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.