"Pedophile" (Billy's spelling) is a pivotal track in the Childish canon as, despite being an instrumental, it was one of his first to explicitly address the sexual abuse he experienced in his youth. In the early 90s, struggling to come to terms with painful, long buried childhood memories, Billy bravely began to address his molestation in his writing, often in uncomfortably frank lyrical detail. His first novel, 1996's unflinching My Fault, grapples with these issues head-on, & though it's deeply unpleasant in places I have to admit that I liked it a lot.
"Pedophile" is, understandably, a very angry track, the absence of an accusatory lyric redressed by the band's searing (Link Way-inspired) performance & the sleeve photograph of the family "friend" who assaulted him. Now a dedicated Buddhist, Billy claims to have since forgiven his abuser, but this track still smoulders with a fearsome, barely contained hatred, 20 years later. The b-side, the raucous "No Such Number", is a rallying cry against the corrupt & the mediocre, as are many of Billy's finest songs. The single was released in September 1992 as an installment of the Clawfist's subscriber-only 7" Singles Club in an edition of 1400 copies, all long gone.
N.B. More rare Childish to follow shortly.
Thanks for uploading this. Not heard it in a long while.
ReplyDeleteDitto, re: Girl From '62 7" - I never managed to find that one at the time, good to finally hear it...
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