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about

Because even in wartime, life must go on....

lyrics

He was our Bolt Of Lightning
He was our only son
He was born in the Autumn
Before the Summer was done
Soon as he could walk, well
He wanted to run
He was our Bolt Of Lightning
He was our only son

I wouldn't say we spoiled him
But he was all that we had
His Mam held him closer
But then I was his Dad
And I remember that Christmas
Asked what would you like
Before even the turkey
He took off on that bike

Now that kid took to cycling
Like the sea takes to sand
And he knew the city
Like the back of his hand
And so when the war came
In his fifteenth year
Our Bolt Of Lightning
Was the first volunteer

As a Messenger Rider
For the fire fighting crews
When the cables were down they'd
Trust him to get through
"In the light from the fires, Dad,
The water from the flames
It's like the buildings are bleeding
And it runs off down the drains."

But then came that morning
The 9th day of May
The bombing relentless
The fires burned all day
He set out for the night shift
Pedalling off on his own
And our Bolt Of Lightning
He just never came home

I searched through the city
Not believing my eyes
How so much death and destruction
Could rain down from the skies
The pubs and dancehalls
The shops were all gone
But somehow my city
Was battling on

I asked at the Central
But no-one there knew
Asked the soot-blackened faces
Of every fire crew
I asked round the dockyards
Right through the old town
Til I got to the rubble
Where Ranks had burned down

He'd been sent to the river
To get word to the men
But not a soul in the city
Had seen him since then

Must have been midnight
When I made it home
My wife at the table
Sat there all alone
I said: 'I'm sorry, Bella
But I've asked everyone
And our Bolt Of Lightning
Sorry, love, but he's gone.'

She said: 'He's upstairs, Joe.
He's seen the back of my hand!'
I said: 'I'm sorry, Bella love,
But I don't understand!'
'He got off his shift, Joe
About a quarter past three,
And since then that 'Bolt Of Lightning'
Has been with Mary Mckee'.

credits

from A Northern Coastal Town: Hull In The Blitz, released July 16, 2021
Joe Solo

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Joe Solo Scarborough, UK

Joe Solo is an award-winning musician, writer, poet, activist, broadcaster and washing machine engineer from Scarborough.

Live he has an ever growing reputation as both a performer and raconteur, being thought-provoking, comical and punch-the-air political often in the same breath.

He is not an artist you forget in a hurry. ... more

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