Wotcha!
Liner Notes
Lyrics
as a kid in the 70s in Bedfordshire i always heard a word that now i never seem to hear when friends were meeting this was the greeting wotcha it really seemed to be that it was everywhere but these days i have noticed that it' s pretty rare let's revisit it i'm kinda missing it wotcha
wotcha no one tells me wotcha won'tcha won'tcha tell me wotcha don'tcha don'tcha wanna wotcha wotcha, wotcha. wotcha come on tell me wotcha betcha betcha wanna wotcha gotcha have i gotcha for a wotcha wotcha, wotcha.
and then in the 80s when i left home i would do the right thing and call my mum on the phone we never said hello, just, you know wotcha i am gonna make an effort now to say it more it's a fun word to say, so - not a chore join me if you will - you know the drill wotcha
chorus
the word seems to have gone out of fashion with pie and mash and eels in a Cockney accent that is thicker than when the liquor* congeals
but in fact it has Middle English roots when flutes and lutes played on from "what cheer?"meaning "what is your mood?" well i guess those days are gone
chorus
*For non brits, liquor in this case is not booze, it is a runny green gravy for pie and mash
Comments
Wotcha! Yes I hard relate to losing quirky expressions from my youth to the sands of time. Lovely way to express it. Your writing is always so clever.
Absolutely lovely chorus, naturally. So fun. And all the rhymes throughout are just on point and drive the story on and on. Did I think it would end in flutes and lutes? No, but there it is, love that verse! Asking the listener to join in is very on brand, and the pleas to sing along while subtle are very powerful. The backbeat adds the perfect pacing as well. Thanks for the footnote as well. I'm not sure what the general consensus on green gravy is but it seems to fit well with rest of the words in that verse, but my mind was defiantly going to booze. Lovely.
I just saw this video and they say Wotcha right at the beginning!
Wotcha to you! Catchy and sweetly nostalgic! It is time to bring it back! Love the call and response bit. Delightful!
Wotcha! Chas and Dave meets Pete Doherty. Great vocal capturing all that nostalgia of simpler times.
Wobbie, your songs always make me smile. They shine a light on an aspect of everyday life that sort of sneaks below the radar of folks without your razor sharp eyes and ears. And your sense of humor is unmatched. I just love your work to bits. BTW, your voice sounds terrific on this one.
Seem to remember wotcha always followed by another word starting with C, but I guess that was a bloke greeting đ Bedfordshire is where my wife is from, she showed me around, I loved the bits that weren't Luton. This brought a huge smile to my face Wobbie, looking forward to hearing more. đ
Itâs really my favorite when you have these singalong songs, as they are always catchy and fun. This one is cool because youâre talking about a culturally specific experience and bit of language. Just a really solid song and I enjoyed it!
You have such a unique take on everything. Your songs are one-of-a-kind, and I always learn something, and enjoy the process. Very clever lyrics and a vibrant vibe.
Instantly likable song. Catchy and fun. Loving your vocals and playing. Beautiful work.
This brought a wide smile to my face, as I remember 'Wotcha' as the standard greeting for years but hadn't noticed that so few people still say it...I guess it's been replaced by 'awright?' The wordplay in your song is so clever and a joy to listen to...
Wotcha Wobbie! Goes without saying that I love this. The gentle lilt, the warm guitar and the simply brilliant wordplay. I also love the conversational tone of the verses, and how you flip to pathos at the end. I was half-expecting you to sing that footnote btw.
What a memorable to teach some of us, including me, a new word and to bring back good memories for others.
Now here's what's gonna happen. I'm gonna roll up in the office later today and I'm going to say "Wotcha" to a few folks and they're gonna look at me all kinds of confused. I will have such a sense of satisfaction because my FAWM friend used her incredible musical prowess to make me smile, confuse "them", and provide memories all day long of a tune that will linger for quite some time. Wotcha!
I always miss your voice then I hear it and all is well. Such a solid artist. Your music is always so fun with the perfect blend of sincerity and sarcasm to make the storytelling feel soâŚhuman. Perfection. Cheers, wobbie!
And wotcha to you too, Wobbie. Glad to see you back here! This is a perfect set-opener, saying hello literally and metaphorically at the same time. And it's proper earworm material, too; I just know I'm going to be using 'wotcha!' as a social greeting for the rest of the month at least... Love it!
Classic wobbie! Youâre right, we do t hear wotcha much these daysâŚ! Love the bridge!!!!!
I love your original style of writing and youâve got a great song 1 here! I remember the âwotchaâ days. Love the rhyming here too â wotcha come on tell me wotcha betcha betcha wanna wotchaâ.
Great stuff Wobbie, really good to hear your take on life again. Catchy and nicely produced. More please!
It's a bop! You just have to bob your head along. The story/history is nice and I like the chord progression. Cheers!
Ohhhh, Iove this song! It's so you, with the wordplay in the chorus, the callback, the friendly call for a friendly word! I love it, Den!
That chorus is just brilliant. Love that call and response. So much fun!
This is so catchy! I was trying to figure out what you were drinking that was congealing, haha! đ Iâve never heard of wotcha, so thanks for introducing us to it! Brilliant, creative lines and a chorus thatâs fun and really stands out!
I like how upbeat this is. It makes me think of the Kinks. Love that vocal harmony! This is a super fun song.
yup I remember it well! I hadn't even realised it was gone. great wobbie observational song as always. wotcha Wobbie!
Great wordplay and excellent use of call and response in the second and third chorus. "won'tcha tell me wotcha?" Haha
Wotcha Wobby Wobbittt! Great. Most enjoyable and true!
Ok this is INSANELY catchy! Amazing first song this year! Loved it from start to finish. Was already doing a call and response âwotchaâ before they came in. Thanks for making it so! Yayyyyyy
... thicker than when the liquor congeals... Brillant. That's a beauty eh!
Wotcha Wobbie? Wobbie is on the board...nice to hear ya my buddy!!! I like it!
Oooh, nice! I like the echoes, and the whole thing really. If this is a public post, I have a poet and language nerd friend I would like to share it with. Thanks for the etymology and the note on British use of words.
Aw! Awesome! Decent tune, full of warmth! You are very talented. Collides with one of my special interests too: I have been thinking about wotcha along with other variants of 'How are you' that are variously a question or a greeting! The regional variation has flattened. You don't hear 'How do!' very often in my bit of yorskhire except a bit ironically. Ay up is doing a bit better, broader base across the east midlands and yorkshire and probably elsewhere. Alreet/a'reet used interchangeably. It is good to know a bit more of the etymology of wotcha! I knew it a variant of this sort of questioning greeting. Generally to my autistic puzzling seems it is functionally ambiguous, with a lot of clues in context: if there's anything immediately important to say, or you think there is, it's an opening but it's basically a greeting to answer affably or not, before you get into deciding what you have to tell each other and what the other person wants to hear. It's good that way but also potentially confusing. Getting back away from 'how are you' might help though!
So refined. You have the ability to really make a song come to life. Love it!
How can you not smile listening to this. Well done.
Brilliant Wobbie!!! This put a huge smile on my face. Thank you đ. Such a feel good beautiful songâŚ
you are in top form here, wobbie. i would love to be in the room with everybody stumbling over their words while singing along with that fantastic chorus. for a light bit of fun, this song imparts a lot of information, from the english use of the word liquor to the etymology of your title.
we also had a lot of greeting words and phrases that have fallen out of use, my favorite being "what it is"
Great writing (as always) and love those internal rhymes, and I learned something! I'll try to remember to greet you this way now!
This song is so lovely, and it made me smile that you took the time to share the ttymology of the word! I love to do that myself. :)
Where I grew up in the the midwest of the USA, people tended to conjoin the words "What are you" into something like "Whatcha", i.e. "Whatcha doing on Saturday?". đ
Great, heartwarning, performance and a really nice start!
Okay, this one is going to be my last listen for tonight, and maybe the whole FAWM season. I'm gonna start saying WOTCHA...There's this tender nostalgic feeling like in the Kinks song Come Dancing. Wait, really, What Cheer? Not just a contraction of what you like bet you, or is it bet cheer or bed cheer. So sleepy punchy, but glad to have been here and heard you. Talk soonish!