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How I Learned to Love the Freaks

by Vinny Peculiar

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1.
Say goodbye to the summer of love Its goodbye Paris, San Francisco & goodbye London Goodbye Kool-Aid Acid Test Goodbye Ken, goodbye Allen and goodbye to all the rest Goodbye Bob and Richard too Goodbye Jack, goodbye Joni we’re all gonna miss you At the death of the counter culture Beautiful people holding hands peace n love n rock n roll bands Ban the bomb stop the war it’s what we’re all fighting for Not the death of the counterculture In unison we sang such a sweet refrain Of stick it to man in the hard rain But the establishment plays such a long game Tomorrow never knows it can never be the same It’s the death of the counterculture There’s a revolution in the head she said she said she said she said Kick out the jams break down the door it’s what we’re all fighting for It’s the death of the counterculture And it’s a goodbye David Goodbye Jimi Goodbye Neil Goodbye Chrissy Bobby was a Ted Tammy was a rocker Judy was playgirl and a real showstopper Peter was hippy a protest singer Jordan was a punk rock gun slinger At the death of the counterculture It’s the death of the counterculture… Death death death death death death death death,,, The death of the counterculture
2.
There were voices calling inside everybody’s head I bought velvet loon-pants and book about Tibet Hitch hiked out of Texas due north I heard a song on the radio for what it’s worth And my father he disowned me, and my mother made a fuss Later that night I caught a greyhound bus Met my girlfriend at the station there were other pilgrims there Smoked a refer on the sidewalk met a kid with purple hair Someone gave me a poncho David Crosby style But I left it on the bus and it made my girlfriend smile And then came the acid and it took me by surprise My watch it started melting there we rainbow’s in my eyes The closer we got the more the numbers grew We spent the night in a gallery listening to A sombre protest singer out to make a million bucks From writing pop music yeah we all thought he was nuts As the bus rolled into town and we headed for the Haight The people they waved us on, and we saw the Golden Gate There was a stall on the entry, and it said FREE FOOD And a man in Jesus sandals serving lentils in the nude I finally called home a week after we arrived From a call box on the Haight it felt good to be alive My father wouldn’t speak to me he handed Mom the phone She said now just be careful this will always be your home There were trams and bums and dive bars hippies everywhere We slept out in the park with revolution in the air We had to travel out of town to find a place to crash In a commune up country in the woods outside Fairfax When the war came to an end, we were working on the land And we made love to strangers then it all got out of hand… It all got out of hand man…
3.
Peace and Love She said we have the power to overcome A love of power then then we’ll be done As children dance in the sun Peace and Love She said this is your chance you need to make a move Before the its all too late Cause there’s a lot to do and we can change the world I met her at the rally they were tearing down a statue She said you’re either for me or I’m against you And we talked about injustice and the future of the planet Then she sat outside Pete’s Café wrote a poem all about it… Peace and Love Peace and love She said let’s go off travelling let’s get away And we can see the world together Now what do you say and I said well I’ll think about it She left me the rally and she took herself back home Then she said she still felt angry and she needed to be alone And I never saw her again that’s the way it goes sometimes Right out the blue nothing between the lines Peace and Love Awake to dream when dreams are never big enough To change the way you feel best turn the music up Peace and love The hippies left the party the punks were way to angry… Cause there’s a lot to do and we can change the world…
4.
Headshop 02:55
We hang out at the head shop Just opposite the bus stop Its psychedelic lift off And its gonna blow your mind Tarot cards and a hooker pipes Dream catchers wind chimes Herbal tea scented candles And multi coloured plastic sandals Glow sticks and lava lamps Peace patches and tie dye pants Man pouch in soft leather Vaping sticks go on pick any flavour We’ve got them all I knew the owner Geraldine We had a thing when we were 17 Sometimes I wonder what might have been If you know what I mean It was a really cool scene man A Game of thrones jig saw Joss sticks all the way from Jaipur Natty threads and rag rugs Naturally high say no to drugs Essential aroma therapy And books about magikal energy Victorian bottles African carvings Lord of the Rings the trilogy’s meanings so many meanings I used to come here after school And they let you hang out it was really cool Once the girl who worked there made me coffee And we talked about music said her brother was a hippy Hippy yeah she was pretty Come on meet me at the Head Shop It’s just opposite the bus stop For a psychedelic lift off That’s gonna blow your mind Meet me at the head shop Just opposite the bus stop We don’t need to go to Woodstock This one’s gonna to blow your mind
5.
Behind the eastern drapes a silent yogi meditates And women listen to their breathing Reflect on this experience a book of calm omnipotence Classes end and students leaving The body temple and the perfect health Get in touch with your inner self well-being is believing Is it you behind the ashram You, behind the ashram You, behind the ashram She booked the flights to India on a tour bus out of Deli Checked the time at home and what was on the telly Next morning bright n breezy on the patio stretching for the sky That’s when she first caught his eye Then came the late-night invitations she left the door ajar He bought the nuts and the caviar Is it true behind the ashram? You behind the ashram You behind the ashram curtains You can tell me what happened and I promise not to judge I know you’ve been unhappy I know because because I can feel it in the distance a sadness beyond despair But I forgive you everything whatever’s broken we can repair…yeah She came home later in the year at first I didn’t recognise her Then she told me all her plans She gathered up a few things photos of the kids her favourite earrings So many changes to her feelings… Behind the ashram You, behind the ashram You, behind the ashram You, behind the ashram curtains And should you change your mind I’ll be waiting right here
6.
Hey Hippy kids who are ya Hippy Kids who loves ya Hippy kids who needs ya now Freedom is a fickle friend she only went and let you down again Sold you on to the corporation stole your ideas and your imagination No boundaries and no school no discipline and no rules Hey hey Drop out n disappear like you were never really here were you? Hippy kids who are ya Hippy Kids who loves ya Hippy kids where are ya now On a spaceship to the moon good trip bad trip any trip will do Waiting for the show to go on you put a sunflower in the barrel of a gun Vida dreams of revolution Bobby’s on the road again Hey hey Andy says he loves confusion wants to start all over again and again and again and again Hippy kids who are ya Hippy kids who loves ya Hippy kids where are you now Hippy kids we want ya Hippy kids we need ya Hippy kids where are you now?
7.
There were a couple freaks in the village When I was growing up they used to walk past our house Long hair bangles and cheese cloth shirts They were older than us but not by much They carried record bags they were mysterious And my dad was not impressed But my Mum said she knew them from the college where she worked Said they were nice lads we said yeah To me they seemed strange aloof and remote and completely indifferent They didn’t play football they rarely spoke to anyone We didn’t know their names or where they were from… One day we were messing around outside the paper shop With some of the hard lads from Cobnall Road And the freaks walked past minding their own business And then out of the blue someone shouted ‘what are you looking at’ And before we knew it, we were chasing them across the fields to the waste ground behind the new estate We caught up with the freaks of course we did and they were sadly resigned to their fate There’s an ugly feeling when you join the mob And it’s brutal cruel and infectious We all piled in there was kicking and screaming and We set about the freaks and then we set about leaving When the ambulance arrived, we were already gone Hiding in Ronnie Spuds’ caravan It was covered in page three pictures from the sun With a girl for every persuasion Thank god those freaks were ok bruises and cuts a little shaken up My mother asked me was I involved at all I lied I said no what would I do something like that for ? And the Freaks were never seen again They never pressed charges I was grateful to them Off to university end of the year To study for something no one had heard of before Freaks And how I learned to love them This one’s for the Freaks Freaks…
8.
Peter and the rainbow Peter and the rainbow Peter and the rainbow Peter and the rainbow We came in peace we should have known We came together we came alone To understand a better way Came to explore we came to stay We came so near we came so far A sleeping bag and an acoustic guitar Hitch hiked across the USA Nothing could stop us or get in our way Peter and the rainbow Peter and the rain Peter and the rainbow Peter and the rain Out of the darkness and into the light We taught our children we taught them right We came of age Aquariusly We came in peace we came in harmony we came to be to be free Peter and the rainbow Peter and the rainbow And we closed in on mother earth And we gave thanks for all we were worth But the very best of our intentions Never suited those high faluting conventions The poets spoke in tongues of fire We were the new age guns for hire So many people gathered around Cause you have to get lost before you get found You have to get lost Peter and the rainbow When things were good they were very very good But when we looked away it was over And when we were good we were very very good But when we messed up they said told ya so I told ya I told ya Peter and the rainbow… Peter and the rain It’s not the ending you might have expected Peter left the camp he defected Wrote show made a lot of money Now he’s living in LA with playboy bunny View of the hills the canyon and the ocean It’s a very cold place devoid of all emotion It’s a very cold place devoid of all emotion Peter and the rainbow Peter and the rainbow It’s a very cold place Peter and the rainbow It’s a very cold place It’s a very cold place Peter and the rainbow Peter and the rainbow Peter and the rainbow Peter and the rainbow Peter and the rainbow We came in peace we should have known We came together we came alone To understand a better way Came to explore we came to stay We came so near we came so far A sleeping bag and an acoustic guitar Hitch hiked across the USA Nothing could stop us or get in our way Peter and the rainbow Peter and the rain Peter and the rainbow Peter and the rain Out of the darkness and into the light We taught our children we taught them right We came of age Aquariusly We came in peace we came in harmony we came to be to be free Peter and the rainbow Peter and the rainbow And we closed in on mother earth And we gave thanks for all we were worth But the very best of our intentions Never suited those high faluting conventions The poets spoke in tongues of fire We were the new age guns for hire So many people gathered around Cause you have to get lost before you get found You have to get lost Peter and the rainbow When things were good they were very very good But when we looked away it was over And when we were good we were very very good But when we messed up they said told ya so I told ya I told ya Peter and the rainbow… Peter and the rain It’s not the ending you might have expected Peter left the camp he defected Wrote show made a lot of money Now he’s living in LA with playboy bunny View of the hills the canyon and the ocean It’s a very cold place devoid of all emotion It’s a very cold place devoid of all emotion Peter and the rainbow Peter and the rainbow It’s a very cold place Peter and the rainbow It’s a very cold place It’s a very cold place Peter and the rainbow
9.
Grew his hair and bought a chillum pipe Found himself in another life In a peace camp outside of Monmouth The Welsh Connection just sign on for the dole cheque Self-sufficient love of the land Playing guitar in a local band Fell in love with a yoga teacher And he’d do anything anything to please her I mean anything, anything Went to London on a demo Lit a six-foot papier Mache joint in Soho Got arrested by the fuzz Old Bailey trial three months in the scrubs Went to war against the state Read Albert Camus and William Blake Started teaching at the college Radical visions alternative knowledge And all property is theft Moved up north into the lazy city Showpiece of the nitty gritty Where he failed to impress Took it all to heart and it left him in a mess Left him in a right bloody mess When the carnival was over He returned to Worcestershire And when I asked him why he said There’s nothing going on down there And all property is theft
10.
Once upon a time a long time ago All the kids took off for San Francisco To a multi coloured happening of peace and love And they frightened the establishment with their mind-expanding drugs and their Flower Power take off your clothes and dance Flower Power consciousness enlightenment experience Happenings at Golden Gate Park Gigs with the Dead at the Forum after dark Allen Ginsberg he’s a poet and you can be one too if you did but know it…. Flower Power without a shadow of doubt Flower Power tune in turn on drop out Looking back at those incredible times Power to the people in ever changing times And what comes around comes around my friend, And right now looks like it’s happening again Flower Power are you till learning to fly Flower Power we never said goodbye

about

‘How I Learned to Love the Freaks’ is the thirteenth Vinny Peculiar studio release.

The record is inspired by Hippy culture, the summer of love and the socio-political awakenings of the late 1960’s. It’s part tribute to an emerging free-thinking youth culture, the risks they took, values they espoused, sacrifices made as well as the failings and ultimate implosion culminating in ‘The Death of the Counterculture’. The record looks at the personal impact of these cultural shifts and its impact on subsequent generations. Peace and Love considers protest, apathy and mistrust. Flower Power is both celebration and reminder of what can be achieved and how easily it all slips away. Going to San Francisco tracks a young man’s awakening and pilgrimage to the Haight and beyond. ‘How I Learned to Love the Freaks’ is a guitar based Grateful Dead inspired, Jefferson Airplane revisited, Chocolate Watchband approved kind of record. ‘We had too much too dream, we had so much to lose’. Allen Ginsberg

credits

released September 15, 2023

Written by Alan Wilkes aka Vinny Peculiar
Produced by Dave Draper & Vinny Peculiar

Players...

Dave Draper - extra guitar [6,7] bass synth [10] drums midi program
Leah Wilkes - backing vocals
Rob Steadman - keys [2]
Alan Wilkes - main and backing vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, bass guitar, keys, harmonica, drums midi program

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Vinny Peculiar Worcester, UK

Vinny Peculiar variously described as – ‘An under sung national treasure’ [UNCUT Magazine]– a warm hearted Morrissey [Q Magazine] and ‘The missing link between Jarvis Cocker and poet Roger McGough and some of the wittiest lyrics this side of Wreckless Eric’ IRISH TIMES ... more

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