Sing us one of the old songs George
One of the songs we know
Try old man
Do what you can
And we'll make the chorus go

We won't forget how it used to be
In the days when life was new
So sing us a song
And if you go wrong
We'll help to pull you through.

The less I play the more nervous I become, the less I sing the more I forget the words or leave a verse out or put them in the wrong order - yet the local folk club audience seems to be no less apppreciative - in fact they seem to like my songs more than ever. As an ultra introvert I really suffer but I tell myself that people do not remember the mistakes, I know they do not even recognise they are mistakes a lot of the time.

Just thinking about this makes my hands go cold and my palms sweat, and I wonder why I put myself through the ordeal - but it seems I have to do it - I need to go through the process and it is usualy OK, and I feel great afterwards.

I wonder if it is some sort of ancient requirement of acceptance by the tribe still lingering in the Human psyche. Maybe doing it wrong used to have much greater significance. Maybe doing it wrong and getting no assistance from the crowd was something you really did not want to happen, but you had to get up and perform anyway.

Anne