Isabella
Liner notes
My granddad died very young, when my dad was about two. Gran Beveridge was left with four school-aged kids and a dairy shop to run, and I wanted to explore what that must have been like. I had a weird kind of fun with the details here -- checking the maps of Townhill, looking up when rationing ended, even the mourning clothes -- granddad's mother had died 18 months before. It's consistent with what I know, but it's very much inspired-by rather than accurately-depicting. It also fulfilled a Write Me A Song challenge -- it only uses two chords, which I think makes it even more haunting.Someone tell the minister, someone tell the school
Someone run a message to the mine
Fetch two men to move his body to the other room
Isabella takes a breath and kids on that she's fine
There are ration books to process, orders to arrange
Isabella soldiers on though everything has changed
Sorry about Davey, 39's no age at all
He never even let on he was ill
She keeps her hands from trembling, keeps her posture tall
Isabella rings another purchase through the till
Sympathies extended, pleasantries exchanged
Isabella soldiers on though everything has changed
They've cordoned off Moncur Street, somebody saw a shell
They think it's safe but better to be sure
Isabella knows the drill, she knows it all too well
Some bombs remain a danger many years after the war
There are mourning clothes to alter, flowers to arrange
Isabella soldiers on though everything has changed