I must say that this is the beatliest song I've heard this year and the Jamped up guitar Stlams are perfection.

This is so cool. Very minimal, yet has all of these interesting things going on. Love the trombone and background vocals, light percussion, piano, etc. Your voice sounds great as well. Fun song. Great way to kick of FAWM!

My inner Charles Boyer is in a smoky club, sitting on a stool with an elbow on the bar, a half empty tumbler of scotch in front of him, exhaling from his cigarette while he eyes roll skyward and he mumbles, "Ah....l'amour!"

So good! Psychedelic Furs meets The Kinks. Love the lyrics, vocal delivery and all of the wonderful instrumentation.

Nearly falling in the street swaying back and forth to this one. That's a fun progression and melody, but what stands out most for me is the arrangement. Oodles of fun!

Few can do idiotic as well as you. Truly well crafted lyrics as expected, and those typical surprises in the arrangement. And tweaking the key or whatever it is you do going into the "egg part".

your powers of stretching face muscles and crumpling brain tissue through the arrangement of words and sounds are dependable as ever. fun! have a good one

I think I know both the narrator and the subject. In fact, I may have met them both several times. The delightful absurdity of the growing instrumentation is text-painting: I question your choices but I cannot look away.

but you won't dump him arrangement and delivery is BRILL enjoyed this a lot

Every new line is an unexpected reward - the rhymes (and consonance) that get answered, the tongue-in-cheek subversion of cliches in previous lines, the subtle register shifts (I don't know if anyone has heretofore been described as both manky and a cad), the winks and nods of the tuba and electric guitar - and it's bloody hard to get either of those things to be subtle.

It's never not a joy to hear one of your songs, but this one was even more not non-joyous than most.

Loved the little moments when the melody suddenly jumps up, like tiny balloons floating off into the sky. The lyrics are gloriously wry and the unexpected power chords totally cracked me up! Also, a waltz + tuba will get me on board every single time. Hooray!

My first listen for 2026 and I love it! Great to hear you again 😊 Some fruity twists and turns with the progression and melody that I really appreciated. Loads of fun!

Lovely to hear you again! "Start off strong, tuba on the first song" as the famous saying goes. Lot's of nice touches here, particularly like the little bursts of thrashy guitar in the final verse. In my head the first few words of "I'm in love with a terrible guy" almost sound like the melody of Can't Help Falling in Love (maybe intentional?) but they veer off course enough that I might just be imagining it.

I just went through all ten phases of laughter. 😄

I always check out your stuff first when I'm doing FAWM. Never disappoints! Love your way with words and phrasing and the quirky storytelling. And of course that Voice! And all the little arrangement details that stick out on a second listen. The tuba sits perfectly with the vibe of this track, as does the "oohs and yeyeye:s" and the unexpected electric guitar bursts towards the end. Reminds me a bit of Robyn Hitchcock. Like some weird reverse take on "Beautiful Girl"

when the horns came in i died.....

I love how the melody keeps reaching and stretching and finding new handholds! A timeless theme and it sounds timeless too. The exaggerated waltz tempo (and of course the tuba) keep things light :D

Not sure if this is what you had in mind, but here's the story I had in my head as I was listening to it:

He's a new act at the musical hall. Slender, impeccably dressed, hair parted perfectly down the middle. Rosy cheeks and rosy lips. The crowd jostles a little. He starts to sing. A song about a sad love affair with a despicable man. Certain men in the audience swoon, while others sit with their mouths agape. The women giggle, but by the end, all have been caught up in his sad story of bad choices. There's a slight pause as he finishes, but then the crowd erupts in applause. He smiles, and takes a bow.

Maybe this came to mind as I had just watched a show featuring Oscar Wilde.☺️ Wonderful as always, Mike!

Soooooooo glad to see you back Mike! This song hits me at so many levels. I love the tuba, and I think a lot of us can relate to falling for someone we shouldn't. Brilliant.

2026: the year of the tuba. It is so good to hear you again. I feel like this is the sister song to Mr. Smooth from all those years ago. The electric guitar blasts are perfectly timed, and you are in very fine voice, indeed. Thank you, and may all our dreams be sufficiently small.

This could be one of Vivian Stanshalls greatest. What fun!

Delightful! Sweet and charming, love the production--the tuba, those little electric guitar hits, the moody chord changes. Happy Feb, nice to hear your voice again!

Mike Debenham and tuba, a must listen. So good to hear you again, this was a real fun listen! no one does this stuff better. great turnaround! loved it mate

Aha, hilarious,made me giggle all the way through... thank you so much Mike, what a delight to hear you again and to be back in the warm arms of FAWM.... yayyyyyyyyyyyyy...

Congratulations, this is the first song to make me literally throw my head back laughing this year. The lyrics are simply perfection, as is all the instrumentation. I'm obsessed <3

Duuuude, this is brilliant! Love the wonky waltzness of it, and that lends itself so well to the quirky arrangement choices (tuba/trombone is perfect for this). But also it's a really sweet wee melody and I'll likely be singing this to myself the rest of the afternoon now! Smashing work.

those power chords... 😂 Great fun. Big smile on my face now and I got to bust your #1 2026 Fawm song