SOTD #138
Today’s song is Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd
So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell, blue skies from pain
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail? A smile from a veil,
Do you think you can tell?
And did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts? Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze? Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?
How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We’re just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,
Running over the same old ground. What have you found? The same old fears.
Wish you were here.
From the album of the same name, this is in my top three of favourite Pink Floyd tracks, partly because of its simplicity and partly because of the feelings invoked by the line “we’re just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year”. I can’t begin to put into words the way that line makes me feel; suffice to say that it really hits me where I live.
SOTD #137
Today’s song is The Red Strokes by Garth Brooks
Moonlight on canvas, midnight and wine
Two shadows starting to softly combine
The picture they’re painting
Is one of the heart
And to those who have seen it
It’s a true work of art.
Oh, the red strokes
Passions uncaged
Thundering moments of tenderness rage
Oh, the red strokes
Tempered and strong (fearlessly drawn)
Burning the night like the dawn
Steam on the window, salt in a kiss
Two hearts have never pounded like this
Inspired by a vision
That they can’t command
Erasing the borders
With each brush of a hand
I was never a Garth Brooks fan – never really been all that into country, and stadium country seemed a bit odd to me – but, as with most artists, there’s one song that I really like and this is it. Perhaps the reason I like it is that it doesn’t sound like any of the other stuff that Garth Brooks has produced.
Actually, anyone know what he’s up to these days? Haven’t heard anything about him for ages.
[not available on iTunes][YouTube]
SOTD #136
Today’s song is Belfast Child by Simple Minds
When my love said to me
Meet me down by the gallow tree
For its sad news I bring
About this old town and all that its offering
Some say troubles abound
Some day soon theyre gonna pull the old town down
One day well return here,
When the belfast child sings again
Brothers sisters where are you now
As I look for you right through the crowd
All my life here Ive spent
With my faith in God the church and the government
But theres sadness abound
Some day soon theyre gonna pull the old town down
One day well return here,
When the belfast child sings again
When the belfast child sings again
Back in 1988 there was a big concert at Wembley for Nelson Mandela’s 70th Birthday. He was still in prison then, and it was a political-pressure sort of a gig. Simple Minds wrote the song Mandela Day for the occasion, and Belfast Child was the far superior B-side. To my mind, even with songs like Don’t You Forget About Me in their back catalogue, this is still the best song Jim Kerr and co ever produced.
SOTD #135
Today’s song is The Funky Gibbon by The Goodies
We’re the Goodies, how do you do?
We’ve just been down to the zoo
We saw a monkey in a cage
Doing a dance that could be the rage
It’s not hard, so let’s all do
The Funky Gibbon, ooo, ooo, ooo
Do, do, do the Funky Gibbon (The Funky Gibbon)
We are here to show you how (Ooo, ooo, ooo)
Ooo, ooo, ooo, the Funky Gibbon (The Funky Gibbon)
It’s just like you
So come on and do
The Funky Gibbon now
Dogs are always howlin’
Cats are always yowlin’
But gibbons only like to sing and dance (Boop, boop, she-boop)
You be like that monkey
Get a little funky
And in a while, start to smile
Gibbon half a chance
Back before Bill Oddie got all ornithological, he was part of the greatest comedy threesome to ever grace kids TV. The Goodies were – and indeed are, if you take a look at the DVDs – absolutely hilarious. When the list of great TV moments is written there is space reserved on for Ecky Thump and KItten Kong.
This song was their big hit and it’s great to hear it again after so many years – and it gives a wonderful taste of what The Goodies were all about.
[iTunes link to audio][YouTube]
VAT are you doing, Darling?
Well, as predicted by all and sundry over the weekend, Chancellor Alistair Darling (yeah, like it was really his decision) has reduced the rate of VAT by 2.5% to 15% in an attempt to bankrupt the country.
Sorry, that should read in an attempt to kick-start the economy and pull the country out of recession.
The rate cut, introduced on 1 December, is to last until 31 December 2009 and is supposed to get everyone to spend their way out of recession. But are people really going to fall for it? How much are people really going to save?
Well, for something that currently costs £100 including VAT, the new VAT rate would bring it down to £97.87 – a massive saving of £2.13. For something that costs £1,000, the new price would be £978.70 – a saving of £21.30. Not really enough to tip you over the edge and make you go and buy the item. Let’s face it, if you can’t afford it at £1,000, you’re not going to be able to afford it at £978.70.
And that’s making the assumption that the prices change, anyway. The majority of your grocery shopping doesn’t have VAT anyway, so that won’t change. Your gas and electricity won’t change, because they attract VAT at a different rate. Fuel won’t change, as the duty on fuel has been increased to compensate for the drop in VAT. The same with alcohol and tobacco. Your mortgage payments aren’t going to come down, because there’s no VAT on them – and the interest rates are now less likely to fall again. Basically, most of the money that comes out of your pocket is going to be unaffected and you’ll be no better off.
For those products that do attract VAT at the standard rate, the Chancellor has said he hopes that manufacturers will pass the saving on to consumers. I think Mr Darling is going to be disappointed and I think that the majority of businesses won’t be doing that. January is typically the time when prices go up in many industries; what many businesses are likely to do is to say, OK, VAT has been reduced so we won’t put our prices up this year and they’ll maintain the status quo. Other businesses that wouldn’t necessarily be about to put their prices up are going to be unlikely to want to splash out on new catalogues, leaflets, etc – perhaps junking thousands of pounds worth of existing ones in the process – for a temporary reduction.
Basically, the costs that many small businesses would incur in passing along the VAT reduction would mean that they’d be forced to put their prices up, to a level probably greater than if they just leave them alone.
And it’s a logistical nightmare, too. Because of the knee-jerk, headless chicken, panic mode that the Government are in, the Chancellor has given businesses one week’s notice of the change. The work that is involved for most companies would usually need months of planning to get right and to roll out properly. So it’s not going to happen.
The only thing that Mr Darling and Mr Brown have achieved with this emergency Budget is to put the country billions of pounds in the red, and given us all a year’s notice that come 2010 things are going to hurt a lot worse financially than they were hurting before.
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