Month: January 1993

The following list is titled “Bowden”. Based on subsequent correspondence and what is left of my memory, I think this went to a director named Mark Bowden, who took a particular shine to my songs.

Perhaps too much of a shine; I seem to recall that the first run of 1993 was ram-packed with my songs. Indeed, I wrote to Mark soon after the run started with some notes – here’s a link to that letter.

I shall upload the lyrics referred to in the list below and the letter as soon as I am able.

 

                  LIST OF SONGS SUBMITTED AND TAPE TRACK LISTING

                                              JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1993 RUN

 

Song Title	Original Title/ Artist on Tape	Aprox. No. of Performances
		7	4-6	1-3	New/Nil
Inside A Femidom	Under The Moon Of Love/Curtis Lee				Y
Slobidan’s Army	Oliver’s Army/Elvis Costello				Y
White House	Our House/Crosby Stills Nash & Young				Y
My Genitalia	My Generation/The Who				Y
I Gatt Round	I Get Around/Beach Boys				Y
Nude For Thought	Food For Thought/UB40				Y
Fair Weather Friend	You’ve Got A Friend/Carole King				Y
Midnight Plane to Jordan	Midnight Train to Georgia/Gladys Knight & Pips				Y
Coal Diggers	Goldfinger/Shirley Bassey		Y
Closed to You	Close to You/Carpenters		Y
Snatchbroker Snatchbroker	Matchmaker Matchmaker/Fiddler on the Roof Cast			Y
Trucker Strikes	Summer Loving/Grease Cast			Y
Designer*	Delilah/Tom Jones				Y*

* (so new I have had to tack it on to the end of the tape) 

4 January 1993

 

Seemingly my first scribbling of 1993, it is dated the same say as the listing I sent to new director Mark Bowden – see link to listing here.

Mark liked it and used it, although it is hardly a laugh out loud song. I think he used it as a tone down.watershed song. It ran for a while I recall, despite my profound inability to spell Nagorno-Karabakh back then. I might be the only NewsRevue lyricist to have used that place name and attempted to rhyme with it more than once.

The tune is Oliver’s Army by Elvis Costello – click here or below to see YouTube/Vevo.

Original lyrics of Oliver’s Army can be found if you click here.

♬ SLOBIDAN’S ARMY ♬

(To the Tune of “Oliver’s Army”)

 

VERSE 1

Don’t stop those peace talks,

They may last all night;

The Serbs are cruel war hawks,

Who try to get their own way through might.

Call in the United Nations,

Have you got a peaceful army? – cos

 

CHORUS 1

Slobidan’s Army’s from Serbia,

Slobidan’s Army has gone too far,

And I would rather be anywhere else than Bosnia.

 

MIDDLE BIT

Radovan Karadzic,

Hates Izetbegovic;

He may flatten Kosovo,

After he’s laid out Sarajevo,

With the Serbs from the mountains and Montenegro.

 

VERSE 2

The blood is flowin’,

Every time those Serbs advance;

In spite of David Owen,

And his old has been side kick named Cyrus Vance.

If you think the Slavs are out of luck,

You should see Nagorno-Karaback.

 

CHORUS 2

Slobidan’s army has gone too far,

Slobidan’s death toll is costlier,

And I would rather be anywhere else than Bosnia.

(Except Somalia, Cuba or Iran,

Or in Cambodia, Chad or Kurdistan.)

copyright © Ian Harris 1993