Tin Pan Alley

Album: A Beginner's Guide To Bravery (2020)
Play Video
  • Just across from my old street
    There's a place called Tin Pan Alley
    Where I've wandered many nights
    First went many moons ago
    As I walk among its ruins
    Among its broken, battered brickwork
    Standing proud in pouring rain
    Against any punch-drunk sky

    I do roam, I do roam
    Welcoming the wee small hours
    My reflection in the windows, those
    Shadows cast on cobblestone
    I do roam, I do roam
    In your footsteps, smoking in the cold
    The air we breathe's been tainted
    Clinging to the leaves, those
    Songs of old
    Songs of old

    Just across from my old street
    There's a place called Tin Pan Alley
    It's where many souls still dwell
    Remnants of the last great scene
    I met a man there on the corner
    Picking flowers by the roadside
    Said he was a household name
    During the last days of Rome

    Then a voice came from the cover
    Yeah brother, yeah brother, yeah brother
    I've one arm as long as the other
    Won't you tell me
    Should I repent all of my sins?
    For I grow old, I grow old
    I wear the bottoms of me trousers rolled
    Give me your hand
    Dance with me again
    Before I go

    Let us roam, let us roam
    Welcoming the wee small hours
    Oh, reflection in the windows, those
    Shadows cast on cobblestone

    Let us roam, let us roam
    In your footsteps, smoking in the cold
    The air we breathe's been tainted
    Clinging to the leaves, those
    Songs of old
    Songs of old
    Clinging to the leaves
    Songs of old Writer/s: David Keenan
    Publisher: Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 1

  • AnonymousThis song makes many allusions and references to other popular songs and poems. The line "Welcoming the wee small hours" could be seen as an allusion to the great Sinatra album, "In The Wee Small Hours". In addition, the line "For I grow old, I grow old, I wear the bottom of me trousers rolled" is a direct line from the famous T.S. Eliot poem, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock", wherein the title character reflects on his life and his choices in an introspective monologue.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Carol Kaye

Carol KayeSongwriter Interviews

A top session musician, Carol played on hundreds of hits by The Beach Boys, The Monkees, Frank Sinatra and many others.

Corey Hart

Corey HartSongwriter Interviews

The Canadian superstar talks about his sudden rise to fame, and tells the stories behind his hits "Sunglasses At Night," "Boy In The Box" and "Never Surrender."

Lita Ford

Lita FordSongwriter Interviews

Lita talks about how they wrote songs in The Runaways, and how she feels about her biggest hit being written by somebody else.

Rosanne Cash

Rosanne CashSongwriter Interviews

Rosanne talks about the journey that inspired her songs on her album The River & the Thread, including a stop at the Tallahatchie Bridge.

Kevin Godley

Kevin GodleySongwriter Interviews

Kevin Godley talks about directing classic videos for The Police, U2 and Duran Duran, and discusses song and videos he made with 10cc and Godley & Creme.

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie Combination

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie CombinationSong Writing

In 1986, a Stephen King novella was made into a movie, with a classic song serving as title, soundtrack and tone.