On Baker Street

I've been spending some time on Baker Street. And every time I'm there, I hear Gerry Rafferty and that saxophone and some of the most poignant lyrics ever written.

I'm just in the process of sending a copy of Baker Street to someone who hasn't heard it... but needs to... because the song is about them... just as much as it is about most of us...

The reason for this post is that while checking out Baker Street on websites I came across a discussion that was quite amazing... no trolls, no unpleasantness... just post after post of warm emotion for Baker Street and for its significance in people's lives... and for the late Gerry Rafferty.

Baker Street meant so much to so many people, it seems. And what is that meaning? If you don't know, you'd better give it a listen... It was written for you too.

Beardness Weirdness

Policemen have been looking younger for quite some time. In fact, it wasn't long ago that I found myself asking a member of the constabulary who was giving me a severe ticking off for parking inappropriately: "Just how old are you?"

He wouldn't give me his age, but I can tell you that he didn't like the question very much, and brought our conversation to an end with a "Well, make sure you don't do it again".

But I was looking out the train window the other day as we pulled into Clapham Junction and saw a child with a beard. No, seriously, a young boy, about 5ft tall maximum, with a proper black beard.

So are beards – like policemen – getting younger? One thing's for sure... I'm definitely getting old.

And... But...

And... if you're wondering what happened to the extra And... it's gone. I was going to start expanding this blog into other areas apart from words and music. But I'm now going to be able to do that in a new online project, which should be up and running in April.

More news on that nearer the launch.

Words and Music will be sticking to words and music.

Pistorius... Pastorius

I've been away... I'm back.

Whenever I hear the name Pistorius (which I seem to do quite frequently at the moment) I hear it as Pastorius — another remarkable person and troubled soul.

While I find it difficult to warm to the macho, guns and ego story of Pistorius, I still find the tale of Jaco Pastorius a hard one to bear.

Apparently a sufferer from a bipolar disorder (which may in its way have fuelled his genius for playing electric bass), Pastorius ended up on medication, on too much alcohol... and finally on the street.

His work with Weather Report, Herbie Hancock and Joni Mitchell was stunning. His death in 1987 — after an altercation with a bouncer — at the age of 35 must be one of music's greatest tragedies.

And... Capital Punishment

Perhaps I'm getting old. I never thought I'd write this... but I may be in favour of capital punishment.

I think it was Viv Stanshall's Sir Henry Rawlinson who, when asked what he thought of capital punishment, said: "Capital!"

The "Sir Henrys" of the world have always been in favour of stringing them up. But I never have. In any circumstances.

Not until now. The Delhi gang-rape case changed things.

It wasn't a conscious change of mind. I just found myself feeling that the men who committed this unbelievably awful assault on a woman had forfeited their right to live. They deserved to die.

And it isn't even a "rational" change of heart or mind. I'm still against capital punishment — for all the well-rehearsed reasons that any sensible person would be.

But for these men, if it were down to me, I would make an exception.

Vinnie Vidi, Vici

I added an And... to the blog because I was beginning to feel that Words And Music couldn't cover everything there was to write about.

But then along comes drumming legend Vinnie Colaiuta (pictured) and explains how "thought is the enemy of flow".

In answering the question what does he think about when he is playing, he goes beyond philosophy and seems to chime with the teachings of Jiddhu Krishnamurti on the role of thought.

Colaiuta says in the latest issue of Modern Drummer magazine: "The answer is basically: nothing. Thought happens in a completely different way out of flow. Out of flow, it's contemplative and analytical and problem-solving. In flow, it's completely different. It's like a real-time programme running in the background that doesn't interfere with what's going on. The ability to adapt in a given moment is beyond the scope of another type of focused thought process."

Whether Colaiuta is familiar with Krishnamurti's teaching, I don't know. Whether he is or not is irrelevant, since he has got to a similar place (although Colaiuta is talking about drumming, while Krishnamurti is talking about the whole of living): the assignment of thought to its "proper" role — "in flow" rather than dominating, separating, judging, creating images, creating the self, creating pasts and futures...

This truly meditative aspect of playing must apply to other instruments. But was it not the ancient sage Ginger Baker who once said: "Sometimes you're not playing the drums... the drums are playing you."

From Tiny Acorns...

Not only has Like A Flower sold a few copies... but reviews are starting to appear... I smiled in particular at this one...

Gardener's Questing Time 8 Jan 2013

By J. Clarke

Amazon Verified Purchase

A horticultural thriller that comes over as a cross between Amateur Gardening and True Crime magazine, this had me gripped from the very first page. Lots of twists and turns, some superb writing and a plot to (literally) die for. As Raymond Chandler said, "a good story cannot be devised, it has to be distilled". If that's so, this is of the finest vintage.

If you want to check out whether such comments are justified, you can buy the book... and read more reviews... by clicking here.