The Wildhearts are one of my top three favourite bands of all time. With witty and insightful lyrics teamed with great riffs and melodies you can't really go wrong.
As to why, 16 years after their debut album 'Earth Vs The Wildhearts', this band are still only a band with a loyal cult following it is hard to say for certain. Some might argue that their prime years, when their first two albums came out, were spoiled by drink, drugs and a tendancy to disfunctional relationships both within the band and with record labels, press etc. Others, such as Scott Gabriel who wrote this great retrospective http://www.rocksnail.co.uk/index.php?title=The_Wildhearts&substance=article&article=51&type=scotts_blast on their debut album, think it was because, as Scott put it in his piece, 'pop/rock fans have always found them too heavy, whilst metal fans found them too poppy.'
For me, they are perfect. Ginger is, to my mind, the greatest pop/rock singer-songwriter to have come out of this country in the last 20 years as well as being one of the wisest people I have been blessed to have met in my life.
If you can get tickets for them on their tour this autumn then do as they are well worth seeing live when they are at their electrifying best. (tickets and dates can be found here http://www.ticketweb.co.uk/user?query=search®ion=xxx&category=misc&search=the+wildhearts)
Now to today's song. I will admit right now that the video hasn't actually got the band singing. I looked on youtub but couldn't find them doing the whole song, or if I did the quality was poor. However the video does also show something I appreciate a lot....huge crowds singing en masse. There's always something magical about it so still watch the video to get a feel for the song and soak up some of that crowd-based magic.
Also, as an aside, when they performed this on Top Of The Pops it was the only time I could recall, in my lifetime, that someone was on there playing a mandolin (though I'm sure someone can correct me on that!!). I always thought that was cool as it showed, to me, there was more to them than your average rock band.
The Wildhearts - Geordie In Wonderland
Now that I've changed and the rest have all stayed
Well, why do I feel so confused?
Some of the best of me plans have been laid
And some of me best moments used
I've been out for the count in a Mexican bar-o
Stranded in nowhere with a-nothing but me
Ah, lads, I daen't understand - I'm a Geordie in Wonderland
Some of the shit has sprouted in roses
And some of the roses have died
Forced by meself to follow conviction
And ignore what I'm missing inside
I've been loved by the sweetest and hated by heroes
Life's still a surprise and the friends come and go
Ah, lads, I daen't understand - I'm a Geordie in Wonderland
(whoop-whoop, whoop-whoop)
I've had praise I've had ridicule, either meant nothing
Faced with the task of tomorrow's demands
Ah, lads, I daen't understand - I'm a Geordie in Wonderland
Ah, lads, I daen't understand - I'm a Geordie in Wonderland
(whoop-whoop)
Ah, lads, I daen't understand - I'm a Geordie in Wonderland
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