Streets Of Manhattan

from Sweet Optimism by Alun Parry

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    “IF YOU HAD FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES, YOU’D BE ABOVE THE LAW…”

    Acclaimed storyteller Alun Parry returns
    with a set of broadsides & ballads from the other side of the mirror

    Nobility isn’t a word often associated with songs. Nor is it often written in the same sentence as Woody Guthrie-worshipping socially conscious storytelling songwriters. But Alun Parry’s work contains multitudes and is brimming with noble thoughts and music. The Scouse storyteller has sold albums and filled rooms across the UK for two decades, but his fans have noticed a shift in focus: he plays fewer gigs, records more songs and releases more music than ever before. Why? No matter how hard he tries, he can’t stop writing:

    “This latest set of songs are stories about how we live our lives. Yes, there’s politics, but there’s also personal struggles, humans having histories and meditations on navigating life,” he reveals. “These songs have enabled me to break out of the folk straitjacket and work within other genres to best tell the stories I want to tell.”

    There’s confessional songwriting in the quietly-devastating If I Should Reach The Night Again, funky musings within Friends And Influence and even a finger-pointing anthem to challenge Parry’s seminal My Name Is Dessie Warren in the gallant The Ghosts Of Your Grandfathers. “I hope there’s some optimism in there, too,” he smiles. “No matter what we go through, we need hope. And we’ll always need each other.”

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lyrics

Before you were conceived they cast you as an extra

It’s hard to believe but that’s the way it goes

Shut up and learn your lines, understand your function

There’s no place to hide carry out your role



I will never walk through the streets of Manhattan

I will never tread through those movie scene streets

I will never walk through the streets of Manhattan

Walking through another man’s dreams



You’re naked on the stage, the script is so specific

The colours turn to beige, you’re praying for a dime

You’re noticing the hour, how once you were rebellious

Things are turning sour in this pantomime



I will never walk through the streets of Manhattan

I will never tread through those movie scene streets

I will never walk through the streets of Manhattan

Walking through another man’s dreams

credits

from Sweet Optimism, released August 22, 2022

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Alun Parry Liverpool, UK

Known as the UK's Woody Guthrie, Alun Parry's music is uplifting, soul stirring, defiant, and tons of fun!

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