‘Fresh Air For My Mama’ is a curious song with which to end this LP, being both a re-write of an earlier song from the Hotlegs album ([3] ‘You Didn’t Like It Because You Didn’t Think Of It’) and a song that, as far as I can tell, is the only genuine rather than tongue-in-cheek track on the whole record (although someone should have told that to Eric Stewart, whose ‘comedy’ falsetto on this record is excruciating and one of the very few album mis-steps).Lyrically this is a tale of leaving home, of going out and making your own way in the world, anxious to see what’s out there but equally anxious over the fate of the mama you leave behind. ‘Be gracious to your mam when you leave this neighborhood’ is Kevin’s comment as he walks out the door, later worried that ‘the gap is sheer when you break away’. However the twist in this song is that the break is good for his family too, the Godley-shaped hole in the mama’s life allowing her to live out her own dreams (or simply getting some quiet: my take on the closing lines ‘may she rest in peace’ is that she’s enjoying the quietness without a musician in the house rather than dead). The recycling from ‘You Didn’t Like It’ is odder. It starts off well with the narrator ‘all alone in the darkness and my eyes are open wide’, perhaps enjoying his first night away from home but after that doesn’t fit much at all, a generation’s hands ‘tied to the Bowery’ as they try to make their way in the world that resort to prayer as per the earlier version. For the most part this re-write doesn’t work anything like as well as its world weary predecessor and Godley’s dramatic vocal can’t match his earlier triumph. This is another song rescued by its very lovely meandering tune, taking the slow route to independence, and another strong band performance with strong vocal and guitar support.
As ‘Fresh Air’ says, ‘we had a lot to say – and we’ve said it all’ (about as good an epitaph as you’ll find for 10cc, whose brief but glittering career covered so much ground in just four short years with the original Godley/Creme line-up). ‘10cc’ is a barmy, funny, witty, clever, intelligent, melodic and downright unique record that – even with the other 10cc records taken into account – is truly a one-off that shows what four men with a sense of humor and lots of time in their own recording studio can do. I don’t know why this record always gets overlooked: true there is one too many doo-wop parodies over on side one and I’m not altogether sure that ‘The Hospital Song’ deserves its place in the middle of the much superior, harder-edged second side. Even for all the experience in this band and the amount of ‘nearly’ debuts before this one the sound isn’t quite there yet – 10cc will develop their pastiche style on this record into something much more original and ‘theirs’ in a few years’ time but already the elements that will give them their greatest success are undeniably in place. There are some truly brilliant moments here, be it Lol losing his rag at the system, Eric haunted by ghosts or Kev leaving home, not to mention some truly glorious arrangements that make the most of every one of these songs’ many twists and turns. If only the band had placed the magical prog rock masterpiece [27] ‘Waterfall’ on this record (perhaps at the end of the first side so that each could have had a grounding in ‘reality’ away from all the glam and glitter) then I’d’ve been very happy with it indeed. As it is, this record is a truly mixed bag, with some towering works of genius nestling amongst tracks you won ‘t particularly look forward to hearing more than once and as a result we can only give it a mixed result. That’s no reflection on the energy or passion that went into this work though – if they gave marks for trying then 10cc would get 10 out of 10 every time.
lyrics
So say one and so say all
Say what you gotta say
Or don't say nothing at all
You been tossin' and turnin' through soft sticky nights
While the Bronx below you fights to stay alive
So say one and so say all
Be what you gotta be
Or don't be nothing at all
Be gracious to your mother
When you leave this neighbourhood
The change is going to do her good
Next to me you look bad
`Cos there ain't no fresh air for my momma, my momma
But the drop is shear
When you break away
Take me away
It's just about time to hit the road
And say
You gotta believe in something
It's easy to see
My God is fading away
So pick up your bible and pray for me
We're all alone in the darkness
But our eyes are wide open
We don't see nothing
And our hands are tied
To the railings of the Bowery
And the humid city slickers
So say one and so say all
We had a lot to say
And we said it all
The cost of living in dreams
Is rising like a crime wave
The American way of dying
And it gets you every time
And it looks like it's got to my mama
My mama
May she rest in peace
This is a musical tribute to 10cc, both originals and remakes. Here is the story about the original line-up from the
original band: 10cc are an English rock band founded in Stockport, England, who achieved their greatest commercial success in the 1970s. The band initially consisted of four musicians – Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley, and Lol Creme....more
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