2026 Competition Entry:
Shedding Skin by Mark Barber
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Lyrics
I remember that moment in 69
Man walked on the moon for the very first time
Dragged from my bed in the middle of the night
Just had to witness that momentous sight
Can you recall summer 73
Forced to share a hotel room with me
Karen on the radio singing yesterday once more
All the time we spent together was never a chore.
Cast your mind back to autumn 75
A sink or swim moment but we went on to thrive
Snatched from the old and thrust into the new
If the foot doesn’t fit, you can’t just blame the shoe
So, goodbye to that person who used to be me
Thanks for being part of my history
When I shed this skin become memory
Woven into life’s rich tapestry
Moving onto summer nineteen eighty-one
A new incarnation had just begun
A thirst for live music, beer and cigarettes.
So many great gigs that I’ll never forget.
Five years later we toured our own band
Playing live in pubs paying cash in hand
The south London circuit was our claim to fame
Though we split after two years, we’d achieved our aim.
So, farewell to the person who once was me
Thanks for turning up in my life story
As I shed this skin and set you free
Be sure you’re always gonna stay a big part of me.
Do you remember summer eighty-eight?
Riding the Greyhound across the states.
The guys in front were shooting up smack
The next time we travelled by railroad track.
Can you recall the first of Feb nineteen-ninety
That fateful day when you first met me
Sinead on MTV singing nothing compares to you….
Looking back from here, it’s clear those words rang true
Turning the page into parenthood
I never realised it would be this good
An evolving relationship from children into friends
Let’s hope this ain’t where this chapter ends.
Now, goodbye to that person who used to be me
Thanks for being part of my history
When I shed this skin become memory
Woven into life’s rich tapestry
The world shifted on its axis at the start of twenty-one
After the insult, felt my life had come undone
Told “you’ll be a different person” – words that cut like a knife
But it’s been the same story for the whole of my life…
As we stumble down life’s winding track
Keep looking forward and don’t glance back
Time moves in one direction which you just can’t unwind
As the years roll by, you’re gonna leave some skin behind.
We’re shedding skin, shedding skin, it’s the game we’re in.
But it’s the only game in life where nobody wins.
We’re shedding skin, wafer thin, and all in a spin.
Do you ever feel like we’re dancing on the head of a pin?
Glancing around what do I see?
Everybody else shedding skin like me
Take a closer look if you really must
You’ll find billions of lives just turning to dust
So, goodbye to that person who used to be me
Thanks for being part of my history
When I shed this skin become memory
Woven into life’s rich tapestry
So, farewell to the person who once was me
Thanks for turning up in my life story
As I shed this skin and set you free
Be sure you’re always gonna stay a big part of me.
Know you’ll always gonna stay a big part of me.
yes, you’re always gonna stay a big part of me
Whichever skin I’m in…
Man walked on the moon for the very first time
Dragged from my bed in the middle of the night
Just had to witness that momentous sight
Can you recall summer 73
Forced to share a hotel room with me
Karen on the radio singing yesterday once more
All the time we spent together was never a chore.
Cast your mind back to autumn 75
A sink or swim moment but we went on to thrive
Snatched from the old and thrust into the new
If the foot doesn’t fit, you can’t just blame the shoe
So, goodbye to that person who used to be me
Thanks for being part of my history
When I shed this skin become memory
Woven into life’s rich tapestry
Moving onto summer nineteen eighty-one
A new incarnation had just begun
A thirst for live music, beer and cigarettes.
So many great gigs that I’ll never forget.
Five years later we toured our own band
Playing live in pubs paying cash in hand
The south London circuit was our claim to fame
Though we split after two years, we’d achieved our aim.
So, farewell to the person who once was me
Thanks for turning up in my life story
As I shed this skin and set you free
Be sure you’re always gonna stay a big part of me.
Do you remember summer eighty-eight?
Riding the Greyhound across the states.
The guys in front were shooting up smack
The next time we travelled by railroad track.
Can you recall the first of Feb nineteen-ninety
That fateful day when you first met me
Sinead on MTV singing nothing compares to you….
Looking back from here, it’s clear those words rang true
Turning the page into parenthood
I never realised it would be this good
An evolving relationship from children into friends
Let’s hope this ain’t where this chapter ends.
Now, goodbye to that person who used to be me
Thanks for being part of my history
When I shed this skin become memory
Woven into life’s rich tapestry
The world shifted on its axis at the start of twenty-one
After the insult, felt my life had come undone
Told “you’ll be a different person” – words that cut like a knife
But it’s been the same story for the whole of my life…
As we stumble down life’s winding track
Keep looking forward and don’t glance back
Time moves in one direction which you just can’t unwind
As the years roll by, you’re gonna leave some skin behind.
We’re shedding skin, shedding skin, it’s the game we’re in.
But it’s the only game in life where nobody wins.
We’re shedding skin, wafer thin, and all in a spin.
Do you ever feel like we’re dancing on the head of a pin?
Glancing around what do I see?
Everybody else shedding skin like me
Take a closer look if you really must
You’ll find billions of lives just turning to dust
So, goodbye to that person who used to be me
Thanks for being part of my history
When I shed this skin become memory
Woven into life’s rich tapestry
So, farewell to the person who once was me
Thanks for turning up in my life story
As I shed this skin and set you free
Be sure you’re always gonna stay a big part of me.
Know you’ll always gonna stay a big part of me.
yes, you’re always gonna stay a big part of me
Whichever skin I’m in…
Author
Bio
Self-taught guitarist and songwriter.
Went to the same school as Mick Jagger and, like him, formed my first band when I was 17 (sadly, that’s where the comparison ends!).
Eventually became lead vocalist, guitarist and main songwriter in a minor late-80s pub-rock band, The Trouble With Harry, which played all the glamourous south London venues of the time (Half Moon Herne Hill, The Tunnel Club, Woolwich Tramshed – before moving up to the Rock Garden). Joined ‘Gigglestick and the Love Truncheons’ on lead vocals and rhythm guitar at the 1990 Ferrara International Buskers Festival in northern Italy.
Following a brief resurgence in 1991 (with a mix of previous band members) as The Dominos Killers, I settled down to family life – with any spare time dedicated to music mainly centred around encouraging/helping my son and daughter learn guitar/piano respectively.
Still, as has always been the case since I was 16, at least one of my guitars is constantly within arms reach, ready for me to pick it up for at least five minutes everyday to thrash out some pent-up frustration or try out a new riff. Since suffering a brain injury in late-2020, my guitar and music generally has been a source of great comfort and reassurance for me.
This song (essenially some key moments in my life expressed in verse) could possibly be considered a philosopical perspective on/response to the question “What is a life?”
It ponders the ageing process through the lens of how our lives are a blend of the numerous phases we live through, within each we adopt a different persona. As we move onto the next phase, we shed the skin of the previous persona – and grow into our new skin. Our lives in totality become a composite of all these different phases and the personalities we inhabited in each of them – all of which remain with us in memory throughout the rest of our lives.
In the lyric “billions of lives just turning to dust” the song implies pregmatically that there’s nothing more to life than living/being and seeks to express the importance of pursuing new experiences in living a full life.
Went to the same school as Mick Jagger and, like him, formed my first band when I was 17 (sadly, that’s where the comparison ends!).
Eventually became lead vocalist, guitarist and main songwriter in a minor late-80s pub-rock band, The Trouble With Harry, which played all the glamourous south London venues of the time (Half Moon Herne Hill, The Tunnel Club, Woolwich Tramshed – before moving up to the Rock Garden). Joined ‘Gigglestick and the Love Truncheons’ on lead vocals and rhythm guitar at the 1990 Ferrara International Buskers Festival in northern Italy.
Following a brief resurgence in 1991 (with a mix of previous band members) as The Dominos Killers, I settled down to family life – with any spare time dedicated to music mainly centred around encouraging/helping my son and daughter learn guitar/piano respectively.
Still, as has always been the case since I was 16, at least one of my guitars is constantly within arms reach, ready for me to pick it up for at least five minutes everyday to thrash out some pent-up frustration or try out a new riff. Since suffering a brain injury in late-2020, my guitar and music generally has been a source of great comfort and reassurance for me.
This song (essenially some key moments in my life expressed in verse) could possibly be considered a philosopical perspective on/response to the question “What is a life?”
It ponders the ageing process through the lens of how our lives are a blend of the numerous phases we live through, within each we adopt a different persona. As we move onto the next phase, we shed the skin of the previous persona – and grow into our new skin. Our lives in totality become a composite of all these different phases and the personalities we inhabited in each of them – all of which remain with us in memory throughout the rest of our lives.
In the lyric “billions of lives just turning to dust” the song implies pregmatically that there’s nothing more to life than living/being and seeks to express the importance of pursuing new experiences in living a full life.
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