Name: Paperbacks and Ashtrays
Duration: P00H04M18S
Description: Lots of memories of my Dad in this one, my attempt to connect through reading his cast-off paperbacks... and my young teenage infatuation with darts... it seemed to be a thing in the late 70s, I remember people swapping 'flights' at school.

Paperbacks and Ashtrays

from The Book of Absolution (2022) by Anthony Toner

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The physical copy of the double album The Book of Absolution, complete with lyrics booklet, sent from Anthony's desk with love and the usual handwritten postcard of thanks. Please note, the albums won't be shipped until late November, when Anthony comes back from his tour dates in England, Scotland and Wales. There's a £2 charge included in the price to cover postage, etc

Includes unlimited streaming of The Book of Absolution (2022) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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about

Lots of memories of my Dad in this one, my attempt to connect through reading his cast-off paperbacks... and my young teenage infatuation with darts... it seemed to be a thing in the late 70s, I remember people swapping 'flights' at school.

lyrics

Paperbacks and Ashtrays

Some men define themselves by the work they do all day.
My Dad defined himself by what he did
when they handed him his pay.
He left school the moment that he could, and it never did him any harm –
he wrote everything in capitals, like he was filling in a form.

There was a scruffy pile of paperbacks on the floor beside his bed.
And because I wanted to connect, I tried to read what he had read.
These books came in from his friends at work, and they went back out again,
and I started dipping in when I was only nine or ten.

CHORUS:
Paperbacks and ashtrays, Adidas and Wrangler.
Reading ‘The Day of the Jackal’
and ‘The Boston Strangler’.

I was far too young to be reading about drugs and serial killers –
Vietnam memoirs and Cold War thrillers.
As for my mother, she steered the family like a captain runs a ship
- and she loved me seven days a week but she never took no lip.

CHORUS

In the forest of my memory, some trees grow straight and tall
- and I can’t explain why others never put down roots at all.
The dartboard in the spare room, and the breath of old beer cans;
the dainty shape our fingers made when the darts were in our hands.

CHORUS

credits

from The Book of Absolution (2022), released November 14, 2022
Anthony Toner: Vocals, Guitars, Piano, Drum Loops
Clive Culbertson: Bass

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Anthony Toner Belfast, UK

An independent singer songwriter and guitarist, based in Belfast.

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