Strangers on a Bench - EPISODE 65: The Thirty-Seven Club

Episode Date: December 8, 2025

Tom Rosenthal approaches a stranger on a park bench and asks if he can sit down next to them and record their conversation.This is what happened! Produced by Tom RosenthalEdited by Rose De LarrabeitiMixed by Mike WoolleyTheme tune by Tom Rosenthal & Lucy Railton Incidental music by Maddie AshmanEnd song: 'Benchwork' by The PainStream it here: https://ffm.to/benchworksoabListen to all the end songs featured on the podcast (so far) on one handy playlist :https://ffm.to/soabendsongs————————————————————————————Instagram: @strangersonabench Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello, sorry to bother you. Can I ask you a slightly odd question? I'm making a podcast called Strangers on a Bench where essentially I talk to people I don't know on benches for 10 or 15 minutes. Are you up for that? Do you want to give it a go? This is the first time I've been in front of a baby photo shoot. Have you ever taken part in a baby photo shoot? We should be in the bad job with this.

We should get involved. No, I've never done one. That would be quite good. Maybe when I was young, I don't know. Yeah, yeah. That's sweet, isn't it? Yeah. Let's start a question.

Do you have a favorite day of the week? No, but I have a day that I don't like. Oh. I think Tuesday is the worst day of the week. Love it. People say Monday, all right? But Monday, you know what Monday is. Monday, we know Monday.

Wednesday is halfway through the week. Good day, we're halfway there. Yeah. Thursday, the day before Friday. It's a great day. Friday, obviously a great day. Saturday, a great day, Sunday, a day of rest. And then you've got Tuesday, the bastard, just sitting in between the day that you think is bad, which is Monday, and the good day Wednesday. But it's really Tuesday. That's what I say,

see you next Tuesday, isn't it? Yes. Of course. Of course. So that's my theory for that. All right. That's fantastic. Have you ever had a particularly shit Tuesday? No, I think I'm well aware that because I spoke it into existence that Tuesday is the shittest day, that it's probably going to be the shittest day. I mean, me, if I come out of my house and I'm in a bad mood to say,

I say to myself, and I actually do, I'll say, come on, come on, mate. And I cheer myself up. It's energy, isn't it? On a Tuesday? Yeah, or any day. You know, I say that Tuesday is the worst day, but I could have a good day on Tuesday,

and I could have a bad day on fucking Friday. You never know, do you know what I mean? Okay, let's use Tuesday then for the next question. Go on. Let's imagine a Tuesday occurs. No one's telling you what you're going to do with this Tuesday. What for you would be, like, The best day?

The best Tuesday you could have. So it would probably be, obviously, not going to work. The first thing I'd do is get up, say goodbye to my son, because I'd go at school. Okay, so what's time we're getting up? If I'm not working, I'd probably get up about 8 o'clock. Then the misses would obviously go to work, but we'd have a coffee together. That's what our usual morning thing is. We'd have a coffee and maybe a sneaky joint.

Nice. Maybe. I don't know. Depends what day. Definitely a Tuesday. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm going to have it. But I suppose my day would be, I don't know, I like music.

like a bit of the PlayStation, not too much. But I'd probably do some mixing and writing, read a book, maybe, something like that. I mean, I'm 40 years old now. My boy's the last boy to leave home. Because the other two have left. Oh, guys, you've got three. They've gone. They're all doing their little bits and bobs.

So he's the last one now. He's 15, does his GCSE. So my outlook at the minute is not about myself. It's more about making sure he's ready to go. And me and the missus are a lot more lonely now. You have to understand. We was going to have more kids and then we said, no, we'll just, we'll stop at the three and the four. We got three and I got one with another lady.

So we thought we'll stop at that, but we wish we'd had more now because the house is quiet. Yeah. And it's different. So that's why when you ask you what I'd do, I thought, you put me on the spot because I'm thinking, I know what I do within the house because I've been in the house in the last 20 years. I get up and go to work and I go back to the house, do you know what I mean? So the last one said you said you say goodbye to me when he goes off to school. Yeah. What's that good bye look like?

It would just be, have a good day, son. and he'd be like, all right, Dad. If I try to argue him or kiss him, he wouldn't have none of that. It's more just to let him know that someone said goodbye to him. Yeah. And for me, and a selfish way, for me to say goodbye to him as well. You all go separate ways, anything could happen throughout the day, you know what I mean? So that's what the missy says.

We never try and go bed on an argument. We argue, don't get me wrong, not everybody, but we try not to go bed on an argument. Don't mean you stay up late. I like that. No, but I mean, one of us will break. the ice usually. That's the good thing. We're best mates. We're all right. You know, I'd do her reading. She does my head in. We love each other and we don't really, I mean, what's the best way of breaking the ice? I'll just go in and laugh at her, just stand at the door and just laugh.

And then she'll go like, fuck off. And I'll be like, oh, shut up. Yeah. You know what I mean? Just normal stuff. Yeah. Normal stuff. You look too deep into some of this stuff. It just does your reading. Yeah. I mean, arguments kind of have to happen, don't they? They're kind of crucial. 100%. I was what I was watching someone and they said, For a good relationship, you can disagree on what you want to watch on TV or what you want for dinner. But you have to agree on basic life principles. If you're with someone that likes politics and the other person that you're with is on the other side, and you're really both into it, you're going to be constantly at loggerheads, aren't you?

If you don't like fucking fish fingers and she doesn't like fish cakes, well, you can have your fish cakes and she can have fish fingers. It's easy. It's sorted, isn't it? And me and her, we're just sort of saying, we're half fucking look the same. same it's weird you know what I mean so we're not related before you ask the next question but yeah we just she's like the female me I'm like the the the male her sort of thing you know what I mean so we that's perfect yeah I completely understand what you're saying I think it's like if the core is there or the bits of faf can be sorted out yeah

Now, do you remember your first moment of connection with her? Yeah, the first time we saw each other. I used to box, and I just had an operation. I'd had a dislocated shoulder. From boxing? He was in a competition. I got to the semi-final, dislikated in the first round. Oh, that's not a good time.

It's just geezer just beat the shit out of me. I was just covering up. I survived to the end of the round, but it was done. So anyway, I got this done, and my trainer was with a lady called Rachel. and my missis was her best mate and my trainer was sort of my best mate with going around doing stuff together anyway I had a sling

so I was not ready to meet anyone I hadn't trained for a bit I wasn't feeling well my mate was like yeah I was a bit depressed because I couldn't do anything yeah so my mate was like a house party come round I said I'm not coming around there

I said the state of me he said we'll just come around chill out have a couple of joints or something I said oh whatever so I went round there go in there and I sit on her sofa first thing she does is come up to me and we just like I say

there was something there, there was something there and then for two weeks we was waiting to see each other again because we didn't take each other's number. She asked me to stay that night and then I said this league? Can't do anything? She was still into me so she was like, fair enough and we never bothered and two weeks later we met

at a mutual gathering and yeah, the rest was history. They haven't been apart since. Why? 17 years I think now. Amazing. So yeah. Beat me mum and dad. My mum and dad were together 11 years. After, did he phone them up? Well, he's resting in peace now, but she's...

So the old man's gone? He's gone. 37, he went. You're very young. Well, that is young, isn't it? How old were you? 18, 19. He actually told us when he were kids, that when he was 37, he'd die of an heart attack.

So he did. He knew this, his whole life for some reason. His dad died at the same age, 37 of a heart attack. Having a drink. The story, the family story goes, the granddad was at the bar with his pint, had the art attack, died, fell, and kept his pint up. We'd get older and realise it's bullshit. But that was a story for years.

Potentially possible. If we had a pint now, we'd try it out. So you were told, and when you were told this, do you remember how you felt about it? A lot of us, we had a hard life, me and my siblings. We was in care a lot. My dad was a nutcase, do you know what I mean? So we were getting told so much shit.

It was just another thing that we got to. told. But it's stuck in my mind because his dad died at 37. My mum was pregnant with me and he was 1819. Then my dad died at 37. My missus was pregnant with my one and I was 1819. So I had it in my head for years. I'm 40 now so I've got three years past it. I did think my head for my years at 37 because I was the oldest, I was going to go. Shit. That must have mean your 30s were a bit stressful. It was. The 36th year leading up to 37. It was like. Did you think you actually might yeah i mean if you're if it's been like yeah because it's programmed didn't you in it i've been down so many rabbit holes i used to be in a few conspiracies this that and the

other and i i realize that we get programmed didn't we we we can program ourselves to fucking believe something and to to hate on something it's a powerful bendable beast up there proper the reptilian complex yeah you know what i mean it's not a joke but yeah yeah it was quite depressing the misses knew it everyone knew it and i got a couple of calls from family who knew So on my 37th birthday, my brother straight away phoned me up, he's like, you made it. I said to him, right, I've got to get to 38. Yeah, you're going to 38. 38's the birthday to say that on.

You know, life in it. So on your 38th birthday, do you remember how you're feeling? Great. You're like, well, I've dodged that one. Yeah, 100%. Yeah. I really did. By the end of the old man's life, did he, you know, as when he died?

We were cool. He started getting cool again and he was a frail shadow of himself because he was really in love with my mother. This was the thing. And I love my mother, but they're young. Things were going on and things was happening. I remember him dragging us up the road to certain houses or trying to find someone and when i look back now i realized she was probably doing the dirty and he was walking up the fucking road with four kids trying to find it it was just but he never really got over it you know what i mean so frail just malnutritioned we thought it was something worse they said no he was just well he wasn't eating not really not properly he was he was a gamer tom he would sit up and play his fucking game that's all he had you know what

do you think he wanted to die don't know i hope not but who knows It's the thing you never really know, isn't it? As a dad, if I wanted to die, I'd never tell my son. But at the same time, I think to myself, if I was a dad, I'd never want to die because I want to be there for my son. Do you remember the day he did die in what you were doing? Yeah, I was with the first missis I was with,

and my mate knocked on the door and told me, yeah. It took me while to get over it, to be quite honest. Why did your mate know? My mum lived somewhere, and he was in the same block of flats as my mum, and I was staying with the girl, and I wasn't really talking to my mum at the time. So my mum had contacted him in the flats and actually what she told him was, can you bring him to me? Don't tell him.

But when he come to the door and he was going, your mum wants to talk to you. I was like, I'm not fucking dealing with that, whatever. He couldn't get me out the door. I was like, I'm not fucking, well, I'm not listening. It's mad. It's the first time I talked about actually, Tom. What didn't you sort out with your dad? Many things, but we'd forgive him for what he'd done.

But questions happen after. after someone goes, this is the thing. You never truly get over grief, do you? Because the day comes back. Of course. And when the day comes back, it's going to jog your memory. Or you might see something. I'll see myself quite a hard man and a hard-cased man.

So it's hard for me to cry easy at something. But if I see a kid that's lost his dad on TV, it'll jog your memory to something. Do you have a really pleasant memory with your dad, what would you remember about? I'd go into the park and stuff like that, playing football women with his younger kids. stuff like that when he was like six or seven went to walworths and bought some wrestlers and i didn't

realize that paper money was as much as pound money yeah so i had like five pounds and five pound note and i got one wrestler with the five pounds and i said oh i can't get the other wrestler he's like no that's the same as that and that's when i started really it's only young do you know what i mean loads a little bits even when i used to go up there because he used to live in a dingy fucking bed sit when he left but i'd go up there every other week or whatever and i'd stay on the sofa where we'd play games all night and stuff like that. I wish I'd said other stuff. I wish he'd told us how bad he was

because we didn't realize how malnutritioned he was and how he wasn't looking after himself until after. I mean, we knew we could see, but he never said it. He never said it, he never asked. We got to remember, we as kids, I was the oldest and I was 15. So we didn't know what to do.

It was our dad, it was just my dad. Dad was dad. If it was me now and my brother was going through the same thing and his kids were there, I'd say to my brother, bro, but he never really had no one around him to say, bro. His family, he treated us the same way his family treated him. My brothers and sisters broke that cycle. Our kids have never been hit, never been shouted at.

They're lucky that we turned out all right. Do you know what I mean? I've done some bad stuff and had a bad life. But we got a job, we've got family, and we got a future. Do you know what I mean? So, I've never had to shout or scream at my kids like that. And I would never forgive myself. Yeah.

That's enjoyable. They used to tell us it was so hard my mum and dad bringing us up. And I'm not saying it wasn't. It's back from the old school, I'm 40. So when they were bringing us up, it was the 80s and the 90s. I don't know. It's a mental thing, isn't it? They both had bad stuff done to them as kids. Of course. So, so the Mrs. I'm with now, she's had a lovely life. She was brought up and her parents, great people, lovely people. Yeah, perfect. Not posh, just solid people. It's beautiful. They included me with everything. Maybe if I'd got with someone that was like me, there'd be a, they'd be issue.

Do you think you saw that early in her? No. You think you're looking for that. Like here's someone that's really, he's got this solid bit that I can build on. No, I don't know what I was looking for. Because the first lady I was with, she was a nutter.

Do you know what I mean? And at that time, I was probably a bit of a nutter. And it was just two nutters. Two nutters clashing. She was an only child. So she was that had that thing. And I was like too emotional,

wearing my heart on my sleeve. And she used to use that. You know what I mean? Whereas this lady, like the first time we see each other, it was like, there was something there. You know what I mean?

and there's never been, we haven't really been a part since. That's absolutely lovely. Yeah, man. Do you tell me a bit, if it's not too painful, the bits of your childhood with your parents where, you know, you're being put in care, is that out to them or is that an authority that, both there was times when we went into care for respite where they give them a break from looking after the kids basically yeah and then in the end we were taken into care and we was all splitting

up there's no way it weren't going to happen and we was running away from home and children's homes as well so it oh you're only away from the care homes or the home home home and the care homes oh both yeah because we was at the time i went into care it was like my mum and dad had gone Tom and I was like fuck this I don't listen to no one as an adult now I look back and realise it's a stupid decision that as a 14 15 year old kid you don't really give a shit yeah what you fucking you telling me for but these people were just trying to help of course luckily I was in a care system none of these people ever try to touch me ever try to do nasty stuff yeah we got the shit kicked out of us don't get me wrong food was always fucking

hungry we used to still food out the bloody cupboards they used to batter us for it when I think back I think I was only fucking stealing it because I was hungry yeah you weren't fucking feeding us. It was punishment. It weren't because they never had the food sometimes. Sometimes it was punishment. But listen, Tom, there's kids around the fucking world, right, that are 10 times worse than what I've had. I'm only telling you this because you've asked for the combo. This would never come up in a normal conversation with me. I will never ever use that as an excuse. I've come from the shittest of the shittest. I've put myself through college. I'm a fully qualified electrician. I've got my gold card. I've got my

shit. I come from nothing. I didn't have no GCSEs. I barely went to school. I'm hardened. I don't know how I'd be if it didn't happen to me now. Hmm. Did anybody who was not your parent, as in what am I asking here? A couple of people helped along the way. Who are those figures and what do they do, what do they mean to you? Some of the older people on the building site. They see what I'd go through or see that I was a little tear away. Just people like that to be quite honest. When my dad died, I remember crying on, I was on a site. I was 18, 19, And I thought this fellow was like a bastard.

And he was like a big geyser and all that. And I tried to stop him from seeing me fucking, because I just got told I'd try to go to work the next day. And he would come up and he was the softest fucker ever. And he was like, what's doing? So my dad's died. It's like, you shouldn't fucking be here. Go home, do you know what I mean?

So things like that. But I've never wanted to take too much help in a sense as well, Tom, because I think, oh, my dad's watching. You're my dad. I don't want to. It's mad. It's mad. It's mad.

So you see him watching And you're like I'm not really a believer in religion per se I believe there's a creator We was brought up as Catholics My mom's Irish But I mean I see a kid die outside the school At 11 years old

And that's when I thought there ain't no God Walked across the road and got run over We had to go to his funeral The school made us go to his funeral It's like a thing for everyone to go to I didn't know this kid But then we was in the funeral I started crying Tom

Why am I fucking crying? Because it's my fucking crying? because it's mad in it it's the end that's when i realized so probably the first brush with death maybe knowing what death is as a kid so you helped your yeah so so you so you've so you've so you've done it all yourself but also what but i'm interesting these other roles because that was your your partner what role she played in all this she's a rock yeah yeah she's like i say she's one of the best things that happened to me do you know what i mean no judging no no no nothing simple as that i can't really explain it i don't

what about having how old when you had your first kid again yeah 18 19 and so what did that mean to like what do that do for you in terms of i always wanted a kid because of what we'd been through i wanted to be older i wanted to shave i wanted to go to work i wanted to have my own money i wanted to have my own place i wanted to have my own sovereignty because we'd never had it we've been passed around in the system from pillar to post you're looking for a fucking canary at the end of the mine or whatever, you know what I mean? So when he come, it was great, loved it. That's all I wanted. Fortunately, the lady I was with, we never got on. So the irony was I wanted to have my own family, had the baby, went to work, giving her everything she wanted, but it wasn't enough for her.

And she used to stay at her mums all week. I used to pay the rent on the house. She'd come up on the weekend. I'd give her some money and then she'd go back to her mums for the rest of the week. Because she was young. She was fucking 18 as well. Do you know what I mean? I was ready for that. I was ready for that. She wasn't. And in the end, we split it up. You know what I mean? It was hard for me to see my boy. It was really annoying. Now he's grown up, it's a bit easier, but, you know. I haven't got too long, Tom, I've got to be honest.

How much long you got? I should be back now. Can I, can I, can I borrow, for a bit longer. Is there any way, how can I, what can I do? I'm going to text my man and tell him I'm at the bank. I'm going to lie. Thank you so much. I don't want to lose the bloody job that I like so much. No, that's good point. Don't lose the job. Do not lose the job. So, you had kids and that gave you something to focus on, to something to support. Yeah, 100%. And that was kind of crucial to yeah. Because whether I was going to be with the lady or not, I was always going to do what I can do

for the kid. So the kid was a main outcome. And then not that long after you would have had another kid with the no so my oldest oldest boy is my stepson she had the two kids when i met her who were three and four i see i understand so i brought them up and then we had a child together okay which is the youngest one i was telling you about 15 so you've got this kind of bit of motley crew of family yeah we just do they all get do they all together yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah christmas here and things like you got understand this day and age trying to get them all together every weekend you're never gonna it never happens all right it's never going to happen. Because they're doing their thing, isn't they? They're probably sitting in their beds on their stupid Instagrams or whatever else they're doing. Like this, I've got Facebook and Instagram on here. I used to use it for my music just to try and promote music and stuff like that. But there's family on there that I've not spoke to for years and they'll like a picture or whatever, but they won't answer a phone. Yeah. I hate it. I'm here. If you want to speak to me properly, phone me up or text me. I hate it, Tom. Totally with you. You're right. It looks like social, but it's not. No. It's anti-fucking.

yeah that's it that's it thank you we started calling it that so you're a musician but you're also an electrician yes beautiful combo yes i'm a rapper about politics life i tell you what i got an infection six months ago i caught h pylori someone spat in my burger i ate the burger i felt something pop when it happened a week later i went to the doctors because i felt like i was getting the stabbed. I was pale as a ghost. They put me on vitamin D. They put me on two courses of antibiotics and it was done. But the point was that night it happened. I collapsed and I crawled along the floor to get to the misses and said called an ambulance and I was in like shock. She calmed me down. I didn't call the ambulance in the end. The next day I went to the hospital

and told he said I had a panic attack. Tom, I've never had a panic attack in my life. I've been through some of the biggest shit. I've never had a panic attack. I said, listen to something wrong. He said, I've been a doctor for 25 years. I'd know if there's something wrong with you. I said, I'm telling you I can feel it. There's something going on here. Week later he texts. He says, oh, you got H. Pylori. I went on to see him next.

I said, you said you've been a doctor for 25 years. What are you talking? I was all cool about it. I was like, mate. But, I mean, I'll give you a little piece of this quickly. And this was how I felt. And this will sort of, this can show you how, you'll see how I feel about the misses.

Crawl along the floor, is this what they call dying? I ain't giving up. Now I know what they call trying. Tunnel vision for that door will she wake when I call crying. Visions of the father, spectating the shit that I am. And at that minute my mind's weak, those thoughts flying, falsifying, that little devil with more lying, murder death kill, I took a breath but more dying, talking down a chest,

my only crowd, the floor lining. Now that's the closest to the bottom I have ever been. I've had it hard, but this nightmare I could never dream. Aware of my facade would catch the coma if I fell asleep, a life of playing hard, but I turned pussy at the final leap. Because I was scared, do you know what I mean? It's slightly shocking, I mean more than how my body felt, and anybody else the screaming SOS has probably felt that they may need help, deserving on an angel hell, but I can't

wait on prayers. They say the answer is to save yourself. Maybe that's a lie. I think my angel is the fairer sex. Aware it's more than sex whenever we would ever share a text. I'm slowly sinking in this carpet, burning waves try surf correct and now I'm hoping that my message in this bottle she'll detect. Hope she's not my M-Colest. I've got faith I'll get the strength. No Mary Jane to calm my stress. That door handle seems out my length. I still don't want to wake the rest. Breathe honor in my silent breath. And looking on the bright side, I suppose it's not a violent death. So I'll play a hell Mary, play my quarterback can run it back. Memories must have photographs and at once they all go snap. It's well scary. Need open arms to catch collapse.

Centries under solar blast. It's 3 a.m. My night went black. The witching hour. I'm not right and just surviving. I consider giving up, but the door opens lets the lighting. Fuck the metaphors unwining. My real angel is the wifie. Answering my siren and my ambulance beside me. So it was her coming to rescue me. Me trying to crawl along this floor. At that time when it happened, I just felt about my dad. And I thought, fuck, this is it. This is happening. Yeah. Doing that was the panic? Maybe, but did she save me? Was I about to go? Because if I was really about to go, Tom, death weren't that painful. It was just scary. It was a, I'm lost. It's done. Do you know what I mean? So it was either a panic attack or it was close to death and if it was close to

death, it made me not scared of death. So that's a big moment. Has your life been different since? I mean, physically changed diet and stuff like that because I've had to. Mentally, it's made me think, you know, I better make sure I've done everything I need to do with my kids, my missis. And the misses the whole time was like, you're going to be alright, stop being an idiot, you're going to be alright. I was like, I can't. Yeah.

I said, I've never felt like this. I've never. It's understandable that you'd feel like that one in, I want to act. I'm telling you, I was, it was scary. It was fucking scary, man. Proper scary. it out the other side for our soul am i and a beautiful bit of writing to go with it yeah maybe it was worth it just for that i've got many albums and many writings and i've got a thousand tracks on that phone

i'll never record them all before i die but i'll always keep writing and then i'll give it the phone to me a kid and give it to the grandkid and have a look yeah it's just how many grandkids not yet stop that you're excited i am and i'm not same in it it's the same thing isn't it yeah a hundred We'll have the baby the whole time if we could have it. What do you say are the benefits of being a young parent? You're obviously really young. I think you're in touch with the kids. More in touch with what's going on.

The words we use ain't that far apart. I think my mum and dad, they're like mumsie and dadzy. I'm a dad, but I'm just, I look like a geyset. It's weird. And my missis is like, she'll still put on a trainers in a track suit. And she's like we still feel young. Do you know what I mean? It's weird.

We don't feel like a mum and their dad. We're just floating through. I don't know, mate. I can't explain it. No, no, no, he's been saying he's paid it well. You just explained it really well. I'm 40, I still feel 18, man. You feel as old as you want to make yourself out to me, don't you?

Should that I mean? Can you tell, I want to ask one question about being electrician? Go on. How's it been? Good, I like electrics, I like science and physics and stuff, called that atoms. If I said to you the most joyful experience of being electrician you can think of, What would you, what do you think of? Probably getting my gold card the first time.

It's a card, you know what gold card is? I've heard of it, but... It's basically a card that you qualify, you get the card. Oh, yeah, and that gets you the rate. Let's have a look. Oh, nice. And it is gold as well, isn't it? Yeah, so that was probably the best thing,

because I paid for college myself, because the company I was with, they wouldn't take me on as an apprentice. So I used to work for this company when I was like 18, 19. I think I was on six, seven pound an hour just laboring about and I took one day a week off work and would go to college

and then after the three years I passed and I got my card. Do you remember how you celebrated when you got it? I don't think I celebrated too much but inside, looking at it I was like yes. You felt proud? Yeah, fucking right man. That's my trade.

I thought I've got to where I need to be regardless of not going to school. I was really clever and because of what happened it just all went out the window and I was just so happy. I thought, you can't take this away from me. I can always work. Do you know what I mean? It's just, it opens a lot of doors. And this is another thing about kids not working, right? Any little shit bag leaving school can pick up a fucking plank of wood, right?

Yeah. Any little tosser can do it, right? I've done it, right? I was a little tosser doing it as well. I was a little fucking scrawny little shit head and I just wanted to work. All these kids, if they've got nothing to do and they're not so intelligently good that they can go in these other jobs, get on a fucking building site. They're paying decent money now. I think they should be some sort of program to get kids. kids into that. Because I know these kids. I've been one of these kids. Let's get some programs for them. Otherwise, they're going to go and fucking do whatever else. I like that. They're going to copy that fucker over there. Copy him over there. He's got that. I want that. Got no job. Oh, fucking take it then. But I think, I think society needs shit, doesn't it? In the way

they run the country, the way they don't want to help. They say you can't help everyone. Because there's always ulterior motives to what's really going on, isn't there? Do you know what I What's the mean? You got an alien on your hand? Yes, that was from Nookie. Went to Nookie recently, so got one of them. Fantastic. What's on the other hand?

That's a me in the middle and four walls. Oh, beautiful. No, me in the middle. Yeah? And four, like, prison walls. Oh, sorry. Beautiful. No, sorry, I thought it meant the kids.

Sorry. But how, there's not walls, they're dots. Yeah, but that's what it means. It means you're in the wall isolated. I was really in prison? Yes. When was that? 14, 15, got locked away.

It was quite surprising. I held back the crying when I see the 30 foot fence that I couldn't get to climbing. That was one of the first things I read. Really? What do you do to get in there? Putting myself at risk. guys in Children's Home kept running away. So they lock you up, basically. What was the furthest you ever ran? We did steal a car once, 14 years old, so we got quite far,

and then we forgot our roll-ups at the Children's Home. So what do you think two dickheads did? I'd go back. I'll never forget it. I'll ask you to close yours, and then I'm going to ask you to paint a picture of a scene from your past that comes to you that you can remember in the most vivid detail. Yeah. Hit me. I think the most vivid memory for me would be fucking my mum overdosing and me holding her in my arms, calling an ambulance for her. My siblings running around not knowing what the fuck was going on. about the age of 12, 13, probably.

What do you remember about that room in that moment? I remember it was in the hallway. I remember she come down the stairs saying she'd take her and then she just collapsed. And then there must be my brother had come down behind her screaming and then obviously phoned in an ambulance and just holding her. There, just holding her.

Loads of stuff. I remember my dad battering us because I got into the bath with my pants on when I was six. I forgot to take my pants off and he beat the shoes. my pants off and he beat the shit out of me. That's vivid. Listen, I love that man. In the end, I loved that man.

When I grew up and things happened. He had bad shit happen to him. It's no excuse, but I get it. I understand. But towards the end, we were cool. And it's just fucking how life goes. We had all that shit go on. We got cool and then he fucking died. Good that you got cool eventually.

Exactly that, you know what I mean. Any happy memories that I can think of you think of? Oh yeah. The baby coming up. There we go. Easily, yeah. 100%. Was it our first one?

The first one, I remember that vividly because she was screaming her fucking head off. She was in labour for hours, yeah. She had natural wealth. But then the missus had Little Jay. He was a whopper. 9 pound 14. That's how much he weighed. Put him in the scale thing and then he just grabbed onto the scale on the side of it, his hand thing.

You know, that was one of the best, you know, that was one of the best. Yeah, definitely, right. Tom, I've got to go. You've got to go. I've got to ask you one more question, which is the end question. Other answers to the now way, or a general way, or both. Go on. What are you going to do next?

I don't know. I don't know. Like I said, I think, I just want to chill. I just want to chill, Tom. I just want to have a good life with the misses for the rest of it. I want my kids to achieve anything they want to achieve, get everything they want but still be humble. And never let anyone else struggle if they can,

because I'll help anyone. I haven't got loads of money. I haven't got loads of this and that. But if I can help someone, I'll help them. Do you know what I mean? Just live my life, man. I've had a lot of shit life as it is back in the day. So I want the latest ages of my life.

I just want to chill. I want to go work, make your money, go home and chill. There's not much more I do. want. I want to win the lottery, obviously, but don't we all? No, I'm inspired. This is quite, it was quite good actually, Tom. I'm glad I said yes, let's have the chat, to be quite honest. Very, very nice to talk to you. Very nice to talk to you, man. Appreciate you. Appreciate you. Appreciate you too. Beautiful. And this is benchwork, but we push conversations, and you may wait first, then comes

the inspiration. Talking heads in different destinations, battering stress by a vocal creations. At first it feels it could be danger because your mother told you not to talk to strangers. Perhaps though we could be neighbours. Share the roast, pass around like hot potatoes for as long as it takes to be courageous. Sharing hobbies, time spent on a new day. The closest ones will always help find a new way. Seven-day theories, let's not talk about Tuesdays. Just weed, no boozy, common as mutt, no bougey. Musical electrician, sparking on a death note, crawl along the floor. As you hold my heart in escrow, make it to the misses is my best Never bank on death and sink the evil float

Stories of vertical pints operating energy through a surgical mind Deal with the questions you'll be surprised What you find many see can have tried A listening ear can help unravel the time So as a chapter closes the grill have vent My stadium has lights, don't worry it's not the end It's not so much a sold out event It's just a couple of strangers on a bench

So as a chapter closes the grill have vent My stadium has lights Don't worry it's not the end It's not so much a sold out event It's just a couple of strangers on a bench Manifesting memories at request Before you realise, you're spilling out your best You're comfortable once you understand the intent

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away sweet 15 only my dreams agree reality's diseased you must keep belief but trust me believe emotion remission there's no cure for the grief from boys to men from voice to pen it's a choice again a real mother and father's love does not pretend the apples of my eye the fruit will blend guardians mistakes learn from that shit will not happen again never pushing 40 still gold like j i b trials and tribulations a recipe for ink and tree set the scene floating serenely get a good queen and Trust me, it's easy. So as a chapter closes, the grill have vent. My stadium has lights, don't worry, it's not the end.

It's not so much a sold-out event. It's just a couple of strangers on a bench. So as a chapter closes, the grill have vent. My stadium has lights, don't worry, it's not the end. It's not so much a sold-out event. It's just a couple of strangers on a bench.