Jan 1, 2003
Train Serenade
Standing on the train, there’s a guy in a flak jacket and work boots without laces. He’s standing because there’s nowhere to sit, and suddenly, he starts singing, in a hearty croon:
Lots of girls and lots of boys
Lots of smells and lots of noise
Playing football in the park
Kicking pushbikes after dark
Baggy trousers, dirty shirt
Pulling hair and eating dirt
Teacher comes to break it up
Back of the ‘ead with a plastic cup.
Baggy trousers, baggy trousers, baggy trousers…
People look around nervously. We’re not sure about people who sing on trains – especially not those who let rip at half past eight on a monday morning, whizzing (well, crawling) through north west London.
The man is nonplussed, now dangling from the bar above the door (the “Jesus Handle“) and starts on a different tune:
Thought you were clever when you lit the fuse
Tore down the House of Commons in your brand new shoes
Composed a revolutionary symphony
Then went to bed with a charming young thing
He lurches up to the man sitting next to me, a man with a remarkably boisterous beard, lifts his foot to the bearded man’s face and says, in a calm voice “Is that my boot?”
My neightbour frowns slightly and says “what?”
The man lifts his leg higher. “Is that my boot? Is it?”
The bearded man, portly and turning a bit red, now the focus of attention in the carriage, mutters “Yes”
The singer says chirpily “thanks, Mr Pearson” and booms out another verse of another song:
Wake up Maggie, I think I’ve got something to say to you
It’s late September and I really should be back at school
I know I keep you amused
But I fell I’m being used
Oh Maggie, I couldn’t have tried any more
He changes “september” to “october” and nobody notices until later. And meanwhile, I’ve still got my radio on in my ears, quietly playing out U2′s Beautiful Day, entwiced with this morning performance of Rod Stewart:
It’s a beautiful day, Maggie May
Sky falls, you feel like I’ve got something to say to you
It’s a beautiful day, I keep you amused
Don’t let it get away…
The train rumbles me towards work.
Whoose feet are those?! Quite long I should say!
-Northville