Everything Flows: Take The Skinheads Bowling

Trust Me #52

Take The Skinheads Bowling by Camper Van Beethoven

As a debut single, Take The Skinheads Bowling by Camper Van Beethoven has to be right up there!

I seem to remember having a bootleg of Teenage Fanclub performing this song. Possibly from a King Tuts show. I probably heard the original on a mixtape around 1991/2 when I was 15/16. It swiftly became a real favourite.

Take The Skinheads Bowling is only 2 minutes 32 seconds long, but it packs a lot in! Opening with a fast paced chiming rhythm guitar groove, the vocals come in and sound beautifully stretched, urgent at times, almost spoken word at times.

Everything rides on the groove. Random (purposefully) lyrics, the brilliant I had a dream last night hook, the backing vocals - just to hammer the hooks home, and of course the chorus.

I love the way David Lowery mixes his vocals. At times it is almost spoken word, then in the next line he really strains his voice. The ongoing contrast in styles keeps listeners on their toes and I think it has helped the song still feel remarkably fresh almost 40-years on from release in 1985.

The example in the first verse is the contrast from; and he increases the number of clocks by exactly one to everybody's coming home for lunch these days.

Speaking about the lyrics, Lowery has previously said; "The lyrics were purposefully structured so that it would be devoid of meaning. Each subsequent line would undermine any sort of meaning established by the last line."

Backing vocals are introduced in the second verse to delightful effect, adding to the sense of fun and pop catchiness. At one point Lowery sings there's not a line that goes here that rhymes with anything, before my favourite line (and surely something we've all said at one point) I had a dream last night but I forget what it was.

All the while, the urgent rhythm propels the song along. Take The Skinheads Bowling is a song I rarely play just the once. It's so funny, fresh, unique, cool and catchy that I just have to play it again.

If you've never heard it before, then I really hope you enjoy it. If you have heard it, I know you'll love a reason to revisit. Let me know if you play it more than once!

Camper Van Beethoven original

Teenage Fanclub cover version

A list of all previous songs I've blogged about in my Trust Me feature are listed below, along with links to each blog. Take The Skinheads Bowling joins them.

I've also collated them all into a playlist on Spotify that you can find by searching for Everything Flows - Trust Me , or you can CLICK HERE