Well, I suppose that as this issue has been mostly about 'Apathy Made A Man Of Me', the obvious step in this section is to go through each track and give you a brief sentence telling you what they might be about.

 The title is the concept that seems to persist through each track. I realised  that a lot of the tracks were about me and that the whole thing is the most autobiographical album yet. I wonder if this is why I'm taking a long break after a all the next two scheduled releases have taken place.

With this in mind, let's go through the tracks.

Track 1: Somebody Else Is Loving My Life: This is about somebody I know and how sad she makes me feel when she talks about her life.

Track 2: Selfish Boy and Selfish Girls: This is about an alternative me at school who never got picked for the team and was never considered worthy enough by the girls who always seemed to find the bad lads attractive.

Track 3: He Thinks A Lot (about you) I couldn't let an album go by without an attempt at humour, although I'm not sure that the two subjects of the song are actually funny. He's a loser and she seems to have tried to kill people!

Track 4: Lives of Quiet Desperation: Keeping up with the theme of apathy, this is about a doctor who seems to have it all under control, but the more we see his life, the more we realise he's sadder than the people he comforts.

Track 5: The Revolution Starts Next Tuesday: Can there be anything as apathetic as The British. We moan about our lot and if we were offered the chance to do something about it we'd rather watch T.V.

Track 6: Apathy Made A Man Of Me: While track five is about the country, this is about a person who cannot be bothered because it's too much effort even getting out of bed.

Track 7: When I Retire: I feel that a lot of people I know dream of retirement as a way that they can live their dreams without worrying about work. This is influenced by the poem about wearing purple.

Track 8: I Don't Need (your politics): I wanted to write a song about how much politics bored me, but I thought it was too obvious, and I'd done this quite a few times. I though about the politics of relationships and this is the result. I also wanted it to be that sort of humour where you're not sure if you should laugh or cry!

Track 9: I'll Try Anything Twice: Like most people, I talk a brave game where I'd lead from the front. In reality, if I win a small battle I feel I've won the war.

Track 10: Land of the Bland: This song was written a few years ago and I think it was intended for Sartorial (probably Smugville). It just didn't seem to fit those collections, but here it is and I love it. The guitar sounds so different from anything else I've done. The subject matter (like a lot on the album ) is self-explanatory.

Track 11: Corruption Machine: Through life I've been faced with old boy networks, or giving friends a leg up the greasy ladder. This is about that subject. Like the previous track it was written for Smugville, but it didn't fit with that collection. I knew it's time would come!

Track 12: Everything I Said (was true): When I was growing up, my family were always telling me about opportunities they didn't take. I vowed I wouldn't be like this, and this song lists a lot of what I've done. It's also a verbal two fingers to those who don't believe me. When it started out is was just under four minutes, but I really wanted to go out with a song that was much longer. I think I had an idea that I wanted to do my take on 'How Soon Is Now' by The Smiths. It lasts just over eleven minutes (I was tempted to go for fifteen but reason prevailed). Like the song says, 'Everything I Said Was True'!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEXT TIME: IS THERE A NEXT TIME?