Am super jet-laggy here, writing like a dull drunk.
Luckily, Jake-from-the-past is coming to the rescue, saving my vegan faux-bacon with a song from the archive: Kinda Weird.
Almost everyone likes to be considered a little weird sometimes. In a certain light it starts to look like being special, or interesting, or part of a tribe. It’s a pleasing thought for many of us when faced with our apparent mediocrity, so we amplify it a little.
Is it weird that I don’t mind crowded trains or assembling flat-pack furniture1? Maybe a little. But I also like eating sandwiches and hate doing my tax return.
I finished writing this song in the dressing room at the Borderline London in 2012 and opened the show with it, playing it randomly and often ever since. The lyrics were tweaked in 2013, and this version was recorded in 2014. It almost made it onto The Manual, but like The Treasurly Trinkety Trap I just couldn’t find a nice spot to sit it in.
Listen to Kinda Weird above, or download the MP3 here. What do you think of it?
PS do check out my live dates further down. There are some new ones. If you haven’t yet bought tickets, consider picking some up?
Credits
I’m on electric guitar and vocals.
Mikey Rowe added some wonderfully subtle keyboard
Calum MacColl produced, engineered and mixed.
Lyrics
I sometimes speak of things that I know bugger all about
You like enormous waves and I like grey skies
I don't mind crowded trains or assembling flat-pack furniture
You know every king and queen since William the 1st
We're all kinda weird
So choose the kind of weird that you prefer
I like mine kind and weird
I wonder what your kind of weird might be
I sometimes picture you in Paris 1922
Or maybe 1810, or post-war England
I pick leaves from passing trees then throw them to the ground
Your mouth smiles when you frown
I always tend to roam while talking on the phone
You're afraid of mayonnaise
I hate freezer drawers
We're all kinda weird
I'm kinda weird
So choose the kind of weird that you prefer
I like mine kind and weird
I like your kind of weird
Yeh I wonder what your kind of weird might be
Cos maybe it's like me
Maybe it's like me yeh
I wonder if your kind of weird is me
My favourite gigs ever
Thank you so much for sharing your comments on last week’s open thread.
I was as interested in our memories as much as our actual choices here. How reliable are they? How many classic gigs have you forgotten? Sarah K mentioned she’s kept a record of every gig she’s ever been to. I wish I’d done that. I wonder how it would change my list? Probably a bit.
Like many of you, I found this unbearably difficult. Here is a quick guess:
Rage Against The Machine, Finsbury Park, 2010
My favourite band of all time broke up just as I was falling in love with them. For 10 long years after that I learned the songs backwards, pretending to be Tom Morello in the mirror and watching old live videos. When I finally got to see them live, I wondered if the anticipation would only lead to disappointment. Instead it was the best gig I’ve ever been to. The whole thing was spiritual to me, primitive, exhilarating. I was transported, liberated. It’s not the same, but you can watch the concert film here.
Daft Punk, Hyde Park 2007
This tour changed pop music forever, with some critics likening it to The Beatles appearing on Ed Sullivan in 1964. It was certainly unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before or since. Other-wordly, beyond human, like awesome aliens had landed to play us a concert. The lights, the staging, the volume, the way the songs blended together, it blew my mind.
A good friend turned down a free ticket for this, and it’s become a running joke between us ever since. I wonder if that’s influenced the choice? The gig has become a memory of a memory of a memory, which seems fitting considering Daft Punk’s follow up album. You can see a video of a show from that tour here. They also released the audio as a live album.
Peter Hook And the Light, The Forum, Kentish Town 2016.
No doubt I’ve been to better gigs but this was the moment where I finally understood 80s music. A set of Joy Division then a set of New Order. The synthetic drums, the production, the dance floor… finally it all made sense, unlocking a huge genre of music I’d never been able to enjoy before. Not bad considering I wasn’t even on drugs.
Honourable mentions to Nick Cave at All Points East 2018. I’ve never seen so many people silent at an outdoor gig. It was eerie, captivating, an absolute masterclass in frontmanery. Radiohead at The Royal Festival Hall playing music from Kid A before it was released. Foy Vance at a church in Shepherd’s Bush. So so many more…
Live Dates
Speaking of which, here are my upcoming shows.
Friday 23rd September - Totnes Barrel House. Tickets.
Friday 30th September - Coatbridge Georgian Hotel. Tickets.
Sunday 2nd October - North Yorkshire Old School House. Tickets.
*NEW* Monday 3rd October - Leeds Oporto. Tickets.
Thursday 13th October - Suffolk Sprat Shed. *1 TICKET LEFT*
Sunday 16th October - London Green Note. Tickets.
Friday 21st October - Brighton Folklore Rooms. Tickets.
Saturday 22nd October - Winchester Railway Inn. Tickets.
Wednesday 26th October - Manchester Rose & Monkey. Tickets.
Thursday 27th October - Nottingham Running Horse. Tickets.
*NEW* Friday 28th October - Lintrathen Lodge At Lochside. Tickets.
*NEW* Saturday 29th October - Carnoustie Dibble Tree Theatre. Tickets.
*NEW* Sunday 30th October - Tayport The Larick Centre. Tickets.
See all dates on a map here: https://share.jakemorley.com/livemap
Thanks everyone. See you next week!
A pre-covid lyric if ever there was one
Kinda Weird