The New Burlesque > see song book <
"The new burlesque, she saved me from myself,
The new burlesque, she'll be dancing tonight it's not about size,
but the shape of the heart, of the girl inside"

One of those 'storyline' songs with a crafty little message, the idea for this originally came when a couple of girls I knew from the Wigan Music Collective heyday, took to the road as burlesque dancers, spicing up rock concerts and the like. The song however only really came to life when The Lancashire Hotpots brought burlesque dancing girls 'The Lancashire Hotpants' backstage, at the Manchester Christmas concert of 2008. It amazes me to this day how, when surrounded by a bevy of sassy beauties, poetry still managed to whisper sweet somethings in my ear.

The phenomenom that is 'Suicide Girls', and the art of glamour as seen in the variety shaped tattooed models of the era, has embraced and given good fight to a generation of women who stray outside the standard model dress size. From girls who once considered themselves average, single mothers, older women, married, divorced, separated, all who are getting out there once again, ensuring that they remain attractive and admired. Many have found in burlesque glamour, a strength and sense of identity.

I think there's a subtext in the song that takes male innocence, and I guess childish teen naivety, and allows a boy to grow up, realising as he does that love is not to be found in the arms of some fairy tale princess, but in the desires of a confident woman who knows what she wants.

I sense this could get me in trouble some time, some place ...