I want to see these printed up. I don’t think I’ve ever printed the “C Moon” one. I certainly haven’t printed up the Wall Of Love one…so, let’s give them away! One print of each…Just leave a comment on which one you’d like to win. (And if you can’t decide, say “either” and you’ll go in for both.)
I’ll leave it running until next Sunday. Please share if you think others will be interested.
That wording in this blurb that Cherisse reposted on Instagram…*this summer*.
THIS SUMMER?!!!! A bit late now, isn’t? Surely they mean NEXT summer, right?!
Hard at study…got to keep that veneer of “Ogling professinalism” up! Lol
I ogle
We ogle
She ogles
No wonder I need glasses these days!
It’s that little riff at the beginning. So basic, but so right for the song. And that little jangly keyboard.
Jim writes “traditional” verse and chorus lyrics. I find the lyrics intriguing. And there is some…sexual ambiguity going on within “but I’ve got something on my mind / I want you here, I want you now / you better explain”. Is he accusing her of being…a whore? (For want of a better term.) For it continues into chorus “is it true you’re running ’round? / now is it true they’re calling you the Chelsea girl?”
What exactly *is* a Chelsea Girl? A dirty stop-out? A “loose” woman? A floozy? She certainly sounds like one! “Ain’t it strange how people always seem to know your face / but just don’t know your name”. And on… “last night I saw a shooting star / when morning comes / she hides away / a real disgrace”.
In recent times the “she hides away” line has been dropped, to give more emphasis to the “a real disgrace” line.
But never mind…he wants her all the same… “ooh, Chelsea Girl / you got me caught up in a whirl / I want you here now Chelsea Girl”.
Dirty boy! Lol
There is such a lot of simple but fantastic guitar work from Charlie on this. Fret walks (I’m no musician, so that’s my way of saying his guitar solo runs up and back down the fret board), two chord riffs…all killer work.
An early Kerr/Burchill masterpiece.
But…it has been this most recent tour and the acoustic version that really has made me fall in love with it.
Firstly: Cherisse Osei’s drum work on it – fucking wow! OUT OF THE PARK! It now has as much of a drum solo on it as it does a guitar solo. I would always find my eyes diverting away from Jim, not to watch Charlie at work, but to watch Cherisse just bang her biceps off. Just…off the scale good!
Secondly: Jim’s subtle changes to the lyrics from gig to gig. Little things like the line changing to “ain’t it strange how people always seem to know your *pretty, pretty* face”. I am wonderfully intrigued as to why he decided to drop the “she hides away” line. I’d ask him…but would fear I’d be deemed a pest…and after the whole “Life In Oils”…saga, I really would not want to risk the assumption of impertinence by asking. Now I seem to have somewhat…recouped any good feelings I felt I lost during the past few months.
Maybe one day…
It’s just…a feel good song. On the tour, it was really the song I felt I had to get up and dance and sing to. I would be SSOOO miffed when it happened at some of the gigs I was at, that bums firmly stayed rooted to seats. At the first Dublin gig, I think I stayed seated…but I was fucking itching…champing at the bit to get up! So for the second show…I just wasn’t having that! I didn’t “toe the line”. I got up and I was just…in heaven! Ridiculously self-conscious, of course! I was right by the Toblerone ladies (who were standing up as well, of course) and I was sticking out like a sore thumb. Jim would not have missed me! But I didn’t care. It was probably going to be the last time I’d see it performed like that, and I wanted to “have it”!…if you get what I mean? To just…live in it and feel it and express back the joy it had given me hearing it like that.
So yes, during the Acoustic Tour, the appreciation I gained for this song was…immense. I think I recorded it on the tour twice…I think. Perhaps only the once…oh, but at Colston Hall. The gig I was closest to the stage at. What a night that was!
Given Jim’s post some time back about writing Chelsea Girl with Charlie at his house, his mum coming home from the cake shop and having leftover strawberry tarts for Jim and Charlie to scoff, perhaps that’s what our Chelsea Girl should be known as? A “strawberry tart”? 😉
I must admit that when I walk past cake shops and see Chelsea buns in the window, it always starts playing in my head. Lol
In summary: the guitar work of Mr Burchill…the gold dust Kerr lyrics…it just works. It’s a perfect little encapsulated gem.
And that is why I love…Chelsea Girl.
Extra photos of Brighton from the Acoustic “gig hop” Tour.
There was quite a bit to see in Mr Magpie’s shop. A lovely place it was.
Just thought of David when I saw this place…
Every self-respecting record shop needs a John Grant section!
Glasgow has the Duke of Wellington with his traffic cone adorned head…Brighton seems to have Queen Vicki with a milk crate on hers. Lol
Fudge for Ms Davies 🙂
Some singer from some band or other, walking back to the stage after he came out to “walk amongst the people” (I’m being flippant and silly!)
It really was something very special, having Jim do that, even if he did seem to fall down a well sometimes and disappear for a minute or two. Lol
This really was quite an unexpected treat. Catherine was very generously giving away a few tickets last week on her Facebook page. Before I commited to putting my hat in the ring, I made sure I could get there. I wasn’t going to waste her time by putting my hand up for tickets if I then couldn’t make it.
I looked at the cost of getting to Bristol – quite cheap if I get myself to London first and get a National Express coach there and back. I checked with Yvonne that she would be okay with having me stay for the night, and as a way of doing so, she’d be my “plus one” and come along to the gig with me.
That sorted, I put my name in for the chance. Wonderfully, my name was picked and so on Thursday morning, off I went to Bristol again.
Delays from hideous traffic around London meant I didn’t get to Bristol until about 4.20pm. I took the wrong route down to the Harbourside and Birdy actually beat me down there (and she was at work until 5pm).
(Couldn’t help but give the pic of Birdy and I a subtle “improvement”. Lol)
We had a while to wait to get in. We got talking to another ticket recipient, Shaun, and his wife Dawn. A wonderful couple and lovely people. We could hear Catherine going through soundcheck as we were waiting to get in. We were champing at the bit! Catherine was sounding amazing!
We were let through just MINUTES before she appeared onstage. And WOW! It was great to hear stuff that got a rest during the acoustic sets with Simple Minds. I got to hear Popular and Chip On Your Shoulder – the first time since last December, but the surprise was One For Sorrow! She hadn’t performed it last December, and not on the acoustic tour, so it was a first for me to hear it live…and wonderful!
She was fabulous…but of course it SSOOO made me wish that I was able to see her in Chester the next day, but finances just could not stretch. I was hoping they would. I had purchased a ticket in the hope I would make it, but it would have been more expensive for me to get there and back and stay overnight. Funds had been severely depleated after all the touring around for SM.
I am forever thankful for the tickets from Catherine, without which Bristol would not have been doable either.
I had not eaten since arriving in London at midday (a doughnut), so we headed off to the stalls for a bite to eat and a drink. We sat on a side wall and had our food and drink, and took in the sounds of British Sea Power from a distance. They seemed pretty good and were going down well with the crowd.
(Temptation was put in front of me…but I resisted! One doughnut was enough for one day. Lol)
The Manics appeared around 9pm and started with Motorcycle Emptiness. Quite a crowd-pleaser. I am not super aware of the Manics’ canon of songs. I really like them, but have (like I was with SM for many a year) not explored their back catalogue extensively and only know bits and pieces. The first song they performed I recognised was You Stole The Sun From My Heart. Others I could just about sing along to were Ocean Spray (one Manics single I actually bought! And I did have a copy of This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours too, back in the day), If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next, Tsunami and, the rousing finale of Design For Life. I think they performed a couple of other songs from “This Is My Truth” I should have recognised, but it had been SSOO long since I’d heard the album, they weren’t as familiar to me.
They were…AMAZING! Just wow! JDB and Nicky were on top form. They knocked it out of the park. I’d love to see them again, and get myself familiar with their music once more…and actually explore it more extensively this time. Amazing guys!
There was a little time to explore Bristol the following day…and…the wallet got stretched YET AGAIN, as there was a record shop a little Birdy had told me about called Rise, and well, they had THIS!
I had never seen it before, and the cover art obviously caught my eye. So very in the theme of Hokusai. I will definitely give it a spin very soon!
One final thank you to Catherine for the tickets and the opportunity to see such a wonderful gig. You are just such an amazing lady! I love to bits! I hope to see you again very soon…with new material! It’s going to be so exciting!
(No pics of the acts themselves, but I took a bit of live footage I shared on my Facebook page.)
A rather unorthodox memento from my trip to Bridlington…
