"I fought the depression of the countryside rain
Yearning for home after one day
With my angel so far from my side
Oh, there’ll be no dancing in Bristol, tonight"

No Dancing in Bristol

Written by Willy Braun

Hey you,

Just wanted to drop a quick line to say hello, even though I’ll probably beat this card back to the states. Having a fab time over here so far. After hearing the election results when we landed on the first night, we had a lot of great cocktails to drown our sorrows at a bar called Satan’s Whiskers. And then, last night, we played a club in Bristol called Theckla that was an old ship. Wade gave away all his merchandise, because he was tired of lugging it around and of me making fun of him for it. (He packs like an old lady!) Met a cool couple from Belgum after the show and hit the town with them. There was a sign that read “NO DANCING!” at one of the clubs, and we made that our bit for the rest of the night. Probably said it a hundred times. I’m having a great time, but I really wish you were here. We’re talking about writing a song called “No Dancing In Bristol,” but I doubt we’ll get to it on this trip.

Well, I’m about out of space, and we’re catching the train to Nottingham in a few, so I’ll let you go.

XO, Willy


Wade Bowen and I went to the UK in the fall of 2016 for a handful of song swap shows and had a blast. We were too busy having a good time to write any songs on the trip, but I remembered the “No Dancing” sign later on and wrote two versions of it. The alternate version was about the election, since we took off from Austin on Election Day and landed in London to find out who the new president was. I liked the second version about missing my girl, and the other guy gets too much press, anyway. Wade was gonna help me write it, but we couldn’t find the time. He came in and sang some harmony on it, though, bringing back some fond memories of drinking pims on the train, his enormous luggage, and the good times we had over there.

Lyrics

We said our goodbyes and
I boarded the plane
And I joked with the boys ‘bout
the ol’ ball and chain
But I’m countin’ the days till I
see you again
Now they’re draggin’ me out for a pint

But there’ll be no dancing in
London, tonight
No. There’ll be no dancing in
London, tonight

As the mornin’ came early
I slept on the train
And I fought the depression
of the countryside rain
Yearning for home after one day
With my angel so far from my side

Oh, there’ll be no dancing in
Bristol, tonight
No, there’ll be no dancing in
Bristol, tonight

Well, I finally resolved it’d all be alright
And after the show was one
hell of a night
But I wished you were there for to
join in the fray
And to steal me away from my mind

There’ll be no dancing in
Glasgow, tonight
No, There’ll be no dancing in
Glasgow, tonight