Download Piper’s Mountain in PDF Format
I mentioned rediscovering this slightly sinister music book from my Primary School a few weeks back. Along with these reminisces I dangled the carrot of scanning and uploading the songbook rather than just posting the lyrics to the song in particular that had been nagging away at my subconscious.
Well, thanks to me finally getting over my habitual procrastination (and thanks to the excellent Genius Scan app on my iPhone) I have finally gotten around to it. So I’ve made a PDF file containing the whole songbook, which I’ve uploaded to this Rapidshare location.
You can tell I was a child of Thatcher’s Britain – the whole premise of the songbook is clearly designed to gear up a generation of children to not want anything much from life!
Now who can remember the one involving a song competition where the hero of the piece fooled the baddy (who was trying to copy his song) by creating a spoof song about a Blackbird? C’mon… somebody else in the world must remember it!!
Goddammit 
I’m intrigued by this, the artwork looks a bit like Edward Gorey – is there more inside? Your pdf file is unavailable without a RapidShare account…
You could just set up a rapidshare account 😛
PS: You don’t need an account, click the link above then the ‘Download’ button in the middle of the page 🙂
PPS: Artist was John Dyke
Very odd… it’s like an anti-consumerist Tim Burton animation with a script by the guys who made the original Monkey Island games. If this had been taught in more schools the credit crunch wouldn’t have happened!
Thanks so much!! My name is Delores, now 36! When I was in the last year of primary school, I remember singing queen of the chorus. Everyone would look at me on the Delores line. Such memories, thanks again’
Hi Alan,
I’m Elizabeth Stanley, and I wrote the script and lyrics for Piper’s Mountain. I don’t have a copy of the music myself – I had one, but I stupidly lent it out and didn’t get it back. I rather thought I was bucking the trend of Thatcher’s Britain at the time by challenging the “greed is good” philosophy, but it seems that didn’t quite get through. I think I was mostly inspired by some characters my dad made up when I was very little, and by the charm of having Year 6 children saying lines like, “I think I’m a hundred and fifty-two now, or is it a hundred and fifty-three?”
Aww thanks for commenting Elizabeth! I think most sensible meanings are probably lost on rebellious primary school kids! I attach many happy memories to musical exercises like these, though!
Hello Elizabeth,
My name is Wesley Lloyd. I am an actor and my very first stage appearance ever was as Professor Hezekiah Plonk in Piper’s Mountain at Ivybridge Primary School in Isleworth, West London. We performed it in the spring of 1989.
I just wanted to say thank you for writing Piper’s Mountain because this was the play and the part which set me on my course in life in becoming an actor.
I have at home a CD recording of the entire play and music. I play it often to remind me where it was it all began for me.
You and Piper’s Mountain have played such a huge part in my life. Thank you so much again.
“Why should I worry over things like that/When I’ve found somebody like you.”
Wesley Lloyd
Hi Wesley,
How wonderful to hear from you. This isn’t my site so I didn’t see your message before. Glad to have inspired you.
Elizabeth
Thank you for putting an end to my search!!! Amazing stuff!! I used to love this, especially The Piper’s Tune x
Ah thank you for posting this!
Our year performed Piper’s Mountain when I was nine or ten I think, so 1987 or so. It was a mixed school but I (boy) was still chosen to play the witch! Clearly this script (which I never saw an original copy of) doesn’t call for a dame, but my school must have thought it would be light relief, and I guess I was a bit of a class clown. I remember that I had to do some very limited magic to get a crowd reaction – a collapsible bunch of flowers stuffed up one sleeve that sprung open when pulled out with a flourish, and a magic wand… that did something or another, I forget what specifically. Anyway, thank you for posting this – and to you, Elizabeth, for writing it, should you ever return to check these Comments – it’s great to see the original script!
Hi. My name is Elizabeth Stanley and I wrote the script and lyrics. I would love to have a copy of the music as I foolishly lent mine to a friend and never got it back. You can email me on (the email address is bits of my name, Elizabeth Ross Stanley).
Hi Elizabeth how amazing to hear from you! I’ve deleted your contact information so it doesn’t become publicly visible, but just emailed through a copy of the music to you – let me know when it comes though! Alan