The Captain of The 1964 Top of The Form Team
Carol Ann Duffy
Note to pupils: This is a summary of what we discussed in class. It is not a detailed
analysis of the whole poem- just main points. Your annotated version of the poem will
have more detail, and you must read over it again and again, to see what else you can
add.
This poem is taken from the collection “Mean Time”. According to critics “the bleakest”
of her collections.
First, think of the connotations of the title of the collection.
“Mean Time”- could be a malevolent personification of time- time as a negative force
Could also mean “average” (the average of different times)
“In the meantime”- waiting for something more significant to happen
“Greenwich Mean Time”- we set our clocks by this. Could be seen as a reminder that we
are unable to escape the tyranny of time.
This poem is a dramatic monologue. Duffy adopts the persona of a man who has never
got over the disappointment of growing up, and who hankers after the time in the
1960’s when, as a schoolboy who was top of the class, and as the captain of a quiz team,
life was uncomplicated. We get the idea that time has not been kind to him. (Mean
time)
In Stanza One we can sum up his character as he was then: a teenage boy, full of
optimism, boyish, uninhibited, clever, full of self belief. He is interested in music- “the
Top Ten” and is beginning to be interested in girls.
The poem begins with him recalling the titles of pop songs which help to fix 1964 in his
mind. (This will be a familiar thought process to many readers, as many people identify
specific years in their lives with the release of “records”. For example, for me - along
with many other 12 year old girls- 1972 was all about Donny Osmond with his song
“Puppy Love !) Even a specific month- October- is imprinted on his mind- that is when
his special event- title of the poem- occurred.
“fizzing hope”- the use of onomatopoeia evokes a sense of optimism and excitement
about his future.
“gargling with Vimto”- boyish lack of inhibition.
“clever smell” of his satchel. Transferred epithet evokes the sense of self belief he
had then.
Reference to “convent girls” conveys his emerging sexuality.
At the end of the stanza, the idea of him imitating Mick Jagger using a steel comb as a
musical instrument adds humour, but also again evokes the behaviour of a teenage boy.
His lips are as numb as they would be after a “two hour snog”- this would be his
language of the time.
Stanza Two begins with “ No snags”- a simple statement of what he felt about life
then, and adds a regretful tone. (Makes us think-but now how does he feel?)
He states facts that he knew then (from studying for the quiz) using the present
tense. He is trying to recreate the past, in the present. “The Nile rises in April”
We can see his pride in being so clever
“………………….in class, the white
sleeve
of my shirt saluted again and again. Sir….correct”
Later, his youthful exuberance is seen as he “whooped” ( good use of onomatopoeia
again) at the side of his bike, then mounts it in one jump, and “sped” down Dyke Hill,
riding with “no hands” (pretending to be a cowboy- another reference to popular culture
of the time.
“no hands, famous, learning, dominus,domine,dominum.”- sums up all that is good in his
life at the time. He can ride a bike with no hands on the handlebars, he is famous for
his appearance on the TV quiz, and he is learning Latin (the grammar would be learned
by rote- something he is obviously good at. Dominus means Lord, master, ruler- very
apt- what he feels he is at that point?)
This humorously segues in to the beginning of stanza three “Dave Dee Dozy…” (ref. to
a 1960’s pop group.) The two short sentences -”Try me. Come on”- ( showing Duffy’s
skilful use of sentence structure for effect)- which follow this suggest he is desperate
for someone to ask him questions NOW in his adult life so that he can show how much
he remembers.
The rest of the stanza sums up his fond memories. His mother’s pride keeping his
“gonk” and photo in pride of place for a year.
“ The blazer./ The badge. The tie.” (Note how each is given its own sentence.)
He refers to the iconic first chord of a Beatles song being loud in his head, as he ran
(in triumph) through the streets and places of his childhood- his familiar environment.
The ”pink pavements” on a “blue evening” create a sense of it being idyllic. He stamps
animal paw prints in the mud with the soles of his shoes (1960’s reference again)leaving his mark.
The short sentence which forms the end of this stanza sums it up “My country”. He
means his childhood, not just the actual place, but to what was a golden time for him.
(Links to “Originally”- “I want my own country”- Duffy herself wanted to go back- not
just to Scotland but to an earlier time when life was uncomplicated.)
Pathos is introduced by the short sentence which follows in line one of Stanza Four:
“ I want it back. “ followed on the same line by three more separate sentences explaining
what he wants “The captain. The one with all the answers. Bzz.”
He was hero worshipped by a girl at school, but now his “fame” has been replaced by a
“stale wife”, “my boss”, and “thick kids”- all of whom he bombards with questions- and
none of them can (or want to?) answer them. “Nobody” sums up his disgust/
disappointment. We imagine that his “thick kids wince” from embarrassment. Among all
the italicised questions (presumably the answers to which he had to learn for the quiz)
is again that short sentence “My country”.
This poem explores the manner in which time can be “mean” in the sense of inflicting
emotional pain. As the man grows older his horizons have not expanded, and his younger
self becomes a “straitjacket” on his adult life which has signalled decline, rather than
progression or development. Although physically older with a wife, and children, he
cannot deal with the separate country of an adult life with its complications,
disappointments and uncertainties. There are no “correct” answers any more.
Themes:
Loss (of his golden time), Memory, Time, Disappointment.
Relates to “Originally”. “All childhood is an emigration”. He is unhappy with his
emigration to adult life. Life then was full of joy and hope, “fame”, belonging. Now all he
has is a “stale wife”, “thick kids” and no answers.
The structure of the poem, and the punctuation within lines, gives it the cadence of
speech, and the sense of memories revisited.