New years day 1999, at a gig in Derry, Roy Barber (I'd gone up to see Roy Harper but that's another story) played the Bill Withers song "Ain't no Sunshine" and the idea for the ain't no difference "Apathetic Blues" came about. I sat down and wrote it, in the Thatch Bar in Galway, about two weeks later and performed it to the Bill Withers tune a couple of hours later at the "no musical implements please" monthly session in the Crane Bar. I was working on a laughing guitar sound about the same time and when I introduced the tune to the words they seemed to hit it off from the word "ain't".

Apathetic Blues

Ain't no difference now she's gone
'cause I'm gonna carry on
go to work then have a beer
hardly matters she's not here

talk to myself all the time
conversation with me's fine
pour myself a glass of wine
as with my take away I dine

watch TV till two or three
then make a cup of tea for me
so much room in my big bed
stretch my legs and stretch my head

and the weekends are so free
time to spend sometime with me
mow the lawn or maybe not
don't have to say that I forgot

just don't know or just don't care
if she's here or if she's there
now don't you give me any news
I ain't got those apathetic blues

You can call me a recluse
But I don't need no sad excuse
You might say that it's a ruse
But I ain't got those apathetic blues