If you're unemployed in my house, as I was when I wrote this song, the jobcentreplus site either lets you search for work within 3 miles of the house (which came up with lots of things in central Sheffield). If you selected the next distance up, it started giving you jobs from Rotherham, which inspired this song.
Speaking as a pedestrian, five miles is five long miles.
lyrics
I'm gwanna Rotherham, Alabama
Where the skies are gay.
Rotherham, Alabama,
Live there til I'm old and growin'
Older in the nighttime,
Fatter by the the day.
I'm gwanna Rotherham, Alabama.
I'll be goin nowhere's what I say,
'Cos Rotherham is five long miles away.
Five long miles!
Five long miles!
I love to talk the talk
But that is further than this girl can walk
Rotherham is five long miles oh away.
I'm gwanna Rotherham, Alabama
Where the folks are proud.
Rotherham, Alabama,
Be like everybody,
Be a model of a person
And a member of a crowd.
I'm gwanna Rotherham, Alabama,
I'll be goin nowhere in a shroud
Cos Rotherham is never now allowed.
Not allowed!
Not allowed!
The city’s my ambition
But I’m dead I ain’t got no permission.
Rotherham is never now allowed, no never now allowed.
Rotherham is five long miles around.
Rotherham, I make it my part
To weep for the heart of Rotherham
I'm gwanna Rotherham, Alabama,
Last thing that I do.
Rotherham, Alabama,
I have got to see it in the
Sunshine, and the rain,
Oh man, I gotta see it through.
I'm gwanna Rotherham, Alabama,
I am gonna tell you that it’s true.
Am I gonna tell you that it’s true?
Love me do!
Love me do!
But I gave my love to Rotherham,
I gave my love to Rotherham,
And I don’t give a damn about you.
No, no no no,
Rotherham is five miles through.
Here you can find their music - solo work, and a Doctor-Who-
and-Cheese double-concept concept-album by The Potential Bees (who are a two- or three- person band), which forces both concepts into every song).
You can also find Ben Swithen on Youtube, but why would you even?...more
The Australian experimental duo's sprawling and nearly hour-long seventh record is filled with synths, strings, and samples. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 13, 2024
Narratively focused art-pop from the British musician formerly known as East India Youth; features contributions from Brian Eno and others. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 22, 2024
More folk-inflected confessionals on love, loss, and anxiety — plus a Kacey Musgraves cameo —from the Nashville indie pop auteur. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 11, 2024
French-Colombian double bassist and singer infuses Latin rhythms with experimental electronics, field recordings, and more. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 7, 2024