Friday 17 November 2006

Drummer's Birthday

I don't like to blow my own trumpet, being more accustomed to banging on a drum pointlessly to no-one in particular, but it is the tin drummer's 30th birthday today. It is something to be proud of in that I've made it this far, and I'm delighted to have done so. I don't like the thought of getting older, but it's infinitely preferable to the alternative. Lying awake in the dark this morning I tried to think of my achievements, but I gave up and thought of the future instead, and of the great line from one of Ian Dury's tracks: All I want for my birthday is another birthday.

4 comments:

James Higham said...

Happy Birthday! You're about four years away from the best age ever and that's when it all starts. The second half's better.

Bill Haydon said...

Thank you.

I can't help thinking of the Divine Comedy (as you do) which is surely a case study in a mid life crisis. Doesn't it begin something like: "At the mid point of this life I was faced by a fork in the road" or something? I am glad you think the second half's better. I was a good child, a rubbish teenager (I wanted to talk about Harold Wilson, Smiling Jim Callaghan and the winter of discontent, and all everyone else wanted was to have sex and get high), and I have been a crap adult, but I'm glad I am still around, doing stuff.

And the whole of one's 20s builds to 30, so you might as well get there, get it over with and get on with your life.

Colin Campbell said...

I can remember when I was little my Grandmother used to say that time flew when you were older. This seemed a bit odd to me at the time. Now that I am closer to 50, I can see what she was talking about. Meanwhile my young kids cannot wait for the eternity which is the period between annual celebrations. Glad you mentioned Ian Dury. I haven't heard him. Perhaps his song You Aint Half Been a Clever Bastard is an appropriate anthem for your life.

Bill Haydon said...

colin:

waaaah-wooooh!

I can't remember which Ian Dury song the quote comes from; I think it's This is What We Find or something like that.

I love the song you mention, but it's not appropriate for me, although I "probably had help from my mum, who had help from her mum..."