Bill Nickson ‘What To Say’

Today we awoke to the news that Koko the gorilla has died at the ripe old age of 46. For those of you that aren’t familiar with her, she shot to fame following numerous documentaries and National Geographic covers after she was successfully taught sign language by Dr. Francine Patterson. Having met celebrities ranging from Robin Williams to Betty White, she was notorious for her relationship with kitten All-Ball (who she named herself), and her sensitive and devastating reaction to the kitten’s death by traffic accident. To an animal lover and language geek like myself, Koko was absolutely fascinating, both for her command of sign language and her apparent capacity for empathy, something that has often been cited as a reason for great ape’s to be awarded legal ‘personhood’ (and therefore be protected from experimentation, with murder and abuse being punished as equally as they would be for human cases). If you too are feeling a little reflective following the sad news, I have the perfect song for you to listen to; ‘What To Say’ by twenty-two year old singer songwriter Bill Nickson. Starting out with laid back vocals and simple acoustic guitar, the track heads into fuzzy lo-fi territory with the help of his new live band, with quirky keyboard melodies adding a little playfulness to the otherwise downcast proceedings. Enjoy.