Last weekend, I went to see the one and only Bruce Springsteen – yes, The Boss himself! – in Manchester, on the European leg of his 2012 Wrecking Ball Tour. It was my first time.

Next weekend, I’ll be playing at the Hoylake Festival of Firsts, a local art, music and poetry festival. That too will be my first time.

To commemorate both occasions, I’ve written a song in the style of The Boss, called One Horse Town. Bruce is always singing about his home town, isn’t he? So this song is about mine. Though where Bruce’s town is full of closed-down factories and proud but jobless working men, mine’s full of half empty café bars and old people. Lots and lots of old people.

Without further ado, here’s the Soundcloud link:-

And here’s the lyrics, just in case you can’t make out what I’m singing:-

So tired of living in this one horse town when that one horse isn’t mine
So tired of living in this one horse town, having to walk all the time
In this one horse town where there ain’t more to life
Come on and saddle up, let’s go for a ride

Well it’s true this town’s got nothing to do and I got all day long to do it
Sometimes I wake at the start of a day and wonder how I’ll ever get through it
It’s a one horse town in all but name
And every day, every day is the same

Well if nothingness were money, these streets would be paved with gold
You know I ain’t afraid of dying, just afraid of getting old
In this one horse town where they all walk so slow
To their final destination of an old folks home

So tired of living in this one horse town when that one horse isn’t mine
So tired of living in this one horse town, having to walk all the time
In this one horse town where there ain’t more to life
Come on and saddle up, let’s go for a ride

They closed half the banks and opened up a dozen café bars
Now most of them are empty, a pension only goes so far
In this one horse town, where the nightlife don’t begin
Coz they’re all at home drinking cheap supermarket gin

Well there used to be a cinema here, but they closed it years ago
Now the video store is followin’ suit
Coz they’re all home playing online bingo
In this one horse town, yeah that’s just what you do
Gambling days away coz you’ve got nothing left to lose

So tired of living in this one horse town when that one horse isn’t mine
So tired of living in this one horse town, having to walk all the time
In this one horse town where there ain’t more to life
Come on and saddle up, let’s go for a ride

Well prospects? I ain’t got none, and hope? I got even less
I’m never getting out of here, I’m resigned to that I guess
In this one horse town, on it’s one way road
The traffic signs say “Stop” but there ain’t nowhere to go

And if I thought my past was bleak, my future’s bleaker still
The days drag by, the time goes slow
And there’s so much more time to kill
In this one horse town, I’m so dull and uninspired
I was tired of being bored, now I’m just plain tired

So tired of living in this one horse town when that one horse isn’t mine
So tired of living in this one horse town, having to walk all the time
In this one horse town where there ain’t more to life
Come on and saddle up, let’s go for a ride