Heckstall-Smith was born Richard Malden Heckstall-Smith in Ludlow, England (his father then being headmaster of the local Grammar School), and brought up in Knighton, Wales. He learned to play piano, clarinet and alto saxophone in childhood. After refusing a second term at a York boarding school, he went to Gordonstoun, where his schoolmaster father, Hugh, had taken a job. Hugh soon fell out with the autocratic Kurt Hahn and the family retreated to Dartington.
Heckstall-Smith completed his education at the Foxhole school before reading agriculture – and co-leading the university jazz band – at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, from 1953. Aged 15, he had taken up the soprano sax while at Foxhole, captivated by the sound of Sidney Bechet. Then the smokiness of Lester Young's sound caught him, and the music of tenor saxist Wardell Gray, a major early bebop musician.
Heckstall-Smith was an active member of the London jazz scene from the late 1950s. He joined Blues Incorporated, Alexis Korner's groundbreaking blues group, in 1962. The following year, he was a founding member of that band's breakaway unit, the Graham Bond Organisation; the lineup also included two future members of the blues-rock supergroup Cream: bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker.
In 1967, Heckstall-Smith became a member of keyboardist-vocalist John Mayall's prominent group the Bluesbreakers. That jazz-skewed edition of the band, which also included drummer Jon Hiseman and future Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor, released the album Bare Wires in 1968.
From 1968 to 1970, Heckstall-Smith and Hiseman were the key creative members of the pioneering UK jazz-rock band Colosseum. The act was a showcase for the saxophonist's writing and his instrumental virtuosity; like American saxophonist Rahsaan Roland Kirk, he could blow two saxophones simultaneously.
After exiting Colosseum, Heckstall-Smith fronted several other fusion units, including Manchild, Big Chief, Tough Tenors, Mainsqueeze and DHSS. He participated in a 1990s reunion of the original Colosseum lineup and played the hard-working Hamburg Blues Band. In 2001 he cut the all-star project "Blues and Beyond", which reunited him with Mayall, Bruce, Taylor and ex-Mayall and Fleetwood Mac guitarist Peter Green.
Same Old Thing
Dick Heckstall-Smith Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
With the same old thing
There's a million ways of dying
From the same old thing
Taking the lonely by surprise
Hating, frightening, baiting, darkening
The world around me you see
It's the same old thing
That no-one wins
And then I'm locked in
With the same old thing
Fighting on at my command
All your monkeys with no fur
Riding bareback on the bodies of your friends
Bringing hunchbacks to the playtime of their ends
I'm the ruthless opponent of all you can do
And there's no-one who will help you
There's no crown of thorns for a king
No-one to pin your faith in
Finding ways to torment you
With the same old thing
A thousand ways of dying
From the same old thing
Taking them by surprise
Hating, frightening, baiting, darkening
The world around me you see
It's the same old thing
Sometimes I see in a flash of red
That no-one wins until they're dead
That we're all locked in
We're all locked in with the same old thing
The lyrics to Dick Heckstall-Smith's "Same Old Thing" are poignant and insightful, highlighting the endless cycle of pain and suffering that humanity can often find itself trapped in. The repeated phrase "same old thing" emphasizes the monotony of this cycle, and the singer seems to be acutely aware of the futility of attempting to break free from it. The mention of finding "new ways to daunt you / with the same old thing" is particularly interesting, hinting at the fact that while we may try to innovate or find new solutions, we often end up repeating the same mistakes and patterns of behavior.
The lyrics also touch on themes of power and oppression, with lines like "fighting on at my command / all your monkeys with no fur" painting a picture of a tyrannical ruler or figurehead manipulating the masses for their own benefit. The idea of being "locked in" with the same old thing suggests that despite our best efforts to change things, we are ultimately powerless in the face of these oppressive forces.
Overall, the lyrics to "Same Old Thing" are both bleak and thought-provoking, encouraging the listener to reflect on the cyclical nature of life and the challenges we all face in attempting to break free from our predetermined fates.
Line by Line Meaning
Finding new ways to daunt you
With the same old thing
I am constantly trying to intimidate you, but I'm using the same tactics over and over again.
There's a million ways of dying
From the same old thing
My repetitive and tiresome coercion attempts can still have fatal consequences.
Taking the lonely by surprise
Hating, frightening, baiting, darkening
The world around me you see
It's the same old thing
With my unoriginal ways of causing turmoil, I can easily alarm vulnerable people and darken the environment around me.
Sometimes I see in a flash of blue
That no-one wins
And then I'm locked in
With the same old thing
Occasionally, I realize that this behavior leads nowhere, but I find myself trapped in this same pattern of behavior.
Fighting on at my command
All your monkeys with no fur
Riding bareback on the bodies of your friends
Bringing hunchbacks to the playtime of their ends
I'm the ruthless opponent of all you can do
And there's no-one who will help you
There's no crown of thorns for a king
No-one to pin your faith in
I enjoy having total control over others, no matter how cruel or grotesque my actions become. You are on your own and there is no one who is able to protect you or stop me.
Finding ways to torment you
With the same old thing
A thousand ways of dying
From the same old thing
Taking them by surprise
Hating, frightening, baiting, darkening
The world around me you see
It's the same old thing
Despite the monotony, I will continue to innovate this punishment and instill terror, misery, and oppression because I'm too stubborn to look for other alternatives.
Sometimes I see in a flash of red
That no-one wins until they're dead
That we're all locked in
We're all locked in with the same old thing
I realize that this vicious cycle of oppression won't cease until the ultimate end since we're all going through the same fate.
Contributed by Dylan H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.