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Wordsmith for Hire!

Wordsmith for Hire!

GOT A PROJECT that requires some carefully sculpted words? Looking for assistance with some lyrics? Maybe I can help. Below are some projects I’ve provided the words for in recent times. I am able to work to a tight brief and testimonials are available on request. Feel free to get in touch if you think I can be of assistance.

Warrington Reunited

Commissioned during lockdown, the brief for ‘Warrington Reunited’ was to create an emotional and inspiring piece that reminded people of the role Warrington’s venues had played over the years – their iconic history, the gigs they had hosted, the art and culture they had provided. As well as touching on the closure of the venues due to the pandemic and the work being done to maintain an arts scene against the odds, the piece needed to look to the future and be optimistic throughout.

Memories Are Made Here

With a brief to reference the memories supporters of Warrington Wolves Rugby League club take away from attending games at the Halliwell Jones stadium, the words to ‘Memories Are Made Here’ needed to be powerful, upbeat and emotive. It was okay to touch on past successes but the main message was to be about the present and what lies ahead without too many clichés.

Art of its Time

‘Art of its Time’ was commissioned for the 10th anniversary of Warrington Contemporary Arts Festival, to celebrate its successes and to highlight a recent change to include all arts forms. The festival began in response to a growing appetite for contemporary art in Warrington following a series of critically acclaimed street art exhibitions. Now an annual fixture, its reach has increased year on year and this piece needed to reflect that and the support provided by the festival’s organisers.

This Warrington

I was asked to write ‘This Warrington‘ by Darren Jeffries of Ludovico Studios with a view to it being performed by the students of one of his acting classes. He wanted it to be a collaborative piece that summed up the feeling of positivity running through the town. He knew I was a proud Warringtonian and our conversation about the positive vibes surrounding the town struck a chord. I went home and wrote the words in around two hours. 

10 Years of LiveWire

To mark the milestone of LiveWire providing 10 years of leisure, libraries and lifestyles services across Warrington, I was commissioned to write the words to a multimedia piece called ‘LiveWire10‘ that summed up the work of the community interest company. LiveWire works with Warrington Borough Council to deliver high quality health, well-being, educational and community services that make a real difference to the local community. The video was produced by Ludovico and features local actress Eleanor Curry. If you look closely you may even spot a cameo appearance by my good self (Hollywood here I come!)

As you can see I love writing and I love collaborating with others. If you would like the details of anyone I have worked with (filmographers, voiceover artists, actors, directors, project managers, etc) please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Some other stuff I’ve done…

Where The Old Fish Market Once Stood (a poetic tribute to Warrington’s old market place).

I thought I’d forgotten my first love
I had just about got to the stage
Where I could drive past her home in the evening
Without thinking on back to the days
To the days when I’d meet her at teatime
From the 4.30 Grappenhall bus
When the girl from the village would greet me
With a smile and a tentative hug

I recall how we’d walk through the precinct
Hand in hand ’til we reached Golden Square
Where we would sit at the statue of Alice
And kick back like we just didn’t care
And as the five o’clock rush hurried past us
I remember us falling in love
Right there in that historic quadrant
Where the old fish market once stood

It was the era of Warrington New Town
Eileen Bilton, investment and change
And though some people tried to resist it
It was important that progress was made
And to the town planners’ ultimate credit
The shopping mall scheme they approved
Was respectful of time and tradition
And looked lovely at twilight in June

There was the Barley Mow pub in the corner
With its black and white timbered facade
Dating back to the reign of the Tudors
But like a patriarch still standing guard
Over all of the buildings and shopfronts
And the fish market’s canopied roof
Where the ghosts of old Warrington gathered
To look back on their town centre roots

There was Boteler, the Lord of the manor
And Beamont, its very first mayor
Kendrick and Priestley, the scholars
And the printer, William Eyres
But as well as the ‘Warrington Worthies’
Were people like old Charlie Lee
Who scratched a poem a day on his chalkboard
Whilst selling oysters direct from the sea

And as I sat with my girlfriend and Alice
In that modern day shopper’s parade
A scene from the past came upon me
Like a dream in the evening haze
It was a snapshot of life in the old days
With folk working hard to survive
Selling flowers and poultry and clothing
From baskets they held at their side

And though time may have altered the detail
Of the buildings and items for sale
As the twenty-first century beckoned
It was amazing how little had changed
And in that triumph of merged architecture
Where the past and the present embraced
I kissed Bernadette as the sun set
On that wonderful old market place

Andy Green (2014).

The Great North South Divide

Somewhere on the border
of the great North South divide
A man he stands with legs apart,
one foot on either side
And in his hand he holds a flag,
a flag he waves so freely
A flag the reads ‘Equality –
I wish it was this easy’

Day in day out he’s always there,
regardless of the weather
Through heavy rain, driving snow,
thunderclouds, whatever
Yet no one stops to ask him why
he acts in such a manner
And seldom does a passerby
pause to read his banner

The public think he’s lost the plot,
his mind it must be twisted
They call the council everyday
demanding to be shifted
But if they took the time to look
beyond their first impressions
Perhaps they’d see the reasoning
behind the man’s expressions

For all his moves are well rehearsed,
his actions are a statement
A call for better budgeting
on both sides of the pavement
For as it stands the South commands,
up North the people suffer
And every town beyond Daventry
is swept into the gutter

Andy Green.

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