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Needless Alley from Needless Alley by Jon Wilks

Needless Alley is a backstreet that runs through central Birmingham, from New Street to the Cathedral. In the mid-90s, when I was a late-teenager running amok, it was home to Swordfish Records — the best independent record shop in the city. The shop still exists, but it lives elsewhere now. I knew I wanted to include the street name in a song; I loved the nihilistic poetry of it. I’d been listening to Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited, where all sorts of crazy things happen out on that road, and I started wondering what might happen on Needless Alley. My memories of teenage freedom suggested it ought to be a place you go to leave your troubles, so that’s what it became. Bonus Brummie points to anyone who remembers the Maglev.

Tracklist
6.Needless Alley3:11
Lyrics

I played out last night
And in the aftermath
Somebody got the trouble out
I woke up in the bath
Man did I feel lonely
Boy did I feel blue
I never felt so dusty
I only thought of you

If you've got no use for this
And the world seems heedless
Tie it up in a duffel bag
And send it down to Needless

And here's a taxi cab
A real traveling throne
I passed out on the back seat
Many miles from home
And when the driver pulled up
I passed out again
So he knocked on your weary door
And you took me in

And when you've got no use for this
And the world seems heedless
Tie it up in a duffel bag
And leave it out on Needless
And when you're caught in love
Something here between us
Tell the world in a loving dance
We're heading out on Needless

Today I woke up in a mess
Lipstick on my chest
I haven't seen the offender
I’m under house arrest
And man do I feel aimless
I want to start again
I'll take a ride on the Maglev
All the way back when

And when you've got no use for this
And the world seems heedless
Tie it up in a duffel bag
We're all out on Needless
And when you're caught in love
And you're feeling fearless
You'll find me wearing my duffel coat
I'll see you down on Needless

Credits
from Needless Alley, released September 19, 2025
By Jon Wilks
LicenseAll rights reserved.
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'The sort of performer folk circles mean when they talk of the living tradition' - Mike Davies, Folking.com

“One of the best of the New Wave of Folk Blokes. As a guitar player and arranger of traditional songs, Jon Wilks already deserves speaking of in the same breath as your Simpsons and your Morays.” – Ian A. Anderson, fRoots Mag