The town I loved so well

Apr 10 2009

In my memory, I will always see

the town that I have loved so well

where our school played ball, by the old Grammar wall

and we laughed through the smoke and the smell.

Going home in the rain, running up the dark lane

past the pitch and putt and down behind the Gaiety

Those were happy days, in so many ways

in the town I have loved so well.

In the early morning, the golfers would all meet

at Dalmilling in Craigie, no more fairways to grace

What’s left for them to shut? What budget’s left to cut?

How can those councillors ever show face

And when Pets’ Corner shut, we just had about enough

so we took to the streets about complaining

for deep inside was a burning pride

for the town I loved so well.

There was music there, in the old Pavilion’s air

like a language that we could all understand

I remember the day, when I earned my first pay

as I played with my first rock and roll band.

There I spent my youth, and to tell you the truth

I was sad to leave it all behind me

for I’d learned about life, and I found me a wife

in the town I loved so well.

But when I returned, how my eyes were burned

to see how a town could be brought to its knees

by the councillors’ greed and the bumps to kill speed

and the litter that lies on all of our streets

Now that Hunter’s installed, the people are appalled

and the damned council tax gets higher and higher

with their trips to the sun, oh my god what have they done

to the town I loved so well.

Now the Civic Theatre’s gone but still we carry on

for our spirit’s been bruised, never broken

we will not forget, when the next elections set

For we’ll never vote those scoundrels in again

For what’s done is done and what’s won is won

and what’s lost is lost and gone forever

I can only pray for a bright brand-new day

for the town I loved so well.

Brian McKinley

By email