Blackpool Illuminations

Yeah, so, it must've been 1996?

And we, ehm

We did often go to Blackpool

Was about once a year

To see the illuminations

But, ehm, usually we just went for the day

'Cause we didn't live that far away

But for some reason, this, this year we'd

We'd gone for two nights

Ehm, and we were staying in a bed-and-breakfast

On the, on the, on the front

And I was acting reckless

Eh, like most six-year-olds

Bouncing on the bed and - about

And, yeah, I was like most kids, I was curious

Yeah, I was often, eh, exploring things shouldn't be and

You know, putting myself in, eh, danger

Much to the dismay of me mum and dad

And I remember that the plan was

We were gonna go, ehm, to the the other end of the strip for some tea

And we were gonna drive down and take in the illuminations on the way

And my mum was getting ready in the, in the toilet

And my dad had just gone down to the bar

To get some drinks and that, I think, and

Yeah, I was

I was excited to be there

I was excited to not be at school

And I think at that age

You, ehm, you feel most in love

With your parents

I think they're your best friends

And they're your whole world

And they keep you safe and you know them better than anyone else

And when they're happy together with you

The fact that you never want life to, to change

(Would you say that's your biggest fear?)

Would I say what's my biggest fear? (Change)

Ehm, no, I'd probably say being, ehm

Drowned and buried at the bottom of a lake is my biggest fear (okay)

Sorry (and do you wanna tell me any more about that?)

Not right now, no, sorry

I, ehm, I wouldn't mind getting to the bottom of this

Blackpool Illuminations story if that's okay (by all means)

Cheers, thanks (sorry)

So, anyway, eh, where was I?

Yeah, ehm, so I wanted to see out of the window, but I wasn't tall enough

And the only way I could gain the leverage to do so

Was by climbing onto the radiator pipe

Which was following the skirting board 'round the edge of the room

(Yeah)

So I did

(And can you, ehm, tell me what happened next?)

Ehm, using the strength of my chin

I could hold on to the windowsill with that

And with my, eh, fingers also sort of gripping

Gripping the rim as well

And I was kinda doomed from the start, I think

Because instantly my foot slipped, bit into the brick

And I split the skin and bust both lips

I screeched

You know the way sand inevitably - your chips up

When you eat them on the beach?

That's the way the rust rubbed into my gums

The blood was gushing and I screamed

It was a gale force ushered from a paltry gust

My ears were ringing, my face was stinging from ear to ear

Like I'd been kissing all the dead jellyfish

That kept washing up on the beaches 'round here

(Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)

So, mum, she had to run to get the Calpol from the chemist

While Dad pacified me with a pack of crisps

And I remember this bit specifically

'Cause for some reason

The ones he gave to me were packaged differently

Typically these don't come in a blue bag

They call 'em, "Ready Salted"

A self-explanatory tag

But I was stopped in my tracks as the new premise was flagged

That colour coding wasn't gospel at all

It was just a bonus gag

And maybe the flavour, "Ready"

Meant, "We're already doomed"

And what if "salted" meant salted like the salt rubbed in the wound of

Every injury I'd accumulated trying to leave the room

'Cause in a future still unwritten

Punishment is waiting for a moment you don't get to choose

The crying soon subsided when the Calpol worked its magic

So we bundled in the car to see the Golden Mile looking absolutely tragic

The fizzy fish I was sucking on fell and flopped under the seat

And got caked in dead skin and crisp crumbs, impossible to eat

So instead I stared out across the pitch-black Irish Sea

And wondered what other pleasures were still left out there waiting for me

The illuminations no longer of appeal

For I'd seen through the illusion when I bit the brick

And now I knew what was really real

And what was just the punchline for this joke-shop magic trick

And I just stopped staring

Six years old, and I stopped caring

Eventually, I stopped staring directly at anything

Head down, just keep moving

Chasing girls, and listening to music

Convinced I'd never amount to anything

Convinced I was of no use to no one

That trajectory was so soothing

Nothing to prove, nothing to lose

Accept days on end, stoned in a daze

Waking up in a haze again

The world started illuminating itself to me in new ways

So here I was again

On a grey mid-May day

In line for the big one

When "A Beautiful Day" suddenly blared out over the PA

So loud I leapt out of my skin all over again

The pill Connor gave me kicked in

And I couldn't believe what I was hearing

"This is the hour of letting pain go"

It was so comforting to know that I still had it within me to feel things

Because for a time I never thought I would again

And that's terrifying

That's terrifying at any age

Perhaps we could reach utopia after all

(Are you making this up?)

Eh, some of it, yeah, why?

(Well, what are you doing that for?)

I just didn't want to burden anyone with the truth

(The truth?)

Because I know now I'm never gonna get my utopia

But if I can show you how to cope

And give you scope to grow beyond the moment of each new low

Then I know I don't need utopia

'Cause the unknown is the only true hope for a brighter future

And if you know that

Then beyond the food, warmth and shelter

Beyond the bedtime stories I always swore to you were true

I've given everything I could ever give to you

You won't remember, but we took you to Blackpool too

And I watched you like a hawk as you explored beneath the boardwalk

In those big clumsy shoes your grandma bought for you

And I drove us home as the sunset

We were listening to the latest bounces by the band

You'd fallen asleep, and I squeezed your mother's hand

Finally, I'd made it

And for the first time, I felt truly free

With my beautiful family and my dream job no longer a dream

Still, now it baffles me

I attained perfection with you

I attained perfection

So why the - was I wondering what - would think of album two?