The Severn Valley Railway (SVR) is a 16-mile (26 km) heritage line that opened on 1 February 1862. It runs through the Severn Valley from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster thereby crossing the Shropshire/Worcestershire border as the track traces the river's course. At the Bridgnorth end of the tracks lives a band of instrumentalists I have seen several times in various places around the Wyre Forest area in recent years they go by the name of 'Whalebone'.
Here they perform an instrumental version Simon and Garfunkel's classic song The Boxer.
Here is a compilation of some of the sights and sounds you may see along the way on the SVR starting at the opposite end of the line to Whalebone in Kidderminster.
Music by The Albion Band with guitar outro extract by Aaran Aardvark
"The Boxer" is one of those great S&G ballads that can put a lump in the throat of a fellow like me, given as I am to a bit of melancholy. This ballad reminds me of urban walkabouts in the grittier edges of San Francisco and Oakland back in the Reagan 1980s, out for a job interview or looking for a drinking spot (cause and effect at work there). Sometimes with friends at night and other times alone on the sidewalk in harsh daylight, where drunks lay flat on the steps in front of an Old Spanish church while kids hopped about on skateboards and un-timid hookers roamed the perimeter of an all-concrete urban playground and somebody was banging drums off in the caverns of the BART transit station.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing what passes for the "good old days" these days.
What I just wrote has nothing to do with trains really but I enjoyed both the music and the Severn Railway. It's beautifully done camerawork. I see you have an affinity with the guitar as add to your blogging and video skills. Thanks, AA.
I have always thought that The Boxer was one of the best songs Paul Simon has ever written, I also like Bob Dylan's cover of the song from his 'Portrait' album which is a bit of a mixed bag of stuff he threw together when he was short of a zillion dollars or so... back in the 70s. It is a song that is bound to have resonances for anyone who have themselves been Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters -Where the ragged people go - Looking for the places only they would know like the old Spanish church you mention and the 'all-concrete urban playgrounds' of this world. Ah yes, those 'good old days' I remember them well during the last Depression at the time you speak of Doug....thanks for your memories of those times in California, but it has to be said that when it comes to depressions, Reagan was an upstart compared to the cheating, robbing Banksters of today, they have honed their daylight robbery skills to near perfection during the interim.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind words with regard to my little video montage here, I suppose I'd better work on doing the entire score for my next video, so that Viacom (or some othe corporate giant) can't say they own the rights to the soundtrack.... thanks again for your comments here Doug :-)
Yes, AA, I would agree Reagan only started kicking the boulders downhill--the bankers were the ones who buried the middle and working classes in the avalanche of 2007-8, and then got their minions in the media to bleed the taxpayer and blame the government for the mess. It's a neat trick, and good luck to anyone who can figure out where the rigged system will take us next.
DeleteI am very ambitious on the guitar front Doug, I am determined that before I reach my 70th birthday I'll learn that elusive 4th chord.
ReplyDeleteI look forward (as I'm sure all your friends do here)to seeing you find that cord and bring it to good use, AA. ;-)
DeleteThank you for your support Doug :-)
ReplyDelete