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about

A conversely chipper little song of childhood trauma and disappointment. Acoustic guitars were all over children's TV in the 70s. Handful of Songs, Trumpton; I lapped them all up, and one Christmas put my request in: it didn't end well.
From then on I resigned myself to a life of high hopes and low expectations and my musical journey began late as a result.

lyrics

Excited, delighted, couldn't keep still
I kicked down the gates of dawn
Cleared the stairs four at a time
On Christmas day in the morning
Against a backdrop of firelight
Under the tree on the floor
I tore off the Mickey Mouse paper
And could not believe what I saw
Well, I've had my frustrations, I've dropped like a stone
But this was my worst day by far
I was a crestfallen eight year old
You were a toy guitar

I wanted a real one, a one I could feel one
With bridge pins, plectrums and strings
Under the tree waiting for me
With plenty of other cool things
Well, action man lost his arms and his legs
Wallpaper flew off my wall
I wasn't demanding the world on a plate
Just a guitar that was all
My Mardy arsed tears flowed for years and years
This was my worst day by far
I was a crestfallen eight year old
You were a toy guitar

A traumatised child became a traumatised youth
When 38 weeks at a pound
Bought me a steel strung monster
That made quite a monstrous sound
But I got me a book and locked myself up
I was heard but seldom seen
And now I do songs, some short, some long
And some just a bit in-between
Now I don't sing the blues I just sing about shoes
And that worst day by far
When I was a crestfallen eight year old
And you were a toy guitar

I got me a book and locked myself up
Heard but seldom seen
And now I do songs, some short, some long
And some just a bit in-between
INow I don't have the blues I just sing about shoes
And remember that worst day so far
When I was a crestfallen eight year old
And you were a toy guitar

credits

from Downbeat Is The New Upbeat, released April 8, 2023

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Will Riding Chester

A Lancashire born, Chester based singer-songwriter with a deft and playful turn of phrase and acoustic - folk sensibilities inspired by, amongst other things, 70’s Children’s TV.

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