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)
Then we’d jump out shouting loud as we could
(And run like fury back into the wood)
Chorus (Call and Response)
Call: We were up to no good
Response: Up to no good
Call: Every fine day
Come sun or rain
Call: Making our rules
Response: Our kind of game
Call: With string and mud and a made-up name
No one told us but we understood
All: 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)
Call: We were up to no good
Response: Up to no good
Call: Every fine day
Response: Come sun or rain
Call: Making our rules
Response: Our kind of game
Call: With string and mud and a made-up name
Response: No one told us but we understood
All: 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 (Call and Response)
Call: We were up to no good
Response: Up to no good
Call: Every fine day
Response: Come sun or rain
Call: Turning the hours
Response: Into our own
Call: Trouble in twos and sometimes alone
No regrets and we never would
All: We were up to no good