A Potted History
An overall guide to the various collections
Last updated October 2025
RECENT PAGE HISTORY:
Last updated October 2025 (to include collection "Stories Of Dormouse, And Hatter, And Hare")
NOTE - as of October 2025 I decided to list the collections here in reverse order, with more recent stuff at the top of the list. Apologies to anyone who finds this strange. I may revert later if enough people request it!
| COLLECTIONS 31-33 : The most recent offerings | |
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Stories Of Dormouse, And Hatter, And Hare My 33rd collection was completed in late 2025, although as ever, many songs go back well beyond that time. Once again, the theme is fairly loose, and covers many previous subjects such as mental health, belief vs reality, and plain old general human daftness. I used an Alice In Wonderland theme for many of the songs because of Mr Carroll's wonderful use of logic and absurdity, which all too often puts things better than I could. That said, the songs are not intended to follow his books, or even to tell the same stories. |
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Do Not Press This
Button is collection #32. It was completed in
September 2024. |
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Pantomime! (Oh Yes, It Is!) is collection
#31. It was completed in late 2023, although, as always,
it features a number of songs that were written earlier. |
| COLLECTIONS 21-30 : More modern stuff | |
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Perfect Strangers marks 30
completed collections. It was finished in early 2023,
although many of the songs had been hanging around for
some time before that. |
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Beyond The Half
Life is collection #29. It was completed in
Summer 2022. Most songs were written in the 2010s or
2020s. The opening song "Every Heart Still Warming" is one of my favourites. I composed the lyrics during a cycle ride - which meant constant stops to write them down! |
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Hey Presto! is collection
#28. It was completed in early 2022. Most songs were
written in the 2020s although a few were earlier, and one
has its origins in the 1970s. |
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The Owl And The
Deep Blue Pussycat is collection #27. It was
completed in Summer 2021, although as always, the
individual songs were written over a longer period. |
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The Girl Who Once
Was Everything And Other Sad Stories is collection
number 26. It's centred around themes of illness,
specifically mental illness, and, even more specifically,
the terrible illness of dementia. Normally, I try to
temper the downbeat songs with some more upbeat ones, or
vice versa. I've tried to do so here, where it can be
done tastefully, but because of the subject matter, the
scope is more limited - so my apologies to those who'll
find this collection a little bleaker than most. |
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An Ordinary Bench is collection number 25. It was completed in early 2021, although most of the songs originate from 2020 or earlier. My original intention was a full set of songs linked in some way by the passage of time, and the changes it brings. In the end I opted to add a few other songs that were less strictly connected. As with other themed collections, mixing things up in this way seemed to produce a more pleasing balance. The title song, although 6 minutes long, has always been one of my favourites. |
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Smartarse is collection number 24. Some songs are from 2020, the rest are a little - or a lot - older. Once again, the collection is loosely themed around love and relationships, although in this case most of the relationships don't so much falter, as fail to get off the ground in the first place. A core of the songs deal with the inadequacy of words in certain romantic situations, a theme which has also appeared in previous collections, and which in my view puts a life long hobby of lyric writing into more than adequate perspective! |
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The Lamppost And
The Dog is collection number 23. It's a further
collection of loosely related songs about love and
relationships. However it's fair to say that it features
a little more "love gone wrong" than the recent
collection "Autumn". As always, the collection isn't meant to be autobiographical, although most people will probably relate to the eponymous lamppost at some time in their lives! |
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Naked Emperors is collection
number 22. It's the first to feature any songs written in
the 2020s, although most were written a little earlier. The collection draws together a number of very loose threads, mainly based around the things we tell ourselves, or the importance we attach to them. A small central core of songs is about our apparent willingness to believe things which quite plainly aren't true! |
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Autumn was completed
collection number 21. It's deliberately gentler than some
others, and is loosely themed around three of my
favourite subjects - love, friendship, and growing old.
Indeed, the collection owes its existence as much as
anything to the fact that I'd simply accumulated a large
abundance of songs about all three! "Autumn" contains many songs which are firm favourites of mine. |
| COLLECTIONS 11-20 : Post Millenium stuff | |
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Lucy And The
Rainbow was my twentieth completed collection.
It's based loosely around "coming of age".
Originally I had an idea to give the entire collection a
vaguely 1960s / 1970s theme, in tribute to my own
"halcyon" days. A small core of songs do match
the theme, but in the end I didn't go full tilt down that
road, and was better pleased with the result. A wider theme concerns moments when you discover that reality doesn't quite match the dreams you had - a situation with which most of us, at some time or other, will be all too familiar! Despite the subject matter, most of the songs are not particularly autobiographical. As always, too, the characters mentioned in the songs (Lucy, Stacey) are fictional. They represent nobody, or anybody, as befits your interpretation. |
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A Place To The
North was my nineteenth completed collection.
It allowed me to combine some old 1990s work with more
modern stuff, and even gave me a chance to dig up and set
to music the odd 1970s poem for good measure. It also enabled me to revive my old love affair with Iceland, although the core connection here is mainly with The Sagas, which always seem to me to be a depressingly endless cycle of mistrust, retribution, and rather pointless tribal conflict. The very idea of which allowed me to throw in a couple of modern songs based - well, loosely - around Brexit .....! |
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Jules And Anna was my
eighteenth completed collection, and another of my
favourites. Anna is largely based on Anna (Anne) Frank,
although I don't claim that all biographical details are
entirely accurate. Jules isn't based on anyone specific,
but I've borrowed some detail from my Mum, who grew up in
London and was evacuated to Cornwall during World War II.
The two were therefore effectively close contemporaries,
and the collection was inspired for the large part by the
poignant contrasts in their fortunes. For those who have asked, "Miep" refers to Miep Gies, who was one of those who helped to hide the Franks from the Nazis in Amsterdam during World War II. A true heroine of the 20th Century. |
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There Dances
Emily was my seventeenth completed collection.
It's also one of my favourites. The collection is very
loosely based on notions such as finding your place, and
of coming to terms with who you are. These of course are
themes that follow most of us closely through life. As
with most collections, it would be a mistake to assume
that the songs are overtly autobiographical! The eponymous "Emily" in the title song isn't based on anyone in particular. She was originally to be called "Amethyst" - mainly because it needed three syllables to scan and I didn't know anyone else of that name to confuse her with. In the end, "Emily" just sounded more natural! |
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Faces And Places was my sixteenth
completed collection. The collection is loosely themed,
but at its grandest is intended to reflect a journey
through life, and the changes in aspirations and
attitudes which accompany each stage. At a less grand level, it also highlights (and tries to resolve) the conflicts which can sometimes arise between the wish to retain friendships, and the desire to move on. By way of explanation (and without wishing to sound in any way an authority) my understanding is that the phrase "Colditz cock", from the song "Great Escapes", was the name given by prisoners to an escape glider built in the attic of Colditz Castle during World War II |
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Edges was my fifteenth
completed collection. The main part of the collection was
based around several sections of a long poem originating
from 1977 (but substantially reworked since). The rest of
the collection consisted of various songs from various
decades, which I'd always wanted to include at some
point, but which didn't really seem to belong anywhere
else. A kind of "best of the rest", perhaps. "Dragons" is simply a repeat of "Dragons" from the earlier collection of that name. It's included here purely for completeness - many of the words of the original song started life within the aforementioned 1977 poem. |
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Going Gentle was my
fourteenth completed collection. It contains songs from
either side of the millenium. Again, the collection is
loosely themed, but tackles a number of related subjects
such as old age, illness, death, and bereavement - a sure
sign of the changing focus as we grow older. However, the
collection isn't without optimism, and the up-tempo
"One More Year" remains one of my favourite
songs. I based the collection's title on Dylan Thomas's famous poem, which is included, set to music. I make no apologies for borrowing it. It seemed appropriate. "You'll Think Of Me" is belatedly dedicated to my Dad, who died in 2020. It wasn't initially about anyone specific, but I read the words at his funeral, and in my head it's now "Dad's Song". |
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Time To Kill was my
thirteenth completed collection. It does contain a few
20th century songs, but has a definite post-millenium
feel to it. The collection is loosely themed, but
examines, among other things, notions such as fanaticism,
extremism, terrorism, and a general cold detachment from
"normal" human life. Overall, despite the
subject matter, I was rather pleased with the outcome. For those who have asked, "Island Of The City" refers to the reign of terror during the French Revolution. And "A Bright Tuesday Morning" is about the 9/11 attacks on New York. "Ballad of An Unnamed Baddie" isn't about anyone in particular, but is a tribute to the many minor characters whose only purpose in life is to appear briefly on screen and then perish for our entertainment! |
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The Untogether was my twelfth
completed collection, and again, includes a number of
songs that were written after the millennium. It revives
the themes of earlier collections about non-specific love
affairs that falter and fail, then resolve again. I guess
such themes are of eternal interest, and I make no
apology for revisiting them. Although this collection retains the usual vaguely folk-based musical influences, it also contains some songs with a "jazzier" feel, an experiment which continues into later collections. |
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Mad, Bad, And
Dangerous was my eleventh completed collection, and
the first to feature songs written this side of the
millennium. It's also still one of my favourites. A core of songs in the collection are loosely based around the infamous love affair between Lord Byron ("the poet") and Lady Caroline Lamb ("the lady"). However I deliberately declined to name them. Instead, the collection is really about indiscretion in general, and also the delicious notion, as we get older, that everyone has a past! Sometimes my favourite songs are those which come with surprisingly little effort. "Mackerel Sky" was one of those. I needed something to complete the collection. I'd had the music done in all but one session a week earlier. Then the lyrics followed during a two minute walk to the shops! I still have a hankering to expand this collection into a full musical one day, although that may have to wait until the next life time ..... |
| COLLECTIONS 1-10 : Before The Millenium | |
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Writing, She
Murdered was my tenth completed collection. The
songs originated from various times between the 1970s and
the 1990s. Although a core of songs are concerned with
the creative process itself, the majority of songs are
simply a pot pourri of works that didn't really seem to
fit well anywhere else. For those who have asked, "She Was A Gentle Lover" is merely my attempt at writing an "ecology" song - the "she" in question being the Earth. It isn't meant to be any darker than that. |
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Dragons was my ninth
completed collection. Most songs originated from the
1990s, albeit with some notable exceptions. The
collection is based on a number of themes, but especially
on the notions of inner fears and personal demons; and
even more especially on the slow but steady process of
getting older. For this reason the collection marks the
first steps of transition into middle and older age, a
theme which crops up throughout most later collections. For those who have asked, the "Roger Bennett" in the song of that name was a journalist and for many years a much loved breakfast show presenter on the local BBC station here in Bristol, UK. Sadly, Roger passed away in 2005. He is still remembered with justifiable fondness by many people who - like the protagonist in the song - woke up every morning to his tones. |
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Travellers' Tales was my eighth
completed collection. Most songs originated from the
1980s and 1990s. The collection is loosely based on
travel, and in particular to visits I made to Iceland and
elsewhere. The song "Smoky Bay" refers to
Reykjavik, for example. But in a wider and more important
context the collection is really about things like life,
personal voyages, and self discovery. |
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The Night Life was my seventh
completed collection. Most songs originated from the
1980s and 1990s, with only a couple of earlier efforts
from the 1970s. The collection binds together many
themes, all very loosely related to the night. There's a
strong 1980s feel to the lyrics, especially where they
contain social commentary. However, despite the passage
of time, and the dark nature of some of the songs, I'm
still rather proud of this collection. For those who have asked, "Adam, With Voices" is not based on any individual. Likewise the "tall bridge" mentioned in the song isn't meant to be a particular real life location, although I'm sure many here in Bristol, UK, will think they recognise it as one. Also, for the benefit of those who remember otherwise, the opening song was originally called "Mrs Thatcher's Britain", as it is now. However, by the the time it got published, a different PM was in power, so renaming the song to "Mr Major's Britain" seemed the topical and trendy thing to do. Now, though, due to the further passage of time, it seems sensible to revert to the original title. Sadly, either title would do.... |
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Two Slices in The
Toaster was my sixth completed collection. Once
again, many of the songs originated between the 1970s and
1990s, but with increasing emphasis on the latter part of
that period. The collection is loosely based around a
(fictitious) relationship, and on the various reasons why
it all goes wrong. I like to think that this collection
continues the journey away from teenage obsessions
towards a more mature observational style. I was
certainly quite proud of the work at the time! |
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Gobsmacked was my fifth
completed collection. It's loosely themed around subjects
such as shyness and loneliness. Many of the songs are
among my earliest. In many ways, therefore, the
collection can be viewed simply as a chronicle of what it
was to be a teenager in the 1970s, along with the various
somewhat dubious attitudes that entails. Neverthess,
there's a definite move from some of the gloom-laden
angst of previous collections, towards something a little
more relaxed and light hearted. At the time, "Sophie On The
Beach" was a firm favourite of mine, as well of
being only one of a small handful I could play with a
moderate degree of competence. |
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Reason For Reason was my fourth
completed collection. Once again, many of the songs
originated between the 1970s and 1990s, including a large
number which started life as poems. The collection is
concerned mainly with aspects of war and conflict. Most
of the songs require little further explanation. Lyrics
or music to some songs are based on the works of other
authors or composers- a device I've used a few other
times since. Credit is given where applicable, and in a
lot of cases, little or no originality is claimed. Some of the songs enjoyed a small musical revamp in 2020. I was pleased with the result, it provided a slightly fuller sound. However, I opted not to change any of the words, despite that I might have put some things differently (or not at all) today. |
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The Fall And Rise
of An Empire was my third completed collection. Again,
most of the songs originated between the 1970s and 1990s.
The collection loosely tells the story of a love affair
that founders and falters, then thrives again. That's a
theme that has persisted in my songs (and pretty much
everyone else's) over the years! The centrepiece is the
four part song called "Abandon Ship", based on
a multi part poem from circa 1978. The collection isn't strictly autobiographical, and merely reflects some of the thoughts and observations I had about relationships back in the days when philosophising about these things seemed essential! |
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The Seven Veils was my second
completed collection. Most of the songs originated in the
decades between the 1970s and 1990s. The centrepiece of
the collection is a medley of pieces that together make
up the title "track" - all 25 minutes of it! |
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The Light That
Shines For Some was my first completed collection.
Although some have been revamped since, the songs all
originate from the 1970s, many of them starting life as
as poems. I'm highly conscious that the collection deals
with depression, mental illness, and other dark subjects,
such as suicide. I don't think I had an unhappy
adolescence, as such. I just think they were suitably
dramatic matters for an impressionable young mind to
explore. |
