Hat Trick
Written by Dan Peek, Gerry Beckley, and Dewey Bunnell, ©1973
Found on Hat Trick and Highway.

You, can I make it known
I'd like to take you home
You been away so long
I'd like to see you

But when I saw you at the local hop
I tried to take you but you made me stop
Then I saw that you were dancing with a rent-a-cop
Whoa, whoa!

The minute you pulled me through
You thought that then you knew
If not today, I'd find a way
To get to you

Just a little of nothin'
That's all you had the time to give
Just a little of nothin'
Ain't gonna make it worthwhile for me

If you'd only have listened
You'd have heard every word I said
Just a little of nothin'
Ain't gonna make it worthwhile for me
Da, da, da ...

Just a little of nothin' (Just a little of nothin')
Just a little of nothin' (Just a little of nothin')
Just a little of nothin' (Just a little of nothin')
Just a little of nothin' (Just a little of nothin')

Newton-under-Roseberry topping
And it's cold and it's wet
And you feel like you're part of all time

Living in the gap between the echoes
Feeling it hot
And feeling it cold

As long as there are fish in the sea
Have a cup of tea
Oh, as long as there are fish in the sea
Have a cup of tea

'Cause you are running from the ring of the golden bell
Like a bat out of hell
You are running from the ring of the golden bell
Like a bat out of hell
You are running from the ring of the golden bell
Like a bat out of hell
You are running from the ring of the golden bell
Like a bat out of hell

There's a lady across the hall
She's telling me it's all right (all right)
I'm tryin' to give her my all
She's sayin' I'm uptight
Hell of a way to spend an afternoon

Saw a movie tonight
Got frightened and broke down (broke down)
Got a call in the night
My old lady just hit town
Take her away, she's tryin' to turn me round
I'm nowhere to be found

I can't unread the pages I've already read
And I can't feed these ages left in my head
They're already dead, yeah


This is a map of a part of North Yorkshire that includes Roseberry Topping (a peak in the Cleveland Hills). There is a village called Newton Under Roseberry not far from there. I live about 70 miles north of it in Newcastle Upon Tyne.

Roseberry Topping is an unusual landmark on the skyline overlooking Teesside. Known as Yorkshire's Matterhorn, it has a hard sandstone cap, which has protected the underlying shales and clays, so while the surrounding area was worn away by ice, wind and rain, the Topping survived. Its dramatic summit was partly created by man. Alum, jet and ironstone have all been mined out of the hill, and ironstone workings caused the collapse of the western face in 1912.

Below are a couple of different views of the Topping.

Jim Kelly
England


Aerial view of Roseberry Topping.


View of Roseberry Topping from the surrounding country side.


During a visit to England my family and I managed to visit Newton Under Roseberry Topping. From our experience, it was as it was described in Hat Trick. We were there in summer and it was so damp and misty that we really couldn't see the hill. I thought you might be interested to see the photos I took.

Margaret
Sydney, Australia

Highway Highlight (from the box set booklet)
America's experimental impulses are given free rein on Hat Trick's title track, an extended medley that all three members contributed to. "We had a bunch of parts of new songs, and we thought we could assemble some of them," says Beckley. "The opening bit about the sock hop is Dan's. 'Newton under roseberry topping' is Dewey--that's the name of a town in England. And then 'just a little of nothing' is my contribution." But we really didn't know what to call that, and we finally chose 'Hat Trick.' It's a sports term for scoring three goals in a soccer game. It's not a magician's term, though people thought that." The tune features backing vocals by Carl Wilson and Bruce Johnston of The Beach Boys, as well as a tap-dancing break by Lorene Yarnell (of the duo Shields & Yarnell).


Last Revised: 29 July 2001