Annabel Lee visits Blackpool

 a collaboration between Edgar Allan Poe and Ashley Lister

 It was many and many a year ago,

In a kingdom by the sea

That a maiden there lived whom you may know

By the name of Annabel Lee

And she worked by the tower, for three quid an hour

Near that bingo that sells the cheap tea.

I’d just left school and she’d just left school

In this kingdom by the sea

This was back in an age, before minimum wage

I and my Annabel Lee

When three quid an hour, wasn’t bad by the tower

In this kingdom by the sea

We worked day-long shifts, selling rock and crap gifts

I and my Annabel Lee

We worked all summer-through, flogging plastic dog-poo

To those visiting by the sea.

And we loved with a love that was more than a love

I and my Annabel Lee

With a love that the managers’ watching above

Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago

In this kingdom by the sea

That the bosses, those tossers, who wielded the power

Came down from their seats in their ivory tower

Decrying and lying, defying belief

Blaming her, claiming that she was a thief

And sacking my Annabel Lee

Cruelly firing – no chance of rehiring –

My beautiful Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love

Of those bosses that tore us apart

Yes, she’d taken some stock, Twenty gross of cheap rock

But she also had stolen my heart

And some cuddly toys, And kids hats for small boys

But she also had stolen my heart

And a case of key rings, And some other cheap things

But she also had stolen my heart

Now the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams

Of my beautiful Annabel Lee.

She works on a car boot, selling dodgy nicked loot

From this kingdom by the sea

And the managers watching, covetously above

Can never dissever my soul from the love

Of my beautiful Annabel Lee

And, cos I keep supplying, the stuff that she’s buying

In this kingdom by the sea.

Our love is uplifting, because I keep shoplifting

For my beautiful Annabel Lee.