"Well I said goodbye to Rosie Rooke this morning" Is most probably Ray referring to saying goodbye to his sister, Rosie, before she moved to Australia.
To me, this song is obviously about Ray and Dave growing up in Muswell Hill in London,
"But they're never gonna kill my cockney pride"
I'm not sure why its 'Hillbilly', maybe it because Muswell Hill wasn't as nice of a place in the '60s as it is today, or maybe it's because of the references to America.
I think maybe Ray dreamed of living in America as a boy,
"I have seen them in my dreams
Take me back to those Black Hills
That I have never seen"
and he dreamed of what his life would be like there. ("They'll try and make me study elocution
Because they say my accent isn't right")
And maybe when he spoke about Rosie at the beginning, he dreamed it was him saying goodbye to her, and moving on, not the other way round.
"Well I said goodbye to Rosie Rooke this morning" Is most probably Ray referring to saying goodbye to his sister, Rosie, before she moved to Australia. To me, this song is obviously about Ray and Dave growing up in Muswell Hill in London, "But they're never gonna kill my cockney pride" I'm not sure why its 'Hillbilly', maybe it because Muswell Hill wasn't as nice of a place in the '60s as it is today, or maybe it's because of the references to America. I think maybe Ray dreamed of living in America as a boy, "I have seen them in my dreams Take me back to those Black Hills That I have never seen" and he dreamed of what his life would be like there. ("They'll try and make me study elocution Because they say my accent isn't right") And maybe when he spoke about Rosie at the beginning, he dreamed it was him saying goodbye to her, and moving on, not the other way round.