Little In The Way Of Sunshine describes one of the more odd characters in the HMHB world. A strange song, to be sure.
See lyrics to Little In The Way Of Sunshine
Little In The Way Of Sunshine describes one of the more odd characters in the HMHB world. A strange song, to be sure.
See lyrics to Little In The Way Of Sunshine
Giles Pattison
Excellent site. Is it powdered Peruvian bark?
29 April 2008
dj
love the site. i’m not able to listen and check at the moment but i think it’s duff leg bryn (as mentioned in a country practice) got on the *whatever no. bus it is*
30 April 2008
chris
Thanks guys – both spot on, of course.
30 April 2008
Dave
“[???] has had me shorthorned [?]” I reckon should be “A weimaraner (dog) has had me shorthorn (cow)” – but I could be wrong of course….
30 April 2008
chris
Cheers. Three great spots in 24 hours. Just one line to go!
30 April 2008
Gary
The reference to the screen, should be the scream referring to the painting by Edvard Munch which has two figures on a bridge.
1 May 2008
Martin Taylor
Hi,
Sounds to me like “me go Leominster eat dog’s heart”
(In revenge for having his shorthorn presumably)
Cheers,
Martin
2 May 2008
chris
@Gary: Brilliant. Didn’t get that one.
@Martin: I think you’re right. Odd line though. I’ll leave a query in for now. Thanks.
2 May 2008
max williams
Agreed with martin over the leominster line. Fits with the general picture of a bus-obsessed weirdo? Maybe…
28 May 2008
John H
Excellent site, and a real labour of love. Sure you’re right on Duff Leg Bryn taking a trip to Leominster to eat dogs heart, in revenge i suppose, wonder if it was the shorthorn had won the twelve consectutive rosebowls?
5 June 2008
chris p
“but it still kind of feels…” sounds better than “which kind of feels….” to me.
11 June 2008
Jan
I’ve been thinking about this song, which clearly is based on the thoughts of a coach-obsessed person. It has made me think of the Variety Club “sunshine coaches”, which are sponsored by all sorts of organisations and are used for charitable purposes. I can’t believe the juxtaposition of coaches and sunshine is a coincidence. Not when we’re talking about Nigel Blackwell.
29 August 2008
Jim Poole
I think it’s actually:
“Me go Leominster eat DOUG’S heart”
Not sure who this Doug chap is mind!?
25 September 2008
Richard
This is one of my favourite HMHB songs. I think its about someone who is autistic – probably aspergers (but I am no expert). The point about the song is that the character is misunderstood and shunned for being a bit different – the person has a different take on life (ok he is obsessive), has loads of things he wants to give but has no likelihood of having a happy life at all.
I think this is probably the best thing about HMHB – to mix a seemingly jaunty song with real pathos. Its achingly sad really.
Of course I could well be wrong – but I like my interpretation, it makes a great song beautiful. and will stick with it unless NG tells me different!!
Off now to catch the No 42.
18 November 2008
Coops
I always thought this song was just about one of the many nutters that frequent the bus services in many towns and cities. You know, the ones that try to talk to you and show you things, and then cackle insanely or burst into song.
4 February 2009
MrLegge
I regularly catch the 492 bus from Leominster to Hereford and I can confirm we do have the odd weirdo boring the bus driver with their ‘interesting’ observations (One day they’ll notice that all the bus drivers around here are Polish and don’t actually understand any English, but until then……)
Thinking about it, maybe this song’s about ME!? Oh Gawd.
Wish I could shed some light on the “Me go Leominster, eat dog’s heart” line, but alas, it means nothing to me other than what’s already been mentioned by others.
10 March 2009
Evilnick
RE: “Eat dog’s (or Doug’s) heart” – could that be anything to do with the “Eat your heart out” phrase?
13 March 2009
DESMON
It’s Robson Green, not Robson Greene. Do I win a prize for my extraordinary pedanticism?
Mwuhahahahaaaaaaaaaaaa
DesMON
21 November 2010
Chris The Siteowner
Another howler. They keep coming out of the woodwork, don’t they?
Robson Green’s middle name is Golightly.
21 November 2010
Vendor of Quack Nostrums
Two slight and superficial suggestions purely for pedantic perusal.
‘Titled by accident more than design’.
Should this not be ‘Title by accident more than design’? (If one wins Mr Wet Underpants, one wins a title, one does not become titled – unless you are Lord Wet Underpants, in which case fair enough.) However I hear no ‘d’.
‘I’ve got an in-store at Poundland.’
Is this not ‘I got it in-store at Poundland?’ Be he bus nutter, Asperger’s or neuro-typical it fits the general tone of his other claims in the song that he purchased something from the Aladdin’s cave that is Poundland, rather than that he has somehow secured a franchised concession within the shop. After all this is Poundland not Harvey Nicks.
Just saying, is all.
17 January 2011
Mr Larrington
I took the Poundland thing to be that he’s got a Poundland-issued credit card.
18 January 2011
John Anderson
I think it alludes to one of those in-store gigs that bands do at places like HMV and other big record shops. Playing a gig at Poundland would suggest that the band and it fanbase aren’t up to much.
18 January 2011
Vendor of Quack Nostrums
There’s 4 different interpretations of a single line!
How do we decide – Can we have a vote?
18 January 2011
dagenham dave
I’ve always thought it was Mr Anderson’s version, it’s also the funniest.
18 January 2011
Dick Drake
It is a distinct possibility that the cart is now leading the horse. How mister Blackwell may be smirking!
LAMP
POSTS
18 January 2011
Gregg Z
Found this, so I’ll pass it on for free…
17 November 2011
ACIDIC REGULATOR
No-one seems to have mentioned that Peruvian Bark is the source of quinine; less important as an antimalarial than formerly, but an essential ingredient in tonic water.
Does the tune strike anyone else as an Oasis parody?
1 August 2012
Half nan, half seabiscuit
Probably my favourite HMHB song, the ‘lost in Newfoundland’ gets me every time!
25 March 2014
dickhead in quicksand
“He was not simple ; he had the formal subtlety peculiar to his own generation ; there was something deliberately “ordinary ” in his demeanour which was a concealment of extraordinary fires a method of self-protection common enough in my grandfather’s generation, though rare now.” – Florence Emily Hardy, The Later Years of Thomas Hardy 1892-1928 (1930)
16 November 2014
EXXO
Outstanding Biscuitry that Mike.
Even Thomas Hardy can still earn you a Golden Biscuit nomination kids.
16 November 2014
toastkid
Well researched, DIS!
17 November 2014
Dr Desperate
(Doffs cap)
17 November 2014
Gary B
The bus/coach obsession thing is much more common than you would think but does come in handy when you want to know if it’s the 481 or 418 that goes by Argos
16 May 2016
MARINER
Why the fourth of August?
Well it scans of course, which is always a good start.
But it’s also St Sithney’s day. Yes, that St Sithney – the patron saint of mad dogs.
And the dream is about a crazy Weimaraner and eating a dog’s heart.
Coincidence?
20 September 2017
ElCappitano
I love this song because I remember from my youth a dafty* that would dress as a bus conducter and basically ‘bus surf’ all day.. The drivers didn’t seem to mind, and would indulge him… Therefore I see the photo in the staff canteen as being, if this bloke boards, bare in mind he’s a dafty….
*You could say dafty back then, not sure if you can nowadays..
9 February 2018
dr desperate
I’ll probably have forgotten this by the time we Revisit this song, so here are a couple of Bleeding Obvious References from the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981:
https://thumbs.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/maDoovD3rddXkLw_D3Azzfg.jpg
Fans of Ricky Gervais (anyone?) may recall his Rosa Parks sketch from ‘Out Of England’, in which he describes her going on to contravene the second provision. It’s spoilt only by his intro, “I learnt a lot last year about one of your great American heroes, Rosa Park”. She must despair.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vIp1lF-BcM
15 February 2018
Nice dress
With regard to powdered Peruvian bark, quinine is also a treatment for nocturnal leg cramps, aka restless legs…
24 April 2019
EXXO
Not the same thing, as a frequent sufferer of the former, but never had the latter. Thanks for the tip though!
24 April 2019
EXXO
Had a Proustian moment in Shrewsbury bus station caf the other day, where the smell of excessive vinegar reminded me of a joke shop turd on the floor of the Ribble Bus Co. staff canteen in 1981.
27 October 2021