A Country/Pop song based on the true story of the original London underground announcer.
Singer Songwriter Guitarist from York England
I am a York based singer/songwriter/guitarist and started my career back in 1998. My first guitar lesson was when I was 36 and it took some time to get the hang of it and I am sure Vanessa at times regretted ever getting me started! I wrote my first song in 1998 and played live for the first time in 1999. I have released a few self-penned albums in my time the most successful being One Year Out from which 2 tracks In Your Arms and You Were There were used on TV in the Netherlands. I still perform regularly in and around the York area and also in Bury St Edmunds where I lived for 30 years. I have played the biggest gigs of my musical journey so far at the Grand Opera House in aid of Ukraine and The Barbican in aid of York Against Cancer in 2023 and a year later for York rocks Christmas and I can definitely say they were incredible and are memories I will treasure.
Story behind the song
In 2013, Transport for London began phasing out the original voice recording of the man who recorded the well known Mind The Gap safety announcement for travelling passengers. Soon, the original recording could only be heard at Embankment tube station.
Unbeknownst to TFL, Dr Margaret McCollum, the widow of the man behind the original recording (Oswald Laurence), would regularly sit at Embankment station to listen to the voice of her late Husband. In November of 2013 however TFL removed the recording at Embankment station, much to the devastation of Dr Margaret McCollum.
As a result, Margaret successfully appealed to TFL to have the voice restored, who then gladly reinstated it as the safety announcement at Embankment. To this day, the original voice recording for Mind The Gap by Oswald Laurence can only be heard at Embankment Tube Station.
The song echos the sentiments behind this story, from the unique perspective of Dr Margaret McCollum.
Lyrics
Mind the Gap
Hello my darling, the world has changed since we first met
And I dont mind admitting, I found your voice hard to forget
As the train runs though the station, silence all around
Hundreds of people, but I dont hear a sound
It was only three words, but they meant the world to me
Now you've been replaced, I cant hear your melody
Mind the gap was your voice to my heart voice to my heart x2
Down to the embankment, is where I need to be?
The steps to your voice, they would always set me free
And this stations my saviour, since the day you passed away
Ive been coming here to listen, every single day
It was only three words, but they meant the world to me
Now you've been replaced, I cant hear your melody
Mind the gap was your voice to my heart voice to my heart x2
And I asked if they could bring you back, just for me they found a way,
As I stand here on this platform, I can hear you say
Mind the gap Mind the gap Mind the gap x2
Mind the gap was your voice to my heart voice to my heart x2
Mind The gap
