1. |
An Old Bookshop
03:14
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Must and dust and walls of
wood,I'd call that a bookshop
On rows and rows of shelves are
stood, words to make your heart
stop
If you are looking to escape or
maybe even claim your place
Then it's all in an old bookshop
Lines and spines of covered text
waiting for a reader
Maybe you will be the next
nothing could be sweeter
Than your eyes falling on a page
and opening a golden age of
time
All from an old bookshop
Bookshops here to feed us
Always gonna need us
Hoping for a reader
Nothing could be sweeter
W hat a prize is an old bookshop
Peace and quiet or childish glee
find it in a bookshop
Somewhere where your
thoughts are free and you can
let your guard drop
And open up your eyes to see
the person who you want to be
in this life
I love an old bookshop
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2. |
Enid Blyton
04:18
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Enid Blyton wrote the books that
every child would read
For 50 years she plied her trade oh
my what a career
She understood that children don’t
want parents in the way
They seek adventure through the
night and they seek it in the day
So it all comes down to Enid Blyton it
doesn’t matter if you don’t like her
So many do
Enid Blyton’s Busy Bees wrote to her
all the time
All convinced that her lucky kids
must have a lovely life
On open days she serve her guests
jelly and ice cream
And like her books it all looked
perfect and serene
So it all comes down to Enid Blyton it
doesn’t matter if you don’t like her
There's no denying Enid Blyton and if
you never enjoyed her writing
So many do.
Bows and arrows, sticks and stones
A cave that narrow, escaping in the
dark, then home.
Now memory’s a strange old beast
and there’s no way I’d defend her
darker it can’t be denied that some
books oh they offend.
But feminists and socialists all loved
the work she did
Even anarchists share with capitalists
a love for her as a kid
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3. |
Childhood Library
05:07
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Childhood Library
I am a ghost of a childhood library
A million memories in side me of
happy days long ago
All my shelves are packed with
stories
Fairy tales and ragged glories of
worlds unknown all on loan all your
life
The cards and the tickets, the keys to
your wishes
The date stamps of readers now
flown are with you at home
The Famous Five and Little W omen
Simple books with pictures in them
are here for you as you know
And you can share your gifts with
others
Read along sisters and brothers, my
legacy to help you read all your life.
The wind in the willows, your head
on your pillow
Your father, his voice in your bones,
means you're never alone
CozI'm the best idea, the best there
ever was
And I hope you can keep me here for
I am wort the cost
I am the words and your
understanding
I am the power that you're
commanding so call on me and I'll
be there
I am the gift of imagination
I'm a cause for celebration so rejoice
with me, praise the genius of books
And I am your library, oh you make
me happy
Defend me and keep me from harm,
you're my lucky charm
The quiet of your thunder
The hope in your wonder
The strength in your silence
Your words to inspire us
Childhood Library Choir
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4. |
Left it in a Book
03:03
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He wrote I've always loved you
You shook my world right up
She never throw away his letter
She left it in a book
And when she had a clear out It
went with all her muck
slipped between the pages
Just left in a book
W as she hiding it from prying
eyes
So nobody could look
Something she's ashamed of
Hidden in a book
Or was it marking chapters
A quick unconscious tuck
That meant nothing much to no
one
Just left there in a book
He wrote remember Tuscany
And all the food we cooked
we toasted to our future
And wished ourselves good luck
And I wonder of as years go by If
we'll ever be struck
With a yearning for those
memories of wine and airport
books
Vintage postcards, recipes
Family photos, dry pressed
leaves
I hope they all found happiness I
hope that life's been good
Coz there's more than just one
story written in a book
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5. |
A Visit Home
04:06
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Several books have saved my life and
changed my life.
I still have the book of Victorian verse
that the guy, who used to own the
local second hand bookshop I went
to as a punky teenager, put in the
20p box for me as he knew I didn't
always have much money.
I'd climb up onto a flat roof garage at
the back of my house with a blanket
and a flask of tea.The lady of Shalott
and Lord Tennyson were a beautiful
distraction when life was bad.
Shelagh Delaney's A Taste of Honey
was another second hand book that
had a huge impact on me and I'd
read that when my parents were
shouting and plates were being
thrown.
I read everything I could get my
hands on.I always loved books of
folktales and fairy tales.Enid Blyton's
Enchanted Wood and Wishing Chair.
Ladybird book versions of
Rumpelstiltskin and The
Gingerbread man.I discovered
Tolkien, Le Guin and a raft of fantasy
authors.
I read classics like Dickens, Hardy, the
Bronte's and my favourite,Jane
Austen.
These are my best childhood
memories.
When I want to recall my childhood
And there's nowhere left so I can take
a look
For they've built on the fields and the
wildwood
I can always take a visit in a book.
Ralph, the second hand bookshop
owner, some lovely librarians, one or
two English teachers and my Nana
influenced my early reading habits.
Seeing John Cooper Clarke in my
early teens prompted me to go out
and find living poets and even write
and perform my own stuff.
I think the beauty of fictional
characters is you can identify with
them.You see yourself as you could,
would or might be and you escape
into some other person's head and
world.You see through their eyes,
you live through their mistakes and
hopefully learn something from
every character you encounter.
I had a turquoise petit typewriter
that I lugged everywhere when I
was small.It was a toy really and I
used to have to beg for new ribbons.
I wrote and performed poems in my
teens and it was whilst doing a
poetry gig that I was approached to
write a play.I didn't have a clue how
to write a play but I was a bolshie
working class teenager and I said
'yes'.I got my first play
commissioned at 19 and I've written,
devised and made over 30 plays
since.
I have a poem carved into stone in a
park in my hometown.
So books, books are a life raft when
everything else is terrible.They help
you escape, they show you your
own world can be different.
Books are friends, best friends
sometimes.
I know it might sound trite but I do
believe books have saved my life.
Spoken lyrics by:Sarah Miller
Chorus lyrics by Steve
Piano:David Oliver
Chorus sung by Craig
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6. |
I Like Books!
02:36
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I've lived in castles and I've been a
king
Chased rainbows to a pot of gold
I've slain green dragons for a silver
ring
And I am only 9 years old
I've lived on planets in the milky way
W here the atmosphere was cold
I left at night and returned by day
And I am only 9 years old
I did all this lying in my bed
A world of fun living in my head
And it all comes from the books I've
read
And I know that I Like books
I've sailed with pirates and swam
with sharks
I've boxed with a kangaroo I've
fought with lions and they left no
mark
And every 9 year old can too.
If you're shy and a little quiet
And don't think you are bold,
well you can make a dinosaur jump
with fright !
Although you're only 9 years old
Although you're only 9 years old
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7. |
Bestsellers
03:13
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There are books that fill a space
and look good on your bookcase
or on the coffee table placed so
people see them
And there are books with purple
prose, many spend their time
with those
I should buy some I suppose
then I could read them
But I’m a simple guy that’s no
word of a lie
I like bestsellers I read them
morning noon and night
On the commuter train, in bed
to ease my aching brain
I like bestsellers, I like a story to
unfold and maybe comfort me
and so I always choose to read
bestsellers
So when I’m on the beach or in
the bath I like to reach
For a story that’s a peach and I
want to lose myself in time
Take a break from my own mind
Leave my worries all behind, like
millions all do.
I’m a simple guy and this is how
I spend my time.
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8. |
||||
There are certain books that break
my heart
And I only have to catch a look at
their cover art
To be taken back to my mum and
dads
It’s like I see my self on their library
shelf
My dad was a reader all his life.
It wasn’t highbrow literature but he
knew what he liked
Maybe cowboy books or cops and
crooks
Now they’re bittersweet treasured
memories.
Girls in summer dresses breaking
hearts
Hard drinking detectives and space
ships off to Mars
Oh I always knew, yes I always knew
I’d be a reader too.
My mum never really opened books
She never had the eyesight that
would let her take a look
So she never read what she did
instead
W as listen to books that read to you.
Of girls in summer dresses breaking
hearts
Adventures to impress you and
romance after dark
So I always knew that I could listen
too
Yes I always knew that I’d be a
reader too
There are certain books that break
my heart.
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9. |
There are Books
03:28
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Margaret Atwood, Enid Blyton,
Thomas Hardy,Thomas Paine, the
Brontë's, Norman Mailer, Matt Haig,
B Barry Hines, Terry Pratchett, Carol
Birch, Louisa May Alcott, Roald Dahl,
Richard Bach, Caitlin Moran, Stephen
Donaldson, Stella Gibbons,George
Orwell.
There are books for your leisure ,
There are books for the life that you
lead,
there are books to bring pleasure,
there are books that are easy to read
There are books for your vacation ,
there are books that you don't know
you need,
there are books for education,
there are books that you just have to
read
There are books for your memories,
there are books for the person you'll
be,
there are books you'll share with
children,
there are books that you'll just love to
read.
There are books for your sadness,
there are books for your hopes and
your dreams,
there are books for your madness,
there are books that you just want to
read
There are books yeah
Isaac Asimov, Gore Vidal, Penelope
Fitzgerald, Kate Atkinson, John Le
Carre, Mick Herron, Laurence Block,
Daphne Du Maurier, Virginia Woolf,
J .K.Rowling, Isabell Allende, John
Steinbeck, Victoria Whitehead,
Harper Lee.
There are books when you're broken,
there are books when you're down
on your knees,
there are books that are spoken,
these are books that you don't have
to read
There are books for your romance,
there are books when your love's just
a seed,
there are books for a slow dance,
there are books that you'll both want
to read
There are books yeah
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10. |
Let's Read a Book
02:55
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Steve Roberts Glossop
Steve was/is the singer and songwriter with Liverpool’s 16 Tambourines who signed to BMG and toured and recorded
throughout Europe in the late 80s and 90s.
He’s since recorded 3 solo albums and one with the band Captain Pop. He’s also written for TV and semi theatre pieces about the Cold War and Surveillance. He lives in the Peak District.
... more
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