The Ballad of Tea Cosy Pete

from The Ballad of Tea Cosy Pete (charity single) by Tom Emlyn

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lyrics

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?

credits

from The Ballad of Tea Cosy Pete (charity single), released September 23, 2022

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Tom Emlyn Swansea, UK

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

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