|
|
|
|
Champion The Underdog (Wrath Records, WRATHCD60)CHAMPION THE UNDERDOGA peculiarly British trait is our love and support for the underdog. No-one else gets this - especially Americans. (Not all of you, by the way.) Many of our lovable 'Merican pals often don't understand why we'd ever want someone who's not very good to beat someone who is actually really good, which is understandable when you think about it. Why are British people so keen on following (and paying good money to) bands who consistently fuck up in public? Why does everyone support minnows Histon against Manchester United? Come to think about it, why does everyone hate Manchester United? (And even a lot of Manchester United fans hate Manchester United.) Growing up in the North during the 1980s was a fine time for underdogs. A time for David to come up against Goliath. A time for ver people to try and rise above the right-of-centre government. And surely the only time in history when someone such as Eddie 'The Eagle' Edwards (a man who was to ski-jumping as I am to, well, ski-jumping) could achieve national fame and adulation by being, frankly, a bit crap. This song is about that. You can admire someone for their tenacity and temerity (especially in the face of adversity) just as much as you can admire someone else for their natural flair and ability. NB This is one of two songs which, during mixing, we realised sounded like bits of the theme tune to Jim'll Fix It. Not the first time I've unwittingly ripped off a top theme tune. The rich, the poor, the self-assured, We don't stop trying, until we're dying. We've got a message for you. We are the population! We are the peasant kings. We try, and we don't always fly. Here's the heroes that we're used to: Basil Fawlty and Monty Brewster. Don't stop believing, until we're leaving. We've got a message for you. (And you, and you, and you, and you and you and you.) We are the population! We are the peasant kings. We try, and we don't always fly. We are the population! We are the peasant kings. We try, and we don't always fly. THESE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN MY HOUSEContrary to what you might believe, I don't live with a eco-warrior, a spoiled brat or a coke fiend. I live with Geoff, John and Benners. It's just a funny story, some of it relates to real people, some of it doesn't. We did have mouses under the floor at one point, though. Little bastards used to eat my sweets. Particularly liked Wham bars, would you believe. And there was this one time that I had to pluck a dead rat out from under the floorboards. That was a laugh. The line about Spain was because I was going to Spain when I wrote it. NB The video was filmed in my house. That's my bed at the start. Obviously the last chorus bit isn't my house - that was filmed at the house of a very kind man called Clive, in West(er) Yorkshire. NBNB 'Running green'. I've no idea what this means. Supergrass sung it in that song Alright, and I've always liked the sound of it. There's a man with a plan who does what he can to save what's left of the Earth. Running green; These are the people who live in my house. There's a fella with a face which is older than he says who secretly enjoys his pain. My humble home: These are the people who live in my house. The TV's broke and there's bills to pay. These are the people who live in my house. These are the people who live in my house. (I'M) WASTING MY TIME (YET AGAIN)Like many of my lyrics, this song is about Not Doing Very Much With One's Time. I go through phases of being one of the most pro-active vivacious hard-working blokes you'll ever meet, to being a fairly dull stay-at-home who'd prefer to watch EastEnders and drink tea (white, no sugar, ta). This was just a throwaway lyric, really. I like the tune a lot though. NB. Yes, I know it sounds a bit like Uptown Girl. NBNB. A note about the title. I'm a firm believer that the humble bracket has been neglected in music of late. More parentheses in pop, please. I can't take it any more, my rotten stinking luck. I'm boring, ignoring everything. I can't face it any more, the loneliness abounds. I'm boring, ignoring everything. I'm boring, ignoring everything. MAGNETSIt's fairly self-explanatory, this one. Lost love, people rubbing others up the wrong way, missing someone, etc. Pretty much the standard formula for pop music since the dawn of time. Boy meets girl, boy falls for girl, girl falls for boy, boy gets horse's head in post. The second-best song ever written that mentions magnets. And not written about any one person in particular, like pretty much all of my songs. It's written for and about the beauty and madness of women and men. The Rt. Hon. Sir Willie Dowling sticks his sizeable melodic oar in on this one, doing some strings and piano. I think it's safe to say he's a bit of a genius. I introduced him to the Sisters band and crew when we were in Paris recently and they all fell in love with him within about fourteen seconds. I'm going to make a record with him one day. He doesn't know it yet, but we will. Early morning, feel appalling. Another chance I've blown. I need something fast. Something unsurpassed. Everybody's looking for the same. Nights are longer, feeling stronger. We've got different needs. My arms empty but my eyes are full. Everybody's looking for the same. And every time I'm feeling close there's something repels me. Everybody's looking for the same. Magnet, oh magnet, I love you all the same. GODOT'S ARRIVEDProbably addressed to myself at a time when I wasn't doing very much. Sometimes by writing songs about Not Doing Very Much you can make yourself Do More Things. Some of it is definitely about being in certain parts of London at a particular time in my life. This is a huge generalisation, and it's not always true, but I think there's very much a habit of People Talking About Doing Stuff But Not Actually Doing Very Much in the South of England, and People Doing Stuff But Not Really Talking About It Very Much in the North. I've lived both, and each are bobbins. You've got to be in music for the right reasons, which is what the middle bit is about. Don't do it for the fame, or the glamour, because being famous is really boring (from what I have seen from certain friends of mine) - almost as boring as the pursuit of fame. Plus, being in bands is one of the least glamorous jobs I can think of. (This is when I think about loading gear into practice rooms at 4.30am in January, or driving yourself from Glasgow to London in one go, or missing my niece's birthday because of work, or being thrown up on by a lead singer, or sleeping nine to a room in a motel in Texas during Summer in a motel that has bloodstains on the wall, or trying to sleep off a particularly stellar Stella hangover backstage in Plymouth using a small notepad for a pillow, or getting stuck in the disabled toilets of the venue one minute before we're due on stage.) Do it because you've got something to say, or because you enjoy it and you think others might too. Or for the brilliant nights out, meeting loads of good folks, and getting to travel round the country/world a bit. Don't do it for the money, because there isn't any. And finally, do stuff because you MEAN IT and it applies to YOU and MAKES YOUR LIFE BE GREAT. This is an important thing that people forget. Where was I? I'm stronger than a lion, Why just survive? You're waiting to die. I'm rambling art with Rimbaud (ramblin' out his ring, now) Why just survive? You're waiting to die. Oh, don't live in a dream, you know that real life's more obscene. Yeah! I'm drinking like a chimney, and smoking like a fish. Why just survive? You're waiting to die. PROFESSIONAL CRASTINATORAnother one about Not Doing Very Much. This time, with added weed. Cannabis, for the three of you who've never tried it, is fun for a bit, and is probably not physically addictive. But sometimes you get caught in its grasp and you find yourself smoking every night, getting stuck to the sofa and never really getting anything done. Apart from eating your own body weight in Maltesers. It is (apparently) fun to do every now and then, if that's the kind of thing you like doing. Especially if you get it from someone you know, rather than entering into dial-a-dealer gangster world. Anyway, we definitely wouldn't know about any of this, it's just what bigger boys have told us. In case you were wondering, the big chug-a-chug-a-chug evil noise stuff is a downtuned bass, going through a POG synth, going through three (I think) distortion pedals, and a tremelo pedal. It was panned manually. Which was a ballache. But it sounds good, right? NB. I know it sounds a bit like How Soon Is Now?. I wanted it to sound like a cross between that, Faith Healer by The Sensational Alex Harvey Band and Cabinet by Spratley's Japs. World outside so far away. I've got a plan I'll never hatch. World outside too near for me! I've got a plan I'll never hatch. I've got a plan I'll never hatch. EVERYTHING'S FINEFairly obvious, unfortunately. NB. The best-ever song about love breaking down is When Love Breaks Down by Prefab Sprout. You gave me a reason to breathe. Now it's late and I want to go home, Everything's fine, fine. In my dream, I broke into your home. Everything's fine, fine. Oh! I'll pass the time, and I'll sit tight... Everything's fine, fine. THE BEST NIGHT OF MY LIFEAlthough this has lots of references to Summer and the sun and so on, it was initially written about a night out I had with a load of my mates at Christmas 2009. It was a properly brilliant night, loads of my best Leeds mates out and about, no-one had to work the next day, everyone in great spirits. At the first pub we went to (The Adelphi, fact fans), I looked out the window and noticed it was snowing, which was ace and made us all feel well Christmassy. As we ventured to the next pub (Santiago's, stalkers) we ended up having impromptu snowball fights with complete strangers walking over the River Aire and down Briggate in Leeds. It was all well-meaning and there was a lot of love in the air. I will never forget that night, although I don't remember getting home. It's about those nights when everything clicks: the right mix of great friends, the right atmosphere and the best places. And Guinness is almost always involved. Tonight! It's time we ended this charade. It's time we took down all these guards and chains. No fear and no warnings, and no more early mornings. I'm undone, in the sun, surrounded by my loved ones, As sun sets high above this town, there's no-one else for miles around today. I'm high on oxygen, and the night's still young and unplanned. I'm undone, in the sun, surrounded by my loved ones, And we don't need a reason, just a reason to be, In heaven, 24/7, my life set to 11! BEGINNING OF THE END OF THE WORLDSlightly more sinister this one. And reasonably self-explanatory. Just a little ditty about the end of civilisation as we know it. I don't buy the 2012 Mayan/Zionist stuff, but I do think we're steadily grinding to a halt. Surely, something's got to change? It's scaring me off having kids. NB. I know it sounds like we're singing 'horses fuck horses' in the middle 8. That was deliberate. But that's not what we're singing. NBNB. Please never do a Google search for 'horses fuck horses'. In spite of envy and jealousy, all the lights flashing by know your name. You're inside out, you scream and shout, The burning bridges have broke their banks, and you're scared being left all alone. You're inside out, you scream and shout, External forces, a rude awakening. You're inside out, you scream and shout, ZERO HEROAnother one about doing the right things for the right reasons, and not doing anything for the wrong reasons. As ever, just so as you know, this is not written about any one person in particular. Another thing while we're on the subject - why doesn't anyone do anything like they mean it any more? That's one thing I definitely like about America. People give a fuck about what they're doing. Fiddly new 5ps, etc. STOP! And think for a while. It's time to give us a smile. "It's all I wanted..." You're so avant-garde, and physically scarred, "I'll be who you want me to be, Zero Hero STOP! And open your eyes. It's time to lose the disguise. "It's all I wish for!" You think you're immune, and well balanced too; "I'll change what you need me to change, Zero Hero You snatched defeat from the jaws of victory again. "It's that matters... It's all I wished for... it's all I ever wanted..." Zero Hero You snatched defeat from the jaws of victory again. A BALLAD TO FINISHThis may appear to be pointlessly tagged on the end and you'd be absolutely correct. A lot of my favourite records finish (or start) with a little ballad-y ditty that wouldn't really fit anywhere else on the album. Oasis did it well with Married With Children from Definitely Maybe (sorry Oasis haterz, but it's a great song from a great album). This isn't a true story, incidentally. None of them ever are. NB I'm still not sure if we pronounce 'paean' right. The love of my life, she has left me. The pen might just colour in spaces. A lesson for all of you listeners. |