Sometimes a song comes together so quickly that it writes itself with its own energy. Words seem to appear from nowhere. I had the ‘jazz’ chords for about a week and was laughing at how unfashionable and uncool the soundtrack was and then the idea came into my head to write a song about youth set to such an old genre of music. I was pleasantly surprised at the outcome. My keyboard player Paul (we go back to 1981) put some sounds on it for me and my brother David, who plays a mean bass guitar, helped me out too (although he says that the bass track here is not entirely all his own but a combination of my demo bass and his wav file – spooky!)
For the video I wanted images of youth so asked my friends Ewa and Marcin Ka if I could use some of their beautiful family pictures and thankfully they gave consent!
Youth Paul McKendrick (2017)
Take no notice of your elders, they’re just jealous of your youth
You remind them of themselves when they felt bulletproof
Take no heed of their warnings, they need their doom and gloom
Hindsight blindsides their point of view
With clouds on their horizon as they learn of disappointment
Don’t let them take that shine off of you
They may sound like the voice of reason, all they found was disillusion
Don’t let them change your mind, don’t be fooled
If you listen to your betters, all you get is, ‘I told you so’
They’re tired and weary from their journey down the road
All that advice from the wise, from the ‘people in the know’
You remind them of themselves from times long ago
With clouds on their horizon as they learn of disappointment
Don’t let them take that spark out of you
They may sound like the voice of reason, all they found was disillusion
Don’t take them to heart, no don’t be fooled
And you might find your Shangri-La and you might find a brand new star
And you might find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, who knows?
Pay no mind to your elders, the nay-sayers and the ’No Can Do’
They remember how they ignored their elders too
With clouds on their horizon as they learn of disappointment
Don’t let them take that sparkle out of you
They may sound like the voice of reason but all they found was disillusion
Don’t let them change your mind, don’t be fooled
Don’t let them change your mind, don’t be fooled
Don’t let them change your mind, no don’t be fooled
Paul A. McKendrick UK 