mardy n (dialect) a spoilt child. Also adj moody, sulky, whining.
Is it just me or does anyone else find themselves regressing into grumpy adolescence when staying in the parental home? Before I go any further, I should point out that I dearly love my parents; they've never been anything less than one hundred per cent supportive; they're fantastic grandparents and, over the years, have helped me out more times than I could possibly count. I realise that I'm incredibly lucky to have such wonderful parents and, in all honesty, I should not be sitting here writing this post. And yet, every time I spend more than a day or so in my childhood home, I begin to feel like a sulky teenager.
I am so completely intolerant that I begin to irritate myself! I find myself analysing the smallest things my parents do and inwardly seething. The way Mum prods her food slightly with her knife before cutting into it; the habit she has of not finishing sentences, leaving them hanging in the air with a "So...". The way Dad preaches the Gospel According To The Daily Mail and never wastes an opportunity to spread the word. Needless to say, I don't sit there and argue and rant and moan (as I may well have done in my teenage years). I bite my tongue and count down the days/hours until my escape.
I've tried to analyse why I feel the way I do and I think it all comes down to a loss of control. I am unable to live my life in the same way as I would in my own home. I am forced to adopt my parents' routines, to eat their food, live their lives. The independence I have enjoyed for more than twenty years is taken away and my destiny is once more in the hands of my parents. I dislike the person I become when I go back to Barnsley and every time I vow to try harder. Maybe next time it will work...
Mardy Bum - Arctic Monkeys (Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, 2006)
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7 comments:
Mardy Bum has to be my favourite monkeys song. I can't work out how lads so young know so much! Unless the rumours are true and Jim Bob from Carter USM actually wrote it!
I don't think I'm capable of staying in my Mum's house longer than few hours! She has a wonderful habit of always bringing up what I did wrong aged 4 years old and going on and on about it.
However I have friends who just won't leave home. How they manage I just don't know. One friend is nearly 30 and his girlfriend is 37..both still live with their parents!
Thanks for the comment by the way, I would love this baby to buck the trend and come today!
It's one of my favourites too. Every time I've listened to the album I get Mardy Bum going round in my head for hours afterwards. Yeah, the lyrics do seem very mature for such young lads. I'm old enough to be their mother - how scary is that?!!
Still sending you loads of 'baby come today' vibes...
J x
It's interesting, isn't it? Maybe the relationship still has vestiges of the time when you were a child, and didn't HAVE that independence that you enjoy and need now. Whatever, I've somehow managed to find a way of being much more tolerant when I'm around Mum. It does help that she's very funny these days, especially since she strated wearing a hearing aid - she still can't hear properly, and it squeaks quite loudly.
Yes, you may have something there. I suspect - much as I hate to admit it - that part of the problem is that Mum and I are very similar in some ways. Aaargggh!
(I do make a conscious effort to finish my sentences, though and have yet to find myself prodding my meals before eating them!)
The thought of the squeaky hearing aid made me smile. Sounds like something from a comedy sketch.
J x
You are not alone, not even close to alone. When visiting my mum I find myself reverting to the do nothing bum of my teenage years. Horrid, can't stand myself.
Well, that's at least four of us then! I'm obviously more 'normal' than I would have suspected. (Hmmm... should I be reassured by that, or not?)
Sorry, sorry, I should really stop commenting.... But Mardy Bum is a great song, and it's so funny to explain to friends (especially your very middle class Cheltenham dwelling friend) exactly what is meant by the phrase....!
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