Paul McCartney, Ginsberg, Poetry & Kings Cross. Vale Royal by Aidan Dun - New Edition - GOLDMARK - YouTube

In the trip of a star crossed summer. In the sadness of my disconnection I ran adrift in the city of exterior light. I jumped off a merry-go-round of transients and disappeared in the streets saying, now let the good times roll. Give your ears to the words of your mind. It was almost 30 years ago that Mike Goldmark booked the Royal Abbot Hall to launch the publication of Vale Royal, Aidan Andrew Dunne's first epic poem. In the years after that legendary event, a meeting that brought together poets and performers including Benjamin Zephaniah, Alan Ginsberg and Paul McCartney, Vale Royal sold out. So earlier this year we decided to design and publish a new edition. It's been beautifully produced by our in-house designer, Roger, and at just £10 it's a steal. The poem itself, which was composed while Dunne was living in King's Cross squats in the 1970s, explores the mystical significance of what was once one of the most neglected areas in London. Since then, King's Cross has had a facelift, but elements of its magical history remain. In fact, inscribed on the ground at Granary Square is one of Aidan's own verses. Here I stayed bathing in the sunlight myself, till my understanding went beneath the surface and I was shown the plan of the song, Vale Royal. A song to throw light on the great secret of London and the stance of the child in the tree of life, the royal winged sun of the liberation. A song to explain the golden quatrain and the mystical geography of King's Cross. Vale Royal arrived to universal acclaim and its legacy is ongoing, but you don't have to take my word for it. Here's what some of our great writers, poets, critics have had to say about this extraordinary poem. Vale Royal is now available at Goldmark. It's on our website. You can also hear Aidan Dunne reciting the poem itself and in the back of every book there's a QR code that will take you to that recital. If you were looking for something really special, we've also produced a deluxe special edition, just 100 copies, heartbound in this beautiful blue cloth. Signed and in the back of each one, a handwritten verse by Aidan himself.