UNIT Let's Build A Bridge.

Note: all tracks recorded under the names Academy 23 or UNIT are the property of DNA Records and protected by copyright, regardless of who wrote the works concerned. This is a track from Trains Run On My One Track Mind, our 55th album, recorded in 2025.

My dad’s a scrap metal dealer; it was granddad who built the business.
Cutting corners, using cheap material, increased his profit margin.
Alton Council subcontracted the job and granddad saw an opportunity
to save himself a few hundred pounds by using lower grade metal.
After all, it was only a bridge on which trains ran twice a day.

That was back in 1966, long before health and safety rules.
Now the old embankment runs from Basingstoke to Bentworth.
The tracks were lifted years ago, replaced by a cycle path,
broken only by a single gap where the bridge should be.
Sandra Benton loves old railways. Indeed, she loves them more than me.

We agreed to meet on Saturday by the old plate layers hut.
I was there but she was not; so I walked on anyway.
That was when I saw the boy, standing between the abutments
in the space where the bridge used to be, dressed like a cross country runner.
He looked to be around 14, a blazing haze of hate and anger.

He ordered me to repair the bridge then battered me when I refused.
How can a lad who looks so skinny punch me so bloody hard?
Later Sandra joined me there but the boy battered her as well.
He said the missing bridge must be built; it was our duty.
Although we knew the kid was crazy, we agreed to his demands.

When I told dad about the boy, his face transformed by fear.
the old man wouldn’t tell me why but he said we had to build that bridge.
On Sunday he drove his crane to an alcove below the track bed.
The boy showed us 3 huge girders hidden underneath a tarpaulin.
Dad said he knew what to do yet he never once looked at the boy.

It took the 3 of us 7 hours to rebuild that bloody bridge.
When we finished we saw that boy walk underneath to inspect our work.
I followed him under the bridge – he turned around and disappeared!
Sandra screamed – I blinked – both of us unable to believe what we saw.
Meanwhile dad sat in his crane, weeping like a little child.

Later at home he told us the grim and grisly truth.
The boy was David Barnes, a school pal of dad.
One Sunday in 1966, Barnes ran underneath the bridge,
the bridge jerry-built by granddad...when a train ran across the tracks,
the bridge collapsed and David Barnes was crushed to death.

Andy Martin – Vocal, Hammond Organ, Church Organ.
Rachel Greenberg – Alto Saxophone, Guitar.
Keilan Knight – 5 String Bass Guitar.
Karen Elliot – Drums, Vibraphone.

Text & Music – Andy Martin.

You may be interested in these other tracks by UNIT, all of which are available on our Rumble channel.

The Earth Is Finite.
Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes.
Osaka Boy.
Barbara’s Bridge.
A Study Of Alkaline Metals.
The 613 Mitzvot.
The Unwanted.
A Song For Eric Cooper.
Amery Hill School.
Realise Your Potential.
1985.
Resonance Rocks Out.
The 4th Horseman.
The Noahide Laws.
Hup Soon Heng.
Eagle.
When We Were Friends.

In addition we have 11 books available in PDF format free on request.