Happiness is a recurring theme

I was sitting here today listening to a piece of music by a band called the Small Faces. It was aCD vesrion of a vinyl album that I bought when I was 15. It was the first album I ever bought. Its called Ogden's Nut gone and its brilliant. The album was recorded in 1968 at a time when pop music was turning into something more interesting. Side one is just a bunch of songs most of them still sound good the more humerous tracks sound a bit twee these days. Side two is totally different it was the first concept album being the tale of young man (Happiness Stan) and his saerch for understanding. The music is excellent (even the humerous tracks) but what holds the album together is the voice of Professor Stanley Unwin who narrates the story between tracks. The prof has a unique way with words. He created his own language using old English and regional slang words (or wordage as he would have said). The fact that I was still enjoying this album almost 40 years later got me thinking. I was born in 1953 in post war Britain. It wasn't a very nice place to live and a nasty time for people living without just about everthing being scarce or just not available (thanks to Uncle Sam we only finished paying for WW2 in January 2007!). However I digress.
It was difficult to grow up as a happy child as there was so much doom and gloom around. When the 60's finally started things began to get better although the age gap between kids and their war weary parents led to some significant social upheaval. I'm a natural optimist so I sufferred a lot. At the age of 15 I was near to switching off altogether when I discovered poular music. After I listened to Ogden's Nut Gone I new that everything was going to be allright. I was from the bay-boomer generation and, barring accident, i would be fine. And so it has remained. Anyone born in the late 40's and 50's has a slight advantage over people born after that time. We new hard times but we saw the end of them and everything improved. Even when our parents (born in the 30's) began creating class hatred and ruining the environment we new it was going to be alright. 
My children were born in the 70's and 80's and haven't had the advantage that I've had. And their children born in the 90's and 00's have it worse. The world has changed so much since the 60's and not always for the better. All I'm saying is find something that makes you smile inside and stay with it. It will keep you happy in hard times.



This song is from side one.



This is some 60's pop from the Small Faces



And this tracks has some Prof. Stanley Unwin dialogue. He was a barmy old sod.



And this is the last track on the album. To my mind the opening line about the Albran is much better than the "box of choclates" from from Forrest gump. Stay cool won't you.