This song was in my head for a long time before I recorded it. (Being a dad was harder than I thought and prevented me from recording many songs, but they still came into my imagination). A friend of mine was putting out an acoustic compilation and asked if I could contribute a tune, so that finally gave me the impetus to record it. The chords slightly changed when I played it on a guitar, instead of hearing it in my head alone.
lyrics
Right on the beach is Chalkwell station
The tide washes almost to the platform
Like the cover of I Often Dream of Trains
Toby on the pub table laughing
A first taste of chips for he
All vinegary
Down to Leigh on Sea
The Old Smack and gallery
And David Dulake
A heartbroken, Lorna and me
Waterson Carthy
Seeing Rachel Riley
Some genius gins from Steve
And tubbed crayfish tails
I played her old friend’s mandolin
He’s 86 that weekend
He had a retired greyhound
I bought my pink lined duffle coat for thirty pounds
On previous visits to sea, I’m lost in Chloe
How can I tell her Lorna?
Curry and astronomy, at her new flat there
I went up with Karen one time
League of Gents’ pantomime
Roy Wood and Harry Hill’s Hooves
We saw a lot cat and phoned, to find its owner
References:
* Chalkwell station - This station in Essex is almost on a beach. It's amazing to wait for a train and see the sea and sand next to you
* I Often Dream of Trains - This is an album by Robyn Hitchcock, which has a train trolley and seaside scene on the cover
* A first taste of chips - Having a baby is amazing as you're constantly thinking, "wow that was his first chip!" "That was his first chocolate!" etc.
* All vinegary - In England we put malt vinegar on our chips. We really miss it when in other countries
* Leigh on Sea - A very pretty seaside town in Essex which has a lot of wooden buildings and a thriving scene of music and individual shops. No chain stores seem to have reached it, oddly
* The Old Smack - One of the better seafront pubs
* David Dulake - A guitarist from the town, who Jack Whie of the White Stripes promoted and I once met
* Lorna - One of my best friends, who lives in Leigh. I met her when I moved to London and she really made an effort to take me under her wing and invite me to everything
* Waterson Carthy - Leigh has a great folk scene and folk festival. We saw this amazing folk band in a church there togther
* Rachel Riley - An improbably beautiful TV presenter, who lives in Leigh and we occasionally saw in town
* Genius gins from Steve - My wife Liz's friend Steve also lives in Leigh and had the great idea of bringing gin and tonic ingredients to the beach once
* Tubbed crayfish tails - Leigh has a lot of this great kind of food on sale, from little open air stalls. Eating it on the seafront is just joyous
* Mandolin - Lorna's elderly neighbour was very cool and let me play his mandolin and pet his dog. He was always up for pub visits too
* "I bought my pink lined duffle coat for thirty pounds" - This coat was never off by back for 5 years and I loved it, until it was sadly destroyed when by boiler leaked hot water over it and it went mouldy
* Chloe - The girl that I've had the biggest and worst unrequited love for
* Curry - What Lorna and I always meet when we meet up
* Astronomy - We once went to an open air astronomy event, on the hill top in Leigh. The town often has cool things like that - It's a real gem
* Karen - One of my other best friends Karen (who I was once in the band Elevenses with) visited Leigh with me once, to see Roy Wood play a gig. He was the genius songwriter of The Move and Wizard
* League of Gents’ pantomime - This favourite comedy troupe of mine did a dark version of a pantomime, which I saw in Leight one Christmas with Lorna
* Harry Hill’s Hooves - A comedy show Lorna and I saw
* We saw a lot cat and phoned, to find its owner - This "lost cat" event happened when I was there with Karen, shortly before we saw Roy Wood
Grizzly Bear’s classic debut gets a 15th anniversary vinyl reissue, with a digital companion featuring a bevy of remixes. Bandcamp New & Notable Jan 12, 2020