Virginia Astley was born in Garston, Hertfordshire, England. Virginia began learning piano at the age of six and flute at 14. After leaving school, she studied at the Guildhall School Of Music. Her first professional appearance in public was as a busker outside South Kensington tube station. In 1980, she auditioned for a new band from Clapham, the Victims of Pleasure. Astley, playing keyboards, worked with them for a short while playing in clubs and pubs around London. The band released three singles between 1980 and 1982 before splitting up.
Afterward, Astley wrote, arranged and performed music with Skids frontman Richard Jobson for the album The Ballad Of Etiquette. Their collaboration continued when Jobson moved to Belgian label Les Disques Du Crépuscule, and Astley contributed to the Crépuscule compilation The Fruit of the Original Sin. She also contributed as part of The Dream Makers (in collaboration with filmmaker Jean Paul Goude) for a cover version of "La Chanson d'Helene" (Helen's Song), showcasing an early example of her distinctive vocal style.
It was during this early period that Astley started to give serious consideration to releasing her own material; however, nothing immediately came of these plans. Then in 1981, she signed to the small UK label Why-Fi and recorded a series of songs. A school friend, Jo Wells (Kissing the Pink) and a university friend Nicky Holland both contributed as did Tony Butler, Mark Brzezicki and Peter Hope-Evans. Astley then received an offer from another Why-Fi artist, Troy Tate, for a supporting band position with The Teardrop Explodes. In the 1990s, finding that her musical style was popular in Japan, she went on to collaborate with Asian artists.
Tree Top Club
Virginia Astley Lyrics
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And the trunk now twisted
The tiny saplings
That we once planted
Do you remember the three top club
When you won the bunty competition
And there was a cold stone seat
And a blue cold sky
And yours was brown
Then I bought you sweets and comics
From the motorway shop
And know you I lie
This pure indulgent fantasy
With the baby's mind
I crave for love
But this adult sensibility
Lets me stray
And I compromise
My life is always compromise
Oh tell me why
It's all a senseless lie
The church is ruined
And the graves are deserted
Those hiding places
That we once haunted
Do you remember the old Scout Hut
When we hid in Dermoor's shed
And know you I lie
This pure indulgent fantasy
With the baby's mind
I crave for love
But this adult sensibility
Lets me stray
And I compromise
My life is always compromise
Oh tell me why
It's all a senseless lie
And you and I lie
This pure indulgent fantasy
Knowledge now it's a dangerous thing
But this adult sensibility
Leads us astray
And you realized
That your thoughts are a long way away
And they prophesy
That man lives a hopeless life
In Virginia Astley's song Tree Top Club, she reminisces about a past friendship and childhood memories. The first verse talks about the physical changes in their environment with the tree's bent and twisted trunk and the tiny saplings they once planted. The chorus then takes the listener back to a specific memory of when they were at the Tree Top Club and her friend had won the "bunty competition." She describes the cold stone seat and blue sky while recalling her green bike and her friend's brown bike. She then mentions buying her friend sweets and comics from a motorway shop.
The second verse continues with nostalgia for the past by mentioning a ruined church and deserted graves that they used to haunt. She then references the old Scout Hut and hiding in Dermoor's shed. The chorus repeats the same memories as before.
In the bridge, Astley expresses her desires and struggles with maturing from childhood. She longs for love and indulgent fantasy with a baby's mind, but recognizes that adult sensibility leads her astray and she compromises her life. She questions the senselessness of it all.
Overall, Tree Top Club is a melancholic reflection on childhood memories and the disillusionment that comes with adulthood.
Line by Line Meaning
The tree's bent
The once strong tree is now bent over.
And the trunk now twisted
The tree's trunk has become twisted and contorted.
The tiny saplings, That we once planted
We once planted small trees that have now grown into the large tree that is now bent and twisted.
Do you remember the three top club, When you won the bunty competition, And there was a cold stone seat, And a blue cold sky, My bike was green, And yours was brown, Then I bought you sweets and comics, From the motorway shop
Do you remember when we were kids and you won a competition called the Bunty and we sat on a cold stone seat under a blue sky. I had a green bike and you had a brown bike, then I bought you treats from the store.
And know you I lie, This pure indulgent fantasy, With the baby's mind, I crave for love, But this adult sensibility, Lets me stray, And I compromise, My life is always compromise, Oh tell me why, It's all a senseless lie
Now I know I'm lying to myself with my childish fantasies about love. As an adult, I am free to pursue my desires but I struggle and end up settling for less. My life is always a compromise and it's all senseless.
The church is ruined, And the graves are deserted, Those hiding places, That we once haunted
The church and its graves, once familiar to us, lay in ruins and are now empty and deserted.
Do you remember the old Scout Hut, When we hid in Dermoor's shed
Do you remember when we were kids and we hid in the old Scout Hut or in Dermoor's shed?
And you and I lie, This pure indulgent fantasy, Knowledge now it's a dangerous thing, But this adult sensibility, Leads us astray, And you realized, That your thoughts are a long way away, And they prophesy, That man lives a hopeless life
You and I both feel stuck in childish fantasies and as adults, we still struggle to pursue our desires. Knowledge can be dangerous and it has led us astray. You now realize that your thoughts are moving further away, but they also bring a sense of hopelessness for humanity's future.
Writer(s): Virginia Alice Astley
Contributed by Jayden I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.