The arrival of Autumn sees the temperatures falling and the days growing shorter. There is a strong possibility I may be spending more time on the couch watching the TV. This weeks musical offering is titled "Edited Scene from an unknown B movie"
Listen here: https://www.soundclick.com/music/songInfo.cfm?songID=4223765
It was one of the many songs I wrote during my college days in Aberystwyth back in the early nineteen eighties. They were very productive songwriting years and I experimented a lot, writing about random topics, and exploring different musical styles.
The song was partly inspired by a favorite early Ealing comedy 'The Greatest Show on Earth' which featured, among others, Peter Sellers and Margaret Rutherford. The film was released in 1957, the year of my entrance into life. I may well be re-watching it one of these cooler darker evenings.
The central story of the movie is of a young couple who inherit a cinema that has seen better days. Together (with a little bit of help from the eccentric characters around them) they revive the cinema. I recommend it.
"The Smallest Show On Earth"
In my scenario (set, of course, in a ninety fifties cinema) a young couple called Billy and Jennifer meet while working there and fall in love. Against the odds, they are married and live happily ever after.
The lyrics talk of movie stars such as Marilyn Monroe and Cary Grant, films falling off reels and life on the silver screen. The middle section muses as to how disconnected we have become in our modern age, expressing a longing for simpler times and the hope that love can still get us through.
Musically it is mostly based around the acoustic guitar, electronic piano and bass parts. It was recorded some years ago in the tiny bedroom we had in our church manse in Wales. Yvonne kindly offered up some background vocals. It was meant to be part of a demo tape of songs I had written, (titled 'Not About Goats') but didn't fit well with the others in the collection.
Out of many songs I have written, it is a personal favorite. But it's not a crowd pleaser and not so easy to perform as just a solo piece. It would be great to record it one day in a proper recording studio, but that may well be a pipe dream. I have yet to perform it in front of an audience.
If it is not immediately a hit with you, sit with it a while.
Fill in the blanks and create your own movie.
Maybe it will grow on you :-)
Edited Scene From An Unknown B Movie.
© Adrian J Pratt 1982
Billy, he was looking like one of those dudes in the movies.
Slick black hair and an open neck shirt
Jennifer, she was the debutante dreamer
A pretty while cotton blouse
And a tight pleated skirt
Just like a love scene
From some unknown B movie
She fell in love with him
Just a week ago last Tuesday
And now they were 'in love.'
Billy told Jennifer she looked like Monroe
She once told him he was just like Cary Grant
Held her in his arms,
but not for to long, She had to go.
Just a quick kiss and that meant 'Good Night.'
Just like a love scene
From some unknown B movie
She fell in love with him
Just a week ago last Tuesday
And now they were 'in love.'
So this is life my friend
Life on the silver screen
But in the morning the cameras broke
And the film falls off the reel
And on the cutting room floor
A thousand dreams
are just a series of disjointed scenes
Like an edited scene
From some unknown B movie
We cut away at our dreams
Till there's nothing left to feel
And slowly our life it seems
Becomes a collection of disjointed scenes
Oh no, oh no.
Life goes on outside the cinema walls
The usherette slowly puts on her coat
Billy makes a cup of coffee
Jennifer hangs her coat in the hall
Hey... they got married, after all
Just like a love scene
From some unknown B movie
She fell in love with him
Just two years ago last Tuesday
And they were still 'in love.'
Nobody could take that away. no no
Nobody could take that away, no,no
Nobody could take that away, no,no
Nobody could take that away. NO.