Three Way: David Brent – “Slough”
David Brent can be found on iTunes.
by Walter Price
The man that is David Brent is well known as a picture perfect example of the white, middle class. A man with dreams, that more often than not get sidelined by this crazy roller-coaster we call life. An office worker/salesman by trade, a would-be rock n roll sensation by night (and most weekends, I assume).
Brent writes songs so literal it seems imagination and hyperbole are wordsΒ he has forgotten to understand. But this is actually the charm. Seeing and reporting things in near black and white allows the songwriter to guide listeners in the direction of, “Uh, Okay. This poor sweet fella might be mental.”
For example the opening of “Life on the Road” reports, “Half a tank should get me to Millbank/ I fill her up and head/down to Sidcup/ It’s just a meeting/It’s only fleeting/ It’s just a pitch and then I’m off to Ipswich” Pretty straight forward. Or you can take these lyrics from “Lady Gypsy” exactly as they are, “She laid me down on a bed of heather/ She said “please be careful this is what I sell”/ I said “you’re a hooker?”/ She said “No, I mean the heather/I sell the heather like a lucky spell”/ I said “but to be clear then/ The sex is free yes?”/ She said “yes the sex is free/The heather’s a pound”/ I said “I don’t need no heather/And if I did I would just pick some, it’s free/ It’s growing in the ground”
But if you literally want to get literal, Brent’s beautiful and full of fun facts track, an ode to his possibly mundane hometown, “Slough”, leaves nothing to the imagination. In a travel advert kind of way. And if you, like myself, don’t know where Slough is, the artist sings, “Don’t believe what the critics say/ Like it’s soulless and boring and grey/ See for yourself, what are you waiting for?/ We’re on the Bath road, that’s the A4”.
“Slough”, with all its obviousness, is a very insightful song. The kind of song that is probably and deservingly the town anthem at this point. And why not, David Bowie was a fan of the track and fans are starting to do their own homages. Which leads us to our subject line, Three Way: David Brent – “Slough”. Three thoughtful covers you should and will fall in love with.
DAVID BRENT
Brother Griff
Bea Herczeg
Toro Y Moi
MOTHERSHIP
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