23 Comments

I’m really glad I have three degrees in English Creative Writing (we’re better than lit majors). Otherwise, I would not be able to understand a damn word of this Interview.

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I think Don’t Blow It is lyrically one of your most visually descriptive songs with some great scene setting. It’s one of the reasons I love it. It would be a fantastic addition to your live set imo.

Great read as always, had to look up “sesquipedalian” and now need to find an excuse to use it somewhere!

Love the photo with the donkey. These look like good times. Is Chris actually being measured in the Stone Henge one? He has the stance of a man with his back up against a height chart.

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Thinking about it, I am also curious to know the context in which you had a photo opportunity in a field with a donkey.

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(she "took the sheets from off of the bed" in I Bought Myself A Grave") ⚰️

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Yes! If we are including figurative examples, there is also mention of a shelf in One In, One Out and a ceiling fan in Your Light Has Changed.

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Don't hate me, but that ceiling fan lyric makes me feel icky

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Could never hate you, Emma!

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"Don't Blow It" is such a great song and one I'll sometimes find mf self humming randomly. I'd happily see it included in a live set but I suppose you'd need to adjust the other songs on the set list as well for it to fit.

Loved the post for the demo as well as coming away with a new word "sesquipedalian" and new things to read by authors I've vaguely heard of (Raymond Carver). So it's been great to vicariously reap the benefits of your liberal arts education, something the English uni system moved away from.

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Sadly, I think US authors have always been pretty niche in the UK uni system. When they say English Lit, that tends to be what they mean!

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I did one module on American Literature in my first year but my first degree was American Studies so you'd expect that. Only did two books though, 'The Great Gatsby' and 'The Color Purple'.

They do try to make the reading lists in UK English literature degrees more diverse these days though.

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Fair! I’m just old 😂

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It was 1997 when I did that module.

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Yeah. I did English lang and lit 93 - 96. Very English based but I guess that could just be Birmingham 🤷‍♀️

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I may be responsible for most of those streams. One of my favourite WAS songs. It deserves to be heard live.

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R.L. Stine doesn't come up enough in Substack despatches. Another brain- and vocabulary-enhancing read 🧠🗣️

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Point Horror and Goosebumps for life

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I also liked Point Crime 🕵🏼‍♀️

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I may have also read a couple of Point Romance 🙈 I also really liked Christopher Pike's horror books. 'Bury Me Deep' springs immediately to mind.

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I was a total nerd and loved Nancy Drew. But gosh, what a dearth of decent YA fiction we grew up with compared to today.

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Sweet Valley High and the Babysitters Club 🙌

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2014 was the first time I saw you guys live, at Reading festival. I have no idea what took me so long! 🙈

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Song am real good. Me like big amount.

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