Enough Is Enough

Flip The Script

Penultima

Evil Bell

Motorstorm

Tendrils

EZ Vision

Oh Its Written

One More

For those over 40 who are maybe divorced but are now wanting to start again, it’s a scary time. This song is about those people. Whilst everyone is different there are some common traits. It's described as the ‘gray divorce demographic’ ,which would put me off getting back on the horse ! Divorce or separation leads to loss and a loss of identity. Years of shared history disappear and the term husband or wife or couple. If you children have left home it compounds the empty best syndrome. You start to wonder who you are and where you are going, if anywhere. Suddenly you suffer fear about the future, anxiety and start worrying about financial security. There can be a sense of liberation and re discovery tinged with regret and reflection. Its time to re connect and try to avoid being lonely.
The idea of starting over again, finding a house, moving in with someone is sometimes just too much. It's why older people are often single. There are 34m people in the UK who are 40 and over, of which 19% are single and 6% that were previously married. Overall 17m are not in any king of partnership, that a lot !  By the age of 60 this rises to 49%, as more are widowed. Woman over 40 probably face the biggest challenges, especially if they have sacrificed careers for family. But they have stronger support networks, despite worrying more about the ageing process. Men cope by overworking or avoidance tactics. Over time most people become resilient, accept their situation and then begin to value things like peace and quiet. The ‘revenge or re entry body’ for men is the latest trend. It offsets what's known as ‘marriage protection’. A fitness boost helps with self esteem, albeit it may not help their mental health. There are 7500 gyms in the UK with 10.7m gym members ( 16% of the population), with slightly more men than woman. 1m single women over the age of 40 have active gym membership. About 60,000 women every year, meet a  man in the gym 
This is a song about divorced women, of a certain age , who are trying to start again. They are suffering from seeing the gym as a ‘sacred space’ and a place for ‘me time’ and trying to avoid unwanted attention and feeling self conscious. It’s the gym or dating apps, they both seem a bit scary. The song starts , ‘Guys in shape and high octane. Newly single, hitting the fast lane. Defying time. Are you out their baby? Maybe it’s time to be born again.’ So, guys in shape seems a good starring point but will they be interested in me – is the cry ! Also, the lady has concerns about her emotion state and the fact splits seems to effect men less, reportedly. She sings ‘‘Unattached and broken after he left. We both know, splits hit men less. Say's he didn’t love you anymore. Misunderstood, your down and raw.’  Raw is probably the key word here. The answer apparently is to go into ‘swing out sister’ . This is a ‘let loose’ term from the 1945 musical and adopted by Corinne Drewery and her band in 1985, you might remember their hit ‘Breakout’. Anyway, I digress, ladies have got to get on with it, ‘Gloves are off. Go back to the clubs. Stepping up, from your big breakup. Swing out sister, need to get stronger. Gotta live longer. Don’t be a quitter.’ Of course, the delicate subject of sex comes into the equation , after so long with one partner. The song covers this by saying ,
‘Stop the no sex cycle in its tracks, you’ve got the drive, try to relax. Guys in shape and high octane. Newly single, hitting the fast lane’ So relax and go with the flow is the message, but I guess easier to say than do. Goven the most of the guys are in shape, it also plays on your mind that you might not me ! So, she sings, ‘What does normal look like? Don't check the mirror, go on strike’. In  other words, just be your self and don’t worry about it. 

Pod 48  Fast Lane

Brady Kent is a  Song Lyricist 
Books. Songs. Podcasts. Working with Guest Muscians

New tracks tagged #High octane