“So Elvis, whaddaya think? Any of these songs take your fancy?” “Erm… got any songs about footie?”
… though not all at the same time, obviously – I’d end up spilling my pint.
Most of my songs are about love, I guess: falling in love, falling out of love, being in love with someone who doesn’t love you back, being loved by someone you really just don’t fancy, etc.
I got to thinking the other day, what else do I write about other than love? What else is there that’s important in my life that I’ve written about? And is there anything that plays a big part in my life that I’ve yet to write about?
So I looked at my list of songs, and these are the broad topics that I’ve put to music so far:-
- Love: love lost, love found, love momentarily mislaid
- Dancing (I can’t dance)
- Nostalgia
- Irritating songs on TV adverts
- New Year’s Day
- Stupid bosses
- Sex
- Parties at my house
- Cheating on your other half (not from experience, I hasten to add!)
- Friends
- Suicide (again, not from experience)
- Anti-depressants and other drugs (ditto)
- Drinking
- Christmas Day
- Cream cakes
- My friend George who plays the flute
- Folk music
- Selling out
- Videos of funny cats on Youtube
- Getting old
- Shopping in Morrisons
- Mumford and Sons
- Writing songs
- Writing songs about songs
- Nick and Emmie, my good friends in Palo Alto, California
- My friend Neall on his 40th birthday
- The blues of various kinds
- Those really high shoes that girls wear on a night out
- Whether I’d be allowed through the Pearly Gates when I die
I realized that the only thing missing from that list is a song about football, a sport I still play twice a week despite creaking joints, advancing years and aggravating teammates. So the day before yesterday I rectified that glaring omission, and tonight at my gig at the White Lion I shall perform my latest magnum opus, cleverly entitled It’s Only Just a Game.
