G'day again ...,

I found this in Songs of Sydney Carter – In the present tense, Galliard Limited, Great Yarmouth, 1969, p.14. The tune is set below in MIDItext format (in the key of Eb, as Sydney Carter set it).

BTW: I notice that, as of the date of this book, 1969, the only recordings listed were by Sydney Carter himself, on Fontana STL 5418 and Rolf Harris on EMI SX 6002!

As I said in my posting above, there is some contention as to whether we should have Sydney Carter's copyright material in the DigiTrad. Be that as it may, it seems that most people can't find his books to buy them, and I want to have people sing his beaut songs ... just remember they are his – and pay the copyright if you record them.

Regards,

Bob Bolton

DOWN BELOW
© Sydney Carter, 1958

When you're working in the dark,
Down below,
Underneath St James's Park,
Down below.
When you're working in the dark.
Oh, it isn't half a lark,
When you're working in the dark,
Down below.

It isn't hard to tell,
Down below.
If it's Bow or Clerkenwell,
Down below,
For Bow and Clerkenwell
Have a diff'rent kind of smell
And we know it very well,
Down below.

Over Covent Garden way,
Down below.
In the merry month of May,
Down below.
The fragrance of the flow'rs
Gives us many happy hours
And we sing a roundelay
Down below.

The objects that we find
Down below
Help to entertain the mind
Down below.
There are watches we can't wind
Wrapped up in bacon rind
And that isn't all you find
Down below.

When you're under Floral Street,
Down below,
With the water 'round your feet,
Down below.
'Mid the cabbages and beet
You may find a marguerite,
And the thought is very sweet,
Down below.

Hatton Garden is a spot
Down below.
Where we like to go a lot,
Down below.
Since a bloke in Leather Lane
Dropp'd a diamond down the drain
We've been waiting, but in vain,
Down below.

When to Billingsgate we come,
Down below.
When to Billingsgate we come,
Down below.
When to Billingsgate we come
Then things begin to hum
And we wish we'd never come
Down below.

There is something in a sewer
Down below.
That has a strange allure
Down below.
The magic of the drains
Is a thing you can't explain
But it's calling us again
Down below.

MIDI file: downbelo.mid

Timebase: 240

TimeSig: 4/4 24 8
Tempo: 100 (600000 microsec/crotchet)
Start
0720 1 58 080 0096 0 58 064 0024 1 60 080 0096 0 60 064 0024 1 63 080 0096 0 63 064 0024 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 65 080 0096 0 65 064 0024 1 63 080 0096 0 63 064 0024 1 60 080 0192 0 60 064 0048 1 63 080 0144 0 63 064 0036 1 65 080 0048 0 65 064 0012 1 63 080 0384 0 63 064 0336 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 68 080 0096 0 68 064 0024 1 70 080 0096 0 70 064 0024 1 70 080 0096 0 70 064 0024 1 75 080 0096 0 75 064 0024 1 72 080 0096 0 72 064 0024 1 70 080 0192 0 70 064 0048 1 67 080 0144 0 67 064 0036 1 67 080 0048 0 67 064 0012 1 70 080 0576 0 70 064 0144 1 70 080 0096 0 70 064 0024 1 70 080 0096 0 70 064 0024 1 75 080 0096 0 75 064 0024 1 75 080 0096 0 75 064 0024 1 75 080 0096 0 75 064 0024 1 75 080 0096 0 75 064 0024 1 70 080 0192 0 70 064 0048 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 65 080 0096 0 65 064 0024 1 63 080 0096 0 63 064 0024 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 65 080 0096 0 65 064 0024 1 63 080 0192 0 63 064 0048 1 58 080 0096 0 58 064 0024 1 60 080 0096 0 60 064 0024 1 63 080 0096 0 63 064 0024 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 65 080 0096 0 65 064 0024 1 63 080 0096 0 63 064 0024 1 60 080 0192 0 60 064 0048 1 63 080 0144 0 63 064 0036 1 65 080 0048 0 65 064 0012 1 63 080 0576 0 63 064
End

This program is worth the effort of learning it.

To download the March 10 MIDItext 98 software and get instructions on how to use it click here

ABC format:

X:1
T:
M:4/4
Q:1/4=100
K:C
^A,7C|^DGF^DC2^D3/2F/2|^D6G^G|^A^A^dc^A2G3/2G/2|
^A6^A^A|^d^d^d^d^A2GG|F^DGF^D2^A,C|^DGF^DC2^D3/2F/2|
^D19/4||