Track 7 of the album Houseplants for Company · 2024
Gulls Over the Shuttered Arcade
by Wren Hallett
“The arcade has its shutters down for winter and the paint is peeling pink along the rail. I walked the whole front to write it.”
singer-songwriter · seaside folk · dreamy folk · 3:42
Lyrics
The arcade has its shutters down for winter Paint is peeling pink along the rail A gull stands on the ticket booth like a landlord And the tide comes in without a sail I walk the promenade in my old green jumper Past the benches with their little brass names Someone loved the view here, someone sat here And the wind keeps all of them the same Oh, the sea is still the sea in winter Grey and slow and kind to those who stay Nobody's waiting for the summer I am only here to watch the day Gulls over the shuttered arcade Soft light on a closed-up door The town is dreaming of the season And I love it more and more The tea hut keeps a kettle on for no one The lamp-posts wear a halo in the mist I buy a paper bag of warm chestnuts And I count my breaths, and I am missed by no one There's a kind of rest in empty places A kind of peace in what is put away The deckchairs stacked and sleeping Till the lilac-coloured May Oh, the sea is still the sea in winter Grey and slow and kind to those who stay Nobody's waiting for the summer I am only here to watch the day Gulls over the shuttered arcade Soft light on a closed-up door The town is dreaming of the season And I love it more and more Soft light on a closed-up door And I love it more and more