Dear Sleep.....

It's been so long since we were last together, uninterrupted. Far too long since I used to spend all night, every night, wrapped in your warm embrace. I miss you more than can be said. Life is so hard without you, and my every waking moment is filled with wondering if I will ever see you again.

I was not naive. I knew there would be changes, that our relationship would suffer when they came along. But I truly believed that once they got to know you, they would love you as I do, and we could all live together in peace and harmony. How was I to know that they would shun your company for so long, and drive such a wedge between us?

I took you for granted, I realise that now. All those years when you were right there, waiting for me whenever I needed you, so reliable. If I had known then how things would turn out, I would have held on tighter, I would have made sure I appreciated every single moment I spent with you, and I would have woken each morning knowing exactly how lucky I was to have had you.

Oh, but how could you be so cruel? You never let my hopes die, never let me resign myself to life without you. Just when I think all is lost, you come back to me for one, sweet, stolen night, and it is as if we have never been apart. But then, once more, you are gone from me, and the next night is so hard to bear, knowing what a fool I am for daring to dream that I could have you back in my life.

And yet, fool that I am, I still believe that, one day, you will return. That one day, all will be as it once was, and that you will never desert me again. I can only hope that day comes soon, and when it does, I promise that I will cherish every moment that we share.

Yours yearningly

Bad Mammy

And The Award Goes To....

Serious muso journalist/interviewer-type bod: So, I am here with Bad Mammy, fresh from celebrating her first Ivor Novello award. How does it feel to win such a prestigious accolade?

Bad Mammy: It feels wonderful, serious muso jouranlist/interviewer-type bod. When we create music, we want to be heard, so to know that this song has struck a chord with so many people is really humbling.

SMJB: Can you tell us about the creative process behind this most extraordinary work, "Mashed Potato Baby"?

BM: Well, it was really a very organic thing, born, as so many things are, out of a very everyday situation.

SMJB: The best art usually is

BM: I agree. Anyway, I was bathing my children one night, and feeling very at peace with the world, and feeling very, connected to these little people, you know? And I just looked at The Littl'un and thought "You are COVERED in mashed potato"

SMJB: Which, of course, became the first line of the song .

BM: Yes. And the second. And, indeed, the third. And the reaction that it received was just so visceral. It was really inspiring, and I knew that I just had to share this song with the world.

SMJB: And I think, even just that first part of it would have been an instant hit. But it's what happened next that made it such a revolutionary concept...

BM: And again, it was a very organic process, the collaboration. I really owe this award to my elder daughter, the song literally wouldn't have existed without her. The improvisational quality of the fourth line, where instead of "Mashed Potato Baby", we have "Mashed Potato Teddy", or "Mashed Potato Mammy", or "Mashed Potato Toothbrush", comes completely from her just interacting with her environment, and her completely instinctual response to the things she sees.

SMJB: And that's really what makes the song so special. Are we going to see great things from her in the future?

BM: Oh definitely. Her lyricism is really astonishing for one so young. She has a way of expressing herself in such a way that it really makes you think, and wonder what deeper message she's trying to convey. Right now, she's developing set of re-workings of "Row, row, row your boat", which includes the lyric "Rock, rock, rock your boat/ Gently down the stream/ If you see a mouse/ Tapping on the wall". She blows my mind.

SMJB: Like mother, like daughter, clearly. Well, I think we'll all be keeping an eye out for her in the future. Thank you, Bad Mammy, and congratulations on getting the recognition you deserve for your musical efforts.

BM: It's been my pleasure, Serious Muso Journalist/Interviewer-type bod.