Veggie – 21st September 1984

You call me veggie cos I don’t eat meat
So I can call you animal cos you think it’s a treat
Blood is pouring off your sterilised plate
But you can never sterilise my hate
You animal
Meat means murder
So what if you’ve heard it before
You never thought twice
Cos you don’t listen anymore

29th June 2023 – I was a staunch inarticulate vegetarian at this time. In small-town England alternative views were a battleground and expressing anything like this could see you vilified or beaten. I’m not militant about eating a vegetarian diet these days and slowly more people are conscious of the suffering their own lifestyles bring to other beings. Do what you can.

Save The Whale – 28th April 1984

Save the whale in the sea of blood
Save the whale in the sea of blood
A new handbag, a new rubber
Stop the murderers good and proper
Save the whale in the sea of blood
Save the whale in the sea of blood

2nd June 2023 – By 1984 I had already been vegetarian for two years and inspired by lyrics and information from Crass, Flux of Pink Indians, Subhumans etc I dove into animal rights. One of the first places I would go to in Poole on Saturdays was a stall just outside the mall that always had stacks of provocative information. The things I saw there made me mad.
I don’t know how much of an impact the pro-animal rights movement has had in current times but I am still anti-testing on animals for anything cosmetic. Surely by now, we don’t need to test further for things like shampoo. When it comes to cures for life-threatening diseases and viruses though I am in reluctant support.
I started eating fish and some seafood again in 1998 though not all that often back then and I have been a pescatarian since – 41 years in total so far.
In the 80s it was still seen as radical to be vegetarian and I could list off plenty of reasons to become one, especially as I was asked why anytime it came up. It made me mad that I would have to justify it. These days not many people are surprised at anyone being vegetarian and if anyone does ask me why I just say ‘all the reasons.’
The phrase Save The Whale was a popular slogan inspired by the Japanese slaughter of whales for ‘science’ as they liked people to believe but when I hear the term now all I can think about is the titular Cheech and Chong song, “Save the whale, yeah save the whale, ooooo save the whale, but kill the seals!” Damn, I haven’t seen a Cheech and Chong movie in a long time!