Music: Chronic fatigue on The Streets
| 14:17 UK time, Monday, 7 February 2011
Buried near the end of The Streets new album Computers and Blues - released today - is an interesting track called Trying to Kill M.E.
The fulll stop in the middle of 'me' grabbed my attention and a little Googling confirmed my disability radar hunch..
It was fairly well known that Mike Skinner (not even a frontman, he is the band) had epilepsy and indeed has mentioned it in previous lyrics. But now here comes a song about having Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, also known as M.E. or Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.
It includes the kind of lyrics we've come to know and love from the softly spoken Brit rapper cum street poet: "I used to love the night and now I dread my bed," and "Torturous virus get out from my eyelids."
In in January this year, he told how he'd had an episode of the illness back in 2009: "It's not really that interesting - it wasn't severe. I've kind of still got it now. It's a feeling I've missed a meal."
Trying to Kill M.E. is track 12 and sits alongside other songs like: Roof of Your Car, Puzzled by People and We Can Never be Friends.
Comment number 1.
At 7th Feb 2011, mrsfairysparkle wrote:I've missed a meal? Urm, try, I miss my legs, my arms, my life, my nervous system, my temperature control, my diet, my dancing, my career, etc.
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Comment number 2.
At 11th Feb 2011, U14781767 wrote:All this user's posts have been removed.Why?
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Comment number 3.
At 12th Feb 2011, pen-ding wrote:M.E patients are now banned for life from donating blood in this country and many others due to a possible viral cause - and yet still we have no research, no treatment. Good to make a song about it but "feels like you missed a meal?" Are you serious? You were very lucky to be only mildly affected then. Try the 25% who are housebound or bed bound and have been for years, in severe pain. They feel like they missed their lives.
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Comment number 4.
At 26th Mar 2011, squitchtweak wrote:Don't have a go at him for being less severely affected! He still has every right to talk about his condition, particularly when he makes a point of stating it's not severe. There are always people better off, and always people worse off.
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