Happy 81st Birthday, Ivor Cutler<\/b>, Scotland’s living National Treasure. He has been broadcasting poignantly odd songs and stories since the late 1950s.<\/p>\n
I went to school in the same area of Glasgow where Ivor grew up. Indeed, we’re cursed with the same accent; whenever I read out loud, I sound just like him.<\/p>\n
When I lived in Scotland, I saw him perform live several times. I have a signed copy of “Life in a Scotch Sitting Room, Vol. 2” that I picked up in Foyles<\/a> in London. It seems he randomly signs his books on the shelves there.<\/p>\n Ivor Cutler doesn’t like people quoting his work. But few people outside the UK know his work, so in order to let you know what he’s about, here’s A Real Man<\/em>, from his 1999 book When I was 12 I wanted to be a real man\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u201d an old man with a beard, sitting at a table with a huge book full of wisdom. And what did society hold up to me for my admiration? A golfer, a boxer, a man who ran quickly; a soldier, a lawyer, a tycoon; a motorist, a pop star; a footballer. Into what kind of madhouse had I been born? And what have I become? A child, witlessly pouring out whatever enters my head. I am a madman and people gather to listen to me make a fool of myself. I am not a role model. This is my protection and security. I still long for the table and the book, the smell of an old man and an old book; the afternoon light fading.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n If you want to hear what he sounds like, here is an MP3 recording of Ivor Cutler reciting A Real Man<\/em> from a 1997 radio broadcast:<\/p>\nSouth American Bookworms<\/q> (Arc Publications<\/a>, ISBN 1-900072-35-1):<\/p>\n
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A Real Man<\/h3>\n