No time for blogging; I've got to iron the wolves

As regular readers may have gathered, my toils at the chalkface are interspersed with excursions into the thespian world. It's a business whose charm lies in its infinite variety - from teaching a bunch of hyperactive rats to dance the Charleston to discussing the finer points of Tom Stoppard with a cast of bright 18-year-olds.

With a production currently in full swing, time is in short supply and there are dozens of slightly surreal tasks to do, including knitting 20 yards of forest lichen and ironing half a dozen wolf costumes, which doesn't leave much time for musing on life's little ironies.

I often listen to Radio 4 while ironing, which was fortunate because this afternoon I heard what has instantly become my new favourite song. It's by Dory Previn, whose mordant lyrics are worth printing in full, and sung by Kate Dimbleby.

And it just says it all....

I was riding in my car,
Screaming at the night,
Screaming at the dark,
Screaming at fright.
I wasn't doing nothing;
Just driving about
Screaming at the dark,
Letting it out.

That's all I was doing:
Just letting it out.

Well along comes a motorcycle
Very much to my surprise;
I said, "Officer was I speeding?"
I couldn't see his eyes.
He said, "No, you weren't speeding,"
And he felt where his gun was hung,
He said, "Lady, you were screaming
At the top of your lung!

And you were doing it alone,
You were doing it alone;
You were screaming in your car
In a twenty-mile zone,
You were doing it alone,
You were doing it alone,
You were screaming."

I said,"I'll roll up all my windows,
Don't want to disturb the peace;
I'm just a creature who is looking
For a little release.
I said, "And what's so wrong with screaming?
Don't you do it at your games
When the quarterback takes an elbow,
When the boxer beats and maims?

"But you were doing it alone,
You were doing it alone;
You were screaming in your car
In a twenty-mile zone;
You were doing it alone,
You were doing it alone,
You were screaming."

I said, "Animals roar when they feel like;
Why can't we do that too
Instead of screaming 'Banzai, Baby!',
In the war in the human zoo?
 
He said, "I got to take you in now;
Follow me right behind,
And let's have no more screaming
Like you're out of your mind."
So he climbed aboard his cycle
And his red-eyed headlight beamed
And his motor started spinning
And his siren screamed.

He was doing it alone,
He was doing it alone,
He was screaming on his bike
In a twenty-mile zone.
He was doing it alone,
He was doing it alone,
He was screaming.

I was doing it alone,
I was doing it alone,
I was screaming in my car
In a twenty-mile zone.
I was doing it alone,
I was doing it alone,
I was screaming.

We were doing it together,
We were doing it together,
We were screaming at the dark
In a twenty-mile zone.
We were doing it together,
We were doing it together,
We were screaming.

We were doing it together,
We were doing it together,
Alone,
In a twenty-mile zone.