Brian Hooper
Sweet Virginia
The Songs
Sweet Virginia
©Brian Hooper 2007
He was sitting on a bench outside the General
As I parked my bike and took my helmet off,
And he called to me to say he used to ride a BSA,
But he had to pack it in - it made him cough.
He said his lovely wife had gone before him,
He said, "I keep her ashes in a little chest,
And when at last I've caught her, I've asked our eldest daughter
If she'll scatter us together down beside the River Test,
As I parked my bike and took my helmet off,
And he called to me to say he used to ride a BSA,
But he had to pack it in - it made him cough.
He said his lovely wife had gone before him,
He said, "I keep her ashes in a little chest,
And when at last I've caught her, I've asked our eldest daughter
If she'll scatter us together down beside the River Test,
It was cigarettes that took her and they'll do the same for me,
Though they always seemed a good thing for the town,
The smell of sweet Virginia drifting over Regents Park
Now the old tobacco factory's closing down."
Though they always seemed a good thing for the town,
The smell of sweet Virginia drifting over Regents Park
Now the old tobacco factory's closing down."
He said "I reckon if it hadn't been for tobacco
Churchill would have never won the war,
And Sherlock Holmes would never have been so bloomin' clever,
And she might not have died so premature,
And Bizet would have never written Carmen,
Ophelia might have picked another man,
And I'd not sit here mourning 'cause we didn't heed the warning,
But I'd still be all alone without a strand,
Churchill would have never won the war,
And Sherlock Holmes would never have been so bloomin' clever,
And she might not have died so premature,
And Bizet would have never written Carmen,
Ophelia might have picked another man,
And I'd not sit here mourning 'cause we didn't heed the warning,
But I'd still be all alone without a strand,
It was cigarettes that took her and they'll do the same for me..."
He said If Raleigh hadn't brought his duty-frees back
To please the Queen and earn her grateful thanks,
Well later in the day they would have got here anyway,
But at least we could have blamed the bloomin' Yanks,
She wasn't what you'd call a raving beauty
But we loved each other, faithful down the years,
Now she's waiting at the gates, with a pack of Player's Weights,
And with any luck she's been to get the beers,
To please the Queen and earn her grateful thanks,
Well later in the day they would have got here anyway,
But at least we could have blamed the bloomin' Yanks,
She wasn't what you'd call a raving beauty
But we loved each other, faithful down the years,
Now she's waiting at the gates, with a pack of Player's Weights,
And with any luck she's been to get the beers,
It was cigarettes that took her and they'll do the same for me..."
Tobacco has long been ingrained in our culture, not to mention our fingertips, but that's changing. When BAT stopped making cigarettes in Southampton in 2006 it left quite a few people out of work, and many more out of breath.