Turn on the the news, log onto social media and things can seem pretty grim.
But enough of that, let’s not dwell in despondency. Let’s sidestep all of that for five minutes… for that is not why I have gathered you here today.
This is my own little personal antidote to woe. Reasons to be cheerful then. Part 4.
Why part 4? I’ll explain.
Ian Dury and the Blockheads.
Most famously he wanted you (yes, you specifically, dear reader) to hit him with your rhythm stick. He wanted to be hit slowly and to be hit quick. He’s like the Grand Old Duke of York, doesn’t know whether he’s coming or going.
When he wasn’t imploring you to beat him he also coined the phrase ‘sex, drugs and rock and roll‘ but that isn’t why we’re here either.
No, they also had a sizeable hit with Reasons to Be Cheerful, Part 3:
Its also a better song than that one where he wants beaten with a rhythm stick IMHO. So why was that one appended with Part 3?
No idea. I suppose you could Google that sort of thing, its amazing what you can find on the Internet.
I reckon that it was part 3 as evidence that there is so much great stuff in life that you need at least three songs to express it all. Or maybe singing ‘Part 3’ scans better than ‘Part 2’, or ‘Part 8’, or ‘Part 336.’
It does make me wonder whether the things in the song weren’t those which gave him the most joy in life, those maybe reserved for a song called Reasons to be Ecstatic. Did he work out a tiering system consisting of three parts? Its not really important though, let’s move on.
The song contains a list of things that make him cheerful. Its varied, esoteric and ranges from highbrow (the Bolshoi Ballet, Shostakovich), cosmopolitan (Italian singer songwriter Adrian Celentano), simple pleasures (cheddar cheese and pickle sandwich, yellow socks), worthy (NHS glasses, cure for smallpox, equal voting rights) to the lowbrow (being in my nuddy, slap and tickle, Fanny Smith and Willy – who aren’t a 1890s music hall act but a thinly disguised reference to the genitals, you’re fooling no one mate).
So as I sat listening to Ian I thought I’d reference my own reasons to be cheerful. Therefore part 4. Got there eventually didn’t we?
Here in no particular order, other than the order they came out of my head, and without explanation, other than where I have added accompanying notes (consistency be damned!)…
….are my Reasons to Be Cheerful:
😊 Sitting upstairs at the front of a double decker bus – I’m a big kid at heart, what can I say?
😊 The sound of music, as in the guitar driven crunch of a power trio, the mind-blowing versatility of electronic beats, etc, etc. As lovely as Julie Andrews is she isn’t one of my favourite things.
😊 The unpredictability of children – stuff my daughter says/does.
😊 A way with words – words are amazing. They can be so mundane but also so powerful. When used by an appropriately qualified wordsmith they provide happiness, inspiration, joy, laughter and they move people in all manner of ways.
I saw comedian Bill Bailey come out with this to describe an activity that turned out to be a fruitless waste of time:
(Pauses are required at each comma for correct delivery and to emphasise the futility of it all) It tickled me, the perfect way of describing the sensation in an inventive manner.
😊 Getting the giggles
😊 Leaving the dentist with a clean bill of health
😊 The view from the top of a hill
😊 The view from the top of a tall building
..in an old train station. With toy trains running across the shelves. And a great cafe. And ice cream. And cool music on the stereo. If you go in winter wear gloves, scarves and thermal underwear though, probably best to have a hot chocolate rather than ice cream too.
😊 Staring at the sea
😊 Always learning
😊 The cry of a lone seagull – too many seagulls though and its a horrendous cacophony
😊 The sense of anticipation ahead of a meal as the enticing smells waft your way
😊 Waking up as a child and seeing that its snowed – heck, waking up as 40 something and seeing its snowed.
😊 Belle & Sebastian
😊 When you finally find out what that song is that you heard years ago but never knew who it was by or what it was called – step forward Les Fleurs by Minnie Riperton.
😊 Similarly, when a song comes on that you haven’t heard in ages and a switch flicks on in your head with a mini burst of fond nostalgia and ‘Oh wow, this one. I used to love this one…’
😊 Cleaning the bathroom having not done it for several weeks cos we’re lazy and enjoying the sense of achievement at the sparkling cleanliness and contrast to the medieval hovel it looked like before
😊 Going on a journey, especially when its to somewhere new
😊 Making plans for future escapades
😊 Making plans and deciding on a whim to do something else
😊 Being pleasantly intoxicated with friends you don’t see that often
😊 The new, always looking for the next thing
😊 The old, the comfort of familiarity – yes I’m contradictory, depends on my mood
😊 Looking up. Always remember to look up, its amazing the little details that you notice. Lived in Leeds 25 years and just last weekend in the city centre I looked up and noticed a intricate piece of design on the roof of a building that I hadn’t seen before. Its the little things.
😊 David Bowie
😊 John, Paul, George & Ringo
😊 Ferris Bueller and his marvelous day off
😊 The Goonies
😊 The sound of a train passing unobserved – my Grandparents lived in a flat backing onto a train line. When we stayed overnight I liked the noise of the trains at night and in the early morning
😊 Super Furry Animals – the band, though many animals are also furry and super. Otters are a particular favourite, add them to the list
😊 David Attenborough
😊 Museums and art galleries
😊 History – its a growth area, there’s a lot of it about and its getting bigger all the time. The longer I live the more history there is to learn about. What a wonderful thing that is
😊 Madness – the band not the condition
😊 Pixar
😊 A Town Called Panic – possibly the most insane but raucously creative animated film I’ve ever seen.
😊 Taskmaster – British TV show, funniest show out there
😊 Having a big glug of a fizzy drink and doing a big gassy burp. Don’t tell me you don’t enjoy letting rip with a window rattler, its so satisfying. The human body is a marvellous and entertaining creation. Obviously there is a time and a place for this sort of thing, at the dinner table with grandma is not the appropriate environment. At the dinner table with your young child is. (As long as they understand not to follow your lead when you have company and your partner may disagree)
😊 Driving with no destination in mind – roll up roll up for the magical mystery tour
😊 Good Vibrations – no, not the Marky Mark one in case you’re wondering if I’ve taken leave of my senses
😊 4pm Friday and the weekend is here
😊 The endless possibilities of having nothing at all to do
😊 The Coen Brothers
😊 Shouting ‘Who you gonna call?’ and getting the appropriate response.
😊 Hugs
😊 Watching the joy and the pride in my daughters face when she’s done well at school
😊 Writing something that makes people laugh
😊 When collecting my daughter from school she still runs across the playground with a smile – I know this one isn’t going to last much longer, enjoying it while I can
…then using your finger to rub round the bowl and get all of the delicious sweet leftover mix and then lick it off. Decadent, disgusting behaviour, but oh so good. My mum always told me I’d be sick if I had too much but I never was. Leaving childhood behind doesn’t mean leaving childlike pursuits behind.
😊 Tim Key
😊 Buying 6 books and having the delightful quandary of which one to read first and wanting to gorge on them all instantly.
😊 Books generally.
There’s loads more.
Loads & loads & loads but we’ve all got lives to lead, so that’ll do for now.
Any questions on any of that… or any of your own to add?
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Beautiful post, JJ.
I also enjoyed how some of the entries became an amalgam of sorts for yours truly.
For example, Madness with hearing a song you have not heard in a long time.
This put a big smile on my face: it’s been too long since I’ve listened/heard Madness.
An addendum to that would be, remembering amazing bits of music trivia associated with the act. Madness = the band caused an earthquake. I forgot that they literally shook the earth.
A few of my own to add:
Just caring about whether you’re a good father or not means you’re more than halfway there.
Someone once confided in me that he’d unintentionally seen an open browser window on his son’s computer. I was not exactly looking forward to learning what was on screen, but he revealed it to me anyway:
“What are some ways that I could get my father to spend time with me?
That was a rough one. And even rougher because when considering the dad in question, I knew that any change in his attitude was unlikely.
Based on the comments I’m not so sure everyone will agree with point 3 but Tom’s evisceration made me smile and I kind of like the song – if it was a regular occurrence it would be a turn off but as a once in a while event it worked for me. Totally agree with point 1 and with Vdogs response that if you’re thinking that way it likely means you’re on track.
Thanks for this, JJ. As the American experiment unspools largely off-camera, I do need some reminders from time to time about the great things in life.
This weekend, I experienced one that I hadn’t enjoyed since Fall 2020:
Gazing down on the gorgeous Shenandoah region after hiking up the tallest mountaintop, and sharing that special moment with my wife.
Cheers!
Looks beautiful Phylum. Getting out into nature and away from all that is going on is one of life’s simple pleasures. There’s a restorative power to being out there and enjoying the wilderness.
I totally agree on all of these items, and want to expand on the “big gassy burp.” The best is the root beer belch. This might only apply to Americans and Canadians because it’s really hard to get root beer anywhere else, but it causes an extra special force on the way out that’s ever so satisfying. 10/10
I’m not sure I’ve ever actually had a root beer. Based on this I need to put that right! I’m sure I’ll be able to source some overpriced imported bottles.
Every European I know who’s tried root beer hated it, they said it tasted like medicine. Maybe you’ll think differently, but it may also be an acquired taste. If you do manage to find some, be sure it’s ice cold. That makes a big difference.
And A&W in a bottle is nothing at all like the original in a glass at the roadside restaurant….
As a Philly person, I am required to recommend the original root beer, Hires. But “Mug” is also quite good.
Today’s is “Relistening to The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill for the first time in like 20 years.” Another indirect gift from the mother ship 😀.
That one is in my to do list. Think I’ll give it a play tomorrow.
1) When I’m barefoot around the house – which is as often as possible – I have spaces between my toes.
2) My cat thanks me with a little chirp when I give her food (80% of the time).
3) Singing in the car.
4) I can make the Dutch “g” sound and can say “Scheveningen” like a native.
5) I’ve learned to make omelets my handsome brother loves.
All good ones and nice variation in there. 4) sounds very niche which I like. Do you get to drop Scheveningen into conversation much to show off your linguistic skills?
The YouTube analytics have decided that I would like to watch videos on chess. My brother pointed out that there’s a Scheveningen defence. You can find plenty of videos where people who master chess cannot master that word.
My brother can’t, and in fact, it was a key way for Dutch soldiers to figure out who were imposters during World War II. It’s a lovely beach resort outside the Dutch capital city of The Hague, my mother’s home town.
To answer your question – of course! I find any way possible to show off my linguistic skills! Thanks for asking.
ETA: The first video I posted didn’t get it quite right, either! A couple of Dutch people politely mocked them in the comments – “Nice try,” “Not quite.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vDfx_4OWkM
After having watched that video, the word “Scheveningen” has lost all meaning to me…
Keep Moving is such a great album. I think a lot of Americans know them solely for “Our House”. Some Americans know “One Step Beyond”. I know “Michael Caine” is their finest hour.
After reading this, JJ Live At Leeds, I definitely feel a little more cheerful
I think they were considered more of a singles band but there’s so much good stuff in the albums. I’m just as into the newer albums as the classic 1980s releases. Highly recommend The Liberty of Norton Folgate for their later career renaissance.
That’s true. “Our House” was on a singles compilation. I guess “Wings of a Dove” was a stand-alone single where you live, but in the US, they slapped it onto Keep Moving. Thanks for the recommendation. I enjoyed seeing Lee Thompson in The Go-Gos.
Knowing that there’s a Ian Dury Park Bench inscribed with “Reasons To Be Cheerful” makes me cheerful.
https://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/richmond-park/things-to-see-and-do/ian-dury-bench
Brilliant, JJ. 😊
Incidentally, for a number of years in the early 2000s (depending where you lived), you were likely to get a different response to “Who you gonna call?” thanks to a series of Autoway/AutoNation/insert-affiliated-car-dealership-here advertisements (these commercials did NOT make me cheerful):
https://youtu.be/3IUZ5U4y_SU
Glad I wasn’t subjected to this travesty. I daren’t play the video in case I end up with it stuck inside my head for the rest of the day!
Wonderful post. My son is my number one reason to be cheerful. I was doomscrolling this afternoon after picking him up from day camp. He came in the room and announced that “Love is a 5 letter word.” I said “really” and he came back with “Because love isn’t complete without U.” Sometimes he can be a snarky tween and then the next minute he breaks out something like that. Still smiling.
Loved this writing JJ, it was a lovely reminder about how can we appreciate even the small things. I can relate to a few of your reasons, but it is great trying to remember what are the things that make us feel cheerful.
JJ, astrologers would have a field day with us, considering your list is probably pretty much exactly what I would say! Loved it.