Ian Broudie still hasn’t written a song he is “totally happy” with.
The Lightning Seeds frontman has enjoyed a long and successful career and has tried to stop worrying it will all come to an end, because there’s always something that continues to spur him on.
He told Big Issue magazine: “It never ends, but sometimes you worry it will.
“So I’d tell my younger self not to worry that you won’t think of another song or write another lyric or want to play another gig.
“I still haven’t quite made the record I have always been trying to.
“And I’m still trying to write a song that I will be totally happy with. So in a way everything’s changed and nothing’s changed.
“But you’re a lucky b******, that’s what I’d say to my younger self. I have been doing what I love since I was 16.”
The 66-year-old musician is now joined in his band by son Riley and he admitted having the guitarist on board has given the group a “new chapter”.
He said: “To be working with him and in each other’s lives that much is a very beautiful thing for me.
“Being with him as he experiences big highs like playing Glastonbury last year has been very special.
“I’d lost focus on The Lightning Seeds, but having Riley involved has given us a new chapter.”
Lightning Seeds are now best known for their England football song ‘Three Lions’ – for which Ian teamed up with comedians David Baddiel and Frank Skinner – and while Ian wishes his legacy was another of the group’s tracks, he also finds the sporting anthem an appropriate association.
He explained: “It’s quite fitting that I will be remembered for ‘Three Lions’.
“When I was in Big in Japan, I had this instrumental track that went on an album called ‘Street to Street’ – which was a very early Liverpool indie compilation – and it was called ‘Match of the Day’ because it didn’t have a title but I figured it would sound good on ‘Match of the Day’.
“Years later, my song ‘Life of Riley’ – which is written about my son Riley – was suddenly on ‘Match of the Day’ and being played all the time.
“So some ways, it’s probably fitting that a football song, ‘Three Lions’, is the song I will be remembered for.
“But I’d rather be remembered for ‘Pure’.”