Nick Currie (born February 11, 1960 in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, UK)… Read Full Bio ↴Nick Currie (born February 11, 1960 in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, UK), more popularly known under the artist name Momus (after the Greek god of mockery), is a songwriter, writer, blogger and artist. Most of his songs are self-referential or postmodern.

For more than twenty years he has been releasing, to only marginal commercial and critical success, playful and transgressive albums on labels in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Japan. In his lyrics and his other writing he makes seemingly random use of decontextualized pieces of continental (mostly French) philosophy, and has built up a personal world he says is "dominated by values like diversity, orientalism, and a respect for otherness." He is also known in certain circles outside the U.S. as a producer. He is fascinated by identity, Japan, the avant-garde, time travel and sex. Live Momus shows are rare but when he does perform he often sings the crowd favourite 'maf' from the Stars Forever LP.
He wears a patch over his right eye because he lost the use of it after contracting acanthamoeba keratitis from a contact lens case washed with Greek tap water.

Nick Currie currently resides in Osaka, Japan.

Minty Fresh
Momus Lyrics

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When that I was but a little tiny boy
With a heigh ho the wind and the rain
Minty Fresh was my only joy
For the rain it rained every day
Papas Fritas, The Cardigans, Komeda
The Legendary Jim Ruiz Group
Anthony and Jim gave me hours of pleasure
With their record label Minty Fresh

A mortal dare not look upon
The creatures of the night
The goblin foul, the horned toad
The vicious little sprite

Ariel is the name I bear
On the bat black night I fly
I'll have music wherever I go
Till Phoebus 'gins a rise
The gods, my friends, smile down on us
The wheel of fortune turns
We shall be spared the plague and the clap
When the fire of London burns

We see the skull beneath the skin
The eldritch empty eyes
And if we let the music stop
We'd soon be paralysed

But with bells on our fingers
And bells on our toes
We'll ring a tune when we mop and mow
Heigh ho the wind and the rain
Let us play these disks again and again
The Sugarplastic, Melony
Doctor Kosmos, Veruca Salt
The Orange Peels, Kahimi Karie
The Aluminum Group and all

We fear the monsters of the night
The hump-backed whale, the Caliban brute
We stand in awe where they stand tall
The flibbertigibbet and the rawhead spook

When I was but a little tiny boy
Green grow the rushes o
Where the bee sucked there sucked I
In a parsnip's bell I'd lie
Ring in the summer, boys, bring in the wheat
Let us laugh in the face of death

We'll dance and feast all night tonight
To the sounds of Minty Fresh

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of "Minty Fresh" by Momus are a mix of childhood memories, music appreciation, and mythical creatures. Momus starts by reminiscing about his early days as a boy with the wind and the rain being his constant companion happy only when he listened to music. The mention of music records by Papas Fritas, The Cardigans, Komeda, and The Legendary Jim Ruiz Group brings back memories that provided him with "hours of pleasure," all released under the record label Minty Fresh.

The mention of creatures of the night, goblin foul, horned toad, and vicious little sprite, sets the tone for the rest of the song. Momus, as Ariel, the black bat who flies on bat's wings and seeks music wherever he goes, is not afraid of these creatures. He believes the gods will smile down on them and spare them from the plague and the clap when the fire of London burns. However, he realizes that we see the skull beneath the skin, and if music were to stop, we'd be paralyzed.

With bells on the fingers and toes, Momus promises to keep the music playing. He mentions Minty Fresh again, along with other bands like The Sugarplastic, Melony, Doctor Kosmos, Veruca Salt, The Orange Peels, Kahimi Karie, and The Aluminum Group, and all he wants is to listen to music again and again. The song ends with a mix of childhood songs like Green Grow the Rushes O, mentions of mythical creatures like the flibbertigibbet and the rawhead spook, and finally lands on a note to "laugh in the face of death," dance, and feast all night to the sounds of Minty Fresh.

Minty FreshMomus Lyrics

Aldo Charles

on Morality Is Vanity

Minty Fresh
Momus Lyrics