Endeavouring to reach the plateau of moving poetic prose my brother Ian produces in song lyrics, at the weekend I asked my younger sibling what his secret was.

Misunderstanding to what I was alluding, Ian candidly responded his guilty secret was finding animated dog Scooby Doo adorable. Not wishing to dwell on this revelation, yours truly clarified I was referring to his secret for creating powerfully thought provoking and melancholic song words.

His locutions tugging at the reader’s heart strings, steering the reader away from hasty dichotic thought and deed. Instead encouraging a more dialectical approach to their thinking.

IC Strachan not as prolific a writer (output wise) as his elder sibling. Yet, unlike his bro, Ian’s sonnets contain prose which cleverly challenge bookworms to unpick its enigmatic plot line. This literary approach a great deal more erudite than the knockabout whimsy produced by GJ Strachan in essay.

On gaining an understanding I was seeking to pick his brains, endeavouring to develop into a more versatile writer, he assured me there was no secret. Relaying his creative style was a gift from God for his 5th birthday. A bequeathment which he appreciated significantly more than M&S vouchers, which the Almighty’d gifted for his 6th birthday.

My sibling going on to advocate “Give penning song lyrics a go, Gaz…… It’ll give you a fresh approach to writing and remove you from the blogging comfort zone you reside.”

Encouraged by these brotherly words to the wise, I afforded myself a half hour’s solitude to explore if I bore similar creative wherewithal, mimicking my brother’s cryptic wordsmith style.

After around thirty minutes I rejoined my brother to ‘perform’ the song I’d written, which goes by the work in progress title of ‘Crows From The East’. A little ditty sang to my brother to the tune of Edelweiss from musical The Sound of Music.

As our kid sitting on the sofa, intrigued as to what his erratic brother had created, it was with a mixture of pride and trepidation I began warbling the lyrics:-

“Crows of the east.

Crows of the east.

Every morning I see thee.

Crows of the east.

Crows of the east.

You look happy to see me……”

It was at this juncture of my refrain that our Ian started laughing, prior to interjecting “That’s not an original song, Gaz!….. Your merely singing Edelweiss but substituting the word edelweiss with crows of the east!”

“It’s hardly plagiarism though, E……. After all, I’ve adapted the lyric to say how happy I am to view the crows of the east, just like Christopher Plummer was to see edelweiss upon Alpine hills……. It still has a freshness.” I argued; hurt at no positive acknowledgement for my performed art.”

“Well, it’s absolutely crap, Gaz!” Ian chuntered at me with broad grin enveloping his visage.

“I could sing you the other song I’ve written in the last 30 minutes, or so.” I suggested while endeavouring to remain positive after the original’s setback.

“What’s that called?” Ian tentatively inquired.

“Crows of the west.” came my response.

“Is that a song where you replace the word edelweiss with words crows of the west?” Ian queried.

“Errrrrr, yes.” I replied sheepishly.

“So basically it’s the same as your other song, just with west replacing the word east?” Ian questioned rhetorically, with exasperation.

“Errrrr, yes.” I again responded sheepishly.

“Well I’m not interested in hearing it then, Gaz!” I was told firmly.

Irked I informed our kid “You’re a patronising get, Ian!”

Upon him grinning back at me knowingly, I vowed to expose his Scooby Doo fetish…… So now you know. Pass it on!