naomi on the catwalk

i've got this thing in my head about older folk right now...
it fascinates me where a lot of us in our fifties arrive at in our heads..
you hit a certain age,and so much of the world just writes you off..
in music it's a particular drag..cause some of us are only starting to hit our stride in these middle years,
but in the world of men and business,we might as well be invisible...

i'm now finding that having lived though enough career disasters ,my own litany of failures have made me more bold with my ideas...
and because no one in business really cares anymore if i make music or not,i take all the liberty i wish with language and subject matter...
some say i use too much'bad language',but for me,the only profanity is war..violence,or gross injustice.

so i have this thing about older people...
there's a rebellion among many of us that i was unaware of as a youngster...
a lot of older folk don't fall into line as easily as they might have done in their youth...
they know that time is running out, so they don't want to waste it jumping through hoops that go nowhere .
it's great fun watching an older person burning on a short fuse...loosing their patience,or ripping some jim jim a new asshole.
i find it hugely attractive.

so...
i did this video recently that stars a friend of mine in his fifties called robert timberlake...
he works the nightshift in casinos out in the desert.
he's got a lot of attitude...and only a fool would dare fuck with this man...
but he's a sweetheart to me..real kind and generous with his time...a good guy..
and i loved filming him for this song...
i thought it would be an interesting experiment to have an older person in the frame...
in many ways i approached this clip in the way the video was made for the young madonna in her song 'cherish'
in that bland boring video she's being sexy in the water,so it fascinated me to put an older person in that position,and twist it a little.
i think the outcome looks very cool....i can feel the gritty glamour of quentin tarantino..fred flintstone... tony soprano...three things i really love.

the song itself explores the connection between rock n roll and the fashion world..
many musicians hate that idea,but like it or not,those two worlds are joined at the hips...
you've only got to look down through the decades to know it's true...
duke ellington...billie holiday...sinatra...elvis...little richard...the who...the stones...kinks...bowie...punk rock....tamla motown..
even the folk artists like leonard cohen had good style[his father was a haberdasher]...
and bob dylan too..as scruffy as he was,that man has style...dylan knows that style is not only surface deep...
good and bad style is something that rises to the surface,but it emanates from deep down.... from the way we think.

don't get me wrong,no one hates style over substance more than me,
but style can give substance a good frame to save it from becoming invisible...
most musicians who don't get their head around this,usually live and die in their bedrooms.
...and that's a shame...many of them like to think they're 'image free'...but even a tomato has an image.


i wrote this song with my friend kenny potter... one of my oldest friends in edinburgh...i've known him for 34 years...
he plays every weekend of his life in working mens clubs in scotland to keep his musical chops up,
you can tell by his excellent guitar playing that he was very influenced by 1970's funk..great players like niles rogers[ that stylish guitar player/producer from *chic*].

dear reader...i'd like to take this chance to wish you the very best for 2012..loads of fun..and good good things...
so much is still possible... both good and bad.

always ...
mary of the wilderness.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• queer
• gay
• bears
• cinema
• naomi
• campbell
• fashion
• 70's
• soul
• funk
• niles
• rogers

[SgtBastard101]

After "Bootcamp for the broken hearted" got me through the loss of my wife and stepson, there was blame and anger fur sooo long now after. Your my "St. Mary Cigarettes"" now after hearing this tune. I now include you in my top; Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Mark Lanegan and you.....thank you brother.

[marycigarettes]

@SgtBastard101 carry no anger good man..it just cripples you.

[MrClausAckermann]

i am in my 50´s and what you say makes so much sense! really like your work.- keep posting and... all the best to you for 2012 and the years to come!.. Claus from Heidelberg.

[marycigarettes]

@MrClausAckermann thank you claus! very kind of you.

[streetspiritlive]

Yeah!

This is Rock n Roll!!

i should've faved this since day one!!! ; )))

[marycigarettes]

@streetspiritlive i had a load of fun pulling that one together,so i'm glad you liked it...thanks!

[leftgreenthumb]

@marycigarettes Cheers! :) Thank you, but alas, our little project stalled over the last two years and only last month I decided to give it up altogether and sold my kit (I still have my old V's to kick about, but no more bands). Steve is a working musician and had so much on the go that our little band kept falling to the back. Eventually interest waned enough that I realized I just don't play much as it is anymore, so I sold the drums to a good home with an eager new drummer :)

[marycigarettes]

@KillFromTheHeart well i for one care a lot that you live rather than die..so congratulations with that weight loss program you're on..you're doing well,and your own heart loves you for it.....slowly does it...stick around baby!

[KillFromTheHeart]

What a great film. And the commentary . . . well . . . as a 55-year-old, I find it more than true at times. After a particularly "invisible" day at work today, I found myself Mozzing out: "In my life, why do I give valuable time to people who don't care if I live or I die?"

Happy 2012 to you, too, MC!

[TheDreamClaw]

@marycigarettes

LOL, Join the club angel! You where obviously overcome by his hotness

(I googled him, and he's just my type!)... ;P

Cartoons? Ahh you mean "Jiz" LMAO, yes , so wrong , but so hilarious ...

Stay fabulous , your THE shit hun xx.