All language subtitles for [English (auto-generated)] Lee Thompson. One Man s Madness. Jeff Baynes film. 2018 [DownSub.com]

Oi, oi.

>> Yes, I watched you climb up. I've seen

you come alive.

From them very humble beginnings in

NW5.

We all lived with my granddad at Danny's

house.

Cuz my mom hadn't got a council flat.

And from there

we moved we got our first council flat

at Holly Lodge, Langbourne Mansions.

Other than my dad going in and out of

prison

family life was fantastic.

You know, my our mother gave us

everything. I mean

we lived in Langbourne Mansions with

chandeliers,

fantastic beautiful carpet. She would do

the house out and then we'd have beans

on toast for dinner. You know what I

mean? Like

Anyway, nobody really liked Lee for some

reason or other and and we were not

allowed to play with him and he wasn't

allowed to come round. Lee would come to

the end of my road and whistle really

loud, you know, and I'd look out and

you'd see him by the standing in the

lamppost. Then you'd hear him whistling

and then I'd be going out, "Mom, see you

later." "Oh, I won't be with that Lee

Thompson." Don't worry about that. So,

he wasn't allowed in anybody's house and

the only explanation given was he looks

a bit dodgy, our parents would all say.

So, I don't know what he looked like. I

mean, we all quite liked him, I suppose.

Maybe for that same dodgy look in his

eye, I don't know. We would jump on

goods trains, you know, and imagine that

we were hobos and

but we'd go to sort of Highbury or you

know, and jump off them and then we

found that they had things in them.

Everywhere we went he would suddenly be

nicking something or into something

which was sort of fun. Oh, he was he was

robbing. He was robbing what he could.

I didn't really like

breaking the law and everything.

And uh but when you hang around with

Lee, it was a bit inevitable. He would

always be up to something, yeah. Well,

like the Artful Dodger, you know, he was

quick.

Very quick and couldn't resist any

opportunity to pinch something if it was

available. Regarding the music, we were

all into albums and we all used to go to

the Co-op in Camden Town.

Is they used to have records in the

sleeves. In a lot of shops, they would

just have empty sleeves and if you buy a

record, you say, "I want this record."

And the guy would go in the back and get

the record out. All the sleeves had

actually records in them.

And you put your jacket over your

shoulder and you look over there and

suddenly the you know, the record's

under your sleeve.

And you walk out the door hoping that

nobody's going to grab you.

So, we started getting quite a bit of a

record collection. Yeah, you'd have all

the albums there and you'd have your

record player and you put your record on

and you sit there listening to it. Yeah,

which was very enjoyable. Yeah, I mean,

one time we were coming out of Kentish

Town station. We'd been down the West

End and there was a police car and they

all sort of knew Lee and one of them

said, "Oi, you, Thompson, come here."

And we just started running like, you

know, it was like uh

it wasn't even as if we'd done anything

wrong, you know, it's just like, "Woah,

the cops." You got this automatic thing.

And so, we'd be running, they'd be

chasing us, yeah, and sometimes you'd

end up in the police station, yeah.

He had this sort of attitude to other

people's property that it

didn't necessarily you know, it could be

his as well.

It could be shared.

There's nobody that I know that didn't

go out with Lee

not ending up being chased by the old

bill, you know, you just did, you know.

I mean, my poor cousin came down from

Wales. He was probably only about 16.

Uh uh to work for the band. This is

sometime on, you know.

And he said he went in a clothes shop

with Lee, and Lee said, "Just hold this

bag."

Before you knew it, it was stuffed full

of all sorts, and uh and then he went,

"Run."

But his old man was a crook, you know,

and um Lee, you know, took up the

mantle. I mean,

in some ways it's kind of sad because

you know, I know from talking to Lee

that he was often made to do things, you

know, his dad would push him over walls

and go, "Okay, you know, you're not

getting back until you come back with

something stolen, you know." He was

quite a nice kid, but I wished he wasn't

there most of the time when he was

little.

Because he wasn't a good influence on my

enormous efforts to bring up my children

to be decent, upright, middle-class

English children.

Which wasn't easy at the time. He was

supposed to call for me one night, and

he didn't. So, I ended up going to the

youth club with my mates, and then I saw

him in the back of a black Mariah going

up Kentish Town Road. All right?

Looking out the window.

I think when I met him it was at the

tail end

of him, you know, getting in a lot of

trouble.

When he was little, he worried me sick

because he did get them into trouble.

And, you know, once you're in trouble

with the police, all sorts of things can

happen, whatever you've been really

doing, as I said to Mike several times,

it's not a good idea to get on the wrong

side of the police

because they're not always strictly

honest themselves.

But we used to have a lot of fun as

well. We did a fair bit of that spray

painting, yeah.

I suppose it's like those dogs, isn't

it? Who like to go and pee around in

their territory.

Something like that. Oh, the graffiti,

he would It was always kicks.

Kicks. Kicks everywhere, you know.

Because he was into kicks, you know, he

was into

adrenaline rush, I suppose.

Um and he liked to be sort of naughty

and daring. Spray your name on the top

of the railway when everyone would be

out there, "How did they get up there?"

That film, you know, Rebel Without a

Cause, James Dean and all that. And

that's kind of what it was, you know, we

were just rebels without a brain. He was

concerned about his clothes.

But he wore his loans,

you know.

And I remember things like those, you

know, straight back trousers.

And I was thinking, these are just

They're just so cool. And Lee used to

sort of put stuff on. He just used to

look really good. Somehow or other,

about his dimensions or that that sort

of elusive thing called charisma or

something. But his Dr. Martens would

always look great and mine would look

really big and long. No, when I met Lee,

he had a sheepskin coat and

um

cream stay press and Dr. Martens, yeah.

But I don't know where these clothes

magically appeared from, quite honestly,

including Graham's. You know, he'd have

his astronaut DMs on, you know, really

sort of taken in Levi's reds.

And he had a really nice dark brown

sheepskin and he looked really cool. He

used to dye his Dr. Martens different

colors. I think he had blue ones on when

I met him, but um

there was that thing with all them

glamour boys, you know, which is a gang

I said from Kentish Town that that that

they all dyed their Dr. Martens.

I said, it was like It was like seeing a

packet of Smarties bouncing down the

street. And Lee,

read us his poem about his first pair of

Dr. Marten boots.

And and that was a, you know, a lovely

occasion. There was Lee telling us about

something that was very memorable to him

and had the significance and he

and it was a great poem. I can't

remember the poem, but I just remember

it was a, you know, a lovely meeting. I

remember the when he first come to call

for me, he was walking down the stairs

of our flats and I said, "That's him."

And my dad went,

"His

his trousers look like they've had an

argument with his boots. His jeans were

up there and his boots were, you know,

there was a gap." I was always struck by

him because he had that mixture

of sort of '60s,

sort of '70s as well and a bit of '50s.

So, he was a real conglomeration of

those of those sort of decades. I don't

know what makes you really fancy someone

cuz I I wouldn't didn't think, "Oh my

god, he's the most handsome boy in the

world." or but I just knew I fancied

him.

And obviously, he fancied me. I was

proud when I saw Lee riding up in bleach

on the back of his Levi's that nutty

sound.

>> He just said that nutty sound. It was no

explanation, you know, there was no

discussion. He just turned up and there

he was, that nutty sound.

And uh and I really like that. I really

like that sort of term and um

and he had this sort of idea in his head

for a sort of music that some of the

music that we were doing

which he was always he was saying that

nutty sound and you know, we used to be

into a little bit sort of circus. We

used to go and see Kilburn and the High

Roads a lot as well and they were sort

of quite um

you know, a bit different and quite mad.

Lee, Chris, and Mike saw

the Kilburns very early on with Ian Dury

and that really influenced them and they

s-

I think that was directly why they

thought they could get a band together.

Now, it's a bit of Kim Wilde and Jeff

Beck on the river and up to the park.

>> Cuban and the High Roads was his first

band and they used to play in the Tally

Ho in Kentish Town.

And the famous story of course is Lee

bunked in through the gents toilets,

which also happened to be their dressing

room, but he got his the turn up of his

jeans caught in the little prongle, you

know, that keeps the window up and he

was hanging upside down when he and Joey

walked in.

And um

and that's how he got to know him, but

um but Lee gave me their first album,

Handsome.

And uh that was a revelation for me.

This is before, you know, New Boots and

Panties and all that.

And it's a great album. And that was

another thing about Lee that he really

um

was very very passionate about music,

yeah, and

yeah, he learned to play his sax. He

didn't have lessons. He learned just

playing along with other people's

records. Roxy Music for instance, I

know, but um

yeah, he had a great passion for music.

We all did. We all did. Can't even

remember him

expressing that he wanted a saxophone,

but I'm presuming he must have done

otherwise I wouldn't have spent my

week's wages on one, you know. Think

most of his practicing was done in

Luton.

All I can remember is him playing the

saxophone and thinking, you can't play

this. My mum used to stuff tea towels

down there if ever he was at my house,

you know.

He couldn't play the saxophone to save

his life in the beginning, but he he

learned. I mean, I've got quite a good

ear and in the beginning

he often did play out of key, very much

out of key actually.

But with great bravura, he did it with

such a plum that he got away with it.

He obviously loved music. He kind of

grown up with music around him. Loved

50s rock and roll. Had got into Roxy

Music in the early 70s and loved the

saxophone. And kicks.

Bad kicks. Have you played the saxophone

before?

Uh yeah. I love you. He picked up a

second-hand saxophone. He turns up at a

school and the streetwise teacher

realizes that that the saxophone is

obviously stolen or bought or it's a

dodgy saxophone because it's got the

serial number scrubbed out.

Show you the finger for that. This is

nice. Yes, nice. Really nice. Mhm.

Oh, hello there.

What seems to have happened here? Number

seems to have been scratched off.

Oh yeah, right. Yeah, when when I bought

it uh

it was already scratched off it. Really?

Yeah. Where Where did you get this

thing?

Um

Denmark Street.

Down Denmark Street shop down Denmark

Street. Shop shop there. And they sold

you a sax with no number? Yeah, that's

right.

>> So obviously, you know, told to to hook

it.

>> Unusual. So he had a sax, Chris had a

guitar,

I had a piano. I was teaching them both

and it was very very slow work, you

know, note by note. And especially the

saxophone because um

at some point Lee discovered that the

notes each note I mean God knows why,

but they uh see in a saxophone is I

think uh

uh E flat in a piano or the other way

around.

Is it? E flat in E flat? Yeah.

Sure. You're free about it, aren't you?

Before social media and all that, you

know, you you literally if you if you

had an album you liked, you'd carry it

about under your arm, you know.

Just to let people know what you were

into.

Because there was no other way of

expressing who you were apart from your

clothes.

>> At certain point we got Woody and

Bedders and they were like, you know,

almost like professional session men.

But my first initiation

with him was that we were rehearsing

over in Finchley Road and he had the

yellow GPO van. He drove the yellow one.

Mike drove the white one.

And he he said, "Oh, I'll give you a

lift back uh back into Hampstead and you

can get a train back home

from rehearsals and he took me on a

death-defying, frightening ride

at some I don't know what speed it was

cuz I was actually almost in tears of

sort of fright.

Uh and I think that was my kind of that

was pleased to meet you. You know, I

think he wanted to see the kind of get a

reaction out of me. Both Lee and Mike

had um XGPO Morris Minor vans, you know,

that's how we used to do our work, you

know.

Cuz we did gardening jobs together as

well and um

you could put all the gear in the back.

And then at night if we were doing a

gig, you'd have to take all the crap out

and put the amps and all that.

I mean, the worst bit is when we're

doing the gardening cuz it just stank of

petrol. So, it was

you got the driver, you got the

passenger. That was like you'd have to

spin a coin and everyone else in the

back and you just come out stinking of

petrol which wasn't the most um alluring

thing where girls were concerned.

Lee when I first met him

was a bit scary.

>> you know. We're all We're all in a band

waiting around, all right? And you're

just playing it wrong.

Look, mate, you play the piano, all

right? Why don't you stick to your

piano? All right, I'm only trying my

best on here, you know what I mean?

>> I would stick to my piano if you could

play the thing properly.

He's always pulling the reed off

um off the end of his uh sax to get the

right tuning. And Lee would just sort of

flit in and out. He would appear maybe

at a rehearsal occasionally, play a bit,

and then sort of disappear again.

Mike was absolutely determined that they

were going to be a pop group and I said,

"Well, does Lee have to be in it?" Cuz

he kept on not turning up for rehearsals

and Mike would have been moaning about

him in the kitchen and I said, "Well,

why don't you kick him out?"

And he said, "No, no. No, he's very

important. He's got the right image."

I was, you know, well into um

my reggae.

And, uh um,

then Lee would go to me, "Tracey, what

does this mean?" He would ask me all

sort of certain words. There was a song

called welding. It was a bit rude.

And he'd go, "What does it mean, now?

What does it mean, I mean?"

I'd say, "I don't know, what do you want

me to be in the other?" Yeah, I remember

telling Mark about reggae. I don't know

if he'd ever heard of it when we first

started and being a little bit, you

know, Yeah.

dubious about whether, you know, whether

you I mean, those days it was a question

about whether, white men could play

reggae.

I mean, there was a story going around

that they couldn't. But reggae was very

rare and, uh, hard to find and and it

was seemed to be something

uh, an agreed thing among music musical

academics that white men couldn't play

it.

I think we all went down to the Roxy one

time, which is where where punk started,

well, well, they say where it started.

I'm thinking about 1976.

And then we weren't overly impressed.

But the funny thing was, um,

Don Letts was the DJ and he was playing

reggae between the punk bands.

Because there weren't any punk records

to play.

And we all liked reggae, so that's the

bit we liked.

And it was also that, um,

you know, I'm such a sort of try it

thing, but but but but the punks were

wearing straight trousers, you know, we

were coming out of this dinosaur period

of,

you know,

brushed denim flares and all that with

an iron crease.

The way we used to do stuff was we'd go

to rehearsal place.

You know, and I'd like, "Oh, I've got

these chords here,

you know." Cuz I wouldn't have much of

a, you know, they go like this. And we'd

start playing and then, you know,

Bedders would do a bassline and, you

know, and I'd go, "Oh, the drum, you

know." We'd get it going. And then we

would often, you know, get a cassette

machine and record the songs. And then

people like Lee or Suggs would take them

home.

And, you know, come up with lyrics. more

camel. One more camel.

So, we just wrote about what was going

on. I suppose Ian Dury was a big

influence and and Ray Davies certainly,

I think. When you think of sort of the

anti

kind of American rock and roll. That you

can write about having a cup of tea or

your mates or

things that are important to you, you

know. So, we all started writing songs.

So, I started writing songs and I

suppose when when somebody starts

writing songs, then everybody else

starts thinking, "Well, I can do it as

well." So, there was an element of that

and before you knew it, we were we were

all sort of writing songs. Razor Blade

Alley is still

um it's early Madness heading towards

where they're going to end up. But, it's

it's a really lovely use of a basic kind

of ska rhythm.

That ta-dum in the guitar where you've

got that

It's a great rhythm. It'll carry right

the way through the whole song. Where

you What you haven't got is the

sophistication of later Madness because

those chords never change.

Rehearsing as a band sort of proper from

late probably late 1978, I'd say.

And

then by '79

from my memory, the specials came onto

the scene. We all went down to see them

and it was a revelation that they were

dressed a bit like us. They played music

a bit like us that we were onto

something. I saw the specials in their

first getting a bit of a name for

themselves.

And thinking wow, it really sounded like

those old reggae records that we were

trying to do. You know, we were quite

happy in our little bubble. If we you

know, we worked all week and we played a

gig on a Friday night in a pub. That was

fine. You know, and a few birds came

along.

But suddenly we saw this might be

something really happening and

Jerry came to my mom's flat that night

where I was still living and kicked on

the sofa.

And then announced he was going to start

a record label called two-tone.

And that's how the association became

and then we were into 1979. Lo and

behold a few months later he called me

up and said you want to make a record.

You know, so we made the first record

with two-tone.

The funny thing was that you know, they

they were only just able to half play a

song

when we suddenly sort of started getting

a bit successful, you know, and we I

mean when we went in the studio we we'd

only barely mastered our instruments.

But he was playing his sax a semi-tone

out. You know, he he he'd never been

taught.

So he was kind of blowing extra hard to

try and get the notes in tune but his

fingering was a semi-tone out. So we I

think we did the first album and he was

playing this kind of

with his mouthpiece about to fall off to

try and get the tuning right.

Okay, you ready out there?

I think with all the questions

that he asked me, he put together in his

own little way.

Buster, he sold the heat.

With his rocksteady beat.

And that's why he's a rude boy

but not in Orange Street.

A ghost dances to the parents. You got

to help us with your feet.

>> And we went on the two-tone tour, which

is the most exciting time of my life.

The first thing we did, we got on a

coach at um the Roundhouse in Chalk

Farm. And the first stop was the Watford

service station, which is where all

bands stop.

>> My first meeting with Lee was on the um

Was he on the M1 something like about

5:00 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning. It was

chaos.

We're there to do a photo session.

I put all of the both bands together.

That's where I had this big fight

with some skinheads. And there was a

flipping riot at the

Somebody called the old bill. You know,

you're all all the rest of the guys from

from Madness are really funny.

But Lee just stood out as the

He's like the naughty 12-year-old.

You know, black and white kids all

causing trouble. And probably Lee had

nicked something out of the thing. And

that's when

Lee got into slight altercation

with her majesty's finest.

Anyway, Lee

and

Neville and I think Lynval from The

Specials all got nicked.

That's me. I hadn't even got to the

first gig.

I just thought they were

a bit like a circus act.

Very very clownish and very zany, but

very very entertaining, I thought, you

know.

You know, it was a good hobby and they

were off the street and they weren't

getting into trouble.

And then suddenly

somebody phoned up and said they were

from a record company. I thought, "Oh

god, yes, he's one of their friends

having a joke with them."

And uh it turned out that it was Stiff

Records. You know, somebody said, "Well,

what what music are we going to do at

the wedding?" So, I thought,

you know, "That's it. See if you can get

Madness for it. I can see them."

And you know, at this point I had heard

a few things that they were really good.

I had heard, for example, that Chrysalis

had seen them

seven or eight times and I thought to

myself, "Well, it takes Chrysalis 11 or

12 times to make any kind of decision."

They opened up

with a try One Step Beyond with that dum

watch flat watch and I thought, "God,

that's good. You know, that's that's the

opening single. That's that's a single

straight away. And it'll make a good

album title." So, I was thinking this

and my wife was kind of nudging me

saying, "Stop thinking about that."

So, they were great. Did a great set and

I thought, "I've got to have them." I

think it was largely down to me and

Tommo dancing out into the crowd and

and, you know, making them watch, making

our Elvis Costello watch and and Jerry

and We liked Stiff Records cuz it had

Ian Dury, Wreckless Eric, Elvis

Costello. Yeah, a lot of bands that we

liked.

And Dave just said, "Look,

just start making records and let's

start putting them out."

>> Okay, I've got the producer you want and

I've booked the studio, so why don't we

get started? And they went,

"Oh, right."

You know, what about that?

>> The first single was The Prince, which

is a a homage to Prince Buster. One Step

Beyond was a cover of a Prince Buster

song. So, we didn't want to do it. We

were not a Prince Buster cover band.

They went, "Oh, we're not going to

record that."

And I said, "What?

That's the one. That's the track." And

they went, "Oh, don't, you know, what?

That's not a single. No, you know, we're

not we're not doing it."

But Dave said, "No, but you can't get it

like One Step Beyond, the actual concept

as an album title is going to really do

something."

So, I got them around the table

for about 2 hours till I bored them

brainless about the idea they had to do

it.

And about 3 days later,

they presented me with a 1-minute,

25-seconds version. So, they only

recorded it 30 seconds of One Step

Beyond and then Dave went in the studio

and repeated it onto a separate piece of

tape while we weren't there.

Stuck it through this thing called a

harmonizer, which just changed the sort

of

sound of it a bit.

And made it into a 3-minute single. We

put it out, and the rest is kind of as

they say history. It was a big

It was a big hit. It was kind of

startling on the great British public.

So,

that that was the odd sex player. It was

great. It was He was great, but very

very low uh attention span.

You know, he he We'd have a

conversation,

he would go out to the loo or something,

and he'd never come back. That used to

happen a lot. Where's Lee?

Attention deficit hyperactivity

disorder, or ADHD,

is a group of behavioral symptoms that

include inattentiveness, hyperactivity,

and impulsiveness.

Common symptoms of ADHD include short

attention span and being easily

distracted.

>> time in Land of Hope and Glory was

myself and Lee. And you can hear this

this lad being yelled at by these

guards, being told go to bed, watching

pants people and having to get off on

the fact that there's a bit of belly to

look at. And that's it. And otherwise,

probably a whole bunch of boys stuck in

a institution

who are massively horny and can't do

anything about it, you know? That all of

that is is there.

>> That nice

chord move.

Again, you can hear the sound of music

hall in there.

I I I wonder if Lee always knew he was

never going to actually put a tune to

those verse sections.

Because it's it makes much more sense

from just to speak the thing straight to

the chorus. And then when you get to the

chorus,

you've got a proper kind of

that feel then is very much more

a a a hooky chorus that would would sort

of go in.

Lee Thompson

started to feature. The first time was

Top of the Pops

for I think One Step Beyond. We used to

do Top of the Pops quite a few times,

and every single time Lee had an idea,

but he'd never tell the director. It'd

always be in here.

When the we did the run through, Lee had

a little toy saxophone and did a kind of

a back somersault at some point and

crashed into a load of kind of bits on

the floor.

And I said, "What What are you doing,

Lee?"

He said, "Well, I've got this I've got

this idea. I've got this I want to do."

I said, "Well,

here's kind of how it works. They don't

know. It's not magic. They don't know

you're going to do it unless you tell

me, and I'll tell them you're going to

do it."

>> 99.9% of the time, all these little

funnies that he thought, you know, be

like revealed, "Haha!"

it wouldn't you wouldn't see them

because the camera wouldn't be on him,

of course. So, he never thought about

that one.

Been on the telephone for an hour.

We only said a word.

I tried and tried, but I could not be

heard. So, Lee was on to me about

baggy trousers. He was on to that he

he'd seen somebody do some kind of

trapeze something. He seen He wanted to

look like he was flying.

Baggy trousers? Ha! Baggy trousers?

I found a circus

guy.

And he said, "Oh, yeah, you can do you

can do that and you have these wires.

Don't you see them or whatever?" And how

do you How can you spin? He said, "Oh,

you spin between the wires. You the

harness goes around and around blah

blah." I said, "Fine, okay."

Then I realized when I saw the crane

that that you were going to go up in the

air and I thought, "Hmm, well, you know,

let's let's make sure the strapping is

tight."

You know, and Lee didn't even tell the

band. Lee used to keep everything secret

from everybody. So, when the crane

arrived, the group didn't know that Lee

was going to slap on this thing and do

the thing.

I just think it's the loveliest

loveliest face of Suggs when he's doing

it. And Suggs goes

and then you see that a genuine like

real smile on Suggs' face. You could see

me going like, "I hope it doesn't fall

on my head." So, Lee kind of sails past

Suggs' nose kind of thing into the

rafters.

And I'm shouting in the background at

the crane, "Get him up! Get him up!"

So, he goes off and then and he had

never tried it out. So, so keeping his

equilibrium and having his sax in his

hand and being I mean, it was you know,

it was quite something else. You know, I

mean, health and safety, leave it out.

People who interviewed me later on said,

"Where was the net?"

And I said, "Net?"

Who else would have been prepared to be

unhooked by their belt and swung about

30 ft in the air?

I mean, one of the things about Madness,

which is fascinating, is that they had

what, four, five, six writers? I mean,

that has to be unique in history of pop

music. I always get the hump with him

because he writes everything on bits of

paper.

>> Scraps of paper here, scraps of paper

there.

>> Obviously, they all get, "Where's that

bit of paper?" I'm like, "Why don't you

just get yourself a book?" An

embarrassment, um it was really dodgyly

written out, and and it was like a bit

of paper you could have easily lost. I

have a feeling if I'd lost that bit of

paper, that song would have never got

written, you know?

But here's a song that's very personal

to Lee about his sister and this this

issue of interracial marriage, which at

that time

was a still a taboo in a lot of people's

minds.

Yeah, especially if you're going

if you've got a racist friend, don't

talk to them and all that. It was just,

you know, great. Of course not. But

unfortunately, we're dealing with the

world we're in.

You know, some of our relations are

racist, and we've got to deal with that

right now, you know, not

what, I'm not going to speak to my mom

and dad cuz they said something about

I've got a No, that was my mom. Oh, my

mom was like

Mrs. Bouquet, Mrs. Bucket, right?

She was like that. She Everything she

She worried, worried. She was worrying,

what the neighbors going to think. She

was worrying what the family's going to

think.

Great chords. That's a lovely

progression.

Which is the one you started the whole

song with.

But then what Lee does, particularly

with the sax, and this is where I think

he's really interesting as a performer,

as well.

He does what Nelson Riddle does with

Frank Sinatra.

That has a real kind of

an anger to it as well as a very, very

funky feel with the ska backing.

She was worrying about how black the

baby was going to be. You know, like,

you know, well, like, her first curl

that come through, she cut it off.

It was beautifully written. I mean, it

was it was very descript

and not judgemental about anyone.

So if you have a light kind of beaty

song, you could be saying anything that

the people didn't kind of spot it. And

so that was kind of fascinating. So they

addressed uh things that other people

hadn't.

I mean the house of fun thing.

He said he he saw this film called

Summer of '42 and the guy goes and tries

to buy some condoms. You know, he goes,

"A packet of gum,

a packet of you know."

So I mean it was called the chemist

facade

before and it was an album track.

Dave Robinson said, "If we had a chorus

on that, it would be a hit."

And it was quite nice cuz we put down a

piano for the melody.

Um which we kept in the final mix. So,

it had a kind of ABBA effect. I think,

you know, ABBA would always do the

melody on the piano and sing it and it's

quite a pop thing. So, it's a welcome to

the house of jumped out. You know, you

take the piano out playing the melody,

it's a bit flat.

Brilliant ska. That's I yeah, that

that sort of feel that but then to put

over it that lovely little bit of sax.

Very two-tone as far as I feel anyway.

But two-tone but with a bit more

sophistication to it.

And all of those key changes

All of those moves down are just not

ska, I don't think. I don't think

they're they're they're they're more

complicated than that, more complex, bit

more sophisticated.

Um

and that lovely piano that you've got in

there which is doing you because it's

doing

That's actually doing kind of minor key

major key.

It's that.

But it sounds both

like a fairground and like a circus and

a bit of a kind of I mean, it's the

house of fun.

And their ability to come up with kind

of ideas like the the bit in House of

Fun where

one guy turns, the other guy ducks down,

then he turns back and the other guy

ducks up. I mean,

all that stuff, you know, I I saw it as

just a brass section and then you've got

a camera rolling and suddenly they're

doing this thing. You think, oh good,

this is good.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

no, no.

You misunderstood.

16 big boys in my

in my manhood.

I met two dates on a date, two dates I

think you serve on your my way. Welcome

to the house of fun. Now I've come my

way. Welcome to the lion's den.

Temptation

>> Leo was right, with fantastic innuendo.

Every There's always something in there,

sexual, I would say.

>> Just kind of query clever lyrics,

um, talking about the the problems and

pressures and, you know, foibles of

growing up as a teenage boy and and

confronting sex and the realities of

sex.

And on the one it's fun, on the other

it's scary.

Great, huh?

We were 18 years old or something when

when we started and we went straight

into being successful, more or less. In

all bands' careers where you it all gets

a bit tired and you take yourself far

too seriously

and there's a lot of pressure on you.

And great as it is, it's only one aspect

of of being a human being.

>> Been a long

road, you know, a lot of fun, but a lot

of work and a lot of not being at home,

you know, a lot of us had young children

and um

you know, a bit of a break seemed

like not a bad idea. We should have just

stopped. Just stopped for a couple of

years.

Good night.

You know, they were so busy

all the time. If they weren't doing a

gig, they were rehearsing. If they

weren't rehearsing, they were doing a

record. If they weren't doing a record,

they were being photographed for a

video.

I mean, just to sum it up roughly, you

could say is, you know, it all just got

a bit much and you needed a break,

really. I mean

Uh and so so I thought I needed a break,

yeah. I had a bit of a too long break, I

think.

Suddenly we were at a big record label

Virgin and as nice as they were, we lost

something of our way, I think, at that

point.

>> guess what you do see is Lee maturing as

a songwriter, writing about serious

topics. He certainly became a lot a lot

more interested in subjects like animal

rights,

um

you know,

I mean, at one point

did he join the Hare Krishnas?

I know he started a bicycle shop.

Then I remember he applied for a job in

a Chinese restaurant. He put on a

Chinese accent, which

you know, all the bizarre things Lee's

done.

I don't know quite what that was about.

Um

then he was working as a bin man for a

bit. Then he was putting up It was

flyposting, I seem to recall. You know,

madness blew up, and then there was four

of us, and then that sort of

wound up nowhere. So Lee and I started

writing songs.

But some of his lyrics I thought,

"Bloody hell, where's that coming from?"

You know, I was quite, uh

you know, it's like, "Bloody hell,

what's you know, what's going on in

there?" You know.

It's just like the stress of being a

policeman, I think. I think you might

have to ask Lee.

There's so many elements going on in

It's okay, I'm a policeman.

You can tell, for a start, the whole

kind of anarchy is like a theatrical

anarchy, and the theatreness of the

piece.

And what I think he's gone back to with

Crunch is both the kind of raw sense of

madness. Although you've got a really,

really good

rhythmic kind of driver behind this

number.

And I love the fact, again,

the the way that the sax is being used

is

I think you're going to be sick of it.

I'm living it, eating it, breathing it,

got to get out of it.

Got to get the bits of it to cope with

the scrutiny.

Whoever stacked it

>> Then what he's doing over the top of

that

is building up all these different

references of villains who are kind of

also admirable villains who are also us.

And it's basically a broken guy in the

middle of it all. It's a town of

policeman. It's a town of weather man.

He's also, you know, he's Elvis. He's

Jimmy Cagney. He's all these different

things. And at the end of the day, if

you see the video,

he's also he's living on the streets.

He's the bloke who yells at you as you

go past. He's that little thorn in your

side.

And that weird thing of being covered in

flour and which he still does to this

day sometimes.

With the

crunch stuff,

I feel like that ain't his voice. It's

like he's putting on a voice.

It's very nearly German

cabaret.

IT WAS A BIT LIKE THE BLUES BROTHERS. IT

WAS A mission from God. I thought this

is it. You know, this is this is a

chance to get the band back. Get the

band back together, man. I think there

was a big huge sigh of relief when

everybody got back together again.

Cuz I felt it was it was rather like a

family that had kind of had a squabble

and split up, you know, and just got

back together again. It took about a

year and a half, 2 years. Lots of

meetings. Well, I started working with

Madness in 1992.

Um which is when they sort of came back

from

wherever it was they went.

I mean, I remember the first gig in

Finsbury Park, which was wonderful,

actually.

We said, "What should we put in the

set?" And then we said, "Well, let's

have a look at all the singles." And

there were like over 20 of them. So,

that's a set in itself.

And then um we went, "Well, I enjoy

playing, you know, Race of the Blade

Alley, you know, Lee Thompson, that was

always a corker.

Land of Hope and Glory, that's always a

laugh." That Finsbury Park gig was

brilliant. You had a whole horde of

people jumping at the same time. And it

was very interesting to really feel the

earth shake. You could It was like an

earthquake for me.

You know, when you stand on the side of

the stage and you you watch madness.

It's like watching sort of six or seven

different sort of

TV shows going at the same time. They're

each one is their own little character,

really. So.

Yeah, it was

uh unbelievable event. There was even an

earthquake. I don't know if you know at

that gig. It was in the front um

on the front page of the Independent on

the Monday. Um there was a headline

there that said north um earthquake in

north London, not many deaf. Lots of

friends and family crying. We had a

backstage I mean I organized a backstage

area for for disabled and a crash for

our kids and it was done with love, you

know.

He's got a big extended family, I seem

to remember from gigs. That used to

irritate me a bit, actually.

Used to be

members of Lee's family all over the

place in the best seats.

I had an awareness from the onset that

uh you know, Lee needed um

you know, extra care when it came to

money.

And that um you know, we had to make

sure that we allocated what was profit

and what was tax and the clear

distinction was made between the two.

Lee and all the sort of band meetings

that I've had has never been the most

focused band member on kind of legal and

contractual issues. You know, he just

didn't seem to be that interested in in

in them.

You know, he wasn't one for for dotting

the eyes and crossing the tees.

I think the longest conversation I've

had with Lee was when we bumped into

each other at the reopening of the

Southampton Arms in Kentish Town and um

he embraced me, which was the warm

person he is. And uh

and we sat down and had quite a long

conversation. We talked a lot about

beer.

Um and that was partly because I was

then working on Madness's beer contract.

And really that's the longest

conversation I've had with Lee.

Um so it had really nothing to do with

Madness's business or legal issues. Um

and uh and I look back on it with

fondness. He has certainly matured in a

lot of different ways.

Like a good wine or something like that.

I possibly but although he might be

slightly corked, I think. I think it

would be fair to say that half the band

were very skeptical

about working with me because I think I

upset a lot of them by telling them they

were too fat.

Lee Thompson is the third frontman

of the great British pop group Madness.

And also what's great about them

is

they've got four frontmen.

I mean Suggs obviously lead singer but

Lee is very much a frontman.

Kind of a court jester as well but he

can sing, he writes. They're they're

lovely.

They're special.

Lovestruck is just a wonderful song. I

think for Madness it's just one of the

best starts

to any of the songs, I think.

Staggering home,

the headlights throw a shadow up and

upon Staggering home, the headlights

throw a shadow up and upon

friends and loved ones that have done no

wrong but no longer mean anything to me.

Staggering home,

the headlights throw a shadow up and

upon

friends and loved ones that have done no

wrong

but no longer mean anything to me.

That confusion of being drunk and

staggering around but also that thing a

bit of hopelessness and a bit of like

and also a bit of bravado where you're

thinking nah no one it doesn't I'm just

you know no one means anything to me

anymore I just don't you know I'm just

going to do what I want to do. He can

make poetry out of the fact that he

knows he's so smashed he can't get home.

And that there's there's more to it than

that you know he's obviously deeply

deeply miserable and he's drinking like

like mad to deal with it.

I don't know the ins and outs of

everything Lee does but

who would want to?

But um

I do know that he can go off beam you

know that you often even when we were

kids you know we'd all be together and

you go where's Lee and he just disappear

you know and he just go off into Tomo

land.

And I think that song's about that yeah.

That's that sort of feels very Lee.

It's it's when it goes into that

That is it's it reminds me a bit of the

Beatles.

Musically he's not on his own.

Musically melodically he's got other

voices there with him at the same time

and when the whole band come in for the

chorus it's like they've all been there.

They all know what it's like. They're

all 100% behind Lee. Yes, of course we

all know what it's like hanging on to a

bloody lamp post cuz we're so drunk.

That's

That's what I mean. I think about the

team thing. It starts from a single

idea, but you really get this sense that

it's flowering out so that everybody's

part of that idea.

We were in

in uh in my boat in Amsterdam at that

time. I was living on a boat, a little

studio in the back of the boat.

And uh we were trying to do some songs.

He came over for a week or something. Um

Um and uh Drip Fed Fred, I mean Drip Fed

Fred, you know, we had this little tune.

And I went to have dinner and I said uh

I'll put it on, you know, you listen to

it on the headphones

and see what you come up with sort of

thing, you know, I said I'm going to

have me dinner with the wife and the

kids and I'll come back in and see what

you've done in a minute.

Gentlemen of our session and ladies of

the night, I call upon you this evening

in the hope of shedding some light. I

can't go into detail or finger unfounded

fools, but there are some here amongst

us that are not playing to the rules. He

came back after me dinner. Right then

and and it was all there, you know, and

all these different parts breaking down,

choir here, you know, this happening,

that happening. And and such a sort of

uh variety and and uh and a humor to it,

yeah. You know, really really brilliant.

>> um Drip Fed Fred, Lee always had Ian

during mind.

It's a lyric that that throws you into a

group of people.

It was slightly dodgy and but I was

trying to work out some sort of um

hierarchy between themselves, I think,

you know. And you've got all these

characters

doing things.

Um I don't know. I mean

you never know with Lee. Is it would it

is it a bit of an allegory for the band

itself? I'm not sure, you know, but it's

a great it's a fantastic It's again,

it's a lyric It's just

the characters are just great, and uh

and that's what sucks you in. And it's

got a brilliant chorus as well. It's my

favorite.

When Lee was teaching himself the sax,

he was playing around with it note-wise

and with the sound and the texture, but

he was also playing around with it as a

rhythmic thing.

And that whole kind of diddle-diddle-up,

diddle-diddle-up, diddle-diddle-up That

feel to it, that sort of percussive sax,

is really central to the sound of

Madness all the way through. You can

hear it in his solo in Dust Devil.

We've We've written absolute tons of

songs,

um culminating in one of our finest, I

think, which was um

Dust Devil.

>> No, I think it's um all about uh

something that uh vibrates

in a

young lady's bed at night um

to be honest, but um

Or it could be a cleaning device. I'm

not sure. Uh

but a dust devil, yeah. NW5 feels like

Lee's actually most lyrical song of all.

That chorus is actually really, really

lovely.

Though we face the final curtain, one

thing remains, that's for certain. I

will love you all my life, but without

you in my life, I would give you

everything for just that smile you

bring, for just that song to sing.

And you can tell

this is somebody who

knows about the miserable side, but can

put a kind of warmth into how they feel

about it. It's something that they've

they're so accustomed to

that there is a positivity even in the

worst things.

An amazing observer

of of life, and he's puts it down as it

is.

We were preparing for

the Olympic show. It was exciting. There

there was um there was uh talk about

clothes, what to wear. And Lee had

decided to wear a kilt with a St.

George's Cross on it.

The idea was that the band would be on a

flatbed just going around the arena.

He stopped opposite the Queen's seat.

Wire would be attached to the harness

that he Lee already had on. He would

take off and fly, which is what

happened.

And what he'd done was he'd got hold of

a diamante tiara, which was on a 4-ft

length of fishing wire underneath the

kilt that he could trigger. And once he

was right above the Queen's head, he

triggered it, and this thing dropped

out, and it was the crown jewels.

I was playing a festival called The Big

Festival. My wife described it as bogan

catalog on cider.

As I understood it, it was a regular set

apart from just at one point during my

set. I seemed to take the crowd higher

than usual without really intending to

or knowing quite what I've done.

I know Norman's set

intimately, and this sort of noise came

from the crowd at the wrong time.

There's suddenly a big roar, and you're

thinking, "Hmm, I'll take that, but did

I do that?" So, we looked over at the

stage, and there's this guy climbing up

this kind of diagonal rigging. My

production manager had was I had to

argue with the health and safety people

not to have the gig stopped mid my set

because somebody had got up the lighting

rig.

And of course, it's Lee.

Lee's always

felt uh more comfortable in midair than

on the ground. I remember sitting in a

in a 30

30-floor hotel in Australia.

Just sitting there, just sagged,

relaxing. And next thing,

he appears on He's jumped across a gap

of maybe 4 4 4 and 1/2 5 ft from one

tower to the next.

And he's like some sticky frog on the

window. On one or two occasions, I've

had to give I've been asked to give

character reference, and I've always

been willing to do so cuz I've always

felt that there was never any malice in

what happened.

We started talking to Butlins. They

started getting excited. And

we knew they were very excited when they

suggested lunch

in Minehead. And we were like, "You see,

you can't be serious.

We're not coming to Minehead for lunch."

And they they sent the Butlins

helicopter. And we we thought, "Hello,

this is So, we we developed the idea,

presented it to the band.

It's worked. It's been amazing. The fans

The the the lovely fans.

It's turned into a life of its own. And

we're now in on sale with our sixth year

of the House of Fun.

I dedicate this to Stacy Scannell.

Congratulations

a mad music hall sort of music. And

and then the words, just the idea of him

toppling on the top of the top of the of

these you know, on the the roof up on

the flats, you know, and all the police

trying to chase him. Which was something

that used to happen quite a lot, you

know, getting chased for whatever

reasons.

Lee that likes to mess around with his

image and his persona. And you know,

whatever everything from Harry Krishna

to Smurf to

exploding traffic warden

to

You know, you name it. I mean, Lee

doesn't mind

making a fool of himself.

What do you call it, son? Madness.

Madness.

Madness.

Madness.

There's a fine line between

humor and something that isn't very

tasteful.

You know, he does things to the dancers

and things that I don't find funny.

Like, you know, pretending to wee on

them. You know, he got completely

pissed. He's trying to climb up the

bloody lights, you know, like a bloody

idiot like he like he often does. And he

falls over and then he breaks it.

Well, Lee and I generally get on really

well, but there's something that's I've

told nobody and that is that he really

annoys me in the sense that He's great.

I mean, you know, I mean, he's amazing.

I watched

I watched the gig a while back, the

whole gig, and I was looking at him, and

every moment I I had the impression

every moment he was like doing

something. He's just really funny, yeah.

He's a great actor.

Um really good actor.

Comedian.

He's great songwriter. Uh lyricist,

saxophone player.

And as we all know, you know, no joke is

a sort of dampened by repetition, but

sometimes it can be really annoying. You

know, I can say to him, "Lee, could you

just please stop?" Because actually he's

getting on my nerves. Well, there's

always one thing that really infuriates

me about Lee. And I'll tell you, he's

not

It's just unbridled joy, you know what I

mean? It's just that's what Lee, you

know, brings.

Well, there's one thing that people

should know about him, and maybe I'll

lose a lot of fans.

National treasure, institution,

validated by performing for the Queen

at the Jubilee.

He can blow better than most saxophone

players I've ever heard in my life,

because it comes from here.

He's uh he's always entertaining. He's

always aware

of the of of the eyes on him, and he's

always playing to that. In the smallest

ways, there's not a moment wasted. I

used to hate the saxophone, though.

If there's one person who made me really

enjoy listening to the saxophone, it's

Lee.

And it's largely because, I mean, the

saxophone

does express the personality.

It when he plays the saxophone, and it's

so it surges with rich warmth and life.

He's absolutely wonderful.

There was this time once, we were in

Japan

sharing a room, and hello?

Hello?

And he's a lovely character now, and

he's a nice chap.

Multiple personality disorder, or what's

now known as dissociative identity

disorder, is a rare condition where

somebody's identity is fragmented into

two or more distinct personalities. But

then you got to remember with Lee that

um

if he wasn't in a band, he'd he'd be

locked up in a secure unit somewhere.

The Madness orchestra,

there's loads of them, there's like 10

or 12 of them on stage, and it's a

really big event. Trying to make that

function, getting all those people off

to gigs, hotels, travel, you know,

financially, it'll never make sense.

I do like ska. I mean, I liked early

ska, I liked uh Jamaican ska, and

ska, and uh

um I was never a

particular Madness fan in the in the in

the in the

Um

but I do like that strain in in what

they do.

But every now and again, he'll do

something that I think, "Nah, that is a

step too far."

I would love to see Lee in films,

though.

I really would love to see him, you

know,

a good script on film because he's he's

he's a natural actor. He's got it there.

He doesn't He doesn't need any training.

He's natural. Box of balloons with a

feather light touch, pack of party

poppers that pop in the night.

A toothbrush and hairspray, plastic

grin. Miss Clay on all corners has just

walked in. Welcome to the house of fun.

Now I've come of age. Welcome to the

house of fun. I think with all the

questions that he asked me, he put

together in his own little way.

Buster, he's out there

with his rock steady beat. Loved the

kilts.

Oh, it looked great.

Um obviously, it was when he had a

lovely body at the time.

He's He's written some great songs. He's

a bright lad. He's a very bright young

man.

And a nice man.

He's nice as well. But always was, I

guess, but I couldn't see it when he was

younger. Lee,

for me, changed the whole tone of it

into a sumptuous richness

of sort of ribald pleasure.

That's how I think of it.

He's a very talented boy is is Lee in

his own

chirpy way.

And it's quite a pop thing, so it's a

Welcome to the house of jumped out.

Welcome to the house of fun. Now I've

come of age. Welcome to the house of

fun.

Welcome to the night and the temptations

on its way. Welcome to the house of

What's Lee doing? Oh, well, he's up on a

high wire. All right, wearing a tutu.

And I think that that all just comes

from his obviously desperate need to be

center of attention.

He may be clinging onto a lamp post

because he can't hold himself up, but

there's a bit of a smile on his face.

He's a well-rounded performer and

player, you know, you can put him on

that stage, right, and you know very

well he's going to he's going to

entertain the audience. Oh, what have I

done

to deserve this fate? It's all going

wrong.

Even the cafe has been and gone, and now

I'm lagging in deepest Tottenham.

Very, very good sax player.

You know, his his kind of dynamic is

great, you know, even if he doesn't use

all the buttons on the thing. Uh I found

out afterwards that that Mark, my uh

production manager, was had to argue

with the health and safety people not to

have the gig stopped mid my set because

somebody had gone up the lighting rig.

Now,

he's still swinging from the bloody

rafters.

I had an awareness from the onset that

uh you know, he needed to um

you know, extra care when it came to

money.

Conversation with him when we're trying

to balance the

what the earnings were of fly posting,

what his earnings were as a

performer with Madness at uh Wembley

Arena, two nights there.

I don't know that philosophical is the

word that would immediately spring to

mind. He's a very friendly,

uh charming, um engaging man.

Lee Thompson is the third front man

of the great British pop group Madness.

Um and saxophonist and songwriter

as well.

Lee Thompson is a very strange

character. Um

an enigma.

Um somebody that the

the laws of humanity haven't really

touched yet.

Lee's the

secret weapon,

the special ingredient,

the chili, the extra hot chili.

He's like the He's like the catalyst

that makes it go bang.

Yeah.

Yeah, he's the man who get the chemistry

set and make it blow up.

With a smell as well.

Pretty maintenance free.

Except when you have to get him home cuz

he's a bit of a

likes to enjoy life as we say.

And

meet and greet the public. I would love

to see Lee in films though.

I really would love to see him, you

know,

a good script I'm putting cuz he's he's

he's a natural actor. He's got it there.

He doesn't He doesn't need any training.

Natural. Box of balloons with a feather

I touch, pack of party poppers that pop

in the night.

A toothbrush and hairspray, plastic

grimace clay, Ronald corners has just

walked in. Welcome to the house of fun.

I have come of age. Welcome to the house

of fun. I think with all the questions

that he asked me, he put together in his

own little way.

Buster, he's all there

with his rocksteady beat. Loved the

Kilburns.

Oh, it looked great.

Um,

obviously it was when he had a lovely

body at the time.

He's He's written some great songs. He's

a bright lad. He's a very bright young

man.

And a nice man. He's nice as well. But

always was I guess, but I couldn't see

it when he was younger. Lee

for me changed the whole tone of it into

a sumptuous richness of sort of ribald

pleasure.

That's how I think of it.

He's a very talented boy is is Lee in

his own

chirpy way.

And it's quite a pop thing. So, it's a

welcome to the house of Jump Town.

Welcome to the house of fun. Now I've

come of age. Welcome to the house of

fun.

Welcome to the night and stand.

Temptation's on its way. Welcome to the

house of What's Lee doing? Oh, well,

he's up on a high wire. All right,

wearing a tutu.

And I think that that all just comes

from his obviously desperate need to be

center of attention.

He may be clinging onto a lamp post

because he can't hold himself up, but

there's a bit of a smile on his He's a

well-rounded performer and player now.

You can put him on that stage, right,

and you know very well he's he's going

to entertain the audience. Oh, what have

I done

to deserve this fate? It's all going

wrong.

Even the cafe has been and gone. And now

I'm lagging in deepest heart and lung.

Very, very good sax player.

You know, his his kind of dynamic is

great, you know, even if he doesn't use

all the buttons on the thing. Uh I found

out afterwards that that Mark, my

production manager, was I had to argue

with the health and safety people not to

have the gig stopped mid my set because

somebody had got up the lighting rig.

Now,

he's still swinging from the bloody

rafters.

I had an awareness from the onset that

he'd be needing um

you know, extra care when it came to

money.

Conversation with him where we're trying

to balance the

what the earnings were of fly Posting,

what his earnings were as a

performer with Madness at Wembley Arena,

two nights there. I don't know that

philosophical is the word that would

immediately spring to mind. He's a very

friendly,

uh charming, um engaging man.

Lee Thompson is the third frontman

of the great British pop group Madness.

Um and a saxophonist and songwriter

as well.

Lee Thompson is a very strange

character,

um

an enigma.

Um somebody that the

the laws of humanity haven't really

touched yet.

Lee's the

secret weapon,

the special ingredient,

the chili, the extra hot chili.

He's like the He's like the catalyst

that makes it go Bang.

Um yeah.

Yeah, he's the man who get the chemistry

set and make it blow up.

With a smell as well.

Pretty maintenance-free. Um

except when you have to get him home

cuz he's a bit of a

likes to enjoy life, as we say.

And um

meet and greet public.

You say you're in a dancing mood.

Well, I think you're a little bit rude.

Man I come home hungry for my food.

You're in the kitchen dancing. Shoulders

jerking, hips a wiggling.

Sometimes I sit down and I wonder.

Sometimes I sit down and I wonder.

Do you love me?

Do you love me

like you say

you do?

You went to the dance last night.

You and the rude boys were a terrific

sight.

The rude

boys take you home.

You

know where they took you before.

Sometimes I sit down and I wonder.

Sometimes I sit down and I wonder.

Is life worth living?

Is life worth living

with a woman like you?

>> Ooh.