Dave Buckley and the Watchwood
Town Hall Gates
“A strong song, full of passion!” Judy Dyble (ex Fairport Convention)
Reybridge Records is delighted to release the new single from Dave Buckley and the Watchwood, “Town Hall Gates”.
Dave is a well established Warrington based musician whose previous releases on Reybridge include his solo album “Genghis Kahn’t” and the single “Every Night” as a member of The Pink Pumps.
“Town Hall Gates” is a classic protest song written as a response to the destruction of the Green Belt round Dave’s home town of Warrington. The plans to develop large tracts of land with unsustainable amounts of houses and industry as a consequence of pressure from big business are clearly against the wishes of local people due to the extent of the damage to the environment and potential increases in pollution.
The high level of feelings about these events are reflected in the song’s lyrics and the traditional feel of the composition as a whole.
Dave, who plays acoustic guitar and sings, enlisted the help of some superb musicians and friends fulfilling the role of The Watchwood to contribute to the recording.
And yes, The Watchwood is indeed a Tolkien reference!
Andy Prince ex of Rikki and the Last Days of Earth and Sham 69, who has also recorded and toured with Toyah, plays bass. He was also a member of Love Revolution along with Dave who played drums on their album.
PJ Frampton of local legends Poacher, Escape Committee and The Bogtrotters sang and arranged the remarkable harmonies.
Trish Watt of George Borowski’s band, The Purpletones and too many other excellent bands to mention plays lead guitar.
The recording was produced by Ray Humphries (whose current album is also available on Reybridge) with assistance from Mike Evans.
And here are the words….
TOWN HALL GATES
There we all stood at the Town Hall gates
Wondering if we would be heard
While our elected elite who live elsewhere
Ignored every question and word
Yes we elected these people yet when we state our case
They sneer condescend dodge and laugh
The time has come to stand up and be counted
It’s time to sort wheat from the chaff
Chorus:
We’ll have your heads on poles
We’ll have your careers in the gutter
When the votes are all counted you’ll reap what you sowed
You’ll regret every half-truth you utter
You’d destroy the places that we love so well
For the price of a nice German car
In the pockets of absentee landlords you sit
Rest assured we know who they are
But we’ll hold you to account and watch every move
Lickspittle lackeys, betrayers of trust
We are united we’ll shine a clear light
On these vampires until they combust
Chorus
So come one come all, there’s strength in our numbers
We speak for the parks and the fields
For the trees and the tracks, the hedgerows and meadows
And be warned that we will not yield
It’s the heritage of our children at stake
The green spaces and woodland we need
To enrich this town, keep the air clean
Not sacrifice it on the altar of greed
You seem to think you can do what you like
We’re here to prove that you’re wrong
Could we suggest that you go and think twice
Or we’ll hound you from dusk until dawn
Take your plans and massaged Government targets
Optimistic projections and twisted words
We see through the bullshit and bad information
We’re in this for the long run or haven’t you heard?
Chorus
Words and music by Dave Buckley
Contact / purchasing info
Reybridge Records Facebook Page
Town Hall Gates is available to download from
Amazon
i Tunes
…and is also on Google Music, Spotify and Geezer.