A TEAR DROP IN THE TEES
©Trev Teasdel Coventry / Middlesbrough 76 / 78 / 81
Little Cleveland Kathy grew up in the slums
The rain leaked through the roof
and the paint flaked off the walls.
At night, in bed, in winter
her feet grew cold and numb
In a house that wasn’t weather-proof
she’d shiver till morning come.
Kathy’s parents quarreled, all the time they could,
Always short on money
Always flush for tears.
Her mother claimed her father was a lazy ne’re do good
cos he could never find employment
and drank his dole down in the pub.
Chorus.
And Kathy’s voice was lost
like a teardrop in the Tees
Like wood that can’t be seen for trees
A teardrop in the Tees.
Kathy she resided, in a home divided
Like muck that clogs the kitchen sink
she was always in the way.
Never knowing where to turn
to clear confusion from her head.
In the land of ‘do-without’, with tears she wet her bed.
Kathy took a walk down by
where the Tees flows deep and wide.
Feeling quite at home amongst
the rust and the bitter waves.
She saw the beaten path between
the dole and the factory yard.
She felt just like the can she kicked
crushed and beaten on all sides.
Featured on my album Songs from the Coventry Underground, Gnome Label, 2007
First version of A Teardrop in the Tees – solo
A Teardrop in the Tees 1981 by Trev Teasdel from Trev Teasdel on Vimeo.
Second version with Ann Wainwright on flute and backing vocals and Colin Walker on Violin and arrangement.
A Teardrop in the Tees 1982 by Trev Teasdel from Trev Teasdel on Vimeo.