THE BALLAD OF SYNTAX

This is the tale of the teen sensation
That rocked Blackheath and should have rocked the nation
They wrote all their own music and they played it
Let’s hear it for a band who never quite made it

(Syntax!) Formed in ’87
Five good-looking boys aged 12 and 11
(Syntax!) So young, but they sounded great
All the way back in 1988

Synthesisers, amps, electric guitars
Ferried around in parents’ cars
Interested fathers, dubious mums
Fleeing their own houses at the sound of the drums

(Syntax!) In 1989
Filled Blackheath Concert Halls 3 times
(Syntax!) And the mood, yes the mood was mighty
Good way back in 1990

Sticking up bills, avoiding the police
Hours spent perfecting a News Shopper press release
Ever more ambitious gigs to arrange
Posters to photocopy down at Age Exchange

(Syntax!) In 1991
Still going strong still having fun
(Syntax!) And I still think about you
You had your own sound in 1992

By now they had the t-shirts, they had the fans
They even had the talent in their soft white hands
They had the flaky manager, boy what a schmuck
Telling them they’d make it with blood sweat and luck
He sat on his arse all day, they got annoyed
He said, “Stick with me, boys, you’ll be bigger than the Floyd”

(Syntax!) 1993
Last big push before university
And now Syntax Don’t exist anymore
They fizzled out in 1994

(Syntax!) Formed in ’87
Five good-looking boys aged 12 and 11
(Syntax!) They were young, but they sounded great
All the way back in 1988

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© david schweitzer 2003