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The Ballad of Charlie Grigg

from You Shine by Alex Vann

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    CD version of the 'You Shine' album : 14 original tracks, 60 minutes of music, presented in a high quality 6 panel gatefold digipak with full colour illustrations and design. The CD version includes crossfades between tracks to provide an intuitive experience for the listener.

    Includes unlimited streaming of You Shine via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Sheet Music

    This is a comb bound book containing all the lyrics and guitar chords for the 14 'You Shine' songs. Laminated front and back covers. The front cover is signed by Alex Vann.
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      £8 GBP

     

about

THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG

I composed this as part of the show 'Our Best Kept Secret' about the Black Country artist Charlie Grigg who drew D.C. Thomson comics such as The Dandy, the Topper, Beano etc. as well as many other projects.

Sadly Charlie developed dementia in later years and his family would show him the artwork he'd created over the years to help him remember the past.

As an artist as well as a musician this story resonated with me.

lyrics

THE BALLAD OF CHARLIE GRIGG

Charlie is sketching again
The pen and the paper are his tools
His memory’s trapped
Behind factory gates that
He left to follow his dream

And Charlie is drawing again
He’s lost in a world of his own
His memory fades
Like the ink on the page
But there’s some things that time can’t erase

There’s “Klanky” & “Korky” and “Desperate Dan”
“Captain Whoosh” and “The Cloud”
There’s “Foxy” and “Gertie” the “Umbrella Men”
You coloured the world with your dreams
Yes, you coloured the world with your dreams

A nice home, a steady career
The children are growing up fast
How can I provide
How will we survive
On a promise that might never last?

Well they say behind every great man
A great woman’s not far to be found
She Stood at the door and
She gave him what for
“If you don’t try you’ll never find out”


Charlie is painting again
He’s lost in a world of his own
His memory’s trapped
Behind factory gates that
He left to follow his dream

Yes, he left to colour our dreams

© 2016 Alex Vann

credits

from You Shine, released October 31, 2022
Written by Alex Vann
Piano, guitars, vocals, Irish whistle, strings programming and bass guitar: Alex Vann

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all rights reserved

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Alex Vann Wolverhampton, UK

Alex Vann is a Wolverhampton musician and artist with many years’ experience in bands and as a solo artist. He started writing songs at 15 and has a highly distinctive acoustic guitar style, impassioned vocals and is also an accomplished pianist.
He has a knack for writing catchy choruses and his music has been used on television, films and radio. ... more

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