A Working Day

After going and performing the momentous cross activity, it's off to work for the Songwriting assessment at the University of the West. The students this year have been great, really working hard at their music and developing it.
Occasionally, someone will write something so beautiful it makes me cry. One year it was a Russian girl who missed her mum and who wrote a whole suite of beautiful piano songs with Russian lyrics.
Next time I saw her play, two years later, she'd turned herself into a sort of Euro-bimbo and that made me want to cry too!

Another year, there were a combination of ruffty-tuffy producers and Bacharach/David sorts of people. I cried three times with that lot- especially at the producer who had never sung before singing softy songs about the sea. They were simply awesome and if I'd ever wanted to preserve a real-life moment for ever it was when I was listening to those songs.
Some of the guys from the rough London estates can write the most poignant and beautiful stuff once they have permission to do it; I have found this at the University of the East too.
It takes a bit of persuasion sometimes but even if they never do it again in their professional career, I know that it is always a good thing for them to do, because they tell me so.

How can you tell it's the end of the academic year?
Emotional teacher-burblings, that's how.
I have ten thesises to mark, then over fifty pieces of work form the University of the East (that's about 150,000 words) and then 80 songs to listen to after that; I think I can be forgiven for enjoying my students' performances, amongst all that.