Slow Faction - Bubble Gum For Josh (Demo)

Sitting at home watching videos

I’ve got to understand how this music goes
Ripped clothes chic and Emo sadness
Heartache, boredom, small town madness
Edgy Jocks and high school girls
Pizza parties and swimming pools
Everyone drives a cabriolet
Cruising with the roof down – the Easycore way
But it’s so empty and unreal
How do the other kids really feel?
It reminds me of my youth
And the parties I was never invited to

Bubble gum pop, fast cars and girls - I hear you calling
California’s dreaming and the kids just want songs without meaning
Bubble gum pop, fast cars and girls – I hear what you’re saying
You think I’m a walking misery but I just write about the things I see
Even though there’s no one listening….

They say it was never about politics
Just a headrush for suburban kids
Now the old punks vote Conservative
And spend their pensions on nostalgia trips
They say they’re free thinkers - they’re not for sale
Then they share stories from the Daily Mail
Too dumb to differentiate
Between free thought and a brainwashed state
Johnny’s not so rotten now
He shakes his fists and shouts at clouds
The ramblings of a bitter man
Throwing his toys out of the pram

Bubble gum pop, fast cars and girls - I hear you calling
England is still dreaming and the old punks just want songs without meaning
Bubble gum pop, fast cars and girls – I hear what you’re saying
You think I’m a walking misery but I just write about the things I see
Even though there’s no one listening….

So, I’m a social justice warrior?
You like my sounds but you hate my words
Just sit at home and watch Fox News
Let nothing ever challenge your views
The racists and Islamophobes
Gang up and bully on Facebook posts
They’re so far gone it’s hard to tell
What separates them from the EDL
I click on profiles just to see
These soul-dead eyes staring back at me
Youthful life-force truly spent
Just hatred, anger and impotence

Bubble gum pop, fast cars and girls - I hear you calling
England is still dreaming and the old men are just so right-leaning
Bubble gum pop, fast cars and girls – I hear what you’re saying
You think I’m a walking misery but I just write about the things I see
Even though there’s no one listening….

Bubble gum pop, fast cars and girls
- I hear you calling
- And England’s dreaming
- It’s the only way to be
- - and forget about anarchy

  One of the first things I always do when a new Slow Faction (https://www.facebook.com/slow.faction) song comes along is check out the lyrics. I keep saying that frontman John Youens is one of the UK's best lyricists and time after time he proves me right. So that's the reason why today's update starts with the lyrics. 

  As for the song itself, the title comes about in response to a review by Josh Rutledge on his excellent Faster And Louder blog. Writing about Culture Wars, Josh states (quite correctly) that Slow Faction "doesn't write songs about bubblegum and pretty girls."  https://fasterandlouderblog.blogspot.com/2021/01/slow-faction-culture-war.html 

  And so they have. Sort of. 

  Their latest Demo song is one of their best so far. It's still a well thought out political viewpoint, it still rings true (sadly, as it points out a lot of what is wrong with modern day Britain). But it also manages to include references to bubble gum pop, fast cars and girls. Maybe John can be accused of not writing cheerful songs but as he says, he just shares his thoughts on what he sees, even if in the main no one's listening. 

  Don't think it's just a one man show though, those lyrics wouldn't be anywhere near as effective without the backing of a very talented band on the top of their game. You can get the new track here (name your price) : https://slowfaction.bandcamp.com/track/bubble-gum-for-josh-demo 

  It's called Bubble Gum For Josh...