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A City by the Sea

from Working With Your Hands by Trevor Clawson

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lyrics

A City by the Sea

American sailors are coming ashore
Spending their money like water
The Arkansas cowboy's been sick on his boots
And feels like a stretcher case
Got a letter in his pocket
From a girl who says the love affair is through
Funny you can love so much
And never touch first base

She was a girl from Illinois
Who said ooh Frankie, darling
You're my favourite boy
He was a man who wanted to believe
In the soft talk wine and candlelight
A girl like her would wait around
For a man like him in a city by the sea

He remembers the words of that old man Jack
Who fought in the second war
Who said keep those nylon stockings
Tight in your service kit
And you can have any woman you want in England's green and pleasant land
That was then this is now things have changed a little bit

She was a girl from Illinois
Who said ooh Frankie, darling
You're my favourite boy
He was a man who wanted to believe
In the soft talk wine and candlelight
A girl like her would wait around
For a man like him in a city by the sea

Now, Annie, she locks up her house and goes out walking
She's been lonely too long and she needs some company
Ten years of marriage that ain't too long
She's still got time to see what she can see

He was a man, who said he'd stay
The kind of man you don't meet every day
She thought that he would somehow set her free
If he had only held it down
If he had only stuck around
With a wife and job in a city by the sea

Now Annie and Frankie meet in a bar and they get on fine
She tells him her grandmother almost was a GI bride
Who made it as far as the docks and Southampton
Then she lost her nerve
You can throw away a life on a failure of nerve

Now the pubs and the clubs are throwing the last of the few out on the street
And the naval patrol is throwing the drunks in the back of the van
And Frankie is safe in Annie's arms
He's sleeping like a baby
Calling out another woman's name

She was a girl from Illinois
Who said ooh Frankie, darling
You're my favourite boy
He was a man who wanted to believe
In the soft talk wine and candlelight
A girl like her would wait around
For a man like him in a city by the sea

credits

from Working With Your Hands, released April 1, 2021
Written by Trevor Clawson

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Trevor Clawson Brighton, UK

Trevor Clawson is an Irish singer and songwriter, currently living and working in West Sussex. Described by Time Out as "One of the best songwriters around" he combines folk, blues and jazz guitar styles with narrative lyrics.

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