Paley's Watch - Prologue Lyrics

Overcoats squint at black and white prints
It's preview night at the Derby Hall
Glorybutts coyly rehearse Charley's Aunt
And the artist watches his wine disappear

Readers turn the page
Bury is the stage
People's lives unfold
There are stories to be told

Nagging rain greys the autumn days
In Market Street people shoulder on
No one runs for cover, no one stays indoors
Bury Grammar blazers play football in the rain

Readers turn the page
Bury is the stage
People's lives unfold
There are stories to be told

Uniforms survey their double line prey
From Millgate to Broad Street where musicians browse
And chatter at the corner of the music shop
While Lionil leaves his salon to strum on a guitar

Readers turn the page
Bury is the stage
People's lives unfold
There are stories to be told

Anoraks range across the interchange
Hoods up, pens poised, to stone the rolling stock
Some spill over to the East Lancs line
To Breathe in the smoke and ash of our heritage

Readers turn the page
Bury is the stage
People's lives unfold
There are stories to be told

Tweed coat trippers too old for big dippers
Visit the concrete and glass for the day
To shelter under canvas and slide from stall to stall
To sample black pudding and buy a plastic toy

Readers turn the page
Bury is the stage
People's lives unfold
There are stories to be told

Flat caps lurch past Bury parish church
Sir Robert Peel watches people slither back
To their homes where there's always mud on the rug
While police dredge the lodge for the body of a man

Readers turn the page
Bury is the stage
People's lives unfold
There are stories to be told