I had a dream there was a strange man
Serving stuff from an ice cream van
Adam Adamant in a cloak of Doom
Selling oysters, singles with a match
Double nougats and a variety of can
At the Academy gates to generation Boom
the next new wave of the old Vale Man

Let's have a wee dram with a friendly Bear
To the Lennox Bank and the Central Bar Stare
to all that have left us or are no longer there
Let's swing along without a care
In Robertsons Bar or to Riverside Dan
Dancing in his purple polo neck holding a can
To a Waterlot tune - Ballad of a Vale Man

A character in what looked like a Mary Hopkin wig
and a denim jacket offered me a jar and a swig
"If your tired of Jamestown
Your tired of life" he said with a frown
From the public bar prism called Smith's
Sparking the song Ballad of a Vale Man
By way of the optics in the Rowantree lounge

Have a vintage Breaker Malt Lager
a pint of pomagne and a hand pumped Sherry
then a leg opener - thank you Fly Me Mandy
I was feelin good for a Valeman, quite the Dandy
until i drank that Non-Napolean Brandy
and couldnt stop my legs they just went bandy
Don't call me Andrew or Ill just get Angry

The spirit may still flow through this town
But Old Vale Man has been and gone

CHORUS

Play your new Bongos
Sing from your old heart
Like Alexander Tait
In a long lost Ballad

Ian Morris Retson
Copyright 2024