Supersweet

Leeds Festival 2007

Just a Thought

Never trust homemade hash fudge. Partaking in Reading/Leeds’ traditional dish can go only one of two ways. The first is mildly disappointing; nothing happens at all. You’ve just wasted two quid, life goes on. The second, and by far the most memorable, is pure hell. For a while, nothing happens. Then, slowly, a nearby tree opens one eye and looks at you. You blink several times. Before you know it, the tree has gotten up and is walking away with your tent, which suddenly appears to be full of what look suspiciously like hobbits. Elves with pointy ears dive out of nearby bushes brandishing long bows. You run a bit – probably not very far. You’re lost.

Then suddenly, an unfeasibly happy person with a clipboard and camera appear out of nowhere and ask you what you were in a previous life. Excited by the attention, you blabber something about Lord of the Rings. They seem pleased. They ask you about celebrities and text books and some people you’re sure you know. You find yourself saying ‘Madonna… Madonna, of course! It has to be!’ This is fun. You pose for a photo. They’ve got one more question for you. It’s vaguely political. There’s tears in your eyes as you answer – you want to help those needy people, you really do. As you walk away, the world already seems like a better place.

At this year’s Leeds festival, in between crying our eyes out while Nine Inch Nails played the heart-rending Hurt, basking in the gorgeous sunshine and listening to Seasick Steve recount the story of how he came upon his three-stringed guitar, SUPERSWEET met over a hundred people in various states of inebriation and asked them three simple questions. To save confusion, we called it a survey. You too can be a part of it by going to our homepage and playing the ingeniously named SweetPoll which has the questions on weekly rotation. But wait, wait, you can do that in a minute - read this first!

Q1: In 250 years time which of these famous faces will most likely appear in school textbooks?

A) Madonna

B) Saddam Hussein

C) Nelson Mandela

D) The Chemical Brothers

Morgan Quaintance

Morgan: Nelson Mandela, I think because he was in jail, then he came out of jail and became president of the country that jailed him and I don’t think anyone else in history has done that. I’d like it to be Madonna, though she’ll be in art textbooks. So, art textbooks Madonna, history textbooks Nelson Mandela. Where did this question come from?!  

Sarah Forster

Sarah: Oh, Nelson Mandela all the way, honey. Because he fucking fought for that shit. He deserves that kind of recognition. He was fucking cool!

Jason Best

Jason: I’d probably say Saddam Hussein. Because with all that happened and that’s gone on recently, I reckon in 250 years it’ll still be quite important. So, definitely something to learn about still.

Liz Rignell

Liz: Isn’t Nelson Mandela already in there? I’d say Saddam Hussein, but Nelson Mandela is far more important, everyone knows who he is, he's the best.

Rachel Donoghue

Rachel: All of them, because I've read textbooks with all of them in it. 

Bella Howard

Bella: Probably Madonna because she’s like an icon. She changes every decade and y’know she’s the first really cool girl to get her own way and get what she wants.

Eloise Palli

Eloise: Madonna without a doubt. Because she is a pop icon, isn’t she? Why Nelson Mandela when you got Madonna?

Elliot Riordan: Nelson Mandela because the impact he made in South Africa had made it such an equal place and he made a bigger impact on history than the other three.

Steve Leach

Steve: I think that the Chemical Brothers have the least chance cos the others have had a bigger cultural impact.

SS: Sir, what are you wearing?

Steve: Well it’s been described as "safari-new rave", much to my disapproval but disconcerting individuals. It’s not fashion sense, it’s fashion nonsense!

And the results... 

This means... Well, there you have it; the celebrated South African civil rights leader battled his way to the top spot, bagging almost 50% of the votes. Quite right too, although disturbingly, not far behind came the celebrated chameleonic goddess of pop, Madonna herself, no doubt in full military regalia and brandishing a copy of her newly typed, ‘how to save the planet’ manifesto. Clearly, she lost out to Mandela through her complete lack of any discernable message bar, ‘trees are good’. Meanwhile, his career having suffered an almighty blow care of George Bush, Hussein was left languishing in third place. He still managed to be voted in above The Chemical Brothers however, on account of his having slightly more personality. Only joking…

Words: Isaac Howlett
Photography: Krittiya Sriyabhandha