This was Smith and Burrows' appearance on the Jo Whiley show this evening, 13th January 2021. Not only did we get a live chat with Tom and Andy, but we also got a bit of a rarity in the form of a Blue Nile track called The Downtown Lights. The session was obviously pre-recorded so as to avoid the perils of broken internet connections. You get Parliament Hill, All the Best Moves as well as the aforementioned cover. There was also a chance for the pair to pick a favourite childhood song, Andy selected Right Here Right Now by Jesus Jones while Tom went for Wouldn't it be Good by Nik Kershaw. Both those tracks were played and then removed by me for this post so as not to dip hands into folks' pockets. Plus, it helps me avoid future copright nastiness down the line, something which is always a threat unfortunately.
I find it so utterly appropriate that Mr Smith would pick that song, although he would probably disagree with the reason I would offer. He's a proponent of sneaking somewhat melancholic lyrics into pop songs, and Wouldn't it be Good is for me one of the greatest examples of that art form. It sounds very cheery and light on the surface but if you really take the time to look at the lyrics, it does seem to be a song about wanting to end it all. A couple of examples:-
"I got it bad, you don't know how bad I got it"
"I'm sick of fighting, even though I know I should"
"My broken spirit is frozen to the core"
"Wouldn't it be good if we could wish ourselves away"
But the one that caps it all off is the slightly more blatant refrain of "I don't want to be here no more". Want some even more obscure trivia? Chris Urbanowicz once said that he was a big fan of WIBG's chorus, not the whole song, but definitely the chorus. Small world. Enjoy the show ;)
brought to you with lots and lots of lemming-love :) x
