Nothing Rhymed is 50!
I'd only heard it once before, on the BBC TV show, Top of the Pops, and like a hunter tracking his prey, I waited in the long grass for it to be played, as it must be I reasoned, on Radio Eireann, our only radio station in Ireland in October 1970. There was no schedule, no guarantee when, or if, it would again be played again, it was after all a new song, by an unknown and very un-1970's performer, wearing a cutesy flat-cap and a grandads waistcoat and braces, with a cutesy Irish-English name, a parody I believed on the 19th century opera composers Gilbert and Sullivan.
Eventually after a few hours waiting, I taped it off the radio, around teatime, at home, in the kitchen, with a tape-recorder and a microphone, with all the kitchen noises in the background, my mum chatting to the girls, my dad giving out about that 'noise' on the radio, no one staying quiet or giving me any professional respect. LOL!
It is such a parlour song, shouldn't have been on my radar at all, but now I wish I still had that bootleg tape, simpler times!
As those who know me will attest, I love to tell a story, and I really enjoy other story-tellers. Gilbert O'Sullivan is a story-teller, all of his songs bring you on a journey, usually a very personal one. He is still hale and hearty and playing. He played Castlebar late last year, I missed it, my own fault. Next time, when this Covid crap is over, hopefully he will come this way again. Meantime, happy 50th birthday to the song that launched his wonderful career.
Nothing Rhymed
If I give up the seat I've been saving
To some elderly lady or man
Am I being a good boy?
Am I your pride and joy?
Mother please, if you please, say I am.
And if while in the course of my duty
I perform an unfortunate take
Would you punish me so
Unbelievably so
Never again will I make that mistake.
This feeling inside me could never deny me
The right to be wrong if I choose
And this pleasure I get
From say winning a bet
Is to lose.
When I'm drinking my Bonaparte Shandy
Eating more than enough apple pies
Will I glance at my screen
And see real human beings
Starve to death right in front of my eye.
Nothing old, nothing new, nothing ventured
Nothing gained, nothing still-born or lost
Nothing further than proof, nothing wilder than youth
Nothing older than time, nothing sweeter than wine
Nothing physically, recklessly, hopelessly blind
Nothing I couldn't say
Nothing why 'cause today
Nothing rhymed
This feeling inside me could never deny me
The right to be wrong if I choose
And this pleasure I get
From say winning a bet
Is to lose.
Nothing good, nothing bad, nothing ventured
Nothing gained, nothing still-born or lost
Nothing further than proof, nothing wilder than youth
Nothing older than time, nothing sweeter than wine
Nothing physically, recklessly, hopelessly blind
Nothing I couldn't say
Nothing why 'cause today
Nothing rhymed.
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