When An Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "When An Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Single by Roy Harper | ||
| B-side(s) | "Hallucinating Light" (Live) | |
| Released | 1975 | |
| Format | 7" | |
| Recorded | 1975 | |
| Genre | Ballad | |
| Length | 7:13 | |
| Label | Harvest Records | |
| Producer(s) | Peter Jenner | |
| Chart positions | ||
|
(pending) |
||
| Roy Harper singles chronology | ||
| "Home (Live)" / "Home (Studio)" (1974) |
"When An Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease" / "Hallucinating Light (Live)" (1975) |
"Grown-Ups Are Just Silly Children" / "Referendum (Legend)" (1975) |
"When An Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease" is a track on the Roy Harper album HQ. Released as a single twice, in 1975 and 1978, it is possibly Roy's best-known song. The song brilliantly captures the atmosphere of a village cricket match and is an elegy to a previous age.
On his website, Roy talks of the track as being one of the highlights of the HQ album:
- "My childhood memories of the heroic stature of the footballers and cricketers of the day invoke the sounds that went along with them. Paramount among these was the traditional Northern English brass band, which was a functional social component through all four seasons, being seen and heard in many different contexts. My use of that style of music on 'Old Cricketer' is a tribute to those distant memories." [1]
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
- "When An Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease" - (7:13)
- "Hallucinating Light" (Live)
[edit] Lyrics
- When the day is done, and the ball has spun
- In the umpire's pocket away,
- And all remains, in the groundsman's pains,
- For the rest of time and a day.
- There'll be one mad dog and his master, pushing for 4 with the spin.
- On a dusty pitch, with two pounds six, of willow wood in the sun.
- When an old cricketer leaves the crease, you never know whether he's gone,
- If sometimes you're catching a fleeting glimpse, of a twelfth man at silly mid-on.
- And it could be Geoff, and it could be John,
- With a new ball sting in his tail.
- And it could be me, and it could be thee,
- And it could be the sting in the ale.........sting in the ale.
- When the moment comes, and the gathering stands,
- And the clock turns back to reflect,
- On the years of grace, as those footsteps trace,
- For the last time out of the act.
- Well this ways of life's recollection
- The hallowed strip in the haze,
- The fabled men, and the moonday sun,
- Are much more than just yarns of their days... [2]
[edit] Trivia
Legendary British DJ John Peel made an agreement with his producer, John Walters, that in the event of Peel's death, Walters would play the song. Unfortunately, Walters died in 2001, making the agreement redundant. Nevertheless, the song was still played in tribute to Peel on several radio stations after his death in 2004.
