I haven’t even got a canoe
Bit of a PBR, this one, because I met an ex-teacher of mine in our city’s swanky new library the other day, and she was paying the fines through the groovy automated machines for a couple of books which appeared to be nine weeks overdue. Anyway, I Love You Because (You Look Like Jim Reeves) wasn’t as successful as many other HMHB songs at seeing the back of its protagonists: Jim Reeves had already been dead for many years, Peggy Mount soldiered on for another 15, and Tony Bastable managed over 20, although at 62 you could say his passing was an unexpectedly early walk back to the pavilion. The song also features a rare example of some NSFW language (well, a word) which NB57 appeared to get out of his system very early on. Thanks to Tony, Martin, Nigel and EskimoEric
Update: as Charles Exford points out below there’s plenty of “down-to-earth match-going English” in subsequent albums. Maybe it just doesn’t jar as much as it does with lesser songwriters, and therefore you hardly notice it. That’s my defence anyway.
See lyrics to I Love You Because (You Look Like Jim Reeves)
6 Letters Sent:
Mr Larrington
“I sold my soul to an Arctic Roll”
I salute you, Sirs. I’ve always heard this as “to rock’n'roll” and while it might be a reference to Black Sabbath, I’d always thought it rather mundane. Suddenly it all makes (no) sense.
Feb 15th, 2010
Charles Exford
Brilliant, just brilliant…. For some reason I’ve not heard this track for a while which only makes the memories sharper of how gobsmackingly different these lyrics were when we first heard ‘Back in the DHSS’ nearly a quarter of a century ago!!* When we see these lyrics written out for the first time your site never fails to put the freshness back.
I’m curious about your point re language though Chris and I feel compelled to defend Nigel here. Hope I haven’t misunderstood …but I don’t think there has been any let up in his unstinting commitment to some fine, decent, down-to-earth match-going English. Comparing this 1985 output with say Achtung Bono in 2005, in the latter we find at least 5 differing tracks featuring a shit tattoo, a twat child, Nick fucking Knowles, a bastard who didn’t indicate and a fuck about a cat. All very big and very, very clever.
Have I missed your point ? Even on clear days…
Feb 15th, 2010
Chris The Siteowner
You’re right, of course. See note above.
Feb 15th, 2010
Charles Exford
Emphasis. Anger. Crescendo. Catharsis. All perfectly fine uses of our fine range of Anglo-Saxon expletives in music and on the terraces or the pitch I would have thought. (For example contrast the proper old “who the fuck, who the fuck, who the fucking hell are you?” terrace chant with the horrible Skyjacked Soccer AM-stardisation “who are ya?”, well there’s no comparison is there). Would Vatican Broadside work with its cannon muffled ? I’m surprised that it “jars” at all in the post-punk context of HMHB, but it’s easy to forget that not everyone has the same linguistic values…
That reminds me – Mrs. Exford’s mum heard me doing one of my football ‘poems’ on the wireless last year and wanted to hear more. Before I knew it Maud had sent her mum an old CD of mine that she’d found lying round (a few years ago I was selling the home-recorded CDs of my footy verses, to raise money to bid to play in a charity match with some of my old heroes). Clearly I couldn’t swear when she’d heard me on the BBC but Maud had forgotten that on the CD there was a fair sprinkling of match-going language… and it got played for the first time when her grannie was round …. oh dear, Exxo in trouble. (Grannie is quite a puritan – she also has another grand-daughter, Mrs Exford’s cousin, in the cast of Shameless on telly, but refuses to watch it because of the language ! I just refuse to watch it cos it’s gone crap).
Feb 15th, 2010
s.g.d A Shropshire Lad
F.A.O. Mr Exford
Do you have any CDs of your football verses left for sale?
s.g.d.
Feb 15th, 2010
steve nicholls
I see Jedward got the Shake’n'Vac phone call…
Let’s hope they don’t break their backs…
http://twurl.nl/1pvtpt
May 4th, 2010
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