"Gappy Teeth" is a (platonic!) love song to my best friend, who indeed has "gappy teeth" (which he hates; but I like -- because they are such a characteristic and therefore recognisable feature of his; and I like HIM enormously), but for reasons of discretion shall here remain nameless.

Like all friendships, ours has many, many positive aspects and we have enjoyed many happy times and high-points; including almost transcendent moments, like watching Blur at Glastonbury festival in 2009. 

But we have also suffered the occasional low-point and bust-up.  This is NOT at all one-sided: we have BOTH had moments when we have behaved  badly towards one another. I notably remember one evening in Skegness in the autumn of 2018 (tellingly, when I have been drinking!), when I flew off the handle at him for no defensible reason and said some awful things to him that I now bitterly regret and am acutely ashamed of. 

But this song retells a similar incident at another music festival when the shoe was on the other foot, and after a few too many, HE decided to tell me exactly what he thought was wrong...with a lot of things, but especially ME! (Ha! Ha! He may have had a point about a few things). Of course, like I had done in Skegness when I sobered up, he apologised...and now we are all good.

The point of the song is NOT to point fingers or relive painful memories of when we were at our worst (and God knows, he has witnessed ME at my worst too!) but about the fact we habitually have these moments; basically to explore the phenomenon.

My conclusion is that we have these periodic outbursts at each other for two reasons:

1) there is a lot of emotion invested in the friendship (accumulated over the years) which pops out from time-to-time and...

2) ...simply because we can! Because, ironically, we feel safe enough around each other to do so. Safe in the knowledge that WILL (eventually!) be forgiven.  As the lyric goes:

"...It's a funny kind of compliment
To abuse your friends
You know you're in a safe space
They'll forgive you, in the end..."

So...in the end, it is not accusation, but a declaration. Like I say above, a love song to my best friend. x

Terra Nova

Gappy Teeth

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This song is for my sister, Carrie, with much love. 

In October 2012, at Austin City Limits, she and I had a little cry together about two very important people in our lives we had lost. It was quite a special moment that bonded us. 

The sentiment "Grief is Just a Love That's Lost 'Cos It Has Nowhere Left To Go" is not to belittle the devastating impact of loss...or grief itself. But simply to acknowledge it is a very natural (and necessary) phenomenon. It's good to cry; to let it out. 

And it says a helluva lot about the calibre of someone if they allow you to cry together; to share in the grief. 

As to why grief might be "a love that's got nowhere left to go"? Because the love no longer has an object to attach to; the person gone. So it is "lost", restless; looking forlornly for (a)  "home". 

But lives now in our hearts. 

When I played the song to a friend, she asked me why the song was upbeat. I guess for two reasons, to juxtapose:

1) the happy (the upbeat) and the sad (the content of the lyrics; the loss)

2) to reflect the lives lost -- defined by BOTH the happy and sad 

Anyway, it's quite a special song for me. I dedicate it to Carrie for a moment that happened in Zilker Park, Austin, already seven years ago but has stayed with me ever since. x

Grief is Just A Love That's Lost 'Cos It Has Nowhere Left To Go

This is a song about entitlement.

The protagonist is so profoundly entitled and lazy, s/he not only "wants it all" and "right now! (just add water and stir!) in his/her pursuit of fortune and fame, but wants someone else to make it happen for them!

Rome in a Day

Rome In A Day

"...If there were no room for doubt, there would be no room for me...”

― Frederick Buechner

Taking the 17th Century English Protestant sect as a metaphor, "Puritans" is really about all sects and cults that operate on the edge of extremity, whether Christian; Muslim; Judaic; other. 

Whether the wars waged by the Crusaders in the 11th and 12th century supposedly in the name of Christ; or the 2001 9/11 terrorist actions hijacking both planes and a claim to Islam. 

It's about the danger of conviction. How anyone can possibly be so sure of themselves and their position that they would justify even the worst acts of barbarism?

Essentially, the song is a call for tolerance. For sober heads and thoughtfulness to prevail in the face of fanaticism.

Puritans

A jangly, guitar-driven love song to my two full and one half brother; making an analogy with Alexander Dumas' famous novel "The Three Musketeers", in which the protagonists (like my brothers) couldn't be more different, yet are united as kin: "One-for-all-and-all-for-one"!

Family Portraits

Three-and-a-Half Musketeers

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"Yummy Mummies" is a guitar-driven song written about three contrasting, but equally ugly, perspectives on the pejorative epithet "Yummy Mummy". 

Essentially, the term "Yummy Mummy" is British slang for a "kept partner". Of course, said "kept partner" can be either male or female; although the word "Mummy" clearly designates a woman. In the popular vernacular, the implication is unquestionably negative. "Yummy Mummies" are two-dimensional. They don't actually do (read earn) anything. They are caricatures who spend their days self-actualising, attending endless "champagne lunches" and "coffee mornings". In Protestant Britain, they are to be disapproved of.    

The most "rocky" of all the songs on the "Family Portraits" album, the song "Yummy Mummies" examines three contrasting but equally ugly perspectives on the in-itself ugly pejorative "Yummy Mummy" -- and i the process tries to deconstruct and subvert the term. 

1) In verse one, from the vantage point of an envious, male protagonist who would himself very much like to be "a kept wife", a "Yummy Mummy". His ugliness is jealousy and coveting.

2) The second perspective (in the second verse) is from a "Yummy Mummy", as commonly understood: a kept wife. She tries to defend her "Stepford Wives" lifestyle, and bemoans its hardships (which would be laughably trivial to anyone else). Her ugliness is entitlement. 

3) The third perspective (in the middle eight) is from "Rupert" an imagined businessman in the City of London who "salivates" over the idea of "Yummy Mummies". Presumably he "keeps" a "trophy wife", whilst fantasizing about others. His ugliness is his creepiness.

Yummy Mummies

An upbeat love song to my wife Juliet's Cornish family, the Hawksworths.

(For those who don't know, Cornwall is a county in the south west of England).

A "Cornish Pasty" is a savoury delicacy from Cornwall comprising a parcel of short-crust pastry filled with minced beef, onions and swedes. Here, though, it's an affectionate metaphor for my Cornish relatives

(The "Good Time Charlies" in the song, are myself and my wife, Juliet, which is how we refer to ourselves).

The legendary King Arthur (of "Knights of the Round Table" fame) was a famous Cornish king who reputedly lived at Tintagel in the "dark ages" (circa the 6th or 7th century a.d.). My 27 year old Cornish nephew is also called "Arthur". Keith is my brother-in-law, who collects Northern Soul records (a favourite genre for both he and I).

Cornwall is strongly Celtic, much like the rest of the western part of the British Isles: Wales, Ireland and the west coast of Scotland. The cuisines in all places share delicacies: variations on the "Cornish Pasty" ("Oggie" in Wales; "mince-and-tatties" in Scotland); but also something called "Hog's pudding" in Cornwall ("mealy pudding" in Scotland; and "white pudding" in Ireland), a sausage made of oats and suet. The song refers to these culinary similarities even though the protagonist gets "his Celtic cuisines" mixed up.

One more note on a "quirk" in the song; the line: "Oggie? Oggie? Oggie? Oi! Oi! Oi!" which is a chant from the area. Apparently, historically, this was a call-and-response chant between the tin miners of Cornwall (back in the day) and their wives, who would bring them "Cornish Pasties" (also known as an "Oggie", especially in Wales) for lunch and basically translates as: "Who would like a Cornish Pasty?". Response: "Me! Me! Me!".

Cornish Pasties

A love song...with a twist. Also a song about depression.

On the surface, it seems like an odd thing to say to a loved one: "We're good time Charlies" and "fair-weather-friends". Surely these aren't celebrated characteristics in any relationship?

But the protagonist suffers from episodes of depression (the "black dog" mentioned in verse two; as well as his "convalescence"). For him, "having fun" means re-joining the party; re-joining life; as "life's a party"...signals exactly that he is now NOT (no longer) depressed.

His raison d'etre is his joie-de-vivre. He wants to live.

So on a deeper level this is a real song of thanks...to his lover, the "other" "Good Time Charlie" who squeezes his hand and understands...who is there for him during his dark bouts. A love song from the patient to his lover and nurse.

Good Time Charlies

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Good  Time Charlies

A brass-driven lamentation of a caricature (a fictionalised amalgam of various  behaviours including entitlement and avarice) defined utterly by the pursuit and acquisition of material gain.

Family Portraits (Volume I)

Princess-on-the-Pea

Princess-On-The-Pea

A love song to much loved but ageing Mum, who saw a few things in her day. Having survived cancer twice and even a bout of COVID-19, she is now 90, and the singer is fearful of her passing.

06) Terra Nova

Orphan (You Gave Me My Name)

Everyone makes mistakes. We measure our maturity not in committing or counting those, but in how we recover from them. 

We are all vulnerable ("...In the final count we are each and everyone alone...") and are in need of a touch of forgiveness at times...and a second chance. That's what the song "Touched By Angels" is about.

Only rarely is it in human beauty that we are "touched by angels"; more more common in the way we enable others (to recover)...through the agency of forgiveness.  Our ability to forgive is what is "angelic" about us humans. It's where we are truly "touched by angels".

As the lyric to the song goes: 

"...It’s rarely faces that are touched by the breath of angels
More often people
Their relationships   
The space between them..."

Forgiveness is probably the strongest power we have. It's the one things we have which is truly "touched by angels".  

This song is dedicated to my much-loved daughter Anneka, for her capacity for love and for giving second chances. With all my love, always. x

Touched By Angels

"Reciprocity Nexus" is the moniker for British songwriter Hendrik "Henk" Kleinsmiede, for the songs he writes (alone or with friends) away from his other frequent music vehicle, "The Third Space", a virtual band and songwriting partnership with his best friend Joe Farthing. 

As the name suggests, "Reciprocity Nexus" is a network or exchange for musical ideas and collaborations. The collaborations on single songs with friends Nick Bird ("Brand New Day") and SIljan Panovski ("Suit of Armour") apart, the albums Henk has released under the name "Reciprocity Nexus" are ostensibly "solo" records (in that Henk has written almost all the songs on these albums himself). Yet, he is not comfortable going under his own name; for he feels the contributions of other collaborators are vital. He seeks to acknowledge that through the name.

Touched By Angels

Reciprocity Nexus

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