A few days ago I had started writing a poem about Penny Farthing Bicycles, prompted by an article in the Geelong Advertiser newspaper, the arrival in Geelong of eight members of the Melbourne Bicycle Club in March 1880, as per featured picture above, courtesy of the Geelong Heritage Centre Collection. Then I was chatting with my friend Jane of Janebasilblog, she had just sent me the song and lyrics of the Mary Hopkin hit, “Those Were The Days”, from 1968, and I mentioned The Kinks were one of my fav’s from that era, and of course their song “Lola”. After our chat, I starting thinking [which is dangerous for me] about writing a crazy, combined, mixed up poem… The piece below is the result of those thoughts, and to my older readers, you’ll notice all the phrases written in Italic, are song titles taken from The Kinks album “The Kinks Collection”. So apologies to Ray Davies for using his song titles in such a manner. And thankyou to Jane for providing me with the inspiration to actually write these jumbled up words.
“Where Have All The Good Times Gone”
I remember the olden times
Of pennies and farthings
Pounds and pence
When money made no sense
Mary Hopkins sang
“Those Were The Days”
And the Kinks song “Lola”
Was the best number one ever
Many a lazy Sunny Afternoon
Spent down near Waterloo Sunset
Where we would all dance
All Of The Day And All Of The Night
My Friends would all dress-up
Like Dedicated Followers Of Fashion
Unlike that lonely Plastic Man
Who faked the Death Of A Clown
Way back then, You Really Got Me
You fired me up, here in Victoria
Thousands of Days forgotten in the burn-out
Charred in a cloud of Big Black Smoke
But now, I’m Tired Of Waiting For You
Wondering, Where Have All The Good Times Gone
Ivor Steven
29th November 2017. 4.00pm
Ivor.Plumber/Poet 