Some Victoria Wood Optimism

I'm an enormous Victoria Wood fan. I completely 'get' her comedy. Her humour is my kind of humour and I can watch her stuff on repeat without getting bored (I wrote about this years ago here). But while I love her comedy I often feel her serious work's overlooked. Anybody who watched her in Housewife, 49 will know what I mean but it goes deeper than that. While there are plenty of laughs in dinnerladies there are also some poignant moments. The one I'll always remember is from the second series when Stan has just lost his father and writes a poem about him. I actually recited that poem in a presentation on grief I had to do because it mixed the funny with the heartbreaking.

One of my favourite songs at the moment is a Victoria Wood oldie that I've only just really discovered. It's not in her usual vein of laugh-out-loud comedic songs but it's a nice poignant number that basically tells you to take a chance in life and not to miss your opportunities when they arrive. Some of the lyrics are too relevant to my own life to comment on really. It's advice I wish I could take but perhaps it's easier said than done. I suppose that at least my characters will be well-informed and ready to do what I'm incapable of. Isn't that what characters are for anyway?

(Note: Video's a little sticky but audio's fine)

Three o’clock and still awake,
Winding back each dumb mistake. 
Every slip replayed,
Words not said, moves not made.

Five o’clock the sky comes grey,
Another wash, another day, 
Just another life, it’s true,
But particularly yours, particularly you.

If you have a dream, go with it,
Feel the slightest hint, go with it. 
What is there to lose?
Do you dare, dare to choose?

I have wasted years behaving
In a way I thought was proper, 
And it’s hard to do.
No-one cared, no-one knew.

Bus to work, paper shop,
Will it alter, will it stop? 
Take the time to feel,
Is this for you? Is this for real?

Horoscope, your new campaign,
Oh, I'm not so bad, I can’t complain, 
But you do feel bad somehow,
Particularly here, particularly now.

You can struggle on believing,
Other people have the answers. 
Even if they do,
It couldn’t help, it wouldn’t help you.

You may feel there’s more to follow,
Some eternal life, I don’t feel that. 
All there is is now.
You can’t choose when. You can choose how.

If you have a dream, go with it,
Feel the slightest breeze, then follow, 
Follow all the way,
Save yourself from just another day.