52 Vincent and Bee's wing. I'm feeling the past today.

Richard Thompson

1952 Vincent Black Lightning

Said Red Molly to James that's a fine motorbike

A girl could feel special on any such like

Said James to Red Molly, my hat's off to you

It's a Vincent Black Lightning, 1952

And I've seen you at the corners and cafes it seems

Red hair and black leather, my favourite colour scheme

And he pulled her on behind

And down to Boxhill they did ride

Said James to Red Molly, here's a ring for your right hand

But I'll tell you in earnest I'm a dangerous man

I've fought with the law since I was seventeen

I robbed many a man to get my Vincent machine

Now I'm 21 years, I might make 22

And I don't mind dying, but for the love of you

And if fate should break my stride

Then I'll give you my Vincent to ride

Come down, come down, Red Molly, called Sergeant McRae

For they've taken young James Adie for armed robbery

Shotgun blast hit his chest, left nothing inside

Oh, come down, Red Molly to his dying bedside

When she came to the hospital, there wasn't much left

He was running out of road, he was running out of breath

But he smiled to see her cry

And said I'll give you my Vincent to ride

Says James, in my opinion, there's nothing in this world

Beats a 52 Vincent and a red headed girl

Now Nortons and Indians and Greeveses won't do

They don't have a soul like a Vincent 52

He reached for her hand and he slipped her the keys

He said I've got no further use for these

I see angels on Ariels in leather and chrome

Swooping down from heaven to carry me home

And he gave her one last kiss and died

And he gave her his Vincent to ride

 BEESWING

I was nineteen when I came to town, they called it the Summer of Love

They were burning babies, burning flags. The hawks against the doves

I took a job in the steamie down on Cauldrum Street

And I fell in love with a laundry girl who was working next to me

Oh she was a rare thing, fine as a bee's wing

So fine a breath of wind might blow her away

She was a lost child, oh she was running wild

She said "As long as there's no price on love, I'll stay.

And you wouldn't want me any other way"

Brown hair zig-zag around her face and a look of half-surprise

Like a fox caught in the headlights, there was animal in her eyes

She said "Young man, oh can't you see I'm not the factory kind

If you don't take me out of here I'll surely lose my mind"

Oh she was a rare thing, fine as a bee's wing

So fine that I might crush her where she lay

She was a lost child, she was running wild

She said "As long as there's no price on love, I'll stay.

And you wouldn't want me any other way"

We busked around the market towns and picked fruit down in Kent

And we could tinker lamps and pots and knives wherever we went

And I said that we might settle down, get a few acres dug

Fire burning in the hearth and babies on the rug

She said "Oh man, you foolish man, it surely sounds like hell.

You might be lord of half the world, you'll not own me as well"

Oh she was a rare thing, fine as a bee's wing

So fine a breath of wind might blow her away

She was a lost child, oh she was running wild

She said "As long as there's no price on love, I'll stay.

And you wouldn't want me any other way"

We was camping down the Gower one time, the work was pretty good

She thought we shouldn't wait for the frost and I thought maybe we should

We was drinking more in those days and tempers reached a pitch

And like a fool I let her run with the rambling itch

Oh the last I heard she's sleeping rough back on the Derby beat

White Horse in her hip pocket and a wolfhound at her feet

And they say she even married once, a man named Romany Brown

But even a gypsy caravan was too much settling down

And they say her flower is faded now, hard weather and hard booze

But maybe that's just the price you pay for the chains you refuse

Oh she was a rare thing, fine as a bee's wing

And I miss her more than ever words could say

If I could just taste all of her wildness now

If I could hold her in my arms today 

Well I wouldn't want her any other way