31-08-24 Smorgasboard at the Hen & Chicken MYM Frome
In which the Frome contingent finally meet the bristol crew and show off their group work.
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MusicTranscript
00:00So this is the five-minute seriousness. So this event is basically, we're doing
00:09it partly to raise money for Mind Your Music. We wanted to put on this event,
00:12we got an Arts Council brain, but we wanted to raise money for Mind Your Music
00:16to help cover some of the costs of putting this on. So I just want to tell
00:22you a little bit about our group and what we do. So we basically run music
00:29workshops for people who've had mental health difficulties. When I was
00:3623 years old, I suffered from schizophrenia and I was
00:44offered 24-hour care every day for the rest of my life. I lived inside a
00:51hospital and took 27 pills a day. And I got home to my flat one day,
00:59between ambitions, and I felt so bad I couldn't go on. I just picked up
01:08the guitar, I wasn't particularly good at it, but I picked it up and played a little
01:11bit. I noticed in that time I completely forgot the way that I was
01:19feeling. I thought nothing of it, I put the guitar down again and all the
01:25feelings kind of came flooding back and I started to cry. And I picked
01:30that guitar up again and I noticed again all the feelings that I had, all the
01:37difficulties seemed to melt away as I was concentrating on what I was
01:40playing. I put it down one more time and then the next time I picked it up I
01:45thought, well this is the answer for me. And over the next years I
01:52wrote over a thousand songs and played guitar so much I couldn't carry a
01:55shopping bag. And it completely rehabilitated me in every way. Music
02:01completely gave me a life. I lost seven stone within a year and I
02:06started to get back to how I was before I was sick. So after that I was
02:12immensely grateful to music itself for literally having given me a life. So I
02:17was kind of curious if it could maybe help other people in the same way.
02:25That was kind of 20 years ago now and it's been a real, real, real joy for all
02:32the people that we worked with during those 20 years. I can really say it's
02:37made a huge difference to some of the people that we work with. For some of
02:42the people it's really been really life-changing. If I can just read out a
02:49few words off the top of my head, the best thing in my life apart from my cat,
02:54without it I wouldn't be here. The difference between life and death, to me
02:58it's really meant that much to people. So afterwards, after I play a song, we're
03:05going to welcome up some of the mysterious people that come from
03:09Throom. We've been in Bristol for 20 years and a few years ago we
03:13started up a project in Throom and I thought this would be a nice way to
03:18introduce the Throom people to Bristol and our home from home, the Hen and Chicken.
03:24So I'm going to play one song before we forget and welcome Sarah to the stage.
03:31So this is kind of a joyful song about a true incident when we
03:40were in Sevilla in January in Spain. We spent a lot of, as much of our time as we
03:46can over in Andalusia. We were sat one day and it was the middle of
03:53the day, beautiful sun, sat in the market square and we're having this
03:57amazing kind of meal. It was honestly one of the nicest things I've kind of
04:05ever eaten. There's this beggar and he's coming about and he's asking for change
04:12and some people are giving him some change and stuff and then he walks off.
04:16I don't really want to give him the money, what I want to do is give him a
04:24taste of some of this steak that I'm eating because it's the nicest thing I've ever
04:28eaten. So I chased the guy down the street to give him this piece of steak.
04:35He thought I was mental but I hope he enjoyed it when he got it home.
04:41And this is just about that and it's about, not what I felt I was doing, but I
04:47felt like what he could teach me about kind of breaking free from
04:53the kind of, it was such a ridiculous thing to do. I was kind of like he's there
04:57to teach me that I don't have to just sit at this table, I don't have to do
05:01this stuff and if I want to do it I can. And so this song's called Precious Time.
05:23If someone came looking for a piece of me, and I don't even know his name it's easy to turn your head
05:39Pretend that you don't see, that it leaves a kind of stain. There's always tomorrow
05:53I don't want to preach, but from the moment I saw him
06:03I knew we had something to teach me and you about what we should do
06:16with our precious time
06:20The sun beat down on the market square, as I chased him down the street. Rags on his body and sweat in my hair.
06:44I gave him a piece of meat, cause everyone gets hungry for a new way to live.
06:59From the moment I saw him, I knew we had something to give you and me.
07:09Cause we all want to be free. With our precious time.
07:27On the walls I'm now crumbling, the sun is creeping into view. I hear my prayers are wobbling, but my secret is safe with you.
07:49Now I don't want to rage, or chase a lightning bolt. From the moment you're born, they put you in a cage.
08:06And it's no one's real fault, cause moments form like matchsticks, and they fade from our view.
08:21And the lesson I have learned, it's that it's not what you do, but who you are and how you wear each scar of your precious time.
08:51Thank you very much guys.
09:22Welcome guys, what's the party doing?
09:29Yeah, we're doing the drumming first. Lady knows where she is, and he's got the special place.
09:34What are these? This side, and the peanut butter, that side?
09:39Peanut butter. I'm peanut butter. Broccoli over here.
09:46I need people, grab yourself a drum, whatever you can.
09:48And then we teach our drumming classes, this is the big room. Lily's hot chocolate.
09:54These guys over here are peanut butter. And these guys over here are broccoli.
10:00All the food we got over here is broccoli.
10:02Which one of the peanut butter's the smooth one?
10:04Hands up, peanut butter sandwich, hands up, peanut butter sandwich.
10:08Eat the broccoli, eat the broccoli, eat the broccoli.
10:16So in our workshops, we always start with percussion.
10:24Because I'm not a great percussionist, I have no qualms about that.
10:30But it's the thing that since human beings have been on the earth, we've always used percussion.
10:38It's one of our oldest forms of communication for bringing people together.
10:43And it's the heartbeat of music. So we're going to play a little percussion for you.
10:47And we'll wait for you to join in a bit.
10:57Has anybody got a drumstick? Well, we're cosy.
11:12One, two, three, four.
11:42One, two, three, four.
12:12One, two, three, four.
12:42One, two, three, four.
13:12One, two, three, four.
13:14One, two, three, four.
13:16One, two, three, four.
13:18One, two, three, four.
13:20One, two, three, four.
13:22One, two, three, four.
13:24One, two, three, four.
13:26One, two, three, four.
13:28One, two, three, four.
13:30One, two, three, four.
13:32One, two, three, four.
13:34One, two, three, four.
13:36One, two, three, four.
13:38One, two, three, four.
13:40One, two, three, four.
13:42One, two, three, four.
13:44One, two, three, four.
13:46One, two, three, four.
13:48One, two, three, four.
13:50One, two, three, four.
13:52One, two, three, four.
13:54One, two, three, four.
13:56One, two, three, four.
13:58One, two, three, four.
14:00One, two, three, four.
14:02One, two, three, four.
14:04One, two, three, four.
14:06One, two, three, four.
14:08Oh, la, la, la.
14:10Oh, la, la, la.
14:12Oh, la, la, la.
14:14Oh, la, la, la.
14:16Oh, la, la, la.
14:18Oh, la, la, la.
14:20Oh, la, la, la.
14:22Oh, la, la, la.
14:24Oh, la, la, la.
14:26Oh, la, la, la.
14:28Oh, la, la, la.
14:30Oh, la, la, la.
14:32Oh, la, la, la.
14:34Oh, la, la, la.
14:36Oh, la, la, la.
14:38Oh, la, la, la.
14:40Oh, la, la, la.
14:42Oh, la, la, la.
14:44Oh, la, la, la.
14:46Applause
14:48Applause
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15:28Applause
15:30Applause
15:32So let's stand so we can get close in a line.
15:39Somebody can pass me one of the, something that's kind of so strong.
15:46Somebody pass that.
15:48Oh, someone needs to rotate.
15:50Oh, yeah.
16:12Is anyone here doing this one?
16:14Yeah, don't need to get close to them, they're just going to take us around.
16:17Ah, this is Nigel Music Group, I am so proud to have them here on Lesley Bristol.
16:23Guys, it's just such a joy to work with.
16:25Thank you so much for coming on the play, guys.
16:27Woo!
16:47La, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da
17:17Oh, when night has come, and the land is dark, and the moon is the only light we'll see
17:32No, I won't be afraid, no, I won't be afraid
17:40Oh, she sits alone, and she says, stand by me, darling, darling, stand by me, oh, stand by me, oh, stand, stand by me, stand by me
18:02In the sky, beneath the palm tree, she'll tumble and fall, and I'll see, she'll tumble, she will see
18:17I won't cry, I won't cry, no, I won't shed a tear, she's just gone, and she says, stand by me, darling, darling, stand by me, oh, stand by me, oh, stand, stand by me, stand by me
18:47Da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da
19:17Now I've been stabbed by evil, stabbed by evil, stabbed by evil, stabbed by evil
19:32Stand by me, oh, stand by me, oh, stand by me, stand by me.
19:51So we're going to sing an old, what's an old civil rights song. The first time I heard
20:12this when I was about, with a theatre company, a mental health theatre company when I was
20:15about 20 years old. It's such a beautiful song that I thought we'd do it with this
20:21group. Do you want to get a little bit closer, Josie, as you're leading us on this? Normally
20:28as the leader I would try and give them a note, but I don't want to throw them so we're
20:32going to rely on Lily. Oh my god, Lily, always perfect, spot on, every time, every time.
20:49The higher you build your barriers, the taller I become. The further you take my rights away,
21:16the faster I will run. You can't deny me, you can't decide to turn your face away. No
21:33matter, confess, something inside's so strong. I know that I can make it, though you're doing
21:45me wrong, so wrong, know that my pride was gone, oh no. Something inside's so strong,
21:58something inside's so strong. The more you refuse to hear my voice, the louder I will
22:13sing. You hide behind walls of Jericho, away, away, away, away, as it comes tumbling. Deny
22:29my place in time, you squander wealth that's mine. My light will shine so brightly it will blind you,
22:42confess, something inside's so strong. I know that I can make it, though you're doing me wrong,
22:54so wrong, know that my pride was gone, oh no. Something inside's so strong, something inside's
23:10so strong. Brothers and sisters, when they insist we're just not good enough, when they know better,
23:23just look them in the eyes and say, we're going to do it anyway, we're going to do it anyway, we're
23:32going to do it anyway, we're going to do it anyway. Confess, something inside's so strong. I know
23:45that I can make it, though you're doing me wrong, so wrong, know that my pride was gone, oh no.
23:57Something inside's so strong, something inside's so strong. I know that I can make it, though you're doing me wrong,
24:11so wrong, know that my pride was gone, oh no. Something inside's so strong, something inside's
24:31so strong.
25:01So good to have them set up so heavily.