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OXFORD STREET IN THE BLACKOUT May 2020

by David Heavenor

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Nick Smith
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about

The novelist Graham Greene lived in London during the blitz while his wife and family were in the country for safety. His house was bombed because he was not at home that particular night. I read in one of his books the line 'In Oxford Street in the blackout you can see the stars...' which sounded like the first line of a song. Andrew Greig's book That Summer about the Battle of Britain also informed the song as did Summer's Lease a John Mortimer title. I love Second World War aerodromes for some reason. They seem to carry a mystical charge from those war years. The 75th Anniversary celebrations got met thinking again about this song so recorded this version in homage to all the combatants and especially those who didn't return. The photograph is a group of pilots stationed in Hornchurch around that time.

lyrics

OXFORD STREET IN THE BLACKOUT


In Oxford Street in the Blackout you can see the stars
We watched the buzz bombs fizzing
Like lit cigars
In Oxford Street in the blackout
I fell in love with you
The way you turned your collar back
And laughed at me in blue

That summer's lease
The blue boy's blood grew cold in France
Then spinning back to Hornchurch
In a whirling dance
Here comes a Messerschmidt
Peeling from the sun
Bang, bang go my Browning guns
And Fritz is quite undone

So Mary save me
Dear Mary save me for love

And boy in the darkened room
See the searchlights dance in the sky
Boy in this darkened town
Your country's fate lies at peace in your eyes
But then a man walks in and says
'What are you doing here? Didn't you know there's a war on?"

In Oxford Street in the Blackout
The girls are caught indoors
Dreaming of their sweethearts
Through the twilight hours
Their hearts go soft in the big band sound
The wireless crackles on
Mamas ironing the creases out of Mr Churchill's boys

credits

released May 8, 2020

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David Heavenor Edinburgh, UK

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David Heavenor is a Scottish singer songwriter based in Edinburgh Scotland. He has produced 8 albums plus 3 EP's.

I'm Watching Rosanna. ' An insightful song....beautifully written and observed. Iain Anderson. BBC Radio

'Jenny & the Cold Caller. One of the best songs ever written...' Ricky Ross ... more

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