Preface – Lucy in the Rain
I picked up the guitar in a serious way when I was 16 years of age. I started writing songs when I was 18. I must admit that my offerings in those early days were ghastly. My first song “Lucy in The Rain” had a chorus that went something like:
“Lucy in the rain, Lucy in the rain,
She’s crying, can’t you feel her pain?”
It was terrible: cliched and derivative, and fortunately I can no longer remember the rest of the lyrics. Soon after, with practice, I began penning songs that I could feel proud of.
When I was 18, I was diagnosed with schizophrenia and depression, later on, anxiety. My guitar was my constant companion and undoubtedly saved my life.
Singing and writing songs was, and still is, the primary way that I make sense of my illness, my personal existence and that of the much larger world around me. Read on. I hope you enjoy these words as much as I enjoyed writing them…
FELINE STREET (IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS)
The fat cat puts his back against the wall
Lets his gut hang as he stands proud and tall
He purrs “I’ll scratch your back if you’ll scratch mine
The wall stands firm but responds in kind
And the dog squad will find out sooner or later
The fat cat’s hangout is old “China Jane’s”
An emporium/laundromat on Fifth and Main
Money changes hands through a hole in the brick
Dirty sheets need washing real quick
But the dog squad will find out sooner or later
T
hey’re all into grabbing “Take all you can get
Don’t stop you don’t have enough yet
A million’s a penny don’t you ever forget
Fat cat shakes hands with the pig down the road
Who grunts as the seeds of business are sown
She bathes in the mud to relieve the scent
Of the currency that’s just been spent
And the dog squad will find out sooner or later
March 1999
I wrote this song about greed and big business. Something that always frustrates me is our society’s constant obsession with money. Fortunately, this has never afflicted me, for I exist on a government disability pension, with a bit of income on the side from a couple guitar students. I don’t have a great deal of money, but I have enough to pay the bills. . . and the occasional guitar! That for me, is enough.
MY FAVOURITE COLOUR
When I gaze at you
I see my favourite colour blue
Ocean spray, the deepest hue
You offered me a love that’s true
You invited me into your house
A city dweller, a country mouse
Didn’t realise how much I was yearning
Until you set my cold heart burning
With the gift of your eyes
I’ve been awarded the romance Nobel prize
Surely there’s more worthy than I
So much more deserving than I
You tamed me, a wandering gypsy
Why you chose me – a complete mystery
Life threw me a curve ball, you hit a winner
A patron saint, a worthless sinner
CHILD OF THE LIGHT
I wasn’t born good looking
And I wasn’t born so bright
But baby don’t you cry,
Honey I’ll be alright
‘Cause I’m a child
A child of the light
Not independently wealthy
The money is often tight
But baby don’t you cry,
Honey I’ll be alright
‘Cause I’m a child
A child of the light
Sometimes I take on too much
I swallow less than I can bite
But baby don’t you cry,
Honey I’ll be alright
‘Cause I’m a child
A child of the light
Stood tall on the shoulders of men
Then tumbled from the heights
But baby don’t you cry,
Honey I’ll be alright
‘Cause I’m a child
A child of the light
I shake hands with the Grim Reaper
Just about each and every night
But baby don’t you cry,
Honey I’ll be alright
‘Cause I’m a child
A child of the light
The Devil, he whispers in my ear
“Isn’t it time to finally give up the fight?”
But baby don’t you cry,
Honey I’ll be alright
‘Cause I’m a child
A child of the light
I don’t want to pull my own plug
Occasionally I think that I just might
But baby don’t you cry,
Honey I’ll be alright
‘Cause I’m a child
A child of the light
Heaven can seem so very far away
And I pray that an early end be in sight
But baby don’t you cry,
Honey I’ll be alright
‘Cause I’m a child
A child of the light
But baby don’t you cry,
Honey I’ll be alright
‘Cause I’m a child
A child of the light
