Liam is a young friend of mine who lives around the corner from my house. I have been making music with his father, Dan, for over 20 years and I often visit their house for rehearsals, to borrow powertools or to make and eat pizza on a Friday night.
Liam is a very intelligent and articulate child and has a vocabulary that could rival that of Shakespeare and The Wu-Tang Clan combined. When I interviewed Liam for my Livestream show in 2020 we talked about the downsides of lockdowns.
Liam was finding the pandemic and the lockdowns very frustrating and worrying. I also found the lockdowns difficult as I could no longer work as a musician playing live shows. I wrote the song ‘Little by Little’ based on Liam’s thoughts and feelings and then added a few ideas of my own.
This song is a real family affair because all of Liam’s family appear on the recording. His dad, Dan, played the drums; his mum, Alison, sang harmonies; and his older sibling, Sky, sang the lead vocals. Liam sings backing harmonies as well as contributing to the lyrics.
Liam
My top three favourite things are:
1. Chicken Duo Sushi, 2. Light blue, 3. T.A.B.S.
My top three LEAST favourite things
1. Insects (Creepy Crawlies) 2. Veggies 3. Stuff in my eyes
Q. What was one good thing about lockdown?
A. Loads of screens
Q. What was difficult about lockdown?
A. Almost Everything
Q. How did you feel when you heard ‘Little by Little’?
A. Sad and yet comforted
Credits
Written by Lucky Jim.
Arranged by Lucky Jim and His Imaginary Friends
Lucky Jim – Acoustic guitar, bongos, percussion, backing vocals
Imaginary Friends
Dan Kempers – Drums
Simon Milman – Electric Bass
Matthew Lustri – Electric guitar
Special guests
Sky Oakleigh – Lead vocals
Alison Oakleigh, Liam Oakleigh – backing vocals
LITTLE BY LITTLE
What do you do when you feel upset?
When Covid 19 makes you worry and fret
What do you do when you’re feeling down?
And your head keeps spinning around
CHORUS
Take a minute just to step outside
Take a deep breath
And calm your mind
You can’t change the world straight away
But you can change a little bit everyday
What do you do when you get worked up?
When you lose your cool?
When you blow your top?
What do you do when you’ve had enough
And you want the bad news to stop?
CHORUS
What do you do when you don’t understand?
The place where you live
is like a foreign land
What do you do when things go wrong
And you feel like you don’t belong?
CHORUS
CHORUS
