Throw Down My Pack - Trev Teasdel

Two versions in the video here. An acoustic version with Steve Gillgallon on lead and which is featured on Songs from the Coventry Underground and a later versions on which I play all the instruments.


Throw Down My Pack - Trev Teasdel from Trev Teasdel on Vimeo.

THROW DOWN MY PACK

Give me my pack; I’ll be on my way

The lakes of this land are now dry

It’s been a good soldier in its day

But its eyes have no water to cry.

The sun looks bright but the land is in shadow

Like madmen we tried to swim a tideless sea.

A sky full of planes but nowhere to land them

A head full of ideas that cried to be free.

Instrumental Break…

Throw down my pack; I’m bound for to stay

I think we can turn on the tap.

Turning the tap is like tugging Excalibur

We need all hands at the tap.

The sun looks bright; we’ll invite it to stay

Once we find a place to land our planes.

A hand full of ideas; a jug full of water

Reap the fruit of our aims.

Where has the love gone; we’re empty and aching

Where has the fun gone; it’s turned into violence.

Where are the people with words and no action?

Let’s have the action and less of the words.

By Trev Teasdel June 1973 (Coventry)

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SONG STORY

This song came about after we started Hobo (Coventry Music and Arts Magazine) early June 1973. I started the magazine with John Bargent (Bo) and John provided the cash for printing the first edition and was going to generate income via adverts to pay for the printing of what would be a community based magazine. However John left after the first issue to be the road manager with Coventry jazz rock outfit Khayyam who had a residency at Ronnie Scots and European tour lined up. John ran Rougestarr Promotions, management and disco and before we started Hobo, he was promoting me as a singer songwriter.

I couldn;t aford to put the second edition out , due in July as a result and the first part of this song, for reflects the disappointment - 

" Give me my pack; I’ll be on my way

The lakes of this land are now dry

It’s been a good soldier in its day

But its eyes have no water to cry."

But while interviewing another Coventry band Fission, in the Dive Bar (Lady Godiva) I met Babs Wainwright who offered to get the magazine duplicated at her office. The first issue had been offset Lithoed and duplicating was not as good but it meant I could get an issue out so i am eternally grateful to Babs (now sadly passed and featured in the video) for rescuing Hobo and for thus influencing the latter part of the song -

"Throw down my pack; I’m bound for to stay

I think we can turn on the tap.

Turning the tap is like tugging Excalibur

We need all hands at the tap."

For me, the song, metaphorical, is about those times when everything goes wrong and you feel like giving up but then things change and you are back in gear, feeling more positive. When the Gnome Label put the track on Amazon USA in 2007, Amazon added the track to a list of songs of possible interest to Back Packers! Well it could be seen that way but for me it was an internal journey.

Khayyam