Song Lyrics

Inspired by (ok, you got me...I'm just stealing the idea) a few similar notes on facebook recently here are a few lyrics from some of my favourite songs and bands for you to try and guess. How many can you get...I've tried not to be too obscure but be prepared, this may get eclectic...

1) You quiver like a candle on fire, I'm putting you out

2) Take your shoes off and I'll throw them in the lake

3) No excuse to be so callous, dress yourself in bleeding madras, charm your way across the Khyber Pass

4) Here's an evening dark with shame, throw it on the fire, and here's the time I took the blame, throw it on the fire

5) Every time just like the last, on her ship tied to the mast

6) But ask me why and I'll spit in your eye. Oh ask me why and I'll spit in your eye

7) Now watch what you say or they'll be calling you a radical, a liberal, oh fanatical, a criminal. Oh won't you sign up your name we'd like to see you're acceptable, respectable, presentable, a vegetable.

8) I'm coming out of my cage and I've been doing just fine

9) She's a little pilot in my mind, singing songs I love to pass the time, gonna write a song so she can see, give her all the love she gives to me

10) He was shot six times by a man on the run and she couldn't find how to push through

11) Don't waste your time on me, you're already a voice inside my head

12) Windmill, windmill for the land is everybody in?

13) Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning

14) We'll see the stars that shine bright, stars made for us tonight

15) Just trying to see in the dark, just try to make it work, feel the fear before you're here

16) Music's my language and all I can say, is that you are the one who takes me away

17) Um what you say? Um that you only meant well? Well of course you did

18) Speed so fast felt like I was drunk, city lights lay out before us

19) Sunny days where have you gone? I get the strangest feeling you belong

20) Because out of all the people I've known, the places I've been, the songs I have sung, the wonders I've seen. Now that the dreams are all coming true, who is the one that leads me on through? It's you!

Flat sorted...what's next?

Okie Kokie, I've found (and more importantly put money down on) a nice little one bed flat within easy walking distance of work...so panic over, or at least that panic is over...now I can panic about all sorts of different things. Not least my probable difficulties in actually affording anything, don't think I'll be going out ever again...not that that would be the end of the world cos it's a pretty decent space.

For your interest (though I doubt you are interested) I've got one of six flats in a refurbished pub. Reasonably sized kitchen/living room decent double bedroom and a small shower room, all up on the first floor. Rather pleasingly the whole shebang is in an L shape round one side of the building so I've got an absolute load of windows...whether I can actually fit the sofa up the stairs is another matter entirely...and one I'm trying not to think about too much

As I suggested last time out I'm not a 100% sure on whether I'm actually going to have internet in the place so blogging is liable to go somewhat out the window for at least a month or two whilst I move in and sort stuff out. I'll still be checking e-mail and so forth from work so i won't be completely out of the loop.

So if you need somewhere to crash in the west country, you know who to call (not the ghostbusters)
Dave

House Hunting

My search for somewhere to live from April onwards continues apace, but I am starting to find the search a little stressful. I have never lived alone, so this is the first time I've viewed apartments knowing that it is my decision that is final. At university my source of income was fairly reasonable (parents, savings and student loan), council tax didn't need to be paid and all other bills were split three ways. I'm earning a reasonable wage now, but still it's difficult to be sure how much I can really afford.

So whenever I view a flat (which I'm doing again later today) I'm having to balance cost against all sorts of other parameters. Do I want to spend a little more for a bigger, nicer place? Or should I hold back so that I can spend a little more on furniture, bills and so on (I'm seriously considering going without a telephone landline and broadband, which may rather affect my blog rate)?

I appreciate that this is not particularly interesting to the average reader, but it is taking up a lot of my thinking time over this last month. Where once I might have been pondering a new post or poem, now I lie awake struggling with the complexities of interior design and just whether I can actually fit my parent's sofa up the stairs in the most recently viewed house.
With a bit of luck things will be sorted out in the next few days and things can return to some sort of normality...

...decisions...decisions

25 things that you may not know about me

1 - Had I been born a girl I would have been named Katherine, after one of the central characters of the Geoffrey Trease book 'Cue for Treason'

2 - I play chess at a reasonably decent level for my local team...I also write their match reports

3 - I am an awful liar

4 - My heroes include Marc Overmars, Groucho Marx and James Stewart

5 - I am interested in things like Tarot and Horoscopes even though I do not believe in astrology, I think they have a placebo like affect that can be beneficial

6 - If I had sons I would like to name them Jo and Dan, that is Johan and Dante

7 - I am incredibly nervous about public speaking or any other kind of performance

8 - Whilst I have an eclectic taste in music that leans predominantly towards indie my favourite music to listen to live is folk

9 - Despite being fairly sarcastic myself, I do not recognise other people's sarcasm very well at all.

10 - I spend hours worrying about the smallest of things, pondering the slightest thing that might have been said. My fear of rejection is immense, rivalled only by my fear of failure. I find it very difficult to accept that anyone actually likes me.

11 - I will do almost anything to avoid an argument about anything personal

12 - I subconsciously rehearse conversations in my head, when I say something witty it is often scripted

13 - Writing this list is incredibly difficult for me, real insight into my inner self is not something that I offer up to anyone, mostly because I'm ashamed of it.

14 - I buy wine almost entirely based upon the name and appearance of the bottle

15 - With a few exceptions I only do things that I find easy or am naturally good at...revision, practice and dedication are alien concepts to me

16 - Luckily I have a very high opinion of my own abilities, allowing me to complete everyday tasks under the illusion that I am doing them in a manner vastly superior to everybody else...seriously I believe myself to be better at shopping than other people.

17 - When I was very young I was sent to my room without dinner for refusing to be the farmer's wife in the game 'The farmer's in his den'

18 - My favourite composer is Bach, my favourite picture is 'The Ambassadors' by Hans Holbein (It's in the National Gallery in London, please take a look next time you are nearby) and my favourite poems are Tennyson's 'Charge of the Light Brigade' and Noakes' 'The Highwayman'

19 - I have only thrown up as a result of alcohol twice, but as an unfortunate side effect of drinking too much snaps in one evening I can no longer eat or drink anything with a peach flavour

20 - I turned vegetarian on a whim and have no particular reason for continuing to be so. Strangely enough I am steadily growing stricter on the matter.

21 - I prefer wearing smart clothes like suits and ties, I think this has something to do with my general preference for order and regulation alongside my complete artistic failings which continue into the world of fashion

22 - Films that I especially enjoy that you might not know include 'Harold & Maude', 'Jean de Florette' (and it's sequel 'Manon des Sources'), 'His Girl Friday', 'The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp' and 'It Happened One Night'. I cannot recommend any of these films too much

23 - I am exceedingly shallow and jealous of other's successes

24 - My dreams include living in New Zealand, sailing around the world and owning a VW camper van

25 - Three of the above are lies

Autumn Sun

The summer had not come, but still was gone
October and finally the clouds parted
A glimpse of what could have been
Just a day to live the wrong season
One day to walk and watch and enjoy

Drove out of town to fight the crowds in the wilderness
Walk the Wiltshire hills
Which roll like the clichéd waves
Escape the crush and embrace the view
Pick a spot to sit and read and dream

Haze in the distance
Not cleared by the breeze which cools
But doesn’t chill
Rustles the pages and stirs the grass
Grown long beneath my feet
Insects on my sleeves, a spider
Starts to spin between thumb and book
But is borne away

Shadows dance with the words as I forsake the view
Subtly changed when I finally gaze again
No longer the same, so I rise
Pause for ice cream
To lick and drip and refresh

Another drive, another view
But the same crowds even in the forest
Delicate colours will be gone in a week
Swept together, reduced to nothing
But now those leaves shine and dance and dazzle

I remember another autumn
The same unique tableau
Not here, but beside the lake
Where the light shimmered and leapt across that mirror
Keep the city, I do not need it
Anything that can be bought is worthless
Who wants to live forever?
Not I

One day I too will shrivel and fall and rot
But it will not matter
Even if I do nothing more
For I was there
That autumnal day in England
When I walked and dreamed and drank and lived
Was it perfect?
No
But close enough

More dangerous than horseriding...

You may have seen things in the news recently about this story.

To summarise, the government finances an independent scientific study into the dangers of Ecstasy. The results that were returned suggest that Ecstasy is not especially dangerous and should be reclassified as class B (down from class A). However the government ignores this recommendation and Ecstasy remains a class A substance. I find this incredibly irritating...

I am not an expert on drugs and this post is only superficially related to Ecstasy. Beyond the usual legal things such as alcohol, nicotine and caffeine I have only really tried marijuana, although I must admit that I do find that particular experience fairly enjoyable. I have friends who experiment or regularly take much stronger drugs, but it has never really appealed.

I digress, as I said before this post is not really about drug use or it's effects. My grievance is this...why is the government spending public money upon scientific enquiries that they evidently have no genuine interest in. If you commission a report where there are two possible outcomes (A and B), but regardless of the results you intend to follow path A anyway, well you might as well skip that step in the middle where you actually examine the evidence.

As for comments regarding the relative dangers of horse riding and ecstasy, well if the figures support the statement then fair enough. People ride horses to enjoy themselves, to feel good. It's a lifestyle choice. Mountaineering isn't illegal, but a very high percentage of people die doing it. I recall reading that in America more children are killed in accidents with swimming pools than accidents with guns.

I guess what I am trying to say is that there are dangers in many things, you could argue for a long time regarding that. What you cannot debate is that if you commission a report then completely ignore it you start to look a little bit of an idiot.

Till next week, may you trust the evidence
D

Kiss

The flames danced, and there you were
Coiled around your man
Under the clouded sky
No moon tonight
Just them and us
And leaping tongues
Licking and merging before our eyes

Pass round a bottle to quench the thirst,
But not the fire
From nowhere a guitar and you sing
I listen
Years since we were all together
And years till we shall return

Rise to wander beneath the trees
Swaying branches
And whispers in the dark
Does he miss you,
Your man beside the fire?
I do not miss him

Alone, just you and I
And a snatch of a refrain
A lilting melody as we edge closer
The fire burns brighter
One taste, no more
But one is plenty

Unused to canvas I rise
The sun above and the ashes cold
Did I dream it?
Catch the train
Back to the city, back to reality
My shoulder your pillow

The memory lingers, it did not die with the dawn
That false dawn which stole the mystery
Better the sun did not rise
And we remain beside the fire
Forever feeding the flames
And laughing beneath the trees

Primary Colours

Facebook is an interesting beast. It has some very obvious and irritating downsides, but I think these are easily outweighed by its overwhelming ability to connect people.

Sometimes I go a week without updating or even checking the site, other times I log in and something just makes me smile, perhaps a friend who I haven't spoken to in years or just a link to a far more interesting video or webpage. It's moments like that when I'm prepared to wade through the limitless applications and people I don't want to speak to...this week there was one of those moments.

No, not the rapidly spreading hordes of 25 things you didn't know... notes, though that may yet be the topic for a later blog. This was something a little more personal

You have probably noticed that there is a photo attached to this post...this is your cue to look at it...

...finished looking?

Did you spot me?

I'm not wearing a hat so I appreciate that this may be difficult...keep looking...

...yes yes this is complicated by the fact that I look quite a bit like one of the other guys...

...success?? If so - have a cookie...

...I'll give you a clue, I'm not one of the two on the far right...

..Still looking? Ok. I'm third in from the left. The young lad perched highest on the wall (aged about eleven)

So Dave (I hear you say) why are you so stoked up about an old picture? Well, mostly because this brings back a whole load of happy memories. As far as I can tell this picture was taken on my very last day at primary school. Those seven people were my entire school year and, as is no doubt common, I have happy, golden almost, memories of my school days.

The strange thing is that I'm not even sure that it was as wonderful as I remember, no doubt I was bullied, bored and unhappy some of the time, but all that is now long forgotten. In fact, I don't really want to remember everything...I'm quite happy with my selective memories.

At this point I was going to ramble on with a description of my classmates and so on, but I suspect you wouldn't be anywhere near as interested as I am. So let's leave it here. Brevity is next to godliness and all that.

Until next time, may you remember what you want to and forget what you don't

Dear Diary

In the depths of my diary
Thoughts I hide so the world can't see
Never spoken, will not be read
Legion the things wish I had said
Lock up my dreams and once again
Pour out my soul with ink and pen
Fantasies, words that were not risked
Memories of your lips unkissed
Here is truth, when I speak it's lies
Keeping these secrets I despise
On pure white page, once more impart
Fragments dark of my smothered heart

Entitlement

I was chatting to my mother last night (as you do) about this and that and the conversation worked its way round to what my friends from university are doing now, jobwise.
Now the thing that struck me at this point was that (like me) most of my close friends are not working in a job that they want to turn into something long term. In the main we seem to be temping, working in retail or doing simplistic clerical admin things. Of my friends who are graduates less than a quarter are working in so called 'graduate jobs'.

Initially this seemed slightly strange, the people I was talking about are all intelligent, (relatively) hard working and distinctly employable (even in a down turn). So how come we are all doing low level short term jobs?

This is particularly the case in my personal view of my own job, which was initially taken as a two month temporary position whilst I looked for a 'proper' job. Over 18 months later and I'm still there on roughly the same wage, still telling people that I'm only doing this until I get a 'real' job.

Have I been seriously looking for another job over the last two years? Apart from a couple of interviews, no.
Is my a job a temporary one? Obviously not
So is my poorly paid, relatively easy position my 'real' job? Apparently so

Somehow for over a year I've managed to deceive myself into thinking that I was just going to get a better job, because I deserved it, because I was entitled to it.

So having finally realised the bleeding obvious I guess it's time to do something about it.

See you in February
D

Mish Mash

Someone appears to be ironically (I assume) marking the occasional post as awesome...I cannot tell you how much good this is doing for my ego. Please keep at it.

I'm taking my own advice and going to the cinema tomorrow, better still I've got the day off work as well. With a bit of luck I'll be able to watch two films back to back, which let's face it should be great. It's looking a lot like Frost/Nixon leading into Slumdog Millionaire, but I'll have to see how it works out...maybe watch a DVD when I get home (I've still got In Bruges left over from Xmas) that's what I call a productive day.

As I write this I'm also browsing over on rightmove.com. My parents are throwing me out (figuratively not literally) so the search is on...the big question is how much do I really want to spend on rent and bills???
Should I splash out for somewhere nice and perhaps cut back on the luxuries to make up the difference? Or settle for something a little smaller, cheaper and in a worse area to leave more cash for spending on things to brighten life up. It's a tricky balance and one that I'm running out of time to solve...my savings may take quite a pounding over the next year

Because I post a poem every week or so it perhaps gives the impression that I'm a fairly regular writer, this couldn't be further from the truth. Like reading and watching films I seem to go through cycles of interest lasting a week or so. This week creative writing seems to have drifted to the top, I even started writing a novel. Jokingly entitled 'Three men in a pub' it's a slightly predictable mish mash of On the road, Withnail and I, Thelma and Louise and obviously 3 men in a boat. Naturally I dashed down a thousand words in about half an hour and haven't looked at the thing since.

Happily when I come to write a poem I usually have a reasonable amount of it worked out in my head before I even reach a computer (or, heaven forbid, make cursory notes on paper...with a real pen). When combined with the relative shortness of a poem when contrasted with a novel we end up with the happy result that I might actually finish something.

Not that I've finished anything this week...but I have started two poems...and I can confirm that at least one line is really something! The rest is thoroughly average, but that line...I can confirm myself to be content

Anyway I'm wandering so let's wrap this up. One more post due for January then it'll be back to the poems in Feb. Till then, this is Dave Marshall telling you to keep blogging...or else...muahaha

One Night with You

You’re the reason I dance
Just want to get close
Stay close
Edge closer
But can’t let you know

Meet you at eight you say
And I’m ready
But wait
Deliberately late
Pretend I’m not bothered

Small talk as we walk
Try to make that connection
Share a moment
Before I have to share you
With friends I wish weren’t here

Cough in the smoke
Laugh at your jokes
Even though they’re not funny
Saying nothing
Just watching you
Stroke your hair or something
Meaningless
But beautiful

On to the club
Try and look cool
Just feel like a fool
This ain’t my scene
But want to stay with you…
…Just in case

Nothing to do so drink
Drunk, say something stupid
And regret it
But forget it
You weren’t listening anyway
More interested in my friend
Can’t leave you alone

Which is the reason for dancing
Got to be close
And stay close
But no closer
Because I can’t let you know

Walk you home
But say nothing
The door clicks shut
And I curse myself for a coward
Like a hundred nights before

My mate Oscar

Let's be honest, January and February are not the highlight of most people's year. It's cold, wet and windy. Dark when you go to work and darker still by the time you get back. Worse still, even without the credit crunch most of your money was probably spent over Christmas so it's a struggle to afford anything to brighten up the gloom.
However there is one obvious highlight of the early months...the cinema

Due to the subtleties of the awards ceremonies entry conditions combining with the traditional delay in films crossing the Atlantic most of the genuinely great films (by which I mean non summer blockbusters) arrive in England in the first quarter of the year. In 2008 it was 'No country for old men' and 'There will be blood' (plus Sweeney Todd, Juno, Son of Rambow, In Bruges and so on). 2009 promises to be even better. Here are a few of the films that I'm really looking forward to

January - Slumdog Millionaire is already with us, but before the end of the month we'll also have two promising political features in the guise of Frost/Nixon and Milk (a profile of the first openly gay elected official in the USA). If you enjoyed Juno then you might like the new Michael Cera vehicle 'Nick and Norah's infinite playlist'. So that's four films that I definitely want to see, even before we consider Tom Cruise taking on Hitler in Valkyrie.

February - If you thought I liked January then hold on, cos February looks even better. David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club) directs Brad Pitt in Benjamin Button, the story of a man who is born old aged but grows younger as his life goes on (based on a short story by F Scott Fitzgerald of Great Gatsby fame). Woody Allen returns to form with possibly the world's greatest threesome in 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona' and the ever reliable Clint Eastwood directs and stars in Gran Torino.
If that all sounds too serious then get along to Hamlet 2 (Steve Coogan) or a Korean reworking of a classic (with possibly the best film title ever) The Good, The Bad, The Weird

March - There can't be even more great films in March you say, oh yes there can says I. Movie event of the year Watchmen hits the multiplexes on March 6th. What will probably turn out to be the best football film ever 'The Dammed United' follows soon after. And, just sneaking into April (but they all count) Richard Curtis' 2nd outing as a director (following on from Love Actually) with pirate radio comedy - The boat that rocked (yes I know that's an awful title).

Seriously, there's more good films in the first three months than the rest of the year combined.

So until next time, this is Dave Marshall saying 'Bored? Cold? Broke? Get to the cinema!'

Books

There is I think somewhere
A bookshop
Perfect in everyway
Labyrinthine
And I will roam for hours
Searching every shelf
Absolutely alone
Except for an old friend
Who I did not expect to meet

No screaming children here
Nor overpriced coffee
Just the books
And me

Up winding stairs to cavernous lofts
With arched windows
Warmed by August sun
Gaze down upon the muted hustle of the narrow street
So far away

There on dusty shelf
Lies a book
That I loved in my youth
Untouched in years
A previous owner’s name stencilled to the cover
But mine now

Further through musty corridor
Faded maps hanging between the shelves
In this uncharted territory
Authors I have never heard of
Will never remember again
Time slows

Or perhaps speeds
One smile and the bell rings
As I return to the reality
The flood of light and sound
Of a summer afternoon

42

This is it
I finally realised
That there is no more
I do not know what came before
Will not see what follows
I shall be gone

And that scares me
For I had everything
And now a third is gone
Almost all was wasted
And I cannot get it back
You only get one chance

Every moment that passes
I waste a little more
Can’t slow the sands
The light is fading into night
And I am no Joshua
The heavens will not pause for me

A handful have left their mark
All else have faded, forgotten
Perhaps they did not even exist
They are as nothing
Beside the immortal few
But I am not gone, not yet

So when you live, rejoice!
Though it might only be for a moment
Perhaps there is more
But I pity the fool that loses that bet
Naïve, but on one thing I am sure
This is it

Eleventh

I remember a cool Sunday morning
When all was silent but the wind
Which blew, blustered and swirled

In the distance a flag leapt and danced
It did not care for the drizzle that dampened my coat
Scarf wrapped tight against the November chill

Across the park an uncountable host
An army of leaves, all colours, all shades
Had been flung far from their berths

At some unseen signal they charged
Jumping and tumbling and rolling
Magnificent sight and my heart gladdened

But the wind fell, the charge failed
Barely a leaf had reached me
All lay dead and rotting in the mud

Saddened I trudged on among the naked trees
From afar I heard a snatch of bugle
And I paused, to remember

Resolutions

Happy New Year!

First up, apologies for missing a week of posts, I've been out most evenings so it's been a struggle to find the time. I must have 'written' three or four whole posts in my head at various points when I couldn't get to a computer, perhaps they will appear at some stage in the unforeseeable future.

This is going to be a bit of a fragmented post, but hopefully my usual fluid and easy going style will return next week. Either way I digress.

The New Year is traditionally a time for looking ahead and setting yourself aims and goals for the forthcoming twelve months. I try to take the time to sit down and write out a few targets, which I then check back to every now and again to see how things are getting on. Overall I was moderately happy with 2008, though it went a little off the rails for most of the summer.

I could just list all my resolutions for next year, but some of them are private, some are boring and some just wouldn't make any sense to most of you, so, here are a few selected thoughts.

1) Creative Writing - I previously suggested that I'd try to blog twice a week (once with a blog and once with a poem) I'm going to change that slightly to a target of 4 blogs and 4 poems each month (in no particular order). Sometimes I want to write everyday for a week, sometimes I couldn't care less for a fortnight. This approach is a little more flexible.
However it's easier to keep things going when you know someone, somewhere is reading. So please leave feedback (just clicking on the awful, average, awesome buttons at the bottom of each post really helps)

2 - I want to stay in touch with my friends - Sounds a little foolish I know, but when you live about a hundred miles from many of your close friends and acquaintances it's all too easy to lose touch. In 2008 I travelled as far and as regularly as I could to stay in contact and no doubt I'll do the same in 2009. Obviously friendship is a two way process, if you want to hang out some time then just give me a shout

3 - I'm looking for meaning - Let's be frank, somehow I don't think it's my life's purpose to do low level admin work, I don't think anyone's ultimate purpose involves low level admin work. But this is not the time for round the world voyages of discovery to search for greater meaning...sadly.

I guess the way I see 2009 is thus, money will be tighter, so it's the cheaper (or better yet free) things in life which will set the tone. Share and share alike may be my mantra (though it'll probably be 'Better to have loved and lost' like every other year).

Keep blogging, and all the very best for 2009
D