I remember at one particularly shambolic gig at The Pony in Melbourne, we attempted to perform an impromptu Thrash Metal version of the song. We got about halfway through, when Ev’s bass pedal came off the drum, and the song sort of petered out. I don’t have a recording of that, but I do have a sloppy studio recording we did, featuring slide guitar and harmonica.

The Mime version was much more upbeat country pop than my own original recording. Compare and contrast:

Also, apologies for the bad American accent.

At the time, my mum tried to convince me to sell the song to a boy band, so I could retire and live off the royalties.

And as a bonus, have a snippet of the Disney version from one of our rehearsals – Donald Duck on lead vocals and guitar, Mickey Mouse on backing vocals, (with Erin on bass and Dom on Drums).

The disgust shown by Nathan at the end is because my Donald Duck impression caused me to slobber uncontrollably all over the microphone. Nice.

Childhood Song

When I sit alone at night
With the feeling that something ain’t right
I’ll sing you your childhood song

When you’re feeling low and blue
I have something that may help you
I’ll sing you your childhood song

Your childhood song
Fixes what’s wrong
Your childhood song
Your childhood’s gone

When your life just isn’t going,
I’ve got the stuff to get those memories flowing
I’ll sing you
Your childhood song

Your childhood song
Fixes what’s wrong
Your childhood song
Your childhood’s gone

When those around you lose their heads,
It’s better to look back instead*,
I’ll sing you your childhood song

Your childhood song
Fixes what’s wrong
Your childhood song
Your childhood’s gone

When you’re feeling crap and shitty
I’ll save you with this reminisce ditty
I’ll sing you your childhood song

*The original line, as heard on the original demo above, was the embarrassing “Gotta think fast to not be dead”. What?

I originally wrote this song towards the end of 2001 as a birthday present for her, but neglected to actually write down the words anywhere. So after I had recorded it on to cassette and given it to her as a present, I thought I’d better write it down and record it for myself for posterity. Unfortunately, I had totally forgotten the second verse, and had to write a new one. I still can’t remember the original version.

At the time I wrote it, I had recently been listening to the song Galveston. I think you can hear the (not particularly subtle) influence, which was totally subconscious and unintentional on my part. See if you can spot it (although our song was more punk-pop than Glen Campbell’s country classic – my next post will be about our country effort).

I was speaking to Emily my friend who wishes to remain nameless the other day, and found out that she was pregnant! So to celebrate, I thought I’d share this song with the world.

I have numerous versions of this song lying around, but I’ll share two of them with you here. First, a version recorded at home by me (guitar, bass and all vocals) on my laptop, with a simple drum loop in the background. The second features the International Language of Mime in a rehearsal studio, recorded onto a friend’s 4-track mini-disc recorder (remember mini-discs?). It was our very first session with our new drummer, Evelyn – who has since gone on to be better known as Pikelet – and features Nathan on lead vocals, with Ev on drums and backing vocals, Dom on bass, and me on guitar and backing vocals. This song was always a crowd favourite at International Language of Mime gigs, and is a lot of fun to play.

Emily by katzette

Emily by The International Language Of Mime

[ETA I've just remembered that I've got photos from this recording session lying around somewhere. I'll try to dig them up and share them here. Watch this space. OK, you can stop watching now.]

Emily

1,2,3,4,1…

Emily, oh Emily
It’s clear to see you care for me
I care for you
Ooh ooh ooh

Emily, oh Emily
You’re always there to carry me on
Through
Me and you

I’ve let you down in the past
But you’ve always forgiven me
Eventually

You’ve got the biggest heart I know
And you think positively
Emily, Emily, Emily

Emily, oh Emily
It’s clear to see you care for me
I care for you
Ooh ooh ooh

Emily, oh Emily
You’re always there to carry me on
Through
Me and you

I’ve let you down in the past
But you’ve always forgiven me
Eventually
When it’s time to go well you know
I’ll be waiting patiently
Emily, Emily, Emily
Emily, oh Emily
It’s clear to see you care for me
I care for you
Ooh ooh ooh

Emily, oh Emily
You’re always there to carry me on
Through
Me and you

Aaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…
Aaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…

The seeds for this song were sown back in the mists of time, when I was a sprightly 18 year old. I was in my final year of secondary school, and had formed my first band, the inspiringly named Psychedelic Curtains. We were nominally a 4 piece – three guitarists and drummer (none of us owned a bass), and I had semi-taught the other two guitarists to play. We never actually all managed to get in a room together at the same time to play – three of us jammed once or twice together.

In reality, the band ended up being a two-piece. Two guitars, one voice (I hadn’t built up the courage to sing in front of anyone else at this stage). We wrote a short album-worth of material and recorded it on a little tape deck in my bedroom. We called the album The Wilderness Of Zin, after discovering the niftily named region on a map of the Negev desert in Israel. We even had a couple of t-shirts printed (coincidentally, I was wearing what’s left of mine today). The picture used on the t-shirt was one I took of a school mate of ours, who has since gone on to bigger and better things*.

This song was not written for that album, but was written a year or so later, when I was feeling nostalgic. The recording was done almost a decade later, in 2005, using an old iMac and ProTools Free. Two vocal tracks, two guitar tracks. Simples.

Disclaimer: I have never been to the Wilderness Of Zin.

*Also coincidentally, I was wearing that t-shirt at the 2001 Reading Festival, the same day that Ladytron were playing, but I had no idea at the time that my old school friend was in the band!

Wilderness Of Zin

I’m lost in the Wilderness of Zin.
A more desolate place,
You have not been in.
Wilderness of Zin.

I’m lost in the Wilderness of Zin.
Where ever else you go,
You’ve always been
To the Wilderness of Zin

I’m lost in the Wilderness of Zin
Wilderness of Zin.

This is just a quickie to let you in on some exciting news! 8 years ago, I journeyed to Australia as part of a British beat combo called The International Language Of Mime. And now, over 5 years since our last gig, we are performing another one-off reunion farewell comeback spectacular for your pleasure!

The details:

The gig will be at Idgaff at 160 Hoddle Street (a bit south of Johnson St) in Abbotsford. (Nearest station – Collingwood).

Here’s a map for you:

The proceedings will kick off around 5pm on the 5th December, we’ll be playing at 6.30. The Red Aces will be on at 5.30.

Hope to see you there!!! Here’s a song to whet your appetite:

Katzette

xx

(P.S. We will be rusty – we haven’t played together for over 5 years, and have never played with our new drummer before? So please, be gentle…)