mums garden

My dear Mum died a couple of weeks ago-through all my years of writing,I've never been able to find the words to tell her what I thought of her.I've written about everything from toothache to piles,love for a child,wife even father--but my mum,was such a hero to me,that I never felt I could find the "just" words--I'm trying now-and I'm sure I'll come up with something.meantime we have installed "mum" in our front garden -A beautiful lady ,now asleep in our garden in Australia,far away from the garden she will rest in,in Cambridge U K,but sentiments reamain the same .I'll miss my weekly,sometimes twice weekly and if I really needed some vital information from my childhood ,like what woman from the village ran away with what bloke,even more often than that.Its all new to me,I still almost pick up the phone to call her--see my Mum died,and she wasn't supposed to do that--other peoples Mums died,but not mine,she's never done anything like that before.

THE BALLAD OF THE GHOST OF JESSE PYE

Today,Saturday the 13th of September 2008 will see the last competitive game at Fenland Park ,home of the Wisbech Town Football Club.Their home for just over 60 years has been sold to make room for a housing project,to a development company called Purple.Fenland Park has seen many highs and lows over the years.The ground is aged and run down (like many of us I guess)and Wisbech Town will be building a "New Fenland Park" everyone is excited at this,yet sad at leaving the old ground.
One of the greatest players ever to grace Fenland Park,was the ex Wolverhampton Wanderers and England International Jesse Pye,who played under the great manager Oscar Hold back in the 1950's (Jesse also went on to manage Wisbech himself in later years)He is a legend in the minds of many of we older fans of "The Fenmen"--------I just wish there was some way of letting Jesse know that we've left Fenland Park---he's causing a lot of damage.

The Ballad Of The Ghost Of Jesse Pye.

They've taken down the goalposts,
the stands,since bulldozed over.
And where The Fenmen used to play
devoid of grass and clover.
There,where we used to rant and shout
"come on you mighty Reds"
Now,a row of Purple Homes
with sheds,and flower beds.

But,every day when sun goes down
and into to night we pass.
Would come a shout of "give it here"
then, the sound of shattered glass.
When morning came in Purple Street,
as everyone awoke,
they's scratch at heads in wonder
just how their windows broke.

Children playing in the streets?
Maybe drunkards passing by?
No! its the spirit of The Fenmen
lead by Jesse Pye.
For his soul in came a haunting,
gliding in the dark.
Scoring one more goal for Oscar Hold
where once was Fenland Park.

As his spirit shines,where was the pitch
on memory he plays
thinking of the glory seen
on many,long gone days.
And a host of others with him
all are long since dead
There on "The Field Of Shattered Dreams"
Once more,all Men In Red.

For his soul it came a haunting
gliding in the dark.
Scoring one more goal for Oscar Hold
where once was Fenland Park.
and a host of others with him
all are long since dead
There on "The Field Of Shattered Dreams"
Once more.all Men In Red

I AINT GOIN NOWHERE !!

Great news to Australian folk--The Pope is arriving in Australia next week for World Youth Day.Well,I say good news- rather sarcastic of me.All heathens like me have been told to stay the hell away from Sydney City-don't drive your car,infact we've been told to leave town--take a holiday.People that work in the area are having one hell of a time getting to work--Randwick Race track,where the great event is to be held,has been devoid of horses for weeks--something like $200,000,000 of public money has been spent on the day--when a poor bloody pensioner can't get a $5 a week increase-All for one church---now,good luck to them,and I'm sure it will be a great event--I just wonder if the head of any other church would get the same treatment---well,they wouldnt.
Which brings me to life after death,I'm very confused.--Catholic,Church Of England,Muslim--all those flavours--Heaven-- Hell---70 virgins when you die--no thanks (it amazes me how 70 virgins could be regarded as a reward--70 "you really do love me don't you?"s"--70 "was that a good for you as it was for me"----or something I've become used to "is that all there is to it ?"-------so after much thought I've decided not to die--------infact,

I AINT GOIN NOWHERE

They say good guys go to heaven,
and bad guys? well they don't.
So,we spend our lives treading broken glass
thinking will I or I wont?
But me,I'm in the middle
I've loved girls,drank lots of beer,
But,I help little ladies cross the road
so,I think I'm best left here.

Well I aint goin to heaven
and I sure won't go to hell.
I'll be staying here on earth
and you can stay as well.
The Devil don't appeal to me
with fire,and all those things.
Flying makes me air sick
So,shove those Angels wings.

You'll not find me in a box,
in a church and all that trash.
Don't put me six feet under
or turn my bones to ash.
Cause I aint goin nowhere,you see
this is the life for me.
So,Lord I'm staying here on Earth
and the Devil,let me be.

No flowers at a grave side
no balloons or flying doves.
No sloppy songs that make folk cry
about never dying love.
No talk,of Hell or Heaven
or need for being sad.
Cause I'm staying here forever
be me rotten good or bad.

Well I aint goin to heaven
and I sure won't go to hell.
I'll be staying here on Earth
and you can stay as well.
The Devil don't appeal to me
with fire,and all those things.
Flying makes me air sick
So you can shove those Angel wings,

I said "flying makes me air sick
so,you can shove those Angel wings."

DAVID

This,is a poem I wrote way back in 1991,and the event took place seven years before that.My children,would have had an older brother David,but he died just a few hours after being born. Very sad,and in those days very difficult to deal with. Not that its easy these days,but 25 years ago there seemed to be very little help available,not for the mother--and even less for the father,who it seemed was to stand straight tall and tough,and be the rock that his wife could lean on."Men don't cry,men don't show feelings,because if you do ,you are weak and others can't depend on you."---and that wasn't just the way people thought,it was what I was told at the hospital.You spend the best part of nine months watching something grow,you ready your home and life to accomodate another person--and then ?--nothing,gone----but get on with your life.
This all comes back to me ,even now when I hear of people going through similar things,be it loss at birth,or loss by accident,suicide,drugs, and such other things later in life--it becomes no easier a loss is a loss,and you can't just "get over it"

DAVID

Many years ago now,I saw our baby die,
yet still,I ask the question,"Why?"
"you'll have to be strong"the doctor said.
"carry on with life,your baby's dead,
your wife,she's in a state of shock-
stand straight,stand tall,just be her rock."
Well,I felt I shouldn't shed a tear,
but Christ ! I saw him laying there.

I saw his feeble fight for life,
I saw more than my darling wife.
But I wasn't allowed that time to cry,
with her so weak,well how could I ?
But still this feeling welled inside,
which long years since,I've failed to hide.
But,at the time,put to the test
I did what the experts- told me best.

But,it seems I didn't have a clue,
it didn't help me,and sure won't help you.
Yet,thats what he told me,"get on with life,
its best for you,and for your wife."
when probably,through all this muddle,
what I needed was to cry,and cuddle.
Love surely finds a better way
to soothe the heartbreaks of the day.

I should have done my thing,but I did theirs,
me being tough,while she shed the tears.
But,my crying all came late at night,
beyond her ears,beyond her sight.
So,I guess she fought all alone,
whilst I held my battle inside.
but how I wished more every day,
that I'd let it go,--and cried.

copyright ToeKneez Lyrics 11/6/991 original --re-write 2/5/2008

THE ABOMINABLE "WHOOOOSH"

In the Fenlands of England,my dear niece,and Godchild,Suzanne,her husband Chris and many others in the area -are fighting against these wind turbines being erected nearby.I don't know much about them--I think they're ugly and I wouldnt want them next to me--at the same time they are supposed to be environmentaly good and we have to have these type of things. But where ? --well not next to me--and certainly not nextdoor to Suzanne.

It used to be nice,to sit out here
with a nice cup of tea
a wine or beer.
To sit and watch the fading Sun
setting over trees
when day is done.

It used to be nice to hear the birds
But now,it all seems
just so absurd.
They've chopped away the trees,the bush
now all I hear ?
The abominable "whoooosh"

That pulsating noise that fills the air
from those unsightly things
that stand so near.
They say they are good,they say they're green
but to me,they are just
so bloody obcene.

They tell us this power is heaven sent
and doesn't harm
The Environment.
That maybe true,that maybe fair
but not,if you're the poor bugger

living here.

And ugly too,just look at that
all those long,silly poles
in my habitat.
"whooooooosh" there it goes again
enough to drive
this man insane.

A mans home,is his castle,they say
and its true.
But at what cost,what value?
I worked so hard to make it nice
this place,my home,
My Paradise.

So,should your area be next choice
to house these things
shout,with one voice.
Fight like hell,when shove comes to push
to avoind these things.
The Abominable "whooooosh!!"


copyrite toeknees lyrics april 08---permit use to Suzanne Wabe for her cause

FOREVER WILL GROW GREEN'N'GOLD

MANY OF YOU MAY KNOW,MY HERO AND INSPIRATION IN WRITING IS THE GREAT SCOTTISH BORN BUT AUSTRALIA RESIDING ERIC BOGLE-WRITER OF SUCH GREAT ANTI WAR SONGS AS "THE BAND PLAYED WALTZING MATILDA" AND ANOTHER GREAT SONG RECORDED IN EUROPE BY THE FUREYS "THE GREEN FIELDS OF FRANCE"-ONE OF THE GREAT THINGS I LIKE ABOUT ERIC'S WORDS ARE,HE WASTES NOTHING,VERY FEW "LA LA LA'S" IN HIS MUSIC,ALL WORDS THAT HIT THE MARK.
I WAS WATCHING THE TELLY LASTNIGHT,WHEN ON CAME THIS STORY ABOUT AROUND 400 AUSTRALIAN AND BRITISH TROOPS POSSIBLY BEING FOUND IN A MASS GRAVE IN A FIELD IN FROMELLES , FRANCE.FRIENDS OF THE FIFTEENTH BRIGADE ASSOC LED BY LAMBIS ENGLEZOS,CLAIM TO HAVE FOUND THIS GRAVE OF SOLDIERS WHO FOUGHT AND DIED AROUND 1916.JUST HOW MANY BRAVE SOLDIERS LEFT THEIR SHORES,NEVER TO RETURN,BUT TO BE LOST,AND BURIED ON FOREIGN SOIL.
I WRITE THIS SONG,ON BEHALF OF AUSTRALIAN SOLDIERS,SIMPLY BECAUSE IT'S THE WEEK OF ANZAC DAY,(25TH APRIL)THE DAY IN AUSTRALIA THAT WE CELEBRATE THESE PEOPLE.
ERIC BOGLE ??--YES,WELL I DEDICATE THIS SONG TO ERIC,BECAUSE HE HAS A GREAT DEAL TO DO WITH ME THINKING THE WAY I DO ABOUT THESE THINGS.


FOREVER WILL GROW GREEN'N'GOLD

Our lads bled green'n'gold
in the trench's I'm told.
Sang "Matilda" as they faded
they say.
Now they lay 'neath the ground
in a spot never found
In a battlefield so far away.
ch
But the fields are so green
as have ever been seen.
and the leaves on the trees
turn to gold.
for,when they started to bleed
surely planted the seed
that forever, will grow green'n'gold

And to the Mothers
who gave us their children.
to the fathers
who gave us their sons.
May we ever remember,
in our hearts glow and ember
to remind us of what they have done.
ch
But the fields are so green
as have ever been seen.
and the leaves on the trees
turn to gold.
for ,when they started to bleed
surely planted the seed
that forever, will grow green'n'gold.

We must think of them well
for they went through the hell.
So remember on this Anzac Day.
For our children to live
twas their lives
they would give
On the battlefields so far away.
ch
But the fields are so green
as have ever been seen.
And the leaves on the trees
turn to gold.
for,when they started to bleed
surely planted the seed
that forever, would grow green'n'gold
that forever, would grow green'n'gold.


(all words and comments remain the property of Toe-Kneez Lyrics )

THE BUSHMANS PAVAROTTI

DAVID GORDON KIRKPATRICK,WAS BORN IN KEMPSEY AUSTRALIA 13TH JUNE 1927,AND RAISED NEARBY ON THE NULLA NULLA DAIRY FARM.MANY WOULDN'T RECOGNISE THE NAME,ESPECIALLY OUTSIDE OF AUSTRALIA.BUT DAVID GORDON KIRKPATRICK,IN 1938,BECAME SLIM DUSTY,AND BEGAN THE CAREER THAT MADE HIM THE GREATEST COUNTRY MUSIC ENTERTAINER IN AUSTRALIA'S HISTORY.MAKING OVER 100 ALBUMS.
IN 1958 HE RECIEVED AUSTRALIA'S FIRST EVER GOLD RECORD FOR HIS RECORDING OF "A PUB WITH NO BEER" A SONG EVEN THOSE LIVING OUTSIDE OF AUSTRALIA MAY HAVE HEARD.
SLIM DIED A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO--BUT NOT BEFORE HE'D SPENT THE BEST PART OF 60 YEARS TRAVELLING AROUND,WITH HIS SHOW--TAKING HIM TO JUST ABOUT EVERY SPOT IN THE COUNRY.EVERYONE LOVED SLIM,HE WENT TO THE PEOPLE AND GAVE THEM WHAT THEY WANTED TO HEAR,GOOD MUSIC--LONG LIVE IN OUR MEMORY "THE BUSHMANS PAVAROTTI----SLIM DUSTY

THE BUSHMANS PAVAROTTI

Well,who didn't know,when Slims travelling show
was coming into town?
'Twas time for fun,with the shearing done
to put those wide blades down.
"we're going to have a knees up Mum,
put on your frock,lets go,
with friends no fear,and we'll sink a beer
at Slim Dusty's travelling show."

He was the bushmans Pavarotti,
and the small towns next big thing.
All the drovers found,from miles around
came to hear Slim Dusty sing.

Oh we didn't care how we got there,
by horseback,car or boot
Slim was in town,at the village ground
so pile into the ute.
Heading off down on the Dusty track
on our way,through the station gate.
Be we rich or poor,could we ask for more
than,to have Slim as our best mate.

He was the Outbacks Elvis Prestley
and to the cockeys he was King.
all the shearers that shear,from there to here
came to see Slim Dusty sing

He was The Bushmans Pavarotti
The small towns next big thing.
all the drovers found,from miles around
came to hear Slim Dusty sing.
He was The Outbacks Elvis Prestley
and,to the cockeys he was King.
All the shearers that shear,from there to here
came to see Slim Dusty sing.

All the shearers that shear,from there to here
came to see Slim Dusty sing.
'