John Cooper Clarke

I've been meaning to post some poetry on here, and Mancunian punk poet John Cooper Clarke came to mind. Living in New York City, one gets the opportunity to observe all kinds of different people, whether it's just passing on the street or overhearing people's cell phone conversations at the local cafe. After a while you kind of start to compartmentalize these characters into little groups, and one 'type' that abounds (in certain areas) are the uber-motivated, 12-steps to success folks who you'll catch spilling out of various yoga joints or slurping up vitamin-enriched protein shakes outside of Crunch. What's fascinating to me about these kind of people is seeing how a certain type of personality can take up a whole culture based around something as seemingly culturally-irrelevant as diet and excercise.

Anyway, getting back to Cooper Clarke, I was introduced to his spoken word via an early 80's rock 'n' roll movie entitled Urgh! A Music War, which I caught on VH1 Classic or something this past Summer, in which he recites a brief, rhythmic jam called "Health Fanatic." He's got a great way with words, but you've really got to watch the performance to get the full effect. Clarke in the eighties resembled Dylan in the sixties, with more pronounced elfin ears, but don't write him off as a latter day clone, the man can rhyme...



"SHADOW BOXING - PUNCH THE WALL
ONE-A-SIDE FOOTBALL... WHAT'S THE SCORE... ONE-ALL

COULD HAVE BEEN A COPPER... TOO SMALL

COULD HAVE BEEN A JOCKEY... TOO TALL

KNEES UP, KNEES UP... HEAD THE BALL

NERVOUS ENERGY MAKES HIM TICK

HE'S A HEALTH FANATIC... HE MAKES YOU SICK"

-Cooper Clarke

Visit: http://www.johncooperclarke.com/ for more info.