CONFESSION #1: TALULAH GOSH

In which we plead no contest to having nicked lines from other sources and, furthermore, to using them in the Neverland in Shadow story...

Talent borrows, genius steals! And not to pin the blame on him or anything, but you may thank Oscar Wilde’s quote for inspiring this post, and hopefully similar others that will follow. That’s because Neverland in Shadow is guilty - guilty as hell, actually - of pinching clever people’s thinking, having a quick look around, then tucking it into the story.

The truth is, I’ve no problem with this and, to be slightly highfalutin for just a second, have always held that art, for want of a much, much better and less aggrandising word, should influence other art.

HE STOLE ALL YOUR BEST LINES*

*Sub-headline itself nicked from Swallow by Sleeper. Is there no end to this thievery?

With Neverland in Shadow, predominantly we’re talking here about lines from pop songs and, to be fair, there’s The Songs in the Shadows - a whole section on the website - that fesses up to these burglaries. But to publicly flagellate to a higher degree, and to beg for appropriate penance, this series of posts will further highlight these sins.

So, first up, two whole lyrics twocked from a band whose short-lived but joy-filled racket contributed tons to mid-late 80s UK indiepop. From there, they would go on to influence the likes of the Riot Grrrl scene and are still inspiring new groups to this day.

CONFESSION #1 (a)

Original owner

Talulah Gosh

Source

Bringing Up Baby (from the LP Rock Legends: Volume 69 on 53rd & 3rd Records, 1987)

Stolen line

“Thinks storms are lovely weather... “

In the story

This line, or at least an adaptation of it, pops up during a chat Mr Darling - Wendy's dad - is having regarding a work placement the girl is angling for.:

‘I think,’ said Mr Darling, referencing Wendy's latest lie, ‘a few of her classmates have work experience lined up and she doesn't want to fall behind. Something like that. But even so, it was a surprise to me and her mother.’

This was true. There had been many evenings lately when, with the children in bed, and Nana in her basket, Mr and Mrs Darling had spoken of the quietness of the girl. She seemed happy but had few friends. She fled from attention too. And she considered storms to be lovely weather.

‘I mean don’t get me wrong’, said Mr Darling, ‘when she embraces something she’s really keen and does her very best.’

‘She’s not a danger, I assume? An arsonist, perhaps? Or a, I don’t know, a pickpocket? Or a poisoner?’

‘Neither, as far as I know.’ said Mr Darling.

From Chapter 18, Storm Seeks Teacup

CONFESSION #1 (b)

Original owner

Talulah Gosh

Source

Bringing Up Baby (from the LP Rock Legends: Volume 69 on 53rd & 3rd Records, 1987)

Stolen line

“Sweetens her tea with jam, takes five baths a day... “

In the story

The line appears amid commentary on the romantic musings of William Jukes, Mr Hook’s dazzlingly successful university chum and rival:

Jukes was an appalling chauvinist, really. Which is to say, actually, that he was an excellent chauvinist. He gathered and arranged women, girls, as he called them, whatever their age, into neat little parcels. Collected them, or at least his ideal of them, the way another person might collect stamps or buttons or Toby Jugs. In general, he enjoyed, Jukes, putting all sorts of people into all sorts of boxes: people who pronounced or otherwise the l in almond; people who pinched, or not, their nose on sneezing; and those who bent the corners of a page as opposed to using a bookmark.

So, in the same vein, there were girls who were pretty and lovely. These were Jukes’ favourite kind, and he referred to them as being ‘precisely how things ought to be’. But these were myths of his own creation; pedestal-dwelling creatures who sweetened their tea with jam and took five baths a day. They may as well, these goddesses, have sported also a unicorn’s horn.  

Then there were girls who were lovely only. These were fine too; rather than through their good looks, their loveliness was expressed via something like a kind heart or a helpful disposition.

Lastly, there were just girls. And into this classification Jukes squeezed those who were neither lovely nor pretty. 

From Chapter 38, Last Orders

So there it is - not one, but two lines scrumped from this particular song. Which brings us to....

PENANCE

Three Hail Marys and a Glory Be

TALULAH GOSH ONLINE

Although long gone as a band, it’s a breeze to hear and buy Talulah Gosh songs online. Indeed, pretty much the entire discography is found on the Was It Just A Dream? compilation (Damaged Goods, 2013).

Interested parties are also encouraged to explore Heavenly, the band that followed Talulah Gosh, via the mighty Sarah Records label.  

You can also read a lot more about the pop scene to which Talulah Gosh contributed so much via this blog post centred around the book Twee by the late Marc Spitz.

here’s the inspirational track itself

Just listen to what all this silly fuss is about...

TALULAH GOSH: BRINGING UP BABY

Sweetens her tea with jam

Takes five baths a day

Bringing up baby

Bringing up baby

Bringing up baby

And the heel falls off her shoe

She says, "Look at me walk, John."

"Look at me walk, both feet."

Maybe she will marry the newspaperman

Or the one with the dinosaur missing

Cheekbones you could cut

La la la la la la la la la la la

Sweetens her tea with jam

Takes five baths a day

Bringing up baby

Bringing up baby

Bringing up baby

Thinks storms are lovely weather

She says, "What day is it John?"

"What day is it?"

And they begin

To think of them as one person

Really the girl and Spencer Tracy

Cheekbones you could cut

La la la la la la la la la la la

Sweetens her tea with jam

Takes five baths a day

Bringing up baby

Bringing up baby

Bringing up baby

Maybe if it all disappears it doesn't matter

Maybe if it all disappears it doesn't matter

Maybe if it all disappears it doesn't matter

La la la la la la la la may-ay-ay-ay may-ay-ay-aybe

Sweetens her tea with jam

Takes five baths a day

Bringing up baby

Bringing up baby

Bringing up baby

Bringing up baby

Bringing up baby

Bringing up baby

Katharine Hepburn

Although there's no sign of Spencer Tracy in the 1938 comedy film Bringing Up Baby, there does appear a dinosaur (skeleton), and of course the great Katharine Hepburn.

LASTLY, THE VICTIMS OF THE THEFT...

The fastidious music resource Discogs provides, upon its Talulah Gosh page, the handy summary reproduced below:

Guitar-pop group from Oxford, England active between 1986 and 1988 as part of the twee pop movement, taking their name from the headline of an NME interview with Clare Grogan*.

The band originally consisted of Amelia Fletcher (Guitar, Vocals), Elizabeth Price (Guitar, Vocals), Mathew Fletcher (Drums), Peter Momtchiloff (Guitar) and Rob Pursey (Bass).

Bassist Rob Pursey left the band in 1986 and was replaced by Chris Scott. Elizabeth Price left in 1987 and was replaced by Eithne Farry.

*As noted above, the band swiped its name from a music paper headline - so as far as me stealing a couple of lines, I really do reckon what goes around comes around.