Red Rider by The Margaret Hooligans

To start, Red Rider lets loose with a long wail of fuzz and syncopated drumming, before Meg starts in with the verse, “They…said you weren’t to be trusted…” what follows is a reinterpretation of the Red Riding Hood fairytale, but the lyrics reveal how it could also be an allegory for the last few years we’ve been living through. The drumming is repetitive but complicated, while the electric ukulele is sparse, ringing out while Meg retells the tale. The middle of the song is full of fantasia, with a swirl of ethereal arias, crashing symbols, clanging cowbells, pounding djembe, and electric ukulele noise.

Tracklist

1.	Red Rider	4:12

Lyrics

They said you weren't to be trusted
I just laughed and handed you my things
And I was warned but took no heed
And now I am sorry oh so sorry

The belly of the beast is warm but dark
The acids eat away at my spark
I cry for help but no one hears me
It just sounds like laughing to their ears

I am lost
Can no one find me
I am cross
Can no one cheer me

I was on a merry go round
I was crawling around
Crawling around
Crawling around

I don't want you coming round here no more
Don't need you sniffing around my door
Those wolf eyes won't work on me no more
I can't fall for it I can't fall

I am lost
Can no one find me
I am cross
Can no one cheer me

When the axeman delivered me the knife
I didn't cut once but thrice
The light dissolved the film on my eyes

I was on a merry go round
I was crawling around
Crawling around
Crawling around

I won't see him again

I I am free
I am free
I I am free
I am free
I I am free
I am free now

I am free
I am free
I am free
I am free

Credits

released June 3, 2022
Meg Cratty: Electric Baritone Ukulele and Lead Vox
Mr. Strontium: Drums and Percussion, Back Up Vox

Produced by Mr. Strontium, written by The Margaret Hooligans, lyrics by Meg Cratty
Mixed and Mastered by Jon Huxtable of Smallfish Recordings, Edinburgh, UK

License