Listen to the track:
🎵 UP TO NO GOOD
Inspired by the memoirs of Vyvyen Brendon
🎶 Verse 1
We hid in the ash tree on Church Road bend
(Where the old folk pass and the dog walks end)
Waiting for a walker we could pretend
(Was a ghost or a witch or a war-time friend)
Our kind of game
With string and mud and a made-up name
No one told us but we understood
We were up to no good
🎶 Chorus (Call and Response)
We were up to no good
Up to no good
Every fine day
Come sun or rain
Making our rules
Our kind of game
With string and mud and a made-up name
No one told us but we understood
We were up to no good
🎶 Verse 2
Rod leapt off the top stair ledge
(Said he’d fly from edge to hedge)
Rupert Bear arms and a bedspread cape
(The floor came fast but he made his escape)
We laughed so hard we forgot our tea
(Hope the doll upstairs forgave the spree)
🎶 Chorus (Call and Response)
We were up to no good
Up to no good
Every fine day
Come sun or rain
Making our rules
Our kind of game
With string and mud and a made-up name
No one told us but we understood
We were up to no good
🎶 Bridge
Boiling dock leaves like magic stew
Digging for treasure like pirates do
Made a whole world in the hedgerow shade
And no one told us to behave
🎶 Final Chorus
We were up to no good
Up to no good
Every fine day
Come sun or rain
Turning the hours
Into our own
Trouble in twos and sometimes alone
No regrets and we never would
We were up to no good