GETTIN' OLD AIN'T EASY: a Finnish, French, American music video

Billy The Cat - "Gettin' Old Ain's Easy" (2013)

Eki and I just finished the edit on "Gettin' Old Ain't Easy." We both like it a lot. And in two weeks it's had over 500 hits. A drop in the Youtube ocean but still... Partly it has to do with Baptiste Daleman, the singer/composer/guitarist who composed the music, performed and recorded the song (I wrote the lyrics). Baptiste has a following, especially in France. Although now he's got a gig in the UK - London and Brighton. He started out as my guitar teacher. But we soon got tired of him trying to teach how to change chords and instead started writing tunes after I played "A Tiny Ton of Trouble" - a music video that Eki and I did last year.  He asked me to write something for him.

Our first song was "Dating Mating & Hating after 30."  I thought the lyrics were Cole Porter-ish but being 29 and romantic Baptiste thought they were cynical. So we left that one and I wrote "Gettin' Old Ain't Easy" A sweet sentimental take on old age that has a sad beginning and a happy end. It also has kids and cats (one of whom is Billy) which people love to see in videos.

When I was in the US - the Wild West - I did the filming. Lots of it. But then I decided to re-shoot a scene because I didn't like the t-shirt the motorcycle rider was wearing. Big mistake. We took the new shots and I forgot to turn the camera off. Eki told to look at the footage before we met to pick out the scenes I liked best. Big surprise. 25 minutes of the fan in my living room going round and round. I decided not to tell Eki until he saw the rest of the tape. When he took a look he said, "Mmmmm."  Not a promising beginning. But then he went to work and I was quiet. Never once did he have to say, "It's ren-der-ng." 

Q. Did Billy the cat find a good home?

A. Yes. A fantastic home with an adorable couple who have two other sweet (female) cats who love him to pieces and two dogs, one who lets Billy cuddle up to him when the weather gets cold. They send me photos and I still miss him.

Next month: A New Project