The Big Untidy Magazine

WALKING THROUGH CHANGES

I’m walking through areas of London where I grew up
Memories come back sometimes vividly
Seeming to bring a fondness to how it used to be.
The old buildings that got pulled down
Even obnoxious factory smells can seem sweet in memories.
But it’s nice when waste ground gets turned into a park
Or City Farm.

The high street somewhat different from how I remember it
Though a few shops still look the same
But that delicious ice cream that they used to sell in Woolworths
Is sadly long gone.

I remember the late 1970s
Derelict shop fronts covered in posters
Sometimes National Front stickers.
There were National Front stickers
On the walls of the stairs
Leading up to the Social Security office,
As fascists spread their hate
Corrupting white working class youth
Exploiting every possible situation.

That was the last years of Old Labour
When they made mistakes for which they still haven’t been forgiven.
When jobs that you could once walk in to
Have an interview
And start the next week
Now required long application forms
Quizzing you about A levels
O levels
Criminal records
Histories of mental illness.

Times got tough
Times got tough
Yes my friend
Times got tough.

Then the Tories won the racist vote
With a bigoted patreisim
And speeches about alien cultures.

Times got tough
Times got tough
Yes my friend
Times got tougher than tough.
But I heard Jimmy Cliff sing Many Rivers To Cross
And I identified
I heard Curtis Mayfield sing Move On Up
Move On Up
And I felt truly inspired.

Now I’m walking down the high street
There are still a few cheap cafes
But that wine bar
That restaurant, are too expensive for me.
Luxury developments clashing with old buildings
And that street of terraced houses
Once humble workers homes
Now fetch a fortune on the property market.

I’m walking through areas of London
Where I grew up
Sometimes struggled
Sometimes had happy times.
I embrace fond memories
I feel a little sadness
Occasionally I want to fly away.

The bus routes have changed
How do you get from A to B
You need a map to get around here.
We brace ourselves to face changes
In the ever increasing turmoil of modern society
And we hope that we will benefit a little.

I’m walking through the past
But I won’t get stuck there
I’m just trying to understand where I’m coming from,
I’ve been walking through the past embracing memories
Now I must move on.

Frank Bangay
First draft was written Autumn 1998 after walking through an area of London where I grew up. However I was unable to finish the poem at the time . The poem was completed in Autumn of 2000, as it seemed to follow on from a poem called Shuffling Through Memories that I had then just written ..

It is a rather sad fact that the Labour government of the time lost the plot a bit, (Rest In Peace James Callaghan.) ,and caused some strikes. We experienced what become known as the winter of discontent. On our high streets many shops had closed down . It also got harder to get jobs especially if you had mental health problems. However rehabilitation in mental health often seemed to be geared towards getting people back to work. Often in low paid jobs , industrial therapy was also often used in those days. The validity of creativity hadn’t been considered at the time. We have moved forward since those days. However it is worrying the way New Labour has felt need to cut funding from a number of mental health and disability arts projects Are we to return to the days of industrial therapy? However it is reassuring that the validity of creativity within mental health, is much more recognised these days than it was back then. This is due to the work of some creative people. Often people with mental health experience. And the groups they inspired like Survivors Poetry, Southwark Mind Arts Collective, Creative Routes, and Mad Pride. The situations caused by Old Labour loosing their way did help to bring about the birth of Thatcherism. However it does seem that Old Labour have never been forgiven for these mistakes. Blareisim has steered New Labour in a rather different and often disturbing direction. I wonder where New Labour is going with Gordon Brown steering the ship. The sad fact is that it seems that we may never see the likes of the red flag flying Old Labour again. The party that was originally set up to form trade unions give women the right to vote and eventually set up the health service and welfare state.

Many Rivers To Cross by Jimmy Cliff and Move On Up by Curtis Mayfield were two songs that came from the late 1960s early 1970s. Many Rivers To Cross I first heard on Jimmy Cliffs 1969 album on Trojan Records. A wonderful record that I used to play a lot in the early 1970s. Most of the other tracks were reggae, and songs like A Hard Road To Travel, and Suffering In The Land carried strong messages. I think there was an earlier version of Many Rivers To Cross from a soul orientated album he made around 1967 or 1968. The song may well relate to Jimmy Cliffs experience of being brought to England around 1964/65 by Chris Blackwell the boss of Island Records. To sing soul music around the London Clubs as Jimmy Cliff And The Shakedown Sound. This probably explains the line in Many Rivers To Cross about travelling along the white cliffs of Dover. If I remember correctly Jimmy Cliff had a small hit in 1964 (top 100, unfortunately not on Pick Of The Pops), with a ska song called King Of Kings.

Move On Up by Curtis Mayfield was from his first solo album from the 1970s
It was also in edited form released as a single. With its driving brass fast percussion and Curtis Mayfield’s lyrics and voice, the song has always made me feel optimistic. I bought the album at the time. A piece of experimental soul music with strong songs like We People Who Are Darker Than Blue. Before this Curtis Mayfield had been a part of The Impressions. A pioneering Soul group who wrote and recorded classic songs like People Get Ready. Like many other soul groups The Impressions had gospel roots. They had a big influence on Jamaican music. The Heptones, The Wailers, Junior Murvin, for example. A number of mid 60s mod bands like the Action covered People Get Ready and other Curtis Mayfield songs. Both Many Rivers To Cross and Move On Up started to reappear in my life in the early 1980s. They seemed to help articulate some things that I was feeling. Also address some of the negative things of early Thatcherism. Jimmy Cliff is still actively performing and recording. Curtis Mayfield sadly died in 2000. Rest in peace Curtis. He was a spiritual person.

Frank Bangay Footnote first written April 2006, revised April 2007