Oh Yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah
Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no
11th Apr 2023 – Hardly a work of art but this was the chant of myself, Rupert, Jeremy and Jim and I can still hear our teenage voices clearly. We hated being at school but we had each other.
Jimmy
I knew a kid called Jimmy
He was pretty skinny
Until he got so thin
He did himself in
Skinny Jimmy, oh!
11th Apr 2023 – To the tune of Jimmy Jimmy by the Undertones. Jim was the boy in town in our little school clique. Rupert, Jeremy and I were out in the sticks.
Before we had motorbikes we did a lot of push biking to visit each other though rarely would we go into town. Wimborne was hardly attractive for 15 and 16-year-olds and although we wanted to be where things were going on we found much more entertainment in the countryside than in town.
This changed later when we got motorbikes but still, we knew we could get away with so much more in our quiet little villages with fewer people around.
And Jim was skinny though no skinnier than the rest of us. When I went back to the UK and met Jeremy and Rupert again (around 2015 I think) we were all still thin though I had the biggest beer belly which they did comment on. Jez and Rupes have kept themselves quite trim in comparison.
Atom
A little atom spinning round
I can touch the ceiling and the ground
But if you try and find me, I can’t be found
Cos I will confuse and I will confound
11th Apr 2023 – My ambition at this age was to be a punk rock star. I had given up playing the clarinet after a year or so of learning and never took on any other instrument.
Sometimes I think it was out of arrogant pride that I never took on anything. I didn’t want to be seen as not good at something. I wanted people to think that I was the best at the things that I did. I thought people would laugh at me if I tried to do something and I wasn’t very good at it. Where did I get that thought process from?
I was pretty good at most sports until my smoking, drinking and laziness to improve got the better of me.
Anyway, as I had no musical ability to speak of I would have to be the singer and of course, being the centre of attention seemed attractive too. I lost this bravado badly during my late teens and early 20s though and can’t really explain why.
As the singer I thought that I would have to be the lyricist too so I started writing lyrics as much as possible. Of course, they were very rudimentary at this time but I felt totally inspired by all the music I was consuming and the attitude that anyone could do it.
