a thousand trees
Stereophonics Lyrics

Standing at the bus stop with my shopping
The singer is at the bus stop holding shopping bags.

In my hands when I'm overhearing elder
The singer overhears an elderly person talking.

Ladies as the rumors start to fly you can
The rumors have started to spread among ladies.

Hear them in the school yard, in the scrap yard
The rumors are being spread in various places - schools, scrap yards.

In the chip shop, in the phone box, in the pool hall at
The rumors are being spread in various other places - chip shops, phone boxes, pool halls.

The shoe stall every corner turned around
The rumors are spreading everywhere.

It started with a school girl who was
The rumors began with a school girl.

Running running home to her mam and
The girl ran home to her mother.

Dad told them she was playing in the
She told her parents she was playing in the local football team's changing room.

Change room of her local football side they
She played in the changing room of the football team.

Said tell us again so she told them again
Her parents asked her to repeat herself.

They said tell us the truth they found it hard
The parents didn't believe her story and asked her to tell the truth.

To believe 'cause he taught our Steve he
The accused person is known to the parents as he was the teacher of their child Steve.

Even trained me taught uncle john who's
The accused person also taught the singer and Uncle John.

Father of three
Uncle John is a father of three children.

But it only takes one tree to make
The song transitions into a metaphor where one tree represents a large-scale problem.

A thousand matches
One tree can provide materials for a thousand matches.

Only takes one match to burn
One match can ignite and burn a thousand trees.

A thousand trees
The same metaphor is repeated to emphasize the scale of the problem.

You see it in the class room in the
The problems and rumors have spread even to classrooms.

Swimming pool where the matchstick men
The problem even reaches swimming pools where ‘matchstick men’ are made which means, pyromaniacs.

Are made at the scouts hall at the football
Matches are being made in Scouts halls and at the football stadium.

Where the wise we trust are paid they all
Adults and wise people in power are involved in the problem.

Honor his name he did a lot for the game
The accused person is respected and celebrated for his past work in a football game.

He got his name knocked up above the
The accused person has a statue of himself erected on the sports ground gate.

Sports ground gates but now they are
The statue is being dismantled and removed now.

Ripping them down stamping the ground
The statue is being physically removed by ripping it down and stomping it on the ground.

Picture gathers dust behind the bar in the
His picture is now a useless souvenir, gathering dust in a bar.

Lounge it takes one tree to make
Reiteration of the metaphor.

Wake up and smell the rain shake up he's
The singer is asking people to notice the problem and to wake up.

Back to stay he hasn't been on a holiday
The accused person hasn't gone on a vacation and is still present.

His growing seeds don't believe why he's
The seeds he planted (people/players he trained) are having trouble believing that he could do something like this.

Been away in the school yard change room
The events of the rumors began in the school yard changing room - referring back to the earlier parts of the song.

Playing fields bathroom phone box office
Reiteration of the collection of places where the rumor was spread.

Blocks corner turned around they keep
The rumor keeps on spreading and growing, turning all corners along the way.

Doubting the flame tossing the blame got
People are trying to find other people to blame for the problem.

His name knocked up above the sports
The name is mocked and ridiculed now when it could earlier evoke respect.

Ground gates but now they're
Another reiteration - the statue has been removed

Ripping them down stamping the ground
Again, people are physically remaking the statue to rid any kind of idolizing of the accused person.

Picture gathers dust in the bar in the
The picture remains a useless piece of decoration.

Lounge it takes one tree to make
The metaphor is repeated one more time.

A thousand matches
The scale of the problem once again emphasized.

Only takes one match to burn
One match is enough to cause the destruction of a thousand trees, referring indirectly to the cause and impact of rumors in this case.

A thousand trees
Reiteration of the metaphor.