Hemel Hempstead Hospital Blues

Standard blues tune. Featured in, “A Healthy Foundation.”   An amateur cine film on super 8 with striped soundtrack.  

Well, sick man and woman, need a hospital bed,

Well, sick man and woman, need a hospital bed.                                      

If Hemel Hempstead don’t get no new hospital? Sick man and woman will soon be dead. 

Why do you want to close our hospital down? Oh! Why?     

Why do you want to close our hospital down? Oh! Why?    

Don’t you realise some of our people will die?                         

To move our town’s hospital to St. Albans, is a bit too far.      

To move our town’s hospital to St. Albans, is a bit too far.      

It is by public transport, not everyone has a car.                

Don’t you dare to pull our hospital down.                            

Don’t you dare to pull our hospital down.                                   

I don’t want to see Hemel Hempstead, become a ghost town.   

We should over the post war years, put our priorities right,

We should over the post war years, put our priorities right,

And started to build on a new hospital site.  

The above blues was composed circa 1977/78. There was at the time, a situation regarding the local hospital. Although the situation was resolved, some years in the early 21st century, Hemel Hempstead was faced with a similar problem. Although some of the lyrics are dated, as far as the 20th century situation is concerned, most of them are not. In fact the principle behind all of them is the same.   Please note a copy was sent to No. 10 Downing Street during the recent 21st century controversy.

copyright Alan French.