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Mr Cable The Sysadmin

from 50​-​90​-​2012 Vol. 1 by TA Walker

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For song 20, I would like to thank a Twitter friend of mine, Dave Jeffery, for supplying the inspiration: he suggested that I try writing a spoof of the songs written for the “Trumptonshire” animated series of the 1960s (“Camberwick Green”, “Trumpton” and “Chigley”).

For non-UK-based readers who may not have heard of these shows, “Camberwick Green” (1966) was the first British children’s TV programme to be filmed in colour, though most viewers would have watched CG and its two sequel series in black and white until the early 1970s. I won’t go into detail about the shows here (there’s plenty on the Web about them), but they were repeated on BBC TV well into the 1980s, and are fondly remembered by many Brits of around my age :-)

These animated films are quite charming (quite clearly from another age), and the music of the three series is particularly evocative. The songs were written by Gordon Murray and/or Alison Prince, sung by the narrator (Brian Cant) and set to music by Freddie Phillips, the latter being (in my opinion) a highly underrated musician and composer. His classical guitar-and-percussion soundtracks were multitrack-recorded at home at a time when very few British musicians had such capability, and Freddie was capable of playing guitar almost mechanically (to mimic the effect of a musical box, which often featured in “Camberwick Green”). This is very difficult to achieve as a guitarist, and I can’t pretend that I’ve quite managed it here...

The songs in the three series usually describe the characters who live in the three towns/villages of the shows’ titles (Windy Miller at the windmill, Mr Crockett the garage-owner, etc.), and Dave Jeffery suggested I try writing a pastiche song in the “Trumptonshire” style, describing a more 21st-century occupation... perhaps a system administrator? Very well, Dave: I hope this fits the bill!

(Tech note: The demo for this is multitracked, but rather rough - done in a hurry with the guitalele and Garageband at lunchtime, and with more than a little cutting and pasting of sections! The vocal was quite difficult - certainly, getting both the melody and words correct and in time - and it gives me a new admiration for what Brian Cant managed on the "Trumptonshire" songs.

I have added this song to the mental list of demos I want to re-record when time allows - I KNOW I can do a better job than this :-) )

lyrics

I am a system admin and I keep computers running
Living in the server room from morning through to night
Fix permissions, network issues and forgotten passwords
Stocking printers, swapping leads and checking flashing lights

I'd love my job immensely if it wasn't for the users
Meeting every little query gets to be a pain
They think a "kernel panic" means a bloke who's in the army
The usual solution: turn it off and on again

I have no time for arguments preferring Macs or PCs
They do a job and make mistakes, and that makes work for me
I personally preferred it in the days of the Amiga
And keep it to yourself, but I'm a fan of BSD

I cannot find another job that I would rather work in
Butcher, baker, windmill worker - none would feel the same
Fixing people's PC problems brings me satisfaction
I am a system admin - Mr Cable is my name

credits

from 50​-​90​-​2012 Vol. 1, track released August 15, 2012
TA Walker - guitaleles, vocal

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TA Walker UK

Guitarist/multi-instrumentalist, composer and songwriter, often with "electronica", "lo-fi" and "prog" inclinations.

Um... will that do?

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