Listen to the track:
Chalk and Slates
Inspired by Vyvyen Brendon's memoirs
(Verse 1)
I walked beneath the heavy bell
its rope still damp from morning rain
The gate would groan, the school would smell
of ink, and coal, and someone's pain
(Verse 2)
We sat on benches worn by time
our feet swung loose, too small to reach
Miss Prowse would watch with narrowed eyes
each syllable we dared to breach
(Chorus)
Chalk and slates, and counting stones
a slatey world of silent tones
Our letters scratched in careful lines
but half were guesswork, half were signs
And still we tried, we always tried
with knitted brow and stinging pride
(Verse 3)
The sun came in on winter days
aslant across the frozen tiles
The globe sat dusty, turned one way
as if to hold the British Isles
(Verse 4)
We learned to bow, to stand, to wait
to speak when asked, to never bluff
But even then I wondered if
obedience was quite enough
(Chorus)
Chalk and slates, and counting stones
a slatey world of silent tones
Our letters scratched in careful lines
but half were guesswork, half were signs
And still we tried, we always tried
with knitted brow and stinging pride
(Bridge)
And somewhere in the ink and rules
the world began to show its face
A map, a tale, a crooked sum
a chance to glimpse another place
(Final Chorus)
Chalk and slates, and hands turned red
with all the things we left unsaid
But I recall those early days
not just in fear, but in a haze
of effort, hope, and something kind
a seed of self they left behind