Sconch Blog

Black pearl, precious little girl
Let me put you up where you belong
Black pearl, pretty little girl
You've been in the background much too long

I was listening to this song whilst dancing round the shop this morning *cough* I mean packing orders... And I was overcome by a wave of sadness. This song for me is one that conjures images of childhood and my mam singing it whilst dancing around a front room, bare foot. Songs from the Trojan Records label in general whisk me back to being a child and dancing until the early hours of the morning to Reggae track after Reggae track, interspersed with Motown of the 60s.

These are songs I grew up with (if you haven't read my previous blogpost on my family, you can find it here: Standing Up and Speaking Out) and they always fill me with nostalgia. But listening to the lyrics this morning, I was filled with sadness. Listening in 2020, to a song written in 1969, I was struck with how nothing has changed. Here we are in 2020, still fighting the same fight.

So a couple of weeks ago, one of my a regular c'n'c ladies, Kas, was making a tube. Literally, a tube. Of course being the nosey cow that I am, I wanted to know why. Turns out it is a traditional Japanese item (with a twist, it wouldn't normally be made in merino or knitted, but would be fabric) worn around the tummy, known as a Haramaki. She was making it for her father, as it is traditionally worn by men mainly, but can be worn by women....