Loch Lomond
(by Andrew McAlistair)
CityScape near Central Ave. / Jefferson St.
Singing guitarist from Scotland playing in the plaza of CityScape
CityScape near Central Ave. / Jefferson St.
Singing guitarist from Scotland playing in the plaza of CityScape
Approaching Downtown from the South, Central Ave. goes underground and passes beneath Jackson St. This underpass was built in 1940 to allow automobile traffic to get into Downtown without going over the array of crisscrossing railroad tracks that had come to be known as “the cascades” and where accidents occurred almost daily before the tunnel was built. As you continue north, you’ll see several historic buildings. Immediately on the left at 27 W Madison St. is a fading memory of Chinatown. This building was constructed in 1931 and originally operated as a boarding house, but it’s come to be known as the Sing High building because of one of its more recent tenants. The Sing High Chop Suey House was established in 1928 by Fred Lee and continued to be operated by members of his family for 90 years. The restaurant operated out of several different locations over the decades and moved to the building at 27 W Madison St. in 1981 when their prior location was slated for demolition to make way for the new basketball arena. They closed in 2018 after the building on Madison St. was sold to the Hansji Corporation out of Anaheim, California. Hansji also owns another historic structure across the street that currently hosts a Courtyard by Marriott: the Luhrs Building, paid for by and named after George Luhrs, who moved to California from Germany in 1867 at 20 years of age, then later moved to Nevada, then to Wickenburg, and finally to Phoenix—then only a town of about 2,000 people—in 1878. He was one of the members of the first elected leadership when the city was formally established in 1881 and the building at Jefferson & Central that bears his name was completed in 1924, becoming the tallest building in Phoenix and the entire state. His son, George Jr., paid for the construction of the adjacent Luhrs Tower in 1929. On the east side of Central at Jefferson, with carvings of stoic lions staring down at the sidewalk, is the former Jefferson Hotel. Built in 1915, it became famous as the scene of Janet Leigh’s risqué liaison in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. It was the tallest building in Arizona for five years, and for a time later in its life it served as the home of the Phoenix Police Museum. The museum was relocated to Old City Hall, the castle-like structure with a bright orange tiled roof crowned by winged scrolls and floral buttons built from 1928-1929 that originally functioned simultaneously as the Phoenix City Hall and the Maricopa County Courthouse. Central Ave. discontinues for a block between Jefferson and Washington before going on again. This space is the former site of Patriot Square Park, which was opened in 1976 and included a full sized concert stage and hosted many community events including annual Cinco de Mayo celebrations. A park re-design in the late 1980s included an interactive laser show feature that was an example of cutting-edge public art for its time. Early in the Third Millenium, however, the park’s maintenance fell behind and many community members—with nowhere else to go— began living in the park, so it was demolished and replaced with the CityScape shopping center/urban complex (completed in 2012). In 2025, a new commuter train station opened in CityScape, connecting the foothills of South Mountain—a neighborhood historically designated for minority communities through red-lining and other racially-motivated segregation policies—with Downtown Phoenix. The tracks go through the 85-year-old Central Ave. underpass as they proceed South. North of CityScape, Central Ave. penetrates the heart of Downtown and becomes the thoroughfare of Midtown, where it is a tree-lined boulevard between International Style skyscrapers towering on either side of the road. This recording was captured while the CityScape metro station was still under construction. The artist was a Scottish man living in Phoenix, and the song is a traditional one dating back to the 1740s. It tells the story of two comrades, captured in battle; one takes the high road back home to Scotland, the other—having been executed—takes the low road of death.
(Some of the information in these liner notes is fictional, presented here in the attempt of satire)
(Some of the information in these liner notes is fictional, presented here in the attempt of satire)
LYRICS
“‘And now this is our intern, Jim. He’s from Dallas, Texas, and he will explain how he got this next recording.’
‘So, I was walking around Downtown Phoenix one day, and I encountered a man sitting on the side of the street with a guitar, and I asked him where he was from. He said he was from Scotland. I asked him if there was anything about his home that he missed, and he said, “yes: water.” And he explained to me that they have lakes – they call them lochs – and there’s many of them, and there’s rivers, and there’s creeks and streams; and he said that water is not only an essential part of life, but it’s something that’s very beautiful, something that helps bring joy, and peace, and then he played me this song.’”
By yon bonnie banks, and by yon bonnie braes
Where the sun shines bright on Loch Lomond
Where me and my true love were ever wont to gae
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond
‘Twas there that we parted in yon shady glen
On the steep, steep sides of Ben Lomond
Where in purple hue, the hilland hills we viewed
And the moon coming out in the gloaming
You’ll tag the high road, and I’ll tag the low road
And I’ll be in Scotland before ye
Where me and my true love will never meet again
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond
The wee birdies sing and the wildflowers spring
And in the sunshine the waters are sleeping
But the broken heart, it kens nae second spring again
Though the waeful may cease frae their greeting
And you’ll tag the high road and I’ll tag the low road
And I’ll be in Scotland before ye
Where me and my true love will never meet again
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond
‘So, I was walking around Downtown Phoenix one day, and I encountered a man sitting on the side of the street with a guitar, and I asked him where he was from. He said he was from Scotland. I asked him if there was anything about his home that he missed, and he said, “yes: water.” And he explained to me that they have lakes – they call them lochs – and there’s many of them, and there’s rivers, and there’s creeks and streams; and he said that water is not only an essential part of life, but it’s something that’s very beautiful, something that helps bring joy, and peace, and then he played me this song.’”
By yon bonnie banks, and by yon bonnie braes
Where the sun shines bright on Loch Lomond
Where me and my true love were ever wont to gae
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond
‘Twas there that we parted in yon shady glen
On the steep, steep sides of Ben Lomond
Where in purple hue, the hilland hills we viewed
And the moon coming out in the gloaming
You’ll tag the high road, and I’ll tag the low road
And I’ll be in Scotland before ye
Where me and my true love will never meet again
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond
The wee birdies sing and the wildflowers spring
And in the sunshine the waters are sleeping
But the broken heart, it kens nae second spring again
Though the waeful may cease frae their greeting
And you’ll tag the high road and I’ll tag the low road
And I’ll be in Scotland before ye
Where me and my true love will never meet again
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond
© 2025 Malno Music