On his daily walk to the tube via Belsize Park my friend used to pass this bench. Every morning there was something different left on it, "Weird oddities, almost as though someone was placing them there as public art". A lovely romantic idea for this song, written by him around 1993, revised by me for 2023.
Cover image: Will Paterson at unsplash.com
MAGIC BENCH
Take this promise and take good care
And keep it close to your heart
Keep it warm and keep it hid
For those early morning starts
Take the curtains and pull them down
Let the daylight be your clock
Tell your friends to gather round
For an unexpected shock
CHORUS
And now we call this home
One’s for rent and one’s your own
A newspaper in Dutch or French
What’s on the magic bench?
A traveller’s life on the underground
With a passport to success
Hoping you won’t get found out
Always feeling overdressed
Take this promise and take good care
And keep it close to your heart
Keep it warm and keep it hid
For those early morning starts
CHORUS
Found a place I never thought I’d be
Did I make it after all?
Couldn’t tell you if this is the real me
Or just a fake I can’t recall
CHORUS
© BEN LAWRENCE/ANDY BARKER 2023
