My mum liked pop songs about grown-up things like marriage, divorce, sex, adultery, and drinking – at least the adult kind of drinking that isn’t getting shitfaced on lager as a teen and throwing up a kebab. So she bought this single by Andy Fairweather Low in 1975 when it made the top 10 and I can still hear her singing along to it, thinking it was very amusing.
Her preferred tipple at the time was Cinzano Bianco & Lemonade which is a very “1970s” drink that reminds me of the decade the same way a Snowball or Mateus Rosé does. I think the first alcoholic drink I ever had was a Snowball made for me by my grandad at a family party.
My mum thought this was a light-hearted song about getting tipsy (so did I), but reading the lyrics I think it’s actually about alcoholism. What else could “But the rhythm of the glass is stronger than the rhythm of night” and “I can’t get free from these chains” mean? Easy mistake to make when it sounds so smooth and breezy and isn’t some angry Lennon-esque howl about addiction.
Download: Wide Eyed and Legless – Andy Fairweather Low (mp3)
cryingallthewaytothechipshop.wordpress.com 
Has there ever been a less appropriate song for the pre-teen audience of ‘Supersonic’ and all the Mike Mansfield production ginnickry?
LikeLike