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Description
Now that the slimy British government looks to have got away with the latest cash-for-peerages scandal, despite wasting nearly a million quid's worth of police time, I thought it was time to honour in song the protagonist of a previous honours scandal.
This song is about Victor Grayson, a socialist MP turned washed-up alcoholic who tried to expose the illicit gong-trade in David Lloyd George's government in 1920, and threatened to name and shame the agent responsible for it. He was spied on, beaten up, and then went missing, presumed murdered.
On 28th September 1920 Grayson was in London having a drink with friends when he had a phone call asking him to go to a hotel in Leicester Square. He was later seen being taken into a house by the River Thames, where he vanished without trace. Unfortunately several months went by before anyone noticed he was missing, and by that time the trail had gone cold.
Twelve years later Arthur Maundy Gregory, a political blackmailer and the owner of the house Grayson disappeared into, was convicted of selling knighthoods and sentenced to two months.
Nobody knows what happened to Victor Grayson, least of all me. So for the most part this is an imagined view of the last few moments of his life.
Rebsie: vocals, electric guitars, piano
© 2007 Rebsie Fairholm
This song is about Victor Grayson, a socialist MP turned washed-up alcoholic who tried to expose the illicit gong-trade in David Lloyd George's government in 1920, and threatened to name and shame the agent responsible for it. He was spied on, beaten up, and then went missing, presumed murdered.
On 28th September 1920 Grayson was in London having a drink with friends when he had a phone call asking him to go to a hotel in Leicester Square. He was later seen being taken into a house by the River Thames, where he vanished without trace. Unfortunately several months went by before anyone noticed he was missing, and by that time the trail had gone cold.
Twelve years later Arthur Maundy Gregory, a political blackmailer and the owner of the house Grayson disappeared into, was convicted of selling knighthoods and sentenced to two months.
Nobody knows what happened to Victor Grayson, least of all me. So for the most part this is an imagined view of the last few moments of his life.
Rebsie: vocals, electric guitars, piano
© 2007 Rebsie Fairholm
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Lyrics
(If you want the sergeant-major
We know where he is
He's lying on the canteen floor
We saw him, we saw him
Lying on the canteen floor)
See now how a city street condemns
As the drizzle thickens on the Thames
You're counting the railings like missed chances
While the public don't give second glances
Through the haze of the wine you know where you should be
And a monocled dandy wants you round for tea
Power is what luxury affords
Ten thousand gets you in the House of Lords
Or plied with cake and a dose of tea-time violence
Served with a slice of permanent silence
Please don't take it personal my dear
It's how they deal with rebels here
The night slips down the drainpipe with the rain
And shadows brush the floorboards once again
Wheel the bedstead back over the carpet
And nothing ended here and nothing started
We know where he is
He's lying on the canteen floor
We saw him, we saw him
Lying on the canteen floor)
See now how a city street condemns
As the drizzle thickens on the Thames
You're counting the railings like missed chances
While the public don't give second glances
Through the haze of the wine you know where you should be
And a monocled dandy wants you round for tea
Power is what luxury affords
Ten thousand gets you in the House of Lords
Or plied with cake and a dose of tea-time violence
Served with a slice of permanent silence
Please don't take it personal my dear
It's how they deal with rebels here
The night slips down the drainpipe with the rain
And shadows brush the floorboards once again
Wheel the bedstead back over the carpet
And nothing ended here and nothing started
Rebsie Girl!!! This rocks... I love the piano and the whole theme. I love the creative angle you took to get this one out... Oh man soo good! One or two smallish critiques... the guitar playing I dlove to hear a bit more fuzz or crunch or osmething on after the song gets through the first verse.. maybe the drums could us e a tweak, though I dont know what it actually needs... but you have this beautiful low fi thing going on that you should take care not to muss up!!
I just love this!! Really really love it!!
and man the piano is friggin sweet sweet sweet in this.. really frames the whole "up to no good" ambience very very well...and of course your vox are always spot on.. lyrically one of my faves!
Congrats on an awesome piece!!