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Up the 'Pool Lyrics
I'm going up the `pool from down the smoke below
to taste my mum's jam sarnies and see our Aunty Flo.
The candyfloss salesman watches ladies in the sand
down for a freaky weekend in the hope that they'll be meeting
Mister Universe.
The iron tower smiles down upon the silver sea
and along the golden mile they'll be swigging mugs of tea.
The politicians there who've come to take the air
while posing for the daily press
will look around and blame the mess
on Edward Bear.
There'll be bucket, spades and bingo, cockles, mussels, rainy days,
seaweed and sand castles, icy waves.
Deck chairs, rubber dinghies, old vests, braces dangling down,
sun-tanned stranded starfish in a daze.
We're going up the `pool from down the smoke below
to taste my mum's jam sarnies and see our Aunty Flo.
The candy floss salesman watches ladies in the sand
down for a freaky weekend in the hope that they'll be meeting
Mister Universe.
There'll be buckets, spades and bingo, cockles, mussels, rainy days,
seaweed and sand castles, icy waves,
Deck chairs, rubber dinghies, old vests, braces dangling down,
sun-tanned stranded starfish in a daze.
Oh Blackpool,
oh Blackpool.
to taste my mum's jam sarnies and see our Aunty Flo.
The candyfloss salesman watches ladies in the sand
down for a freaky weekend in the hope that they'll be meeting
Mister Universe.
The iron tower smiles down upon the silver sea
and along the golden mile they'll be swigging mugs of tea.
The politicians there who've come to take the air
while posing for the daily press
will look around and blame the mess
on Edward Bear.
There'll be bucket, spades and bingo, cockles, mussels, rainy days,
seaweed and sand castles, icy waves.
Deck chairs, rubber dinghies, old vests, braces dangling down,
sun-tanned stranded starfish in a daze.
We're going up the `pool from down the smoke below
to taste my mum's jam sarnies and see our Aunty Flo.
The candy floss salesman watches ladies in the sand
down for a freaky weekend in the hope that they'll be meeting
Mister Universe.
There'll be buckets, spades and bingo, cockles, mussels, rainy days,
seaweed and sand castles, icy waves,
Deck chairs, rubber dinghies, old vests, braces dangling down,
sun-tanned stranded starfish in a daze.
Oh Blackpool,
oh Blackpool.
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Blackpool was a famous seaside vacation spot for Londoners around the time that Anderson wrote these lyrics. Thus the lyric "going up the pool, from down the smoke(london) below". The Iron Tower was basically a lighthouse and politicians are mentioned because they tended to frequent the vacation spot as well... Edward Bear refers to a politician that took a lot of criticism around Andersons time.
Blackpool was Ian Anderson's childhood home. It is also a seaside resort as described in the song, but Londoners would not normally visit it.
In the song, Anderson is on a journey from his base in London ("the Smoke") to visit his mother and describing Blackpool as he expects to find it.
Candyfloss = cotton candy. The Iron Tower is the famous Blackpool Tower, which was inspired by the Eiffel Tower. The Golden Mile is a stretch of the promenade (sea-front road) with entertainment establishments covered in colorful flashing lights.
Blackpool is frequently a venue for political conferences. I take Edward Bear to refer to Edward Heath, the then Prime Minister, but it might just mean the politicians are blaming anyone but themselves. Anyway, it rhymes.
I think the Edward Bear reference may be a nod to the politicians blaming rock and roll for the problems of the UK back then. People were calling Rock and roll the spawn of the devil, in that era, and Anderson may have been citing edward bear the rock and roll group who sang: This is the last song, I'll ever write for you. Edward Bear was a a particularly tame rock and roll group, so the joke would be that much more incisive towards the politicians.
@GiordanoBruno1 Edward Bear was a Canadian group, you hardly think they'd be referenced in a song about England. Maybe Anderson was referring to Winnie the Pooh.
@GiordanoBruno1 Edward Bear was a Canadian group, you hardly think they'd be referenced in a song about England. Maybe Anderson was referring to Winnie the Pooh.
I heard the lyric as "Edward, Peer.". I took it to be a reference to Sir Edward Heath, former Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative (Tory) Party until 1975. Heath led England into the Common Market, which was not universally popular. People were afraid England might end up in a Euro Zone.