. . . Continued

Paul Heaton is bright and obliging, but you can tell that he has been in this bar for quite some time. You can tell that he has been to bars in general for quite some time. Some lyrics come to mind. "He was just a social drinker, but social every night" and "Old red eyes is back". The red-eyed Paul Heaton has written more lyrics about drinking than any artist since Tom Waits. Looking back, there were signs of it in The Housemartins’ breakthrough song "Happy Hour". Happy, funny guys in a happy, funny video. But nobody really listened to the words.

We should have a baby
And then I wouldn’t feel quite so sad
Then I’d feel like Paul The Saint,
And not Jack The Lad
A baby that’ll make me feel so very glad
I’ve had a life of booze,
but that’s all I’ve ever had.

("Have Fun", The Beautiful South, 1996)

POP:  Many of your lyrics are about booze and drinking. Have you ever written songs in bars?

PDH:  I once tried to write a son in a bar, but it is impossible. I am no natural songwriter. I only write songs when I have to and then it is concentrated work. But I always carry around a notebook. I write stuff down all the time that don’t necessarily have to become lyrics.

Sometimes it’s just small observations. Sometimes it’s short stories."Rotterdam (Or Anywhere)" started out as a short story.

POP:  Have you had any plans to publish your short stories?

PDH:  I don’t know if the same phenomenon exists in Sweden, but in England there is some sort of trend that says that everybody can do everything.  Sport commentators write novels, weather report girls make pop records, politicians become TV entertainers. I myself become very cynical when I see that sort of thing. I’d rather wait until my career as a pop singer is over. all this will come to an end one day, and then it would be nice to try to write something else.

POP:  In the lyrics of "Little Blue" on your new album, you mention both John Keats and Charles Bukowski.

PDH:  I can’t say I’ve read a lot of Keats, but I happen to be a big fan of Bukowski’s. I think I’ve got most his books.

POP:  How did you discover him?

PDH:  When I was in the US for the first time, someone gave me a book with Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories. "Here, read this, it reminds me of your black lyrics." The next time I went to the US, someone gave me a video with The Simpsons. "You have to see this. It is as cynical and ironic as your songs." At that time, someone also gave me the tip to read Bukowski.

POP:  I can see that connection too.   Similar to Edgar Allan Poe, many of your lyrics are very morbid.  For example there are a lot of murders. Where does that side come from?

PDH:  Maybe it’s just sensationalism. I’ve never been criticised for it, but if there is any critique that you can give my lyrics then it’s just that. Me using strong expressions, for example, murder descriptions, to obtain a higher effect. But that is how the world works. These things happen. I don’t think I could write a straight and honest love song.

POP:  A song such as the new one "Have Fun" seems very honest to me.

PDH:  That one is really honest. It’ about me. It’s a love song about my life. There is nothing I can say about those lyrics that isn’t already in there.

Diary entry 9th of May ‘62
We’ve had some ugly babies
but none quite like you

This is my life and this is how it reads
A documentary that nobody believes
Albert Steptoe in ‘Gone With the Breeze’
Mother played by Peter Beardsley,
father by John Cleese.

("My Book", The Beautiful South, 1990)

POP:  In the song "My Book" from the album "Choke" you mention a date of birth. 9th of May ‘62. Is it your own?

PDH:  Yes.

POP:  How much of that song is biographical?

PDH:  When I wrote it, it felt very biographical.

POP:  What did your parents think of that song?

PDH:  I don’t speak with my mom and dad anymore. (silence) Well, I have talked to them from time to time, but not very often. It’s a very hard song to explain. It feels like it’s been a very long time.

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