"The
last time I was in this place, was 1953, I was shaking like a jelly
then, my legs were all rubbery, it’s not that much different now.
Mind you it does help seeing Gerry, Billy, ‘Our kid’, Fred back there
and all the rest of them and Pauline.
When
I was aged 11, I got a school essay prize, Coronation ….. er …..
Street? No a Coronation prize, you can tell I’m not used to these
things, right? You wanna come up and do it Fred? Frivolity aside.
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Paul
and John being filmed on the Liverpool waterfront |
The
first thing that struck me when I was going to become a Freeman
was that I wondered what it meant. Because I thought I was one,
being born here. So I asked her what can a Freeman do? What special
privileges come with it. Can you go into Derek Hatton’s office for
instance and ask to see that illegal budgie he’s been keeping there,
I know he’s got it. "No" they said, "but you can do things like
un-sheath your sword in public." And that is going to be a relief
I can tell you.
What it
really means is that it’s the highest honour that a city can pay to
a citizen, so from that point of view, I’m well chuffed. I’d like
to thank my family, some of whom are here today, who started it all
and for me are still doing it. All my fellow musicians over all the
years, who created those magical exciting years. So I want to say
to them, we made it lads, this one’s for us. And finally, I’d like
to thank the ‘Pool itself, we couldn’t have done it without you. Thank
you very much."
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