I recently discovered what Ann would no doubt describe as a snookie—an obscure, roundabout route which is actually quicker than going the sensible way, provided you don't get lost—near her old house in Liverpool. Liverpool is mad busy with roadworks at the moment, thanks to the Capital of Culture thing. Out of necessity, I have been discovering a lot of new snookies lately.
So it was that, yesterday evening, I found myself playing the Beatles' Drive My Car while actually driving my car down Penny Lane. Yes, that Penny Lane.
Talk about spooky synchronicity or what?
I didn't see any sign of a barber showing photographs, a banker with a motor car, or a fireman with an hour-glass, but I did see a Wash-o-Rama laundrette, a Sgt. Pepper's restaurant, and about a dozen speed bumps. Signs of the times, I guess.
Say what you like about the Beatles, but they did have a gift for song titles: Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, Norwegian Wood, Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da—pure genius.
Only Lennon and McCartney could spot the potential of a name like Penny Lane. It's the perfect song title.
If it had been down to me, I would probably have plumped for the adjacent road: Croydon Avenue.
Don't they (whoever 'they' might be) reckon that a lot of the sites mentioned in 'Penny Lane' are located on Rose Lane just down the road. There's a bank, fire station, railway station and barber's on Rose Lane but, as you say, it doesn't make such a nice title as 'Penny Lane'.