We don’t have a Thanksgiving holiday in the UK, but I’m delighted to join the 8 Ladies celebration. 2020 has been a shocker of a year (and we still have another month to go) yet despite everything we have much to be thankful for. I’ll gladly take this opportunity to pause, reflect, and take a moment to focus on what really matters.
For an engaging take on down to earth blessings, enumerated in joyously upbeat style, here’s a video of Scottish Italian singer Paolo Nutini jamming with vintage British skiffle musicians The Vipers. The song is called A Pencil Full of Lead and it makes me smile every time I watch the video.
The song inspired me to compile a list of my own everyday 2020 lockdown blessings. With apologies to Paolo, here goes 😉
Kindle Full of Books
I’ve got a Kindle full of books with some really great hooks
The characters are brave, they’ve got worlds to save
I’m wholly transported. That’s my leisure time sorted.
With a plot to unravel, who needs to travel?
Then it’s time to write and that’s a delight
Forget about votes, I’ve a book full of notes
I got functioning gray matter and friends for a natter
And time to polish my snappiest patter
My heroines are smart, I got great cover art
My heroes are heroic and all kinds of stoic
The baddies are bad, and often quite mad
They’ll stop at naught tho they rarely get caught
The good guys go through hell but it all turns out well
And nothing’s gonna bring them down
I got soap for my hands and a mask for my face
Groceries delivered as I remain in place
I’ve got airline pyjamas and a jigsaw with llamas
I’m a very happy loafer on my oversized sofa
I’ve got ink for my printer and heating for the winter
And nothing’s gonna bring me down
But best of all (best of all)
I’ve got my loved ones
But best of all (best of all)
I’ve got my loved ones
I’ve got a Happy Ever After
And a life full of laughter
And nothing’s gonna bring me down
It’s not high art, but I had fun writing it. Now I need Michaeline to arrange it for ukulele 😉
So… Paolo’s got a Pencil Full of Lead. I have a Kindle Full of Books. What do you have?
Eight Ladies Writing 
INSPIRED Jilly!
And for those who would like to sing along….
Thank you, Sara! And thanks for posting the sing-a-long version. That’s a fab idea, especially since some of the lyrics may require translation. I think “a licence for my telly” may be uniquely British, and I’d love to know whether “a pencil full of lead” is also British argot or is more widely travelled 😉
I love all the songs on Sunny Side Up. So fun and warm and feelgood.
Also I should own up to a smidge of poetic license. I realised this morning that the cute critters in my jigsaw are actually alpacas.
LOVE the song, and I love your version, Jilly! And what a fun and upbeat way to express happiness and gratitude. I do understand the “license for the telly” remark, but I’m not sure what “pencil full of lead” is if it’s not about a pencil, although I had several ideas. In any event, the overall tone is loud and clear.
As a side note, if the version that Sara posted is supposed to have lyrics available, these were not visible on my computer screen unless they’re all at the end; I didn’t play the full version the second time. I looked up the words because those guys all seemed to be having such a rollicking good time that I wanted to be part of it.
So glad you enjoyed it, Kay! A fun and upbeat expression of happiness and gratitude is exactly what I was aiming for.
“Licence for the telly” has been known to confuse non-Brits–back in the day international colleagues who came to London for work were often perplexed to discover that they had to buy a licence to watch tv. Not a safety measure 😉 , just a way to fund public service broadcasting. “Pencil full of lead,” as you probably guessed, is a euphemism for virility–not in the sense of toxic masculinity, more a cheerful expression of healthy enthusiasm.
It’s a shame the lyrics didn’t show on Sara’s alternative link. Glad you enjoyed the video enough to look them up–Paolo is from Paisley (just outside Glasgow) and I can imagine the combination of the pacy tune and his Scottish accent might make it easy to lose a phrase or two.
This reminds me of the Dixieland jazz my dad used to listen to–very cheerful and bouncy.
Wishing you a joyous non-Thanksgiving. You miss the feast, but also the insane number of calories we ingest on Turkey Day. (Followed by turkey coma, which eliminates any chance of burning them off before they settle.)
Thank you! I’m not much of a turkey fan, so I don’t feel cheated of the calorie-fest. We do like the (American) football though, so we’ll be dining early and settling down with a glass of wine to watch the fun. Have a wonderful day!
That is so great! I was thinking as I listened, “Boy, I wonder if I can find the chords for this?” LOL, GMTA.
And your lyrics! Fab! I think anyone who likes British books or TV probably will get all the references. (-: We have to get a license for the TV here, too. (Although, it’s not like they turn off your TV if you don’t. It’s just very highly recommended. License for any satellite antennas, as well.) I love how you worked in “natter”!
I was going to ask, do you REALLY have a jigsaw of llamas? Or were you looking for something that rhymes with pajamas? But you’ve answered the question, and you’d get a pass from me if you were describing beluga whales as llamas in this case. *I* can’t tell the difference between a llama and an alpaca without a quick google.
I’ve only heard the pencil full of lead metaphor as a negative: His pencil doesn’t have any lead. Glad to hear the positive side. I suppose the female version would be something like, grab a bucket and a mop.
Very cheerful and happy! I love that kind of bouncy music, and I’ll have to check out Sara’s sing-a-long and maybe ask for the album for Christmas . . . .