THE ACCRINGTON HERALD
Friday, 5th July, 1939
‘ALWAYS YOUR BOY’ REVEALS THE LOVE BEHIND MRS LOCKWOOD’S FIERCEST GOODBYES
Eddy’s tender new song reminds us that growing away from home does not mean leaving love behind
There comes a time in every mother’s life when the little boy whose hand she once held begins walking towards a life of his own.
For Mrs Lockwood, that moment may have arrived.
Always Your Boy, the latest song from Accrington author and songwriter Gabriel Undici’s Mind The Trams Songbook, gives a voice to Eddy Lockwood and the complicated, deeply loving relationship between a mother and the son she has spent a lifetime trying to protect.
Set against the familiar world of Lockwood’s Bakery in 1939 Oswaldtwistle, the song steps quietly away from the bustle of customers, bread ovens and bakery gossip to reveal something much more intimate.
A son trying to tell his mother that although his life is changing, one thing never will.
He will always be her boy.
A MOTHER LEARNS TO LET GO
Mrs Lockwood is a woman accustomed to keeping things in order.
The bakery.
Her family.
And, whenever possible, Eddy.
But children grow.
They fall in love.
They make choices their parents might not have made for them.
And eventually even the most protective mother must loosen her grip.
Always Your Boy doesn’t judge Mrs Lockwood for finding that difficult. Instead, the song asks us to understand the love beneath her stubbornness.
Perhaps holding on tightly is sometimes simply another way of being frightened to let go.
EDDY FINDS HIS VOICE
Throughout Mind The Trams, Eddy often finds himself caught between two women he loves very differently.
There is Nellie, with whom he hopes to build a future.
And there is his mother, who remembers every version of the boy he used to be.
In Always Your Boy, Eddy doesn’t choose between them.
He simply reassures his mother.
His future may belong beside someone else, but his childhood, his memories and a piece of his heart will always belong to her.
It is a quiet song.
And perhaps that is why it says so much.
A SONG FOR SONS — AND MOTHERS
Although born from the characters of Mind The Trams, Always Your Boy reaches beyond 1939 Lancashire.
It speaks to every mother who has watched a son walk through the front door towards a life of his own…
and every grown man who, somewhere inside himself, knows that when his mother looks at him she can still see the little boy who once reached for her hand.
Some relationships change.
Some never really do.
FROM LOCKWOOD’S TO THE SONGBOOK
Always Your Boy forms part of the twenty original songs in the Mind The Trams Songbook, the musical companion to Gabriel Undici’s novel set among the ordinary lives, friendships and families of Oswaldtwistle and Accrington on the eve of war.
Together, the songs are also forming the foundations of a developing Lancashire musical, bringing the characters of Mind The Trams from page to song — and perhaps, one day, to the stage.
DISCOVER THE SONGBOOK
Always Your Boy is available now as part of the Mind The Trams Songbook, streaming on Spotify and major music platforms.
Discover the novel, Songbook, artwork and growing Accrington Herald archive at:
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