Tyne and Wear Metro: The Musical

Tyne and Wear Metro: The Musical is a musical that was commissioned by BBC Newcastle in 2010 and released in 2011 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Metro system and to raise money for BBC's Children in Need.

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Lyrics

The lyrics were written based on stories sent to BBC Newcastle about the Metro. The song's creator, Benjamin Till, says he "very subtly quoted five ABBA songs within his piece" as a reference to the number one song on the Metro's opening day, "The Winner Takes It All".

Below are the lyrics transcribed for general reading. Karaoke-style subtitles, including vocal stutters and more of the backing vocals than is included below, have also been created and are available here. Note that the subtitles are timed without the intro slate, end credits and blooper included in the YouTube video above.

[Northumbrian piping, Chris Ormston]
MCMLXXX [1980]

[Intro]
1980
A year of unemployment and cold war darkness
1980
And England emerging from winters of harshness

[Verse 1]
The unrestrained era of disco was done (disco was done)
A computerised age had begun (uh-huh)
大英国东北部的中心 [The centre of the northeastern part of Great Britain]
1980
An exciting new chapter had been carefully written
1980

[Verse 2]
The future arrived on a hot day in August
With a new bridge over the Tyne (new bridge over the Tyne)
Primary colours and geometric lines intertwined
Underneath an iconic black and yellow sign (black and yellow sign)

[Chorus]
Metro 
Tyne and Wear goes electro
Twenty hours a day from South Hylton to Whitley Bay
(hurtling like an arrow)
From Bank Foot down to Jarrow
In the baking heat and the driving seat
It's alreet

Tyne and Wear Metro
Subterranean yo-yo
A flash of cadmium yellow
Metro

[Bridge]
And the escalators were the first I'd ever seen
Talk about a stairway to heaven
So steep and so high and so bright and so clean

[Brass band instrumental]

[English folk instrumental, cheering]

[Rap 1]
(Metro) You see me going to Byker to roam on the streets
(Metro Metro) Or going to Whitley to lie on the beach
(Metro Metro) You might see me at Central catching the train (train)
Or at St James watching the game (Metro)
Got a little yellow ticket just in case they check us
The charvers run away from inspectors
I'm on the Metro all of the time
But you won't catch me with no £20 fine (£20 fine)

[Verse 3]
Sample our famous mackem wit
With the musings of the gadgy in Sunderland kit
Or the Magpies disembarking at St James' Park
Into a station which pulses with anticipation

[Verse 4]
My mate Chelsea was named and shamed
For failing to pay for her ticket
'Cause she gave them her name when the guard person came
It's her naughty Nexus secret

[Chorus]
Tyne and Wear Metro
We all think of girls Latino (oo)
Sixty colourful stations in useful locations
Goes like a turbo
And canny craic from the get-go
So well why don't we go
Metro

[Rap 2]
Life in extremities, start at St James'
Progression, regression, so many changes
Rolling stock clatter and the platform chatter
Takes me back, take me back
High level clarity, brought back the memory
Take me to the city, to the coast, to the skyways
Take me to it all and the highways
Ride the M-train, take me home

[Interlude]
And sometimes you have to just sit and listen
And lend the ear that wipes the tear away (wipes the tear away, wipes the tear away)

[Choir / Station roll-call]
Haymarket, Monument, Manors, Byker, Chillingham Road, Walkergate,
Wallsend, Hadrian Road, Howdon, Percy Main,
Meadow Well, North Shields, Tynemouth, Cullercoats,
Whitley Bay, Monkseaton, Shiremoor, Northumberland Park,
Palmersville, Benton, Four Lane Ends, Longbenton,
South Gosforth, Ilford Road, West Jesmond, Jesmond,
Haymarket (Metro)

[Transition]
All aboard the love train,
These carriages are Cupid's domain
All aboard the love train, (yeah yeah yeah)
These carriages are Cupid's domain

[Duet 1]
And I called him my Metro man
He had rain spattered glasses
When he boarded at Byker
  (the decision to choose a certain seat)
I didn't know there would be space
  (can change your life indelibly)
And yet he squeezed onto the carriage and into my heart
  And was it fate or was it chance that brought him
  To South Shields on the last Metro home?

[Duet 2]
I've seen it all
The break-ups, the make-ups
The headaches and heartaches
  (our eyes met at Monument Station)
It's not just for if we're made to be
  (but I had a one-way ticket to the States)
It's a journey into humanity
  But she asked me on a date
  So I went and it was great
  And I ripped up my ticket
  And stayed here

[Chorus]
Metro
Subterranean yo-yo
It's a transport pioneer in the heart of Tyne and Wear
Tyne and Wear Metro
Makes you go retro
In the baking heat and the driving seat
It's alreet

[Outro]
Metro
I always wanted a solo
I guess we'll sing in a trio
I'm singing in my falsetto
Let's go
Metro
Tyne and Wear Metro

Production

Open auditions for taking part in the musical, by both singing and appearing in the music video, took place in December 2010 at The Bridges Shopping Centre in Sunderland and Eldon Garden Shopping Centre in Newcastle. The backing track was recorded in DIN Studios, London by Julian Simmons, and all North-East-based singers, musicians and rapper dancers were recorded at The Sage Gateshead (now The Glasshouse International Centre for Music). The musical took six months to complete.

Release

The video premiered on BBC One's Look North on 24 March 2011. It was shown repeatedly at various locations across the north-east of England on 26 March 2011. A copy of the musical was sold as a DVD for £10, £5 of which would go to BBC's Children in Need. The DVD also included "extras such as interviews with the cast, local people's stories and how the musical came about". In December 2011, the BBC revisited some of the cast of the musical, who explained how it changed their lives.

Scene-by-scene breakdown

Timestamps correspond to the YouTube video embedded at the top.

Timestamp	Lyrics	Location	Video description
0:18 - 0:29		Spirit of the Tyne, River Tyne	Titles
0:29 - 0:47 4:30 - 4:34			Chris Ormston playing the Northumbrian smallpipes
0:37 - 0:41	MCMLXXX
0:47 - 0:50	1980	Underground tracks	A red-liveried metrocar moving with passengers on-board
0:50 - 0:55	A year of unemployment and cold war darkness	Gosforth Depot	A man stood between two moving metrocar sets. A metrocar on the left holds the RGB red livery. The leading right metrocar holds the RGB blue livery and is coupled to 4075 holding its police livery.
0:55 - 0:56		EMR Sunderland	A blue-liveried metrocar passing a scrap heap
0:56 - 0:58	1980		Two women singing
0:58 - 1:03	And England emerging from winters of	Spirit of the Tyne, River Tyne	Woman singing
1:03 - 1:04		River Tyne	Spirit of the Tyne
1:04 - 1:12	The unrestrained era of disco was done A computerised age had begun	EMR Sunderland	Two women singing among a scrap heap
1:07 - 1:08	(disco was done)	Gosforth Depot	A man stood between two tracks, with a metrocar moving towards him on both. Two stationary and red-liveried metrocars are also visible in the background.
1:13 - 1:18	大英国东北部的中心	Littlehaven beach	Singing woman sat on a stone wall
1:18 - 1:20	1980		A green-liveried metrocar seen through a metal fence
1:20 - 1:27	An exciting new chapter had been carefully written	High Level Bridge	A woman overlooking the River Tyne
1:27 - 1:28	1980	Spirit of the Tyne, River Tyne	Woman singing
1:28 - 1:29	The future...	Manors Metro station	Close-up of station name on wall
1:29 - 1:30	...arrived...	Wallsend station	Close-up of station name on a sign
1:30 - 1:35	...on a hot day in August With a new bridge over the Tyne	Intersection between Queen Street, Sandhill and Side in Newcastle	Woman singing
1:35 - 1:36		National Cycle Route 14, overlooking the QE2 bridge	Metrocars crossing the QE2 bridge, lead with the RGB red livery and 4042 at the rear holding its Metro Radio livery
1:36 - 1:37			Metrocars crossing the QE2 bridge, lead with the RGB red livery and 4001 at the rear holding its PTE livery
1:37 - 1:40	Primary colours and geometric lines inter-...	High Level Bridge	Woman singing
1:40 - 1:45	...-twined Underneath an iconic black and yellow sign	Footbridge between the platforms at Tynemouth	Woman singing, walking and holding a ferret
1:45 - 1:46	(black and yellow sign)	Outside Manors station	Zoom-in on the Metro cube to the north of Manors
1:46 - 1:51	Metro Tyne and Wear goes electro	Gateshead station	One male and two female singers in front of a stopping red-liveried metrocar
1:51 - 1:53	Twenty hours...	Sunderland station	A boy dancing in front of a stopping red-liveried metrocar
1:53 - 2:00	... a day from South Hylton to Whitley Bay (hurtling like an arrow) From Bank Foot down to Jarrow	Escalators inside a Metro station	Several singers rising an escalator
2:00 - 2:01	In the baking heat...	A bridge over some rail	Branches dripping with water onto the rail
2:01 - 2:03		National Cycle Route 14, overlooking the QE2 bridge	Metrocars crossing the QE2 bridge
2:03 - 2:08	... and the driving seat It's alreet	Airport station	One male and one female singer duck, revealing another male singer and a red-liveried metrocar in the reflection of a mirror
2:08 - 2:16	Tyne and Wear Metro Subterranean yo-yo A flash of cadmium yellow Metro	Four Lane Ends station	Various perspectives of three female singers. In one perspective, a red-liveried metrocar is stopping. In another perspective, a blue-liveried metrocar is departing.
7:47 - 7:49	End credits
2:16 - 2:33	Bridge	Escalators at Haymarket station	Two women using the escalators in opposite directions
2:33 - 2:50	[Brass band instrumental]	EMR Sunderland	A brass band playing in a scrapyard. A metrocar set passes towards Pallion in the background.
2:50 - 3:10 8:35 - 8:37 9:02 - 9:10	[English folk instrumental, cheering] And end credits	A moving metrocar, and a stationary metrocar inside one of Gosforth Depot's sheds	Rapper Sword Dancers dancing, two violinists, several cast clapping and cheering
3:10 - 3:27	Rap 1	Under Byker Bridge	Male lead singer and female backup singer. A metrocar set can be seen crossing the Byker Viaduct in the background.
3:22 - 3:24	... I'm on the Metro all of the time but ...	Sunderland station	A group of female dancers alongside a stopping metrocar set, both metrocars holding the RGB blue livery
8:07 - 8:16 8:19 - 8:21	End credits
3:24 - 3:34	Sample our famous mackem wit With the musings of the gadgy in Sunderland kit	Inside a moving metrocar	A large group of singers wearing Sunderland kit
3:34 - 3:38	Or the Magpies disembarking at St James' Park		A large group of singers wearing Newcastle kit
3:38 - 3:42		Stairways/Escalators at St James station
3:42 - 3:47	Into a station which pulses with anticipation	Inside a metrocar	A large group of singers wearing Newcastle kit
3:47 - 4:04	Verse 4	St James platform 1 overrun tunnel	Two women singing
4:04 - 4:21 7:49 - 7:59 8:16 - 8:19 8:21 - 8:29 8:37 - 9:02 9:10 - 9:20	Chorus and end credits	Wallsend station	A large number of performers and singers
4:23 - 4:40	Rap 2	Inside a moving metrocar inside the Gateshead tunnels	Man sat, rapping
4:40 - 5:00	Interlude	Pelaw station	Woman singing and consoling another woman. A metrocar set (lead holding the RGB red livery, rear holding the RGB blue livery) departs platform 1 and a metrocar holding the RGB red livery lets passengers off at platform 2.
4:58 - 5:00			Man singing, sat at the very front of a metrocar stopping at platform 1, looking back. A metrocar holding the RGB blue livery can be seen letting passengers off at platform 2.
5:00 - 5:12	Haymarket, Monument, Manors, Byker, Chillingham Road, Walkergate, Wallsend, ...	On a metrocar stopped at Heworth Metro station platform 1	A large group of singers on board a metrocar
5:12 - 5:18	..., Hadrian Road, Howdon, ...	On a metrocar stopped at Gateshead Stadium platform 2
5:18 - 5:24	..., Percy Main, Meadow Well, ...	On a moving metrocar
5:24 - 5:55 6:06 - 6:09	..., North Shields, Tynemouth, Cullercoats, Whitley Bay, Monkseaton, Shiremoor, Northumberland Park, Palmersville, Benton, Four Lane Ends, Longbenton, ...	Tynemouth station	A large group of singers among crowds exploring the Tynemouth market. One metrocar set can be seen departing platform 2, the lead holding the RGB red livery and the rear (4045) holding its Newcastle International Airport livery. Another metrocar set can be seen also departing platform 2, the lead holding the RGB red livery and the rear holding the RGB blue livery.
8:29 - 8:35	End credits
5:55 - 6:06	..., South Gosforth, Ilford Road, West Jesmond, Jesmond, ...	South Gosforth station	A large group of singers on platform 1 and on the footbridge, with a metrocar holding a green livery stopped at platform 2
6:06 - 6:36	Transition and Duet 1	Gateshead station	A large group of singers departing a metrocar holding the RGB red livery
6:36 - 6:37	... to South Shields ...	Gosforth Depot	A metrocar holding the RGB red livery entering/exiting a shed
6:37 - 6:59	Duet 2	Sunderland station and escalators at Gateshead station	A mix of two scenes. One scene shows a woman singing at Sunderland platform 2, with a metrocar holding the RGB red livery stopping while running T107 to South Hylton. The other scene shows a man riding an escalator down at Gateshead station.
6:59 - 7:41	Chorus and Outro	Gateshead station	A large group of singers and performers at the bottom of the stairs, and another group of singers leaving metrocars at platform 1. The metrocar at platform 1 holds the RGB red livery. Metrocar 4084 is also stopped at platform 2 holding its Pop livery.
7:43 - 7:47 7:52 - 7:56	End credits	Sunderland station	A boy dancing in front of a departing metrocar set, lead holding the RGB red livery and 4051 at the rear holding its RGB green livery (with the triangles on the doors).
7:59 - 8:07		Four Lane Ends station	Three Metro staff dancing

Credits

Composer and Director

• Benjamin Till

Producer

• Alistair Miskin

Cast

• David Alder
• Carley Amanda Armstrong
• Asier Ania
• Richard Asquith
• Ruth Ball
• Julie Balmain
• Elizabeth Barnes
• Les Barnes
• Hayley Baxter
• Ward Baxter
• Tom Besford
• Gary Bennett
• Jim Boyle
• Alan Brown
• Maureen Brown
• Robyn Brown
• Anna de Bruin
• Jeff Brown
• Maciej Brylka
• Ian Burdge
• Christina Marie Campbell
• Eddie Casey
• Charlie Charlton
• Emily Clark
• Beth Cole
• Linda M. Corrie
• Alexandra Cole
• Elizabeth Jane Collins
• John Colvine
• Rachel Colvine
• Susan Colvine
• Polly Corbishley
• Riccardo Cultrera
• Patricia Daglish
• Laura Davison
• Donnamarie Davidson
• Emily Deck
• Christine Deponio
• Natalie Denholm
• Paul Dewhurst
• Lauren Donnall
• Jenni Duncan
• Kane Dunnett
• Nicole Leanne Dyer
• Connor Joseph Eisenhauer
• Deborah Elliott
• Jade Elliott
• Colin Elrick
• John Emmerson
• Tracy Featherstone
• Jonathan Fenwick
• George the Ferret
• Amie Elizabeth Fielding
• Matthew Richard Fletcher
• Mary Joyce Finnigan
• Charlotte Flood
• Elizabeth Leanne Forsyth
• Dave Fudge
• Fraser Gascoigne
• Quinn Gascoigne
• Ronan Gascoigne
• Becky Graham
• Simon Graham
• Zan Gettings
• Dawn Gillin
• Ellie Jade Gillin
• Bryony Griffith
• Amy Grounsell
• David James Guile
• Joanna Gulley
• Will Hampson
• Faye Harrison
• Jolanda Haxhin
• James de Lauch Hay
• Laura Henderson
• Sophie Jane Henderson
• Jemma Hetherington
• Sarah Hill
• Ruth Hindmarsh
• Grace Hoggan
• Colin Hoggins
• Jessica R. Hoggins
• Claire Hornsby
• Katie Houghton
• Melanie Hudson
• Maggie Hunt
• Claire Hunter
• Donna Hunter
• Stephen Hussey
• Julie Irvine
• Juana Gomez Jarriar
• Alfie Joey
• Carol Johnson
• Rebecca Johnson
• Martin F Joicey
• Sarina Kaur
• Emily Keithley
• Imene Khaled
• Georgia Knight
• John Laidler
• Silvar Laidlow
• Sarah Latheron
• Tom Lawrenson
• Kevin Lees
• Marta Lopez-Rodrigues
• Kelandria Lowery
• Billy Lowther
• Alice Maguire
• Veronika Marshall
• Hewie Marshall
• Megan McCance
• Sarah McGuinness
• Michael McTiernan
• Anna Leigh Middleton
• Jonathan Miles
• Sarah Morrow
• Phil Mulford
• Joanne Murray
• Verity O'Hara
• James Oates
• Chris Ormston
• Jason Osborne
• Martin Owens-Cairns
• Jesse Park
• Bethany Parker
• Rachel Parker
• Marianne Patterson
• Christopher Pentland
• Siobhan Persaud
• Caitlin Pearson
• Nikki Michelle Pearson
• Emily Peart
• Laurence Peart
• David Phillips
• Alison Phillipson
• Jack Pollitt
• Kate Porter
• Karen Price
• Claire Race
• John Patrick Reay
• Nat Reid
• John Renwick-Stevens
• Harriet Richardson-Cockleline
• Abigail May Ridley
• Charmette Robertson
• Doris Robertson
• Mark Robertson
• Bernice Robinson
• Elisha Robinson
• Rockstop Ronnie
• John Rootham
• Daryl Rose
• Sophie Roxburgh
• Jessica Rump
• Jimmy SA
• Patricia Mary Saunders
• David Sayers
• Nicola Schonewald
• Harold Scott
• Mark Short
• Elaine Shovlin
• Robert Shotton
• Matt Skillbeck
• Christy Staats
• Andy Stephenson
• Sophie Stokoe
• Chris Storey
• Rebekah Grace Summerhill
• Adam Sutton
• Ivor Talbot
• Rosie Louise Taylor
• Steph Temple
• Stephanie Thompson
• Charny Thompson
• Jim Todd
• Keith Tolson
• Jonathan C Tweddell
• Alice Tyrd
• Ioannis Tzannis
• Alex Vasquez
• Lauren Waine
• Jake Walker
• Sarah Walker
• Zhuowen Wang
• Neil Watson
• Jenny Whitehead
• Christine Wilson
• Christopher Wilson
• David Wilson
• Kelly Wilson
• Claire Winter
• Abby Wotherspoon

Commissioned By

• Phil Roberts
• Andy Cooper
• Andrew Robson

Music

Produced / Mixed By

• Julian Simmons
• DIN Studios

Mastering

• Denis Blackham

Video

Production Assistants

• Tony Havelock
• Helen Amess
• Lloyd Watson
• Alan Noble
• Sarah Gray
• John Shawcross
• Simon Stafford
• Katie Doyle

Grip

• Eric Close

Jimmy Jib Operator

• Josh Close

Gaffer

• Tony Cook

Electrician

• Alan Ramsay

Floor Manager

• Caroline Broome

Technical Manager

• Jon Roberts

Lighting / Cameraman

• Keith Blackburn

Editor

• Louise Callaghan

With Thanks To

• Lyn Binks
• Jordan Charles
• Claire Dixon
• Katie Emmerson
• Simon Fidler
• Bernard Garner
• Steve Gray
• Richard Halling
• Bridie Jackson
• Alan Lascelles
• Phil Lyras
• Jenny Martins
• Ken McMeikan
• Graham Orchard
• Christopher Rogers
• Lynne Robinson
• Gary Short
• Nathan Taylor
• The Sage Gateshead
• Newcastle Kingsmen
• Nexus
• DB Regio
• Friends of Tynemouth Station