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Song of the day – 458: Dexys

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Dexys-Midnight-Runners-One-Day-Im-Going-To-Soar

No one tells me shit. You don’t kiss the right rings on the right fingers, you don’t exist. 

I wasn’t going to write this series any more, was going to give up on Collapse Board. Still might. Seems like pitifully few come here, seems like pitifully few ever have. Mostly, it’s teenage kids searching for pictures of cows and s&m and fashion accessories. I don’t blame anyone. Mostly myself. I link through as a knee-jerk three-minute reaction to whatever knee-jerk story is happening, and expect music fans – my constituency, right? the passionate and the awkward – to be happy with that. Or I review some major label album without a major label platform. Or I write about some music that’s been diverting me or leading me to question my existence again and everyone tunes out because, well fuck, it ain’t them.. and does anyone even fucking *listen* to music once they’ve got small kids to fend with?

As Kevin sings, “I can’t be a fucking stereotype/But it’s lonely being here and living this fight”.

As Kevin sings, “Nowhere is home to me”. Damn straight. Especially not Brisbane. And not Brighton. Not Seattle, London, Chelmsford.

As Kevin sings, echoing the Ramones: “I can’t be anybody else/I just gotta be myself”.

There’s a new Dexys album out. It’s a mark of my age, my situation, the way that news is important to me. Correct. I don’t even need to listen to it to know how much I’m going to  play with it and roll with it and stare out the window of the 380 on the way home and want to punch walls and fuck myself up like I once did – fuck, not even when I’m on the bus. Maybe I won’t ever listen to it, same way I refuse myself books, comics, film, music, TV. Too much expectation to be confounded. Anticipation is so much better – right?

As Shop Assistants once sang, echoing The Legend!, “Still clinging on/To your bitter ideals”.

This new song swings, it soars. It hurts. It echoes with distance and dismay and hope, and oh yes. The beauty is in the mistakes.

It’s Dexys.

P.S. Just noticed that Stereogum referred to Dexys as “80s British soul revivalists”. Well, that’s the last time I ever go check out those wankers’ website.

Here’s another Dexys song I didn’t know existed until this morning.

Old and unhappy
I’m so unhappy, living like this
Feeling old and tired and ugly inside
I’ve tried hard to make it better
I’ve worked hard to find some peace
At best it’s only fleeting
I can’t last much longer like this

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