Songs for While I’m Away

n.d. [c.1974]. Stapled printed wrappers. Second edition (see note). Preface by Peter Fallon. With illustrations by Tim Booth and Jim FitzPatrick. A selection of 20 lyrics by Phil Lynott, from the first three Thin Lizzy albums, and one poem ( “A Holy Encounter”). *** Songs for While I’m Away was the first of two books of lyrics published by Pippen. (The second, Philip, was published in 1978.) It was published in a edition of 1,000 copies, 200 of which were in hardback and signed by the author. Our copy has the words “Second Edition Published By Pippen” stamped at the rear. No second edition has been accounted for, as far as we are aware. It is thought that any copies in excess of a 1,000 were stamped “second edition”, but that they were in fact part of the same printing. It is not known how many excess copies were printed. *** In 1997 both poetry books (“Songs for While I’m Away” and “Philip”) were brought together in a single volume, again titled “Songs for While I’m Away”, by Boxtree Ltd., with a new foreword by John Peel. The original publications are extremely scarce.