Lily the Musical
Words and Music by John Clarke Palmer*
THE SONGS
Act 1
2 Waiting for my Chance to Come Along – RICK (young)
3 I Will Make You Wealthy – DAVE
4 Why Don't You Know (People are Suffering) – LILY
5 Everywhere I Look and Everywhere I Go – LILY & RICK
6 Precious Moments (Lovin’ in London Town) – RICK
7 We are Called to Take Action – LILY’s FATHER
8 You’re Everything to Me – LILY, RICK & FATHER
9 No I Can’t See Where I'm Going To – RICK
10 The People Have All Gone (It is War) – LILY
Act 2
11 Modern Living is a Mess - RICK
12 The World is not Just Eye Candy – LILY
13 Talking Like That – DAVE & RICK
14 Let’s just get High – DAVE & RICK
15 You Sent Your Daughter – THE PROSECUTOR
16 Moving in Shadows - LILY’s FATHER
17 Tried to Change The World (Fruit of the Revolution) – LILY
19 Did You Really Think (Have it All) – RICK’s MOTHER
Lily the Musical
Words and Music by John Clarke Palmer
THE STORY
Act 1 starts in the present day with Old Rick explaining that he is going to tell a story from his youth about the mysterious 1970's activist Lily.
Flashing back 50 years to the 1970's we meet Young Rick, a talented but naive young musician from a coastal town in England living with his mother. He wants the bright lights and fame so when his mother warns him against the path he has chosen he defies her and leaves for London.
There he meets and signs up with an unscrupulous music business manager Dave, who works for a multinational company illegally exploiting poor countries in other parts of the world.
Next we meet Lily who is on a protest demo outside Dave's offices. She is an environmental activist egged on by her father trying to raise awareness of this company's bad practices. Young Rick is captivated and attracted to Lily and after they meet despite her better judgement she falls for him too.
Meanwhile Lily's father, who is on a destructive revenge mission, has persuaded Lily to travel overseas to a war zone to carry out an industrial sabotage attack against the company Dave (and therefore Rick) works for. This is supposed to be top secret but under pressure Lily tells Rick about it.
There is an emotional farewell between the three of them as Lily flies out to carry out her dangerous mission. Rick feels sorry for himself while Lily is anxious but determined.
In Act 2 Rick comes to a realisation that he ought to be less selfish, more understanding and supportive but Lily misinterprets his communication and criticises him for thinking the world is "just eye candy" for him.
This apparent rejection angers and upsets Rick who spills the beans to Dave in a boozy session just as the attack is happening. Dave denounces Lily's father to the authorities and he is caught, tried and thrown in jail, where he tragically dies.
Lily has come back in disguise and is heartbroken. Rick realises that he has messed up badly and lost Lily and, after a long estrangement, tries to make up for it by reconciling with his mother.
Lily who has lost everything and has to live the life of a fugitive considers suicide.
Returning to the present day we are surprised to meet Old Lily who it turns out despite everything did eventually get back together with Rick.
Lily the Musical
Words and Music by John Clarke Palmer*
THE CAST
RICK (young and old) - John Clarke Palmer
DAVE (Rick’s agent and manager) - Phil King
LILY - Blythe Pepino
LILY’s FATHER - Pete Ev
THE PROSECUTOR - Hywel Dowsell
RICK’s MOTHER - Diana Mitchell
MUSIC PRODUCTION
Recorded and produced by John Clarke Palmer in his studio.
All guitars, basses, keyboards and drums played by John Clarke Palmer
Backing Vocals sung by Blythe Pepino and John Clarke Palmer
Authentic Cuban percussion played by Yosmany Gonzalez Garcia on tracks 1, 5, 6, 10, 15 & 19
As the recording was during lockdown all the guest vocalists recorded themselves remotely and emailed their contributions in.
Assistance with story development and narration: Jenny Palmer
*Music on track 18 by Sir Arthur Sullivan