or is it a gay? And grandma says arrgh shut up Ken if you’ve got nothing better to say…. Paper round NME & SOUNDS in the English village A souped up car speeding in the dark through the English village Crazy Ian’s untimely end the radio pressed to his ear They never found the driver; he didn’t come from round here… I left my home and my family in the English village And a brother in a hillside cemetery in the English village The council are letting it go to rack and ruin it’s a crying shame I recognise that man cutting the grass he used to live in Golden Cross Lane…he used to referee at the game In the English Village In the English Village.
2.
3.
A bag of nails and a Stanley knife Some washing up liquid and a copper pipe Bread and milk and mineral water Nappies for my baby daughter Bic razors and shaving cream TCP mouthwash and Vaseline A penknife and some Tea Bags Chocolate frogs n dirty mags Lifebuoy soap and budgie seed Pet food and an extension lead Oranges and new potatoes Carpet tacks and masking tape Lemon grass and coriander Cream eggs and jiffy bags Milk and honey bread and jam A birthday card and a tin of spam I never got caught I or gave it much thought anyway I count all my blessings at the end of every day Plastic cups and paper plates Barbecue coal Christmas dates Plant food joss sticks Socks and pants and rich tea biscuits Chimneystacks and paper planes Sticky Fingers and Sweet Janes Beatles chords Bowie lines Since when has steeling been a crime? I only stole what I needed Stole what I needed I only stole what I needed I only stole what I needed I only stole what I needed I only stole what I needed To get by
4.
I am just an ego centric going about my day thinking about You may see me reading the papers and watching the news espousing my views but don’t be fooled I am only interested in one thing I’m on the way to the shops we just ran out milk Walk past kids dogs tied up and the old man twitching behind his curtain nets I don’t take any notice of him I just get what I need from the shop and I’m gone so gone Cause I am only interested in one thing I may well appear like a well-connected socially responsible member of the human race But I’ve had years and years and years of putting on a brave face I spend my days coveting my muse inventing situations sharing other peoples news but I’m only interested in one thing And that’s me That’s me that’s me Me me me me me me me me me It’s all about me Me meeeeeeeee Me me me me me me It’s all about me I’m just an egocenric man
5.
She’d love to be on in radio She used to live around here I didn’t know In those days she wasn’t quite as cool as she is now Got a boyfriend on tv A bit of a local celebrity Did an advert with Johnny Vegas for PG He was a monkey I’m just talking to the girl at the bar About how well they finished off her appendix scar… She knew the boy in the platform shoes Helping himself to his fathers booze When his dad found out he beat him black n blue And her mother at the peace campsite She’d been putting the world to rights She did what she did for me and you I’m just talking to the girl at the bar She loves Jo Malone and the occasional cigar – ah ha So do you come here often? Yes I come here all the time Do you want something to happen? Can you read my mind? Do you want to get wankered Yes I like the sound of that You know it’s been a long time since I had decent [shag] Talking to a girl at the bar She lost her job as a hairdresser Determined to have a good time Now she’s dancing at the table and knocking back the wine I leave the bar soon after Scrounge a cigarette Catch the last train home And I think about the girl that I met Think about the girl that I met And I try to forget to remember to forget… The girl that I met That girl…
6.
Big Pigeon 03:10
High in the branches of the old pear tree Over the wall behind the railway line Up on the roof at the back of the garage And on the house for sale sign Big pigeon In the hidden/ corners of my minds eye Down Coronation road Grandma says there’s no need to worry And she knows she knows A big pigeon I’m digging worms in the foul pen The world cup finals on TV Grandma has made some ham sandwiches Granddad has fallen asleep on the settee My family up for the weekend We’re singing the wheels on the bus A little boy spots the pigeon Strutting its stuff And I tell him the story of Grandma And how she’s keeping an eye on us Big Pigeon
7.
Anthony Gormley’s statues impose Seen on the beach in silent repose They look out to sea not far from me in Crosby Anthony Gormleys men look a treat Swinging their dicks down to their feet Scaring the children and intriguing lonely the dog walkers They go OOOh weee that’s the finest penis we ever did see OOOh weee that’s a big old sausage but its not very sexy Anthony Gormley just can’t resist Wrapping himself up in plaster of Paris His helpers say hey it’s just another day at the office Anthony Gormley is molding the cast Takes off his clothes off and sits in the bath The lazy the assistants know just how to wrap him up They say OOOh weee that’s the most elegant penis we ever did see OOOh weee that’s a big old sausage but its not very sexy Anthony Gormley’s cock on display Some of us wish he’d just put it away But he says no I’ve got something to say to the people People like you and people like me People who like to walk by the sea People in love and people who work in the city They all sing OOOh weee that’s the freakiest penis we ever did see OOOh weee that’s a big old sausage but its not very sexy Not very sexy… It’s not very sexy…
8.
Tickets all gone sold out in a flash A stage and a coffin draped in a flag And the band know how to kick ass The king of pop is dead I was a fan a fan of his work But lately it got way too absurd But I’ll always remember when I first heard The king of pop is dead Tributes poured in from all over the world Smokey Stevie Martha and the girls Young children kneel at the foot of his bed say The king of pop is dead Elvis Toni Ela and Bing They all loved to watch him dance and sing David George and Elizabeth T knew what a treasure he could be Some blame the media some blame the press? Some blames the hangers on and the fame obsessed? And we all blame the father for the child’s distress Now the king of pop is dead The Jarvis incident and the crazy chimpanzee The peter pan of pop has his own toy factory In the never never ever land of the free but The king of pop is dead Watching the footage from the comeback tour As the minister says raw talent so pure And of course we believe in we believe in him for sure Now the king of pop is dead Dead We killed him Dead
9.
I gathered up my thoughts and tried to write a song About a dream I had when I was young But it sounded like the same old song I wrote before this one… Tried to reinvent the past Get sick to death of doing that I tried to write about my love But I got the wrong girl and now I’m all mixed up I tried to make the words come alive They were having none of it I tried to crush them, and hold them down But I was forced to quit I didn’t get too far So I went for drive in the old mans car I never came back to finish the thing I lost the map and the wedding ring Now I don’t feel so great I guess I’m going stop now I’m going to have to wait If and when I ever recover I will write you a love song like no other But for now this one is all I have All messy words and missing chords And sentiments that don’t quite ring true You deserve better than that of course you do If the futures made of coal The past is made of rubber and soul And the in-between the dream just floats away…. Arrgh…it just floats away We just float away….
10.
The letter arrived out of the blue Ten years past since I last saw you My mother handed it to me so discreetly With a look that said be careful it’s from you know who… So I never said a thing not a word to anyone because I knew what was coming and what had to be done And the Saddest Summer of Samuel S Was the book she was reading when we first met I read her letter alone on the bus And I fell under the spell of my first love In my head I pictured us as we were then Was I just kidding myself I’d moved on And there was more of our story to come So I wrote back and said we can meet up if you want The saddest summer of Samuel S Was the book I was reading when we first met She arrived at the station right on time and said Lets turn back the clock to 1979 In the pub we held hands and later we kissed I knew it was wrong but I couldn’t resist And for a few brief moments everything felt right We checked into a hotel later that night The saddest summer of Samuel S Was the book she was reading when we first met… We said goodbye in the morning I’ve not seen her since then I returned to the marriage the kids the friends I made some excuses and nothing was said It’s as if the whole thing took place in my head And there’s a time to remember and a time to forget A time to shut up and a time to confess The saddest summer of Samuel S Was the book I was reading when we first met
11.
They opened a fashion shop At the end of our road In 1973 It was called the DooKumInn Looking for baggies, flares and bomber jackets We all piled in Bored teenagers in waiting Egging each other on They sold peace patches and stars n stripes That was the one everybody liked Ban the bomb CND Posters of The Osmond’s & David Cassidy But most of the clothes they were tat No Wranglers no Levis no Jaytex no Brutus and no class Then someone got banned for stealing from the shop and soon the DooKumInn became a laughing stock It only lasted a matter of months and then it was gone forever The shop was demolished new houses put up and I gave up my paper round soon after that My mother worked at Joans Babywear and Wools In a shop that lasted for years On the opposite side of the road Next to the barbers The Do Kum Inn Come in do

about

‘Down The Bright Stream’ is the Manchester singer songwriter Vinny Peculiar [aka Alan Wilkes] 10th studio album. Story based song vignettes; poetic monologues and intimate folk-centric ballads engage and reflect throughout, Vinny’s acutely observed lyricism remains at the fore ‘English Village’ hints at preservation society era Kinks whilst PULP like teen tale ‘Catalogue Trousers’ recalls a bygone significance of the mail order catalogue industry. ‘Antony Gormley’ pokes pythonesque fun at the Iron Men on Crosby Beach. ‘The DooKumInn’ tells the tale of a short-lived 70s boutique in the village he grew up in. ‘Down The Bright Stream’ is nostalgic, poignant, self-deprecating and gently subversive with a special guest appearance from legendary PIL bassist Jah Wobble.

Vinny has collaborated with Bill Drummond [Soup Art] and his previous bands have included ex members of The Smiths, Aztec Camera, The Fall and OASIS. His most recent release the retrospective Root Mull Affect [Cherry Red] attracted some great press –

‘An under-sung national treasure’ UNCUT MAGAZINE
‘The missing link between Jarvis Cocker and poet Roger McGough and some of the wittiest lyrics this side of Wreckless Eric’ IRISH TIMES
This fifteen-track album from the Salford based singer songwriter is frankly, unmissable. A real joy. AMERICANA-UK

credits

released March 23, 2015

All Songs Written by Alan Wilkes
Mastered by David Marsden
Engineered by Jon Hurst in the Gadget Lab & Ian Lewis at Whitby Studios

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Vinny Peculiar Worcester, UK

Vinny Peculiar variously described as – ‘An under sung national treasure’ [UNCUT Magazine]– a warm hearted Morrissey [Q Magazine] and ‘The missing link between Jarvis Cocker and poet Roger McGough and some of the wittiest lyrics this side of Wreckless Eric’ IRISH TIMES ... more

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