My Very First Decade in Song by Hannah Reade
Age ten Singing a clapping rhyme in our school music class – I was secretly enjoying the enforcement of childishness. Age nine Singing in harmony with the boy whose name was written on my foot. Age eight Our girl-band wrote a cover version of Don McLean’s ‘American Pie’ replacing the words with ‘Bye bye Princess Di’. Two days later Princess Diana was killed. The band was over. Age seven ‘I feel like chicken tonight’, a song I had picked up from friends who had televisions. Age six At my birthday party my friend tried to record over a tape I had made a radio programme on. I nearly throttled her.
Age five I wrote a song and performed it to my mum and brother. The lyrics were ‘I am dying, so are you’. Age four In a song group, in order to learn about rhythm, we passed around cuddly toys and said their names as we held them – Mickey Mouse, Shona, Mickey Mouse, Shona. Age three I sang myself to sleep. Age two My brother would play his 60’s mix tape again and again. There was no pause between songs, they were merged together, he knew it by heart as one long song. Age one Guns ’n’ Roses had a hit with ‘Sweet Child of Mine’– nothing to do with me. Illustration by Alex Judd
