A classic country music song has had a playful reworking by a local mandolin group. \u201cI\u2019ve been everywhere\u201d has swapped its lyrics from being about a journey across North America for a ride on the Tyne and Wear Metro.<\/p>\n
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Musicians from the Tyneside Mandolin Orchestra came up with the idea of changing the lyrics which now sees every stop on the Metro mentioned. The song has previously provided a string of hits for singers with the most notable probably being Johnny Cash. But ever before has it included stations on the Metro from South Hylton to Airport and South Shields to St James.<\/p>\n
Tom Cronin, Musical Director of the Tyneside Mandolin Orchestra, was the brains behind the reworking. He said: \u201cEveryone in our group has really loved working on the song and then performing it. It\u2019s just been great fun.\u00a0 I had heard the song on the radio one day and an idea came to me about reworking it somehow to make a localised version. The idea was to swap out the American locations for Tyne and Wear Metro stations, and we set about that task as a group.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe challenge was shoe-horning our lyrics into the rhythm of the song, and then adapting the chorus. I\u2019m really pleased with what we\u2019ve came up with. We\u2019re delighted that Nexus liked the song and that they asked us to perform it live for their customers at Jesmond Metro station.\u201d<\/p>\n
Huw Lewis, Customer Services Director at Nexus, added: \u201cThe reworked lyrics of this famous song perfectly demonstrate how Metro is at the heart of the communities it serves and is firmly part of everyday life in North East England.\u00a0 We love the song. It\u2019s fantastic. It\u2019s really clever the way in which the musicians from the Tyneside mandolin orchestra have managed to reel off all 60 Metro stations that we have on the system.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a playful take on a legendary piece of music. We\u2019ve added the film of them performing the song on to the Nexus YouTube page so our customers can watch what has been produced. It\u2019s well worth a look.\u201d<\/p>\n