Around Medway by Song

Stephen Morris takes us on a musical tour of our towns

Occasionally, I entertain the notion of getting myself an open-top bus, painting the Long Weekend lyric “Medway is the Difference Between My Town and Yours” on the side and inviting tourists aboard for a musical tour of Medway.

Ignoring the lack of financial viability behind the scheme, there are a significant number of songs by Medway bands and artists that reference the Towns’ landmarks. And so, in the absence of an open-top bus, allow me to take you on a guided tour of Medway through the medium of a web page.

Be warned: it could get a little bit gloomy.

We start off on the Hoo Peninsula.

1. God, Cliffe and Me – The Claim

The Claim were a Britpop band before the term was coined by Stuart Maconie. Undoubtedly a product of the C86 generation, their songs about suburban tedium and malaise - with a preference for singalong melodies make them obvious forerunners of the likes Blur, Sleeper and Echobelly.

‘God, Cliffe and Me’ is a clear case in point. There’s a Cure-esque hypnotic guitar theme and lyrics about teenage boredom on the Hoo Peninsula: the kind of place where activities are limited to climbing trees and “looking for the answers in pontoon.”
It’s a beautiful song: an enchanting thumbnail sketch of an unexciting teenage life, complete with a deceptive catchy tune.

2. Strood Lights – The Buff Medways