Down by the shoreline, on the outskirts of town
We gather for something experimental by the river
in a gritty, industrial outpost
Brilliant sunshine on a concrete ledge, with slimey steps to the water’s edge
Sonic, mythical, magical, pagan
Performances transport to another realm
Her voice, their music
She slips on the seaweed thudding back to this world
They release little boats to carry a piece of this moment onwards to another shore
Motor boats whip up waves unsettling the sails
Crashing higher with an obscure flute and otherworldly harp
Sent elementally, a further reaching, high pitched singing
Singing – I am reminded of wild joy as I found my voice
sharing breath and songs with others,
Finding harmonies
Favourite songs adapted to acapella
What kick I’d love to rediscover
In the punk choir no one told me what to do
“It goes like this; find your place or make your own, join in when you can”
X-Ray Spex and Motorhead
Violent Femmes and Radiohead
Depeche Mode and Kraftwerk
The Rezillos and Killing Joke
The Kinks and The Undertones
Joy Division and The Ramones
Ever Fallen in love with the Buzzcocks?
The White Stripes and Talking Heads
Ian Dury and the Blockheads
Wreckless Eric and Nirvana,
The Pogues and Cock Sparrer
The Only Ones and Dead Kennedys
Pulp, The Doors and The Zombies,
Stiff Little Fingers and The Pixies
The Fall, The Damned and The Clash,
The Ruts, Lou Reed and Johnny Cash
At St Johns Church we sang punk rock in parts
In Hackney, harmonising wild musical hearts
Bridging our worlds
I stayed with punk choir a while
Where I belonged, freestyle
The photograph at the very top of this post, is of my old choir – Hackney Secular Singers – rehearsing in the garden, Brazier’s Park, at the Supernormal Festival, August 2012. Image by Jemima Broadbridge.
Esther Bunting 