The Ballad Of Billy Farthing
from Sunday Carvery by emperor penguin
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Streaming + DownloadIncludes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.Purchasable with gift card
£1 GBP or more
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Buy the Full Digital Album
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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album2022 CD release on Kool Kat Rekords. Made of genuine plastic! Recorded in glorious stereo! Comes with a gorgeous sleeve created by Nigel Winfield evoking the golden age of British roadside dining menus.
Ranked #5 best album of 2022 by International Pop Overthrow.
Ranked #8 best album of 2022 by Powerpopaholic.com.
Ranked #8 best album of 2022 by Mi Tocadiscos Dual.
Ranked #32 best album of 2022 by I Don't Hear a Single.
David Bash of IPO says, (and he should know), “Wow, on their latest album, ‘Sunday Carvery’, London’s Emperor Penguin really toughen up their sound, borrowing a few shillings from late ‘60s UK psych and ‘90s Britpop, all the while retaining, and perhaps even bettering, their well-honed contemporary melodic sensibilities. A very pleasant surprise!”
“A cracking listen... a fabulous album.” I Don’t Hear a Single
"Sunday Carvery is a 13 course meal that you simply do not want to miss.” Powerpop News
'EMPEROR PENGUIN comes out of the lockdown with their best record. SUNDAY CARVERY is British through and through, like The Kinks, Elvis Costello, or XTC, but don’t expect a retro sound; the band is firmly rooted in the present tense.' Sweet Sweet Music
“If you love rock and roll... you WILL want a copy of this.” Michael L DeAngelis, There Once Was a Note.
"Space-age sonics meet new-wave psychedelia...Crowded with electrifying moments, Sunday Carvery finds Emperor Penguin bingeing on an assortment of musical condiments aimed to satisfy audiences with adventurous appetites." Something Else Reviews
Includes unlimited streaming of Sunday Carvery via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. ... moreships out within 3 daysedition of 100£10 GBP or more
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Full Digital Discography
Get all 13 emperor penguin releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Gentlemen Thieves, Sunday Carvery, Corporation Pop!, Barbed Wire and Brass E.P., Palaces and Slums EP, Taken For A Ride E.P., Talk To Me, Soak Up The Gravy, and 5 more.
Purchasable with gift card£32.47 GBP or more (35% OFF)
about
Loosely based on an ancestral anecdote from one of the band members.
lyrics
The Ballad of Billy Farthing
Young Billy Farthing came into the world
at the turn of the cen- tu- ry
Giving voice to the scream they were bound to ignore,
adding insult to in-ju-ry
He shivered in fright and he blinked at the light
as his blue eyes looked around
They will wrap him in cotton and cod liver oil
‘til they send him underground
Where has he gone?
Great Grandpa Billy in second best boots
With a shine at the knees of his grey flannel suit
Mackeson breath from a working man’s thirst
Stands in a queue where the last will come first
Thirty five years on the bike by the gate
With his snap tin and lamp every morning at eight
To drop in the dark at the end of a cable,
a duchess and eight scruffy tykes at the table
Oh Billy didn’t like to grumble
Oh Billy, salt of the earth, he was humble,
where has he gone?
Clutching the knot in his red handkerchief
Three ha’pence in change and a small piece of beef
He lies in the grocer’s shop breathing too fast
All of his eggs in one basket at last
After thirty five years in the dark and the danger
there’s no friendly face in amongst all these strangers.
Slates on the church shining bright after thunder,
finally granted some rest six feet under
Oh Billy didn’t like to grumble
Oh Billy, salt of the earth, he was humble,
where has he gone?
Young Billy Farthing came into the world
at the turn of the cen- tu- ry
Giving voice to the scream they were bound to ignore,
adding insult to in-ju-ry
He shivered in fright and he blinked at the light
as his blue eyes looked around
They will wrap him in cotton and cod liver oil
‘til they send him underground
Where has he gone?
Great Grandpa Billy in second best boots
With a shine at the knees of his grey flannel suit
Mackeson breath from a working man’s thirst
Stands in a queue where the last will come first
Thirty five years on the bike by the gate
With his snap tin and lamp every morning at eight
To drop in the dark at the end of a cable,
a duchess and eight scruffy tykes at the table
Oh Billy didn’t like to grumble
Oh Billy, salt of the earth, he was humble,
where has he gone?
Clutching the knot in his red handkerchief
Three ha’pence in change and a small piece of beef
He lies in the grocer’s shop breathing too fast
All of his eggs in one basket at last
After thirty five years in the dark and the danger
there’s no friendly face in amongst all these strangers.
Slates on the church shining bright after thunder,
finally granted some rest six feet under
Oh Billy didn’t like to grumble
Oh Billy, salt of the earth, he was humble,
where has he gone?
credits
from Sunday Carvery,
released March 28, 2022
license
all rights reserved
tags
about
emperor penguin UK
Savage Frenzy Productions is proud to present those peerless purveyors of powerful pop: EMPEROR PENGUIN.
Nigel: guitar,
bass, vocals
JT: guitar, bass, vocals, harmonica, ebow
Rich: drums
Neil: guitar, vocals, keyboards, computer stuff
... more
discography
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Jan 2024 -
Mar 2022 -
Jan 2021 -
Oct 2020
contact / help
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