FAWM: "Wotcha!"

Wotcha!

Liner Notes

#hello-opener #colloquial #audience-participation

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

@lbrewington 6d

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.

@beacon 1w

I just saw this video and they say Wotcha right at the beginning!

@kahlo2013 2w

Wotcha to you! Catchy and sweetly nostalgic! It is time to bring it back! Love the call and response bit. Delightful!

@majordanby 2w

Wotcha! Chas and Dave meets Pete Doherty. Great vocal capturing all that nostalgia of simpler times.

@jeff9 2w

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.

@blindkiwi 2w

Seem to remember wotcha always followed by another word starting with C, but I guess that was a bloke greeting 😂 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. 😎

@guatecoop 2w

It’s really my favorite when you have these singalong songs, as they are always catchy and fun. This one is cool because you’re talking about a culturally specific experience and bit of language. Just a really solid song and I enjoyed it!

@greengrassgirl 2w

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.

@musicsongwriter 2w

Instantly likable song. Catchy and fun. Loving your vocals and playing. Beautiful work.

@gwynjones 2w

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...

@davidtaro 2w

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.

@janeg 2w

What a memorable to teach some of us, including me, a new word and to bring back good memories for others.

@cts 2w

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!

@nahlej381 2w

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 so…human. Perfection. Cheers, wobbie!

@headfirstonlyMod 2w

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!

@beej 2w

Classic wobbie!
You’re right, we do t hear wotcha much these days…!
Love the bridge!!!!!

@wehappyfew 2w

I love your original style of writing and you’ve got a great song 1 here! I remember the ‘wotcha’ days. Love the rhyming here too “ wotcha come on tell me wotcha
betcha betcha wanna wotcha”.

@gordon 2w

Great stuff Wobbie, really good to hear your take on life again. Catchy and nicely produced. More please!

@gammafied 3w

It's a bop! You just have to bob your head along. The story/history is nice and I like the chord progression. Cheers!

@betoMod 3w

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!

@robynmackenzieMod 3w

That chorus is just brilliant. Love that call and response. So much fun!

@writeandwrong 3w

This is so catchy! I was trying to figure out what you were drinking that was congealing, haha! 😂 I’ve never heard of wotcha, so thanks for introducing us to it! Brilliant, creative lines and a chorus that’s fun and really stands out!

@airbagtester 3w

I like how upbeat this is. It makes me think of the Kinks. Love that vocal harmony! This is a super fun song.

@coolparadisoMod 3w

yup I remember it well! I hadn't even realised it was gone. great wobbie observational song as always. wotcha Wobbie!

@bradbrubaker 3w

Great wordplay and excellent use of call and response in the second and third chorus. "won'tcha tell me wotcha?" Haha

@elliet555___ 3w

Wotcha Wobby Wobbittt! Great. Most enjoyable and true!

@jibbidy34 3w

Ok this is INSANELY catchy! Amazing first song this year! Loved it from start to finish. Was already doing a call and response ‘wotcha’ before they came in. Thanks for making it so! Yayyyyyy

@ductapeguyMod 3w

... thicker than when the liquor congeals... Brillant.
That's a beauty eh!

@gm7 3w

Wotcha Wobbie?
Wobbie is on the board...nice to hear ya my buddy!!! I like it!

@wylddandelyon 3w

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.

@br0th3rh00d 3w

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!

@chill4matt 3w

So refined. You have the ability to really make a song come to life. Love it!

@mostlymediocremusic 3w

How can you not smile listening to this. Well done.

@richaaaay 3w

Brilliant Wobbie!!! This put a huge smile on my face. Thank you 😊. Such a feel good beautiful song…

@billwhite51 3w

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"

@beacon 3w

Great writing (as always) and love those internal rhymes, and I learned something! I'll try to remember to greet you this way now!

@youraveragejoe 3w

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?". 😀

Great, heartwarning, performance and a really nice start!