What possesses a grown man to interpret a song written for a boy group? The quality of the song, that's what! Tony Hiller and I were
focussed on creating a pop song in the great British tradition of pop songs. The result was something more, with a depth and mystery
about it that some find insidious. As for boy groups as exemplars, I'm just happy that there will be no video clip of this version.
In fact are there any boy groups these days? The first group I formed while still at school was all boys - The Trinamics, so called
because there were three of us and we thought we were pretty dynamic. Doesn't really stand up to scrutiny, does it? However, we could
have had a hit with this had it been written back then. Tony, where were you when we needed you?
Everything In Your Love
This is probably
one of the most personally important lyrics I've written. It could be inspired by the "if you love them, set them free" graffito but
it goes well beyond that. The extension of someone being so selfless is the foundation for this observation. I wonder if I can match
this by giving so completely as the subject of these words has given. Time will tell, but we know that time is not always a friend.
My
Holy Grail
Oh you wonderful muse. You gave me the courage to take eight bars of melody and repeat it until the gong sounds several
minutes later. Fortunately Michael Parker steps into the studio playing his evocative Uillean pipes to imbue the performance with
a haunting horizon of daunting craggy peaks. With this work I can visualise acting in the video clip, so long as I don't have to dive
into the Arthurian-style lake to retrieve the sword held aloft by some submerged and very soggy lady.
Déjà Vu
Island Nights
Who are we? And more importantly, why are we? We definitely are heading for bar-coded lives, so resist with all your
spirit. But hang on, it's too late already isn't it? Thank goodness there are beaches we can crash down and sand that crunches. Life's
not half bad when you have those two components, but spare a thought for those in the middle of New York or London where both beach
and sand are almost non-existent. Denizens of those towns will just have to enter their bar-codes and have a virtual crash down and
a plasma screen crunch. Oh if only an airline or holiday cruise company would see the merit in making this song the soundtrack for
their glossy travel advertisements. They may have passed it up because the lines of the chorus don't rhyme.
Kathleen
Should have thought
of another name for this lyric. A quid for every time someone says "is that 'I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen?'" would make me a
rich person. No matter. The subject of this narrative is named Kathleen. I can't be responsible for her parents' lack of originality.
And what a life he (whatever his name was) and she had. Motorbikes and picnics and punts on the lake; it's a wonder they had time
to have any kids. But, there was the lovely Kathleen dancing the night away while just about to give birth to their first child. You'd
be kicking your heels up too if you had the likes of wonderful musicians like Gerry Hale on fiddle, Michael Parker on Irish whistle
and Michael Cristian on accordion to lure you on to the dance floor. 'Twas obviously a marriage made in heaven, wherever that is,
and we can all respect the reverie of the old narrator as he pays homage to his beautiful vision, Kathleen.