I've loved James Joyce's writing since coming across Portrait of the Artist when I was 16 years old.

Ulysses, I am convinced, contains some of the best writng ever. Parts of it go over my radar - as sometimes a Shakespeare speech does.

I think also because I had immersed myself in Joyce as a young man, I was able to see through a lot of the cant that is talked about the nature of folksong - the po-faced 'seriousness' of the folk revival.

At very odd times in folk clubs - you find yourself reflecting on Stuart Gilbert's thoughts about the 'bareserks' and their place in viking/celtic (therefore English) troubadouring, and their ability to hold an audience. Contrast that with the buggers who think traditional song is good for you - even when read out from an exercise book in the most bring way imaginable.

As you get older and the story of the cuckold and the artistic young man gain the warmth of actual life experience, the focus alters more than slightly.

You marvel - not just at the wealth of ideas and inner knowledge of the human condition, but also at the appetite for truth telling. That's why I write songs. Two minutes of my experiencs is all I want to talk about and share with the world. Songwriting is so evasive of profound truth - unlike - symphony writing or grreat novel or great poetry writing.

I could talk for hours about Joyce. But theres no one to talk to. I'm not a literary pilgim. That's what makes him special - ordinary Joe's like me can dig him.