P.S.

P.S.

Paul Murphy

The lyrics to the songs written by singer/songwriter Paul Murphy during June 2025 - an amazing 48 somgs in just 30 days.

Volume 30 in the series, this collection presents all the material composed during what turned out to be an 'addendum' month; stricken with progressive paralysis due to an incurable auto-immune muscular degenerative disorder, Paul intended the preceding month's anthology, Over Time, to be his final works. But, as he says with typical candour in the closing essay - 'The songs kept coming... and all I had otherwise in my diary was "die" ...'

As might be expected, given the circumstances, many of the lyrics focus on mortality, questions, reflections, and remunerations. Works such as 'No Man Fights The Enemy (Like He Fights Himself)', 'The Final Night, And More' and 'I Guess It Must Be Time To Go'. But also present, angry about injustice to the end, the master political and social commentator crafted such works as 'Wallow While You Can' and 'The Last Wagon'; and even 'Oh, Juliette' - a risqu 12-bar in which, as Paul says, 'No entendre was left un-doubled'.

Also present, and one of the highlights of not only the volume but also his composing career, the astonishing 'Hangman's Gap' - an elegiac Western tale of injustice, redemption, friendship and, ultimately, salvation. Written (by hand) on his 64th birthday, this amazing 102-verse song was written in one almost-unbroken 10-hour spell, in the order it reads in. Also presented in a stand-alone hardback volume, Hangman's Gap, which reproduces the story not only as here, but in its original handwritten manuscript form].

The works are presented in their final form, plus each lyric is accompanied by a photograph of its original handwritten manuscript, where one existed (stricken with paralysis, several of the lyrics were composed live-to-camera, and then transcribed).

Also included is an essay by Paul, 'Old Dog Yet, a song-by-song commentary on the back-story to, and the creative process behind, each work.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

'I Guess It Must Be Time To Go' extract]

I was outside your gambling den
Wondering if I should take a chance
I knew it was frequented by larcenous men
Who didn't give morality a second glance
I never seemed to draw any lucky cards
But would it be different this time?
The authorities always came down on me hard
Even tho' I'd committed no crime

I'd had to get myself to where I am
Nobody ever gave me a lift
They treated me like an invisible man
Robbed me, and made me say it was a gift
I'd done my best to lock it all away
A smile can cover many a scar
Told myself "Tomorrow will be a better day"
But I never made it that far

I called "Heads" when you came along
But you'd flipped a two-tailed coin
I said "Will you write the last line of my song"
"I've got a choir cajoling me to join"
You scrawled something indecipherable
And hid your Rosetta Stone
It's best to never trust a disciple
Especially when they've followed you home

Charmaine called in this afternoon
She was showing off her new tattoos
I played her the first bars of my latest tune
And disclosed a swelling yellow bruise
She asked me if I knew where you were
I smiled "Just about everywhere"
She left saying "I've got an appointment with her"
"Try to stop me if you dare"

I noticed a trail of broken flowers
Leading to the neighbours' gate
They said he'd been crying "Help" for hours
And they yelled back "You can wait"
His mother watched them zip the bag shut
Then went and put her make-up on
"I know I should be mourning," she said, "but..."
They can't h