In 1996 I bought an old 1981 Leyland Cub seven meter long mini coach that used to do service as a handicapped bus for the City of Hackney in the U.K. I had won “European Outdoor Performer of the Year” in 1995 for my comedy show "Space Commander” and had huge 3 year tour lined up as a result of the win. It was my dream come true. Global recognition for something I made, by myself. It seemed to be prudent to save on rent and live in the bus full time while I was out doing gigs as a “flying super hero crime fighter” and getting paid, in cash.

Every week I would do my gigs and then spend a portion of the money earned fixing the bus up, making it liveable, replacing parts and generally just going everywhere and seeing everything I could. I put a shower and toilet in it. I had an electric generator and a 100 litre water tank. My girlfriend at the time needed female creature comforts, so I accommodated her and for 10 years we booted around generally just partying every where.

I removed the “governor” on the gas pedal so the bus would go faster. With the governor on it would go no faster than 80 kph. With the governor off it became a "sports bus" and would go a lightning quick 110 kph, which was great until I crushed almost every gear in the transmission. Of course I would replace the parts, because they were still available and the bus was my home.

In 2005 the engine finally had had enough of my abuse and seized. It sat around in a mechanic’s yard waiting for parts that were really hard to find by that point. The bus was over 20 years old and the company that made it, Leyland, had been bought by DAF. DAF was slowly discontinuing the parts available. It is an old school Diesel engine, no electric parts except for the starter and lights. No computers to run the engine. I can put used french fry oil in it to make it go, so I decided that I would do what I could to rebuild the engine.

In 2009 and €10,000 later, the bus was ready. A totally reconditioned engine, no oil leaks and a refurbished electrical system to make sure it passed it’s final road worthy exam as an “Old timer” bus that would never need to be registered again. I would also get a massive reduction my annual insurance costs.

After I had it repaired, it sat in storage because the 2008 financial collapse reduced the number of gigs I could get in a summer. The economy was toast and I had to start looking for on line work as a digital video designer. In the 13 years since I had purchased the bus, fuel had gone form 35 cents a litres to 1.35 Euros a litre. It was cheaper to take the train to the odd gigs I could get. I got on with my life, living in an apartment, sitting at a computer and losing money to the ever increasing costs of the property and computer hardware paradigm.

Then, in 2017 after getting married and having a kid and having a whole range of professional and personal challenges I could not recover from, (see liner notes for the song "Duck and Weave") I took the bus out of storage to save our lives.

After 10 years being stationary I was delighted to see that the battery still had a minor charge! I couldn't work that out at all. It hadn't been touched. There was just enough power to turn over the engine and, vrooom, she started like a dream.
We took to the road to find a new life.

This song is about the ecstasy and euphoria I felt when I got back in the driver's seat and barrelled down the hi way at 85 kph with my wife and child in the back while we figured out where to live next and how to avoid the exceptionally high rent that seemed to dominate the entire planet.