You’re not a dancer – but a quirky rhythm sometimes compels you to cavort? We’re on the same dance sheet then. And Still Dancing, my new album, is likely to get you laughing and celebrating the later stages of life as you rock with the beat.
Yes! The album is almost finished! Truly! After being a loyal follower of this site, patiently waiting for the album for the past decade, you must be saying, ‘Oh Yeah? Believe it when I see it and hear it.’ Let me reassure you. All the tracks bar one are now mixed and in the mastering engineer’s bin. When Lockdown is lifted, we’ll be completing the last beautifully crafted track, sorting the cover design and lining up the release date … after several years of weekly studio sessions; good things take time!
Working with award-winning sound engineer, Stephen Poulton is fantastic. He’s a stunning guitarist who is tuned into the finer details needed to develop a meaningful emotional journey in a song or arrangement. So I love working with him; musically, we’re on the same wavelength, as they say.
My songs cross many genres, and every track we do has a unique sound and feel, heightened by the talented musicians in Magic & Mischief. We’re mainly a studio band, but occasionally we play live. Meanwhile, here’s the lyrics of the title song.
Still Dancing
She brings sweet love baked in cake tins To the weavers’ community ball. And flowers – those frilly fake ones, To decorate the hall. You can almost touch her excitement. I can’t believe she’s 93! As her partner invites her onto the floor, She smiles and says to me …
‘The old gal’s still dancing, High heart and low heels.’ Singing and laughing, how graceful she feels Swaying a lifetime of love round the room. The old gal’s still blooming, still romancing, Still dancing.
Over supper she tells me, ‘Come visit, For a chat. Love to see you again. Number 7, just knock, I’ll be there- if I’m not Living in memory lane!’ she laughs.
She says, ‘While your ticker’s still ticking, You’ve got so much to offer this world.’ She tells me I’m just a spring chicken. ‘Cheer up, lass! Inside you’re still a girl. Go play! Make the most of each moment. go swirl that pretty blue dress!’ A quiet voice asks, ‘Are you up for a whirl?” Tell myself as I say ‘yes’ The old gal’s still dancing …
Women, they say, are like a book
Hard to read but it’s easy to look
They might dress up in leopard skin tights
They’re animal types
When they set their sights on you
They’re either apples, bananas or pears
But I say women are cuddly bears
They might dress down for menial chores
But love’s in store
When they wrap their paws around you
Now it’s time to pause
For more than a cup of tea
Yes it’s time to pause babe, and
Wrap your paws, your pretty paws around me!
Women are beautiful at every age
Even at the ‘don’t mention it’ stage
When we mention being very wise
Life brings many blessings in disguise
Now it’s time to pause …
Women turn up with plates of food
Often in a playful mood
Wild cats or quiet birds in the nest
You are blessed
Coz they give their best to you
Now it’s time to pause
For more than a cup of tea
It’s time to pause, and
Wrap your paws, your pretty paws around me!
What woman would you nominate for the Anchorstone & Star award? No doubt you’ve several in mind. Tell us a little about those special women – we can’t wait to hear about them!
Anchorstone & Star
Do you want to hear a picture of a walking inspiration? She’s an open invitation to a heart that looks to love She embodies truth and style. She is solid gold, she’s wild She’s the quintessential woman, aunt or mother, loyal friend
You know when she’s around as faces light up everywhere She has a place for everyone. Everyone has a place for her When she wraps her warmth around you, you never want to leave. Her Belly laugh is rolling thunder, casual chat a summer breeze
Yes, lovely lady, I’m talking about you Trumpeting your praises – the whole country should be too Awarding you a gong for how remarkable you are! In our honours list you’ve won the Anchorstone & Star
You have a certain style – sort of ‘humble universal’ Embracing every goddamn soul and showing them you care I cannot put my finger on what it is about you It’s a privilege to know you, and a treat to have you near Yes, lovely lady …
You have so much to teach me that I cannot find in writing And I get it by osmosis over fresh date scones and tea You’re relaxed & grounded, cruising through a list that’s overflowing That reminds me, time is going. Friends! Your attention please …
If this song is pretty it’s her beauty – I’m in debt to her and Call on you to call her name out loud, applaud and cheer She says she’s just an ordinary person. We know better She’s a winner, and we wish her her own stone & starbright year Yes, lovely lady …
OK, so you don’t want blue skin; fair enough. But those slim, agile limbs and CGI waistlines! – what wouldn’t you do to have those? You decide to take the leap … back to nature, where such endowments are a natural given in the hunter gatherer lifestyle. Suddenly ancient ways are making sense. Time to get hunting & gathering …
You’ve been great at hunting for bargains and gathering weight, but now you’ve seen Avatar …
1. Back to the Plot Square one. You realise that, like the Navi, you’re living on a plot of soil – well it was, before you had it concreted a decade ago. It’s out with the concrete and in with a magical, Pandora-style vege & herb garden. Out with that designer pebble courtyard and in with a luscious little lawn. Trimming inches off your waist as you trim the grass with a dinky little push-mower, you’re in tune with nature. Exercise, now integrated into daily home-living, is not only burning off calories, it is increasing your metabolic rate and your lean tissue mass! Every muscle sings as you dig compost and plant and weed your green haven. Gathering your very own harvest, you thank the goddess you haven’t lost the plot.
2. Out with Labour Saving Devices Was there white-ware on Pandora? Hmmm … You realise over-civilization has you in its deadly, muscle-wasting grip. No longer. You’re washing laundry by hand, picturing yourself dressing real scanty like the Na’vi once your new body is fully formed. Hanging clothes out in the sun, your big-stretch regime has new meaning. Everything hums as you ‘vacuum’ the floor with your hand-sweeper (remember those cute push-things grandma had?). Manual labour is back ‘in’ as do-it-by-hand beaters, graters, peelers and lemon-squeezers consume energy – yours, not the environment’s. Your thighs are lithe from constant knee-bends, your arms are firm enough to go sleeveless and you’ve actually got a waist! But what to do with the waste? A boomer truckload of white-ware & electrical gadgetry is donated to those in need – frantic parents with a house full of kids to raise, for instance. You are now free to fight the good fight …
3. Facing the Cold, Hard Facts On the 3D battlefield, you were in retreat and your stomach, in advance. You stand on attack, bravely facing the cold, hard facts aliens have been bleeping to humans since consumerism took over planet Earth. They are:
Consume Less. If you have surplus fat, you’ve eaten more calories than you need. There is no way to shed weight, and keep it off, other than eating less and exercising more. End of transmission. Gulp. Blush. Surely reality is not that black & white? That cold?
Luckily, you’ll only need to eat moderately less, and exercise moderately more – that’s hot! But you soon go cold realising it has to be ongoing. Like, for the rest of your life. But at least ‘cold’ and ‘hot’ are your friends – extreme temperatures can increase your metabolic rate by up to 20% – it’s all going to work out as you work out!
You start walking in the winter air, taking cooler showers. You float into deep relaxation, basking indoors with a new Pandora-style passive solar heating system. Hot yoga is cool! Avatar suppleness will be yours to show off
You’ve faced the cold, hard diet & exercise facts. They took a bit of digesting … but your digestive system is now Pandora-fit!
4. Learning New, Ancient Ways
You’re the chosen one – the one who will be super-gorgeous, lithe, fit, muscle-endowed and trim. Your wisdom-body is forming a bright future, as you learn to live like the alien-ancestors. Already Echo Living, you’re well on the way backwards. You step further now, into ancient ways …
~ Mining Precious Minerals Planet Pandora’s bogglingly valuable mineral, ‘unobtanium’ is not nearly as in demand on planet Earth as the one you’re discovering: ‘weightlossium,’ which is highly active when you get back to the essentials; minerals & vitamins. You discover seaweed, the ultimate mineral-rich food, and other ancient, super-foods. Every calorie counts.
You go nutrient-rich – wholefoods, high in nutrients, low in calories, digging in the garden instead of digging in at the bakery, dessert restaurant, sweet shop, or fast-food stop. You’re high on nutrition, low on calories. And that new culinary goldmine is raking in the profits!
~Becoming Unrefined Leaping around in the wild, you’re eating foods as nature made them. Nothing is refined on Pandora – no food industry exists to refine it. No fillers, additives, artificial preservatives, colours, flavours, humectants, emulsifiers, sweeteners, acidity regulators, modified genes and other profit-making, up-sizing ingredients. Your taste buds burst you into new heights of ecstasy.
As you serve delicious dinners in your little cabin, vitamins & minerals are pouring in, forming, strengthening and energising your dream-Avatar body!
Sitting on the throne, you reach a new level of ‘regular,’ enjoying kiwifruit, delicious whole grains and all that natural fibre without even thinking. Each day is a moving experience! What a relief – you’re returning to your, natural, unrefined, radiant, not-so-blue self! 🙂
Tell us how you go experimenting with your new Avatar body – or at least what you think about ‘weightlossium!’ And don’t miss Part Two … May the force be with you!
What woman would you nominate for the Anchorstone & Star award? No doubt you’ve several in mind. Tell us a little about those special women – we can’t wait to hear about them!
Baby Boomer Girl 