Listen, not with your ears, for they are of this world but your soul, for it was from mine that it came, in my world. But her heart and body are so desperate for happiness, so unable to bear suffering any longer, her soul desperate to put her feelings into words and to fly up and away. 'I have waited so long to climb to the stars. I have waited so long to climb to the sky.' Not a pantomime but a deep version of the fairy tale Cinderella, the songs from The Broom were written in 1992 and first performed in December, 1992 by Year 6 of St Margaret Clitherow School, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England, together with Years 3, 4 and 5, for their Christmas Play. The central theme of this musical play is that which becomes so much a part of someone, however insignificant its nature, is recognised as possessing the qualities of the said person’s soul. It is only love that matters, for without it we die. Only love can recognise love: thus it is love that brings about the understanding that the broom and its owner are one and the same. In The Broom the Fairy Godmother is God, and, having given a chance, begs for its safe deliverance: not demanding of it, for love cannot fight, it is not in its nature to do so. The reduction by one of the number of the Chorus is significant: also the refusal of the Crowd to believe unless it sees with its own eyes. Forgiveness is featured too, though noticeably not by the wrongdoers but by the maltreated. Setting: Somewhere Period: The last decade of the nineteenth century Time: A few days Reviews: 'It should be on in the West End' - Jo Reeve, who took tissue after tissue while listening. 'It sends shivers down my spine, that's when I know it's good' - Pauline Alden, on listening to 'It's such a beautiful broom'. Album design: Paul Dominic Gray Artwork: Marcus Musselman The vocal version of these songs were recorded on a four-track cassette recorder and later transferred to CD. I did not write the songs, they came to me at all times of day and night, twenty one songs, their lyrics and music, in three months. From where they came I do not know. Paul Dominic Gray, December 2014