There’s space, and everything shining in itLike the light of Carravagio And the young man’s voiceHas things to say about the situationAnd the old man’s voiceSlaps him down The camera zooms in to their squabbleAnd the light is forgotten Until it isn’tAnd the contestants’ raft disappears downstream In that moment …In that moment … But … Read more
I don’t know where this came from – it was an improvised, spontaneous writing session. I had been thinking about how the humorous stuff I do is the most popular and maybe the somewhat ‘darker’ stuff I’ve been writing recently (most of which you haven’t heard yet) may not please people. But don’t worry, I’m … Read more
Dave Christopher was one of the finest songwriters to come out of Edinburgh. But you won’t find him on YouTube or Spotify. Until recently you wouldn’t find him anywhere online. Only a few cassettes and singles in the hands of friends. His life negotiated personal tragedy and challenges that few have faced, but towards the … Read more
Recently I’ve been going through a lifetime of photos. I came across this one from my first stint as an English teacher in Cairo in the 1970s, and looked up the diary I kept then to find the story. This is pretty much word for word what it says: From ‘Here be Dragons’ a Readers … Read more
One of the things about making a lockdown project of clearing and cataloguing a lifetime of photos – four lifetimes if you count my wife and our children – is that memories get triggered. Daily. Nightly even, when you’re trying to sleep. One thing that’s come to mind recently is the fascination with death that … Read more
For the third year running I attended the Glasgow Songwriting Festival last weekend. It followed the same format as previous years – you stay in a group of about eight and spend a two hour session with each of the four tutors over the Saturday and Sunday – but unlike previous years in the unique … Read more