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The Ballad of Tea Cosy Pete (charity single)

by Tom Emlyn

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The Ballad of Tea Cosy Pete 04:31
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Gather round your glowing screens and I'll tell you all a tale of a Swansea boy who walked the town in the rain and in the hail they said you were a millionaire when they saw you on the street woollen hat on your matted hair and binbags on your feet maybe that made them all feel better inside their warm and lucky lives or maybe you chose to live that way but you're not around anymore so who can say? Don't forget about Tea Cosy Pete mythical gentleman of the street I saw him shaking like a leaf in the record-breaking heat Now the archbishop is in the Evening Post with grammar-school recollections of something that you wrote a melancholy poem of crowds & loneliness the boys all laughed but now he can see what was expressed maybe he regrets the way your life turned out did he think that God would sort it out? maybe he wishes he'd done more with all his earthly power to help the lost & poor Don't forget about Tea Cosy Pete enlightened gentleman of the street I can still see him standing in Castle Square watching the lights dance upon the funeral screen Don't forget about Tea Cosy Pete mythical gentleman of the street I always meant to talk to him but I never did how does it feel, how does it feel?

about

Released in advance of my next solo album 'I've Seen You In Town', which will be released on 1st Oct 2022

Tea Cosy Pete was a well-known Swansea character, a mythical figure that haunted the streets. He was homeless for many years in the city centre and was often seen walking around - many people in Swansea have a story about talking to him. He was intelligent, well-spoken and articulate.
He died a few years ago, and I thought he deserved a tribute, so I wrote this song to remember him as a human being, who was here and is now gone.
I also wanted to write about hypocrisy and homelessness - I think the lyrics are pretty self explanatory.

The b-side is a song called Pigeon, which was written a few years later. It was recorded on a borrowed Spanish nylon-string guitar, live at Abertawe Road studios, Swansea by Dave Milson of Death Monkey Records.

All proceeds from the sale of this song will be donated to the homelessness charity Llamau - it's pay what you want, so give what you can.

credits

released September 23, 2022

Tom Emlyn - Guitar, vox

Photo by Charlie Trotman
'The Ballad of Tea Cosy Pete' engineered by Randell Denning at BBC Studios Swansea
'Pigeon' engineered by Dave Milsom at Abertawe Road Studios, Swansea
Mixed by Tom Emlyn

Released by R.E.P.E.A.T. Records

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Tom Emlyn Swansea, UK

"peripatetic musical genius" - Adam Walton, BBC Radio Wales

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