Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
It is the season to be jolly, to eat, drink and be merry, to frown upon those that find the Christmas spirit more than a little agitating and for the absurdity of walking through a shopping centre anywhere in the country and being bombarded by the dream of capitalism in red and white hats. It is the season in which all good girls and boys get presents that they truly know deep down inside that their parents cannot afford. It is the season in which we have arguably forgotten the truth of it all, that peace is a not a commodity that is stacked upon a shelf with a price tag emblazoned with the legend “Christmas bargain, two for one special”…it is no wonder that more people are turning their backs upon it all.
With tongue firmly in cheek, Liverpool songwriter Derek King’s addition to the festivities, the catchy and well executed song Bah Humbug! is one that sits so comfortably by the fireside that you cannot help but admire the way it is performed or the sentiment behind it. Whilst of course to openly talk of how dispiriting the season is to some, the abject poverty it thrust families into and the constant need to be seen as being jolly and loving the sound of Band Aid or Slade at every inopportune moment, it is a serious message that Derek King manages to get across.
It is a message that the period of time in which we pour ourselves out another ladleful of sprouts, a vegetable that never truly gets relished by the majority of people, just comes around too quickly because we have somehow evolved ourselves to start talking about it as soon as the summer holiday has left with its luggage and the sun cream bottle firmly closed.
The sincerity of Derek King’s words is not lost in Bah Humbug! and the groove of the music is one that grabs the attention with a firm smile, one that shows his depth of musical character in being able to raise attention to a problem that really should not exist in today’s society and whilst all the time doing it with style and verve.
Christmas is the time to be jolly, to expect the world…it is the time to reflect and remember also.
Ian D. Hall