Walking through life head down is the easiest way to go unnoticed and also to not notice. How long until you want to bring your head up? Leaks and ominous clouds abound, not new but maybe new to you. “Shouting in a Bucket Blues” is not new to me but maybe new to you. Recorded in 1972, it is one of Kevin Ayer’s most accessible songs. Ayer’s, a key figure in the birth of British pastoral psychedelia, was equally recognized for his songwriting brilliance as well as his surprising lack of professional ambition. While the title of the song might convey a sense of hopelessness, when has finding solace in the bottom of a bucket done you any good?, in fact it is quite optimistic in its messaging. Head down, head up, whether or not it matters is up to you.
Sometimes I get too drunk,
I feel so god damn low
I have no place to go, no one to turn to
I think about your loving arms, where I'd like to be
But it's selfish as can be, and I know it
And if I'm sorry for myself, I'm sorry for you too
'Cause I'm the same as you, and I'm burning
So I sing for everyone who feels there's no way out
So maybe if you all shout someone will hear you
Listen to them shout
I won't say that I love you, 'cause that would be a lie
I can only say I try, and you know it
Love is something more or less than words can hope to say
It's something day to day in the life we're living
Lovers come and lovers go but friends are hard to find
Yes I can count all mine on one finger
So I sing for everyone who feels there's no way out
So maybe if you all shout someone will hear you
Listen to them shout
The distance that's between us, it just never seems to change
There's a whole mountain range of misunderstanding
So I sing for everyone who feels there's no way out
So maybe if you all shout someone will hear you
Listen to them shout
- Kevin Ayers