Thanks!
I never feel I have much to say in HGATR unless it’s an artist I absolutely love, and I like being able to give context to my enjoyment. The bit about studying lyric writing books between the first two albums absolutely fascinated me when I read it. So I was keen to share.
One more thing I forgot to mention in my previous post.
I got a copy of A Grand Don’t Come For Free when I was 16/17 and growing up in the countryside. It didn’t make any sense to me at all. I remember that I quite liked the big brass sounds in the first track but other than that, it was like trying to engage with someone speaking a different language.
When I was 18 I moved to London for uni and at some point in my first year there, I obtained a copy of Original Pirate Material and both albums just opened up. Living in a sprawling urban environment caused a fundamental shift in my ability to connect with what he was on about.
I think there was two parts to it.
One was that I never really liked or understood dance tunes before I lived in an environment that matched the music.
Two was that before moving to London I only knew people who were exactly like me - I realised this, and it was one of my main reasons for moving to London. But before I had done so, Mike Skinner sounded like he was from another planet. After a year in London I’d met loads of people from all around the world (either side of my room were lads from Sweden and Bulgaria).
I think it’s reasonable to assume that my ability to connect with his vocals wouldn’t have happened if I’d stayed in rural Hampshire, socialising with people who all had blandly well spoken southern accents.
