Clive Dunn would appear to have forged an entire career out of playing doddery old men, the most famous being Corporal Jack Jones from television sit com Dad's Army. True to form, Dunn simply carried his Corporal voice and persona across from show to single to perform this to the extent you expect him to break into 'They don't like it up em'' at every line. Not that the 'Grandad' in this song would be half as animated or enthusiastic as Jones was on parade - this one is a half senile old fool, scared of his own shadow, confused by 'Telephones and talking things' with one eye stuck firmly in the past while the other gazes wistfully at his imminent demise ('Now my days are gone'). Around him, a gaggle of schoolkids tell him he's 'lovely', presumably because he's too useless to do anything else. It's not exactly a cheery picture of old age and it's made slightly disturbing by the fact that Dunn was only 50 when he recorded it.
What's more disturbing is that behind it were uber session man Herbie Flowers and The Creation's Kenny ('Makin' Time', 'Painter Man') Pickett, though I'd like to think that not too much midnight oil was burned in its writing and that tongues were never that far from cheeks. Dunn's presence helps dilute the wailing of the brats and make this slightly more palatable than 1980's 'There's No One Quite Like Grandma', but not by much. But perhaps the most disturbing thing of all is how serious Dunn seems to be taking it all (serious enough to go on to record an entire album of this half baked nostalgic whimsy anyway), whereas a few shouts of 'Don't panic!' and that funny noise Jones used to make when he got excited would have made it more palatable still.
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