Lyrics have a positive take on life

TALENTED songwriters from a Walsall hospice attended a special performance by secondary school pupils of a rock musical charting their fight against a debilitating condition.

Four youngsters who attend Acorns Children's Hospice, in Walstead Road, watched students from Joseph Leckie Community Technology College perform their musical Life is a Game,– assisted by members of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

All four suffer from muscular dystrophy but aided by Harvey Brough, from Harvey and the Wallbangers, they wanted to dispel the myth that people suffering from serious conditions cannot live life to the full and fulfil their aspirations.

Bradley Bates, a wheelchair footballer from Willenhall, based his song lyrics on life being fun, despite suffering a disability.

"It's very exciting to come to an event like this and see people perform something that started off as ideas in your head," the 11-year-old said.

The sporting theme was continued by Garry Leahy, from Lozells in Birmingham, who wanted to capture the thrills of watching football.

"Songwriting is a new and completely different experience for me," the 24-year-old Aston Villa fan said.

"I enjoyed it very much and must admit that I found it a little strange to see other people singing what I had written, rather than singing it myself. But I had a great time."

Mithun Soul, from Great Barr, wanted to convey his passion for motor cars in his lyrics.

"Like a lot of young people I often dream about cars," he said. "That's why I decided to write a song about a Ferrari, which is the car I'd buy if I won the lottery. It feels very good indeed to hear my song performed at a venue like this."

Brummie Gurdeep Kainth said visiting the CBSO Centre and watching his songs being performed was "tremendous".

"I would love to be up on the stage performing the songs myself," the 18-year-old said.

"But I'm not a very good singer, so I suppose it's best for me to stick to songwriting and let the good singers do it justice."

A spokesperson for the CBSO said it was "delighted" to be part of such a collaboration, while the students from Joseph Leckie said it was great for them to work with top professional musicians.