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Once Upon A Time

from Curious and Curiouser by The Bookshop Band

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    Artwork by Mikey Please, case designed by Ben Please, printed and cut by Opal, and insert printed by Richard Lawrence.

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about

Inspired by the first lines of great books.

High, high above, the North Pole
— David Lodge, Changing Places (1975)
On a mountain, above the clouds, once lived a man
- The Garden of Evening Mists, Tan Twan Eng (2012)
His children, are falling, from the sky
- Bring up the bodies, Hilary mantel (2012)

All children, except one, grow up
- J.M. Barrie: Peter Pan (1911)
He was born, with a gift, of laughter
And a sense that the world was mad.
— Raphael Sabatini, Scaramouche (1921)

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times
Writing a song about first lines
It was the age of wisdom, of foolishness
It was the Season of light, season of dark
Drawing the reader in right from the start
It was the spring of hope, the Winter of despair
— A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (1859)

The sun shone, having no, alternative
— Murphy by Samuel Beckett (1938)
It was the day, my grandmother, exploded
— Iain M. Banks, The Crow Road (1992)
It was a pleasure to burn -
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953)


The church is blowing a sad windblown ‘Kathleen’
On the bells in the skid row slums as I wake up all woebegone and goopy -
Big Sur by Jack Kerouac (1963)
Transformed into a monstrous vermin
— The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (1915)

It was the season of light, the season of dark
— A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (1859)
Inspiration comes from The Past
is a foreign country; they do things differently there.
— L. P. Hartley, The Go-Between (1953)

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times
— A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (1859)
Light of my life, fire of my loins
— Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita (1955)
It was love at first sight, love at first sight
— Joseph Heller, Catch-22 (1961)

All this happened, more or less, more or less
- Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut (1969)

lyrics

High, high above, the North Pole
On a mountain, above the clouds, once lived a man
His children, are falling, from the sky

All children, except one, grow up
He was born, with a gift, of laughter
And a sense that the world was mad.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times
Writing a song about first lines
It was the age of wisdom, of foolishness
It was the Season of light, season of dark
Drawing the reader in right from the start
It was the spring of hope, the Winter of despair

The sun shone, having no, alternative
It was the day, my grandmother, exploded
It was a pleasure to burn

The church is blowing a sad windblown ‘Kathleen’
On the bells in the skid row slums as I wake up all woebegone and goopy
Transformed into a monstrous vermin

It was the season of light, the season of dark
Inspiration comes from The Past
is a foreign country; they do things differently there.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times
Light of my life, fire of my loins
It was love at first sight, love at first sight

All this happened, more or less, more or less

credits

from Curious and Curiouser, released May 27, 2016
Beth Porter: vocals, cello, ukulele
Ben Please: vocals, ukulele, glockenspiel

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about

The Bookshop Band Bath, UK

The Bookshop Band write songs inspired by books and play them in bookshops. They started as a collaboration between a group of musicians in Bath and their local independent bookshop, Mr B's Emporium. Now they are about to go on tour, sponsored by Vintage Books and Independent Booksellers Week, around other bookshops and lit fests. Catch them if you can. Details at www.thebookshopband.co.uk ... more

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