Revisiting some older works at the moment, perhaps because slowing down here has given time for introspection. This piece holds a lot of significance for me because it marked a huge shift in my creative output. I wrote and performed it in 2008/9, then published it in early 2010 in a handstitched pamphlet called Prophecy: conversations with my Self (you can download it for free from the Herstory section of my website at sophiemckeand.com). Prior to this I’d been performing a lot of shouty/funny political poems which were good crowd-pleasers but my interior landscape was rapidly changing – I’d say El Niño had visited and nothing could be the same. Reflecting this in my art felt a terrifying prospect because I didn’t know how it would be received – how I would be received. It was difficult at first because I kept getting booked for gigs and they’d expect me to wheel out the old favorite, Armchair Anarchy, and instead I’d do this, so that people were like ?. But I’m glad I found the courage to step away from who I was, and write who I am, instead of what people want because it means I can keep creating instead of disappearing down a hole. Anyway I recorded a version of this eight years ago with a wonderful woman called Rachel Lloyd on vocals and thanks to @sightseers for sorting the production. Listen to it on Soundcloud here:
https://soundcloud.com/sophie-mckeand/i
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