rare bite of pressure

Back in September 1997 i had somewhat of a creative burst. A lot of things were happening in my life, such as:
- I had left school behind
- I had gone on a family holiday to Florida, USA
- I had started working
- I was 17 and starting to go to pubs
- I spent 5 days a week in my capital city of Belfast
I found myself inspired by many things around me, and between September 1997 - December 1997 I wrote quite a lot of lyrics. They were all inspired by youthfulness, growing up in Northern Ireland and the contrast between my two favourite bands: the blatant optimism of oasis versus the depressing pessimism of manic street preachers. This particular lyric of mine tries to encapsulate that late teen feel, mixed with a line or two about missed a good chance to put your team 1-0 up in a football match (in a rare bite of pressure, im down on my knees again).

The more I listen to this song as I've grown older, the more I understand what I meant and the more I realise it really doesn't seem like something I should have written aged 17. I could narrow it down to every line and tell you what they each mean, you can work out your Belfast grit from a line like "cry if you're not man enough, you can smile but I'm fed up."

The strangest thing of all was that the title and song idea came from a Salt cylinder in the kitchen where I studied at Belvoir in South Belfast, it said "rarebit" on it, and while describing a football match it turned into a "rare bit of pressure." "Bite" just sounded better.

Written - Belvoir Park/The Number 13 Bus, Belfast, Northern Ireland, October 1997

Subject Matter - Everything a 17 year old thought of

lyrics -

hope lies flat on a poisoned surface
everybody's feeling nervous
find yourself a moment of peace
in a war drenched society

cry if you're not man enough
you can smile but I'm fed up

in a rare bite of pressure
i'm down on my knees again
and just for good measure
i'm forfeiting love for fame

cold feet might as well be warm feet
on paracodol sunday mornings
find yourself a minute of wealth
in a state of downward health

troubles tastes all dangerous
don't avoid the obvious

in a rare bite of pressure
i'm losing my way again
my infinite pleasure
is closing its door again

in a rare bite of pressure
i'm down on my knees again
despite all my effort
looks kill in the face again

danger tastes all troublesome
fortune is a contagion

i want to do better but this rare bite of pressure is begging to differ

Acoustic version, bournemouth, 21st may 2009 -