Happiness Not Included.
Posted this as a thread on 'the Twitter' earlier but thought I'd share it here too.
You're welcome.
This week Tim Burgess' fantastic online listening party featured Soft Cell's new album Happiness Not Included....As folk who know me can attest, Soft Cell are my favourite band - and Marc Almond is my hero...
Being the awkward autistic artsy teen constantly picked on in school, obsessed with horror films, sci-fi and Warhol, Marc was a lifeline and Soft Cell's dark electropop perfectly encapsulated everything I felt...and everything that terrified me too....
They also seemed to like the same things too (a song about George A Romero? result!) - it was Marc and Dave introduced me to Capote, Scott Walker, neon lighting and electronica among other things and in one way or another have soundtracked the best part of my life
My art school days (and nights) were scored by Mother Fist and Vermine in Ermine....I journeyed out into the big bad world to The Stars We Are....you could say I was a wee bit obsessed (!)
I could go on (but I won't) so skip forward to the whole pandemic....routines and schedules shot to fuck by Covid...I tried my best to put new routines in order for my autistic podlings to make it bearable for them but totally forgot to do it for myself...
To be honest it's been a wee bit tricky...2 years later and everything has changed...started lockdown with 15 year old twins, now they're off to college and 18! Our youngest is about to turn 16 and now talks!
Madness!
Everything is awesome (as the great song goes) but I'm sitting here realizing I'm living in a world that makes no sense....it's like I woke up in a place where everything is different and they forgot to give me a handbook...
...it's waking up in the (other) ending of Army of Darkness but with less beards and without a rousing Joseph LoDuca theme....but like everyone else I do my best.
Jump forward to 10th May...The listening party (as mentioned) is featuring the new album...I have it but i've decided to hold off listening (it's still sealed) until that day....my first time will be with Dave and Marc listening too....madness!
The result?
I said at the time I usually tweet quite eloquently during the listening parties but that night I was just tearfully and joyfully losing myself in my favourite band and feeling 15 again....
But more that that (and this may sound really silly) the fact that there was a new Soft Cell album that sounded just so perfectly right appearing just when it turned out I needed it seemed to kickstart my brain....
Especially this song:
It started playing and I just cried tears of pure joy and relief....Dave and Marc just got it.
I now know I can do this strange new world because Marc Almond and Dave Ball are there to score it for me....like they always have been.....
And the moral of this story?
Music is great?
Autistic folk over analyze stuff?
I need to get out more?
Who knows, but if you've made it this far well done!
So thank you
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