Streets

Despite a good night’s sleep, I am feeling tired today, my back remains sore (you’ll pay, Wicks. Oh, how you’ll pay…….) and for the first time a little boredom and lethargy has started to creep in.

Having run me ragged at the weekend, it is only fair to blame my offspring for this state of affairs - despite not having run anywhere or done all that much! When did doing nothing become so draining?!!

In the lulls between emails and calls today, I fired up Spotify and listened to some tunes by way of a distraction. I then thought about going back to albums that I loved when I was younger and whether they had stood the test of time, so started A Grand Don’t Come For Free by The Streets and was instantly transported back to my early days of being a field-based salesperson and carting a CD wallet about with me – remember those?!!

It remains an interesting listen as its impact upon present day poets such as Kate Tempest bleeds through and references to returning a DVD in time to avoid a fine, draw a nostalgic smile. Whilst there are definitely a couple of brilliant stand-out stand-alone tracks (Blinded by the Lights, Fit but You Know It and Dry Your Eyes), to get the best out of A Grand Don’t Come For Free and appreciate the story of winning, losing and regaining a grand, it truly needs to be listened in the round.

It was a welcome, distracting trip down memory lane and lasting feeling is that the album broadly stands the test of time. Mike Skinner is not the greatest singer, but his ability to capture the rhythm and flow of the English language within his own microcosm show that he is a great poet. 

Awake and needing to shake 
The partaking of my own baking 
The beat of the street calls to my feet
To get off my bum go for a run
It’ll be fun cos here comes the sun
To light my fix and stick it to Joe Wicks.

Stay healthy.