[GuyBarry]

And so to the remaining track from my EP.  It's one of those "list" songs in the manner of Tom Lehrer's "The Elements" - a list of the counties of England, with a couple of gags thrown in.  Some people love this type of song, others can't see the point of them.  I just enjoy the challenge of writing them - it's like a combination of doing the Guardian crossword and a particularly fiendish jigsaw all rolled into one!

When I performed it live it was quite short, so for the recording I've extended it by adding in a monologue that acts as a set of "footnotes" to the rest of the song.  The complete lyrics are here, but most of the words will come as no great surprise.  I've written it so that my home county of Somerset comes last, but I've prepared versions with the neighbouring counties coming last in case I'm asked to perform it somewhere else nearby.  If you want your own home county in the last line you'll have to rewrite the lyrics yourself!

Once again, thanks to Justin for a marvellous piano accompaniment and to Andrew for the recording and production.

https://soundcloud.com/user-193365401/counties-of-england

[CaliaMoko]

Well, I'm one who enjoys this type of song. I really like how you've fitted a lot of the names together. And it's enlightening for me, with my boring midwestern U.S. accent, to hear the proper pronounciation of the names.

I can tell this would be fun in person, especially with people from some of the areas in attendance.

You didn't ask for any specific feedback, and I can't think of any to provide, so you'll have to be content with my "I liked it!" response.

Vicki

[pompeyjazz]

Hi Guy. This is a clever piece of work to be sure. It must have taken you ages to conceive the lyrics and fit them to the music. Very English.

John

[adamfarr]

Hi - really liked the "verses", well up yo your normal standard and you can hear their British musical comedy history ancestry. Crowd pleasing genius to have the different localised versions! My feeling was that the footnotes fell a bit flat and "bookish" which broke up the mood a bit. Not sure whether there was something more creative that you could do with them rhythm wise, or try and create some sort of a punchline (am I being too ambitious?!)

[GuyBarry]

Thanks to all three of you.  I agree completely with Adam's comments about the footnotes - I was going to cut that section in half, but when we were editing the track a couple of my producer's friends came in and they told me to leave it, so I went with their advice.  Still not sure though - I'll be performing it live on Saturday and I'm writing a rather different monologue that I think will work better.  It's very hard to gauge things right though!

[Cove]

Loved this very well done! As a country boy from Alabama I found this very educational!I spent a few weeks in Norwich in 1986 when I was in the Air Force...had a blast!

[delb0y]

Good work, Guy. It ticks all the boxes for the style, and I can imagine it going down well with the intended audiences. I agree re. the footnotes - it was actually interesting stuff and amusing in the revealing the complexity of county naming that you were explaining, just not sure it fits in with the song (maybe in the live version rather than the recorded?).

My only slight disappointment was that it really was a list song - all the counties in there, and cleverly ordered to get the right syllables in the right places, but not too much else. What I mean is that my favourite bits were where you added a funny line about a county e.g. "There used to be a Middlesex - I don't know where it went." and "West Midlands (dreadful name!)," but that was about it. When I read your intro I was expecting a lyrical tour de force - probably a victim of expectations after your last song. And I was thinking, as I'm sure many were, what's he going to say about my home county? But I recall writing somewhere else about criticising a song for not being something it was never intended to be - and here I am doing just that!

But that minor gripe aside , it rolls along well and fair play if you can remember all those words!

Cheers
Derek

[GuyBarry]

Thanks to Cove for some kind comments.

Good work, Guy. It ticks all the boxes for the style, and I can imagine it going down well with the intended audiences. I agree re. the footnotes - it was actually interesting stuff and amusing in the revealing the complexity of county naming that you were explaining, just not sure it fits in with the song (maybe in the live version rather than the recorded?).

I don't think I'll perform that monologue in the live version.  I'm working on a more straightforward comedy monologue, but I didn't want to do that for the recording because the lack of audience interaction would probably make it fall flat.  There's one little tease in the recorded version - after the first half of the monologue the main chord sequence starts up again, and I'm hoping that listeners will expect me to start singing again instead of waffling on about what happened to Middlesex.

My only slight disappointment was that it really was a list song - all the counties in there, and cleverly ordered to get the right syllables in the right places, but not too much else. What I mean is that my favourite bits were where you added a funny line about a county e.g. "There used to be a Middlesex - I don't know where it went." and "West Midlands (dreadful name!)," but that was about it.

That might be a good idea for a longer version of the song.  I was in a bit of a hurry when I wrote it - I already had the tune, but my original idea for the words didn't fit in with the theme I had planned for that night, so a "list" song seemed the easiest solution because they're relatively easy to write (you don't have to think up the words, just put them in the right order).

When I read your intro I was expecting a lyrical tour de force - probably a victim of expectations after your last song. And I was thinking, as I'm sure many were, what's he going to say about my home county? But I recall writing somewhere else about criticising a song for not being something it was never intended to be - and here I am doing just that!

Well, Tom Lehrer's "The Elements" (perhaps the daddy of all list songs) is purely a list, apart from the final couplet.  I think people are more impressed by the fact that he can remember it than by the actual content.

But that minor gripe aside , it rolls along well and fair play if you can remember all those words!

Thanks.  Before I wrote the song I couldn't name all the counties of England, and now I can.  So it's been an education!

[Movin Flavour]

Very clever.....

Not just a bloody song.

For the purposes of post I live in Middlesex...otherwise it's Berkshire.

Well done


Sandeep

[GuyBarry]

For the purposes of post I live in Middlesex...otherwise it's Berkshire.

But none of the former Middlesex is now in Berkshire, is it?  Unless I've missed a bit...

Thanks for your comments.  I've been trying to come up with a more suitable monologue for live performance and so far I've come up with this:

---------

Well, only forty-eight actually.  And "Nottinghamshire" was too long to fit into the line.

This song is only about England, by the way.  I didn't want to include Scotland in case they suddenly declared independence without telling anyone.  I thought about Wales, but I couldn't pronounce all those foreign names like "Glamorgan".  And Northern Ireland's only got six counties - Fermanagh, Antrim, Tyrone, Londonderry, Armagh and Down.  Spells out "Fat Lad" - unless you're a Catholic, in which case it's "Fat Dad".

Sorry, where was I?  That's right - junction 31 of the M1...

[delb0y]

Good revised monologue 

[GuyBarry]

Thanks!

[IronKnee]

Cool.....sounds like an interlude that could be fit in a Broadway Musical version of "Oliver Twist"
Very engaging, and fluid. A most entertaining listen!
Thanks!
                                 -Tom

[GuyBarry]

Cool.....sounds like an interlude that could be fit in a Broadway Musical version of "Oliver Twist"

You mentioned "Oliver Twist" in connection with one of my other songs, I think.  Are you thinking of the Lionel Bart musical "Oliver!"?  I'd never really thought of my stuff as similar to his but maybe I should have another listen.  Thanks for the comments!