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Beryl Lyrics
Beryl was on another level
When she got a Booker medal
She was dead in her grave
After all she gave
After all she gave
Beryl, every time they’d overlook her
When they gave her a Booker
She was dead in her grave
After all she gave
After all she gave
It’s all too late now
It’s all too late now
It’s too late, you dabblers
It’s all too late
It’s too late, you dabblers
It’s all too late
Beryl, the tobacco overtook her
When they gave her a Booker
She was dead in her grave
After all she gave
After all she gave
It’s all too late now
It’s all too late now
It’s too late, you dabblers
It’s all too late
It’s too late, you dabblers
It’s all too late
Beryl was on another level
When she got a Booker medal
She was dead in her grave
After all she gave
After all she gave
After all she gave
After all she gave
When she got a Booker medal
She was dead in her grave
After all she gave
After all she gave
When they gave her a Booker
She was dead in her grave
After all she gave
After all she gave
It’s all too late now
It’s too late, you dabblers
It’s all too late
It’s too late, you dabblers
It’s all too late
When they gave her a Booker
She was dead in her grave
After all she gave
After all she gave
It’s all too late now
It’s too late, you dabblers
It’s all too late
It’s too late, you dabblers
It’s all too late
When she got a Booker medal
She was dead in her grave
After all she gave
After all she gave
After all she gave
After all she gave
Song Info
Submitted by
1seanjohn On Mar 20, 2015
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Quite simply, this song is about Beryl Bainbridge. An author who always seemed to be the bridesmaid, and never the bridge when it came to earning the Booker medal of literary excellence. Finally, posthumously, she was finally given her due.
Just noting that MK is revisiting here a theme from a much earlier song, In The Gallery, from the Dire Straits' Sultans of Swing album. In that song he also talks about an artist who receives the recognition he deserves only posthumously.
Quite simply, you have it exactly right. It's a powerful gem of a song.
To me, "after all she gave" is a great piece of unfinished reflection. What can we say about the body of work? What her stories mean, what her story means, the emotion it evokes... folks like me aren't qualified to sum it up.
Knopfler can sum it up, though, in his four quips. She was on another level. She was dead in her gave. Tobacco overtook her. And it's all too late, you dabblers, it's all too late.