Toto’s album Toto XIV, which was obviously their 13th album (yes, I know. I know), released in 2015 ,was a surprising return to form, including as it did a number of songs one might reasonably describe as “bangers“. Some excellent rock tunes and a couple of decent slowish numbers complete the album, which I would describe as mostly killer with very little filler. Although a band of truly world class musicians, their lyrics have not always stood up to serious examination, like blessing the rains in Africa, for example, but keyboardist and the last surviving Porcaro brother Steve provided a beauty, in terms of both music and lyrics, for this album: The Little Things.
I am not going to pretend that the standard of lyric is up there with, say, Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart, Leonard Cohen’s So Long, Marianne or pretty well anything that Paul Simon has written but it doesn’t pretend to be, either. Allow me to quote what the Musixmatch website says about it:
‘The song ‘THE LITTLE THINGS’ by TOTO reflects on finding joy in life’s simple moments amidst chaos and uncertainty. It emphasizes (sic) the significance of small gestures, memories, and connections that bring comfort and happiness, serving as reminders of what truly matters in the grand scheme of things.’
I thought that this morning when listening to Radcliffe and Maconie on BBC 6 Music. Their guest for the ‘First, Last and Everything’ section of the show, where someone well-known chooses the first song that affected them in their lives, the last (latest) song and finally the one that means everything to them. Today, the guest was the actor James Nesbitt, who is always good value and so he was this morning.
It was a great listen, one where I was repeatedly checking my watch hoping the show would not end. Apart from being a Manchester United supporter, Nesbitt is such a great guy. His ‘everything‘ was the magnificent Don’t Play That Song by the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin and it halted me in my metaphorical tracks.
Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie are brilliant broadcasters and to my ears at least, this was radio gold. But the best was yet to come. As they said farewell, Nesbitt said: “I love you boys.” I love it when people say the word love and plainly mean it. As Porcaro said, “That reminds me it’s the little things in life that matter.”
When I was growing up, no one said: “I love you“. Male relatives and especially male friends would never have dreamed of saying it, out of embarrassment or, worse still, for fear of being perceived as weak and soft. I am not even sure I told my mum that I loved her. It was not the done thing. I have no such reservations these days, frequently telling those I love that I love them. If anyone regards that as weak or soft, I now know that it’s their problem, not mine.
Look up the meaning of love yourself. How about “an intense feeling of deep affection“? I could easily say that I just like Radcliffe and Maconie and numerous other people for whom I feel deep affection, those I know and those I shall never meet, but as with Nesbitt, why should I leave it at like? I love their show, as I love Lauren Laverne’s 6 Music show, as I love Apple TV’s Slow Horses, as I love The Beatles and Steely Dan. And yes, in the grand scheme of things, these are “the little things in life” and they really do matter.
Anyway, what would you rather have? A non-stop world of pure hate, as exemplified by Donald Trump’s America, Nigel Farage’s repulsive world of loathing and bigotry and what we have in Bristol as I write, so-called protest gatherings on the city centre by the Cenotaph, between the fascist right, who call themselves Bristol Patriots, and the Trotskyist left who, true to the political horseshoe effect have similar beliefs: they hate prime minister Keir Starmer. In fact, the luvvies of the far left have actually called their gathering: ‘We hate Keir Starmer more than you’. Two cheeks of the same stinking arse who have much more in common than they think.
Porcaro continues: “All around there are people full of fear. Each side thinks they’ve seen it clear. But the noise comes at a cost. And you’re lost in a bad dream.” I have enough bad dreams every night, thank you very much, and I shall choose the little things in life because they matter to me. I’ll read something, I’ll write something, I’ll listen to some music, I’ll eat something nice, I might even meet up with family and friends. Because maybe the little things in life that matter aren’t little things at all.
