BROTHER WOLF (LIVE)

INTERNATIONAL LOVE

She came from China

On a slow boat

He swam from Java

He barely kept afloat

They were born under different stars

Spoke in different tongues

They moved in different orbits

Worshipped different gods

But when they met it was beautiful

Two cultures collided

Two cymbals clashed

International love

Hand in glove

International love

He was warm and open

She was shy and reserved

He was easy-going

She always had to be first

It was a meeting of bodies

A meeting of minds

An entente cordiale

A delicate compromise

And when they met it was beautiful

Two cultures collided

Two cymbals clashed

International love

Hand in glove

International love

They were oil and water

They were fire and ice

They would both fight their corner

They were both always right

But their days were numbered

They knew it couldn’t last

Their edifice was starting to crumble

Their light was fading fast

Cracks began to open

Fault lines appeared

They were pulling in different directions

It had to end in tears

But the memories were beautiful

When two cultures collided

When two cymbals clashed

International love

Hand in glove

International love

He came from Java

On a slow boat

She swam from China

She barely kept afloat

International love

Hand in glove

International love

BROTHER WOLF

Brother wolf – out there in the forest

Brother wolf – in no man’s land

Brother wolf – melting into shadows

Brother wolf – covering your tracks

Brother wolf – fire in your belly

Brother wolf – licking your wounds

Brother wolf – gazing at the heavens

Brother wolf – howling at the moon

Oh brother wolf you are warm in your cave

Where the snow can’t get in

Oh brother wolf you are safe in your cave

Where your enemies can’t find you

Brother wolf – following your instincts

Brother wolf – surviving on your wits

Brother wolf – stretching every sinew

Brother wolf – swift as the wind

Oh brother wolf wrapped up warm in your furs

Against the harsh winter cold

Oh brother wolf you have known it from birth

The wilderness is your home

Here comes the huntsman with his gun

He’ll try to shoot you if he can

Give him the slip

Lure him to your den

All they will find is his bones picked clean

Brother wolf – steel in your jaws

Brother wolf – iron in your sides

Brother wolf – blood on your claws

Brother wolf – death in your eyes

Oh brother wolf you are warm in your cave

Where the snow can’t get in

Oh brother wolf you are safe in your cave

Where your enemies can’t find you

Oh brother wolf wrapped up warm in your furs

Against the harsh winter cold

Oh brother wolf you have known it from birth

The wilderness is your home

LOST

Lost my bearings

Lost my way

Lost my maps

Got led astray

Lost in the forest

Lost in the wood

Lost in the storm

Lost in the flood

Lost at sea

Lost in the fog

Lost the thread

Lost the plot

Lost my grip

Lost my touch

Lost my faith

Lost my trust

Looking for a sign

Looking for a path

Looking for a star

To light my way back

Looking for a sign

Looking for a path

Looking for a star

To light my way back

CLOSE YOUR EYES

The prettiest girl I ever saw
Walked out on me this morning
She packed her bags, she spread her wings
She left me without any warning

The sweetest rain I ever tasted
Moistened my lips by and by
Its gentle caress was soft on my face
It brings a tear to me eye

I close my eyes and I can see again
I listen to the silence
Just close your eyes and you can see again
Just listen to the silence

The loveliest sun that ever set
Went down on me this evening
Its orange glow dimmed and then died
It burns a hole in my memory

I close my eyes and I can see again
I listen to the silence
Just close your eyes and you can see again
Just listen to the silence

The softest darkness that ever fell
Cradles my soul tonight
The fullest moon that ever rose
Blankets me in its melancholy lamplight

I close my eyes and I can see again
I listen to the silence
Just close your eyes and you can see again
Just listen to the silence

ORCHESTRAL MANOUVRES

we are on our way to collect h's violin from the repair workshop
it's a half-size model that my grandfather bought for my uncle
when he was a young boy during world war two
and hasn't been played for nearly seventy years
hearing of h's violin exertions
uncle john has passed this family heirloom on to us via my mother to see if it's worth fixing
we haven't been to the workshop before
and i have to consult the map carefully to work out how to get there
we drive several miles out of the city to the edge of the countryside
a wedge of worcestershire strangled by the m5 and the m42 ringroads
we pass the crown pub and turn off the main road into a country lane
it narrows rapidly and takes a sharp bend past several cottages
just as we approach another abrupt bend
an elderly couple hoves into view
as if in a dream
i find my eyes focusing on none other than my uncle and aunt
out for an evening amble through the country lanes
as is their dog-walking habit
i suddenly remember that the crown is just round the corner
from the bungalow they moved into a few years back
they are as surprised to see us as we are them
particularly when i tell them why we are in this neck of the woods
after a few minutes driving up and down the lane and asking a few locals
i discover that the entrance to the workshop is opposite the very spot
where we bumped into my uncle
chris the violin repairer tells h that she is a very lucky young lady
the violin he has repaired dates from late victorian times
it is a high quality instrument worth between five and six hundred quid
h's eyes widen - that's a lot of pocket money
i'm wondering if we should tell my uncle how much his antique is worth
perhaps he'll want it back!
but more than anything i am staggered at meeting him yards from the repair shop
a route he must take often
for these days i barely ever see him

JACK OF ALL TRADES

i often get asked by people
who's that singing on your album?
who's that tinkling the ivories?
who did the drums?
what they don't realise is that i do the whole shebang myself
yep - it's all yours truly
from conception to execution
the writing
the recording
the production
the mixing
the mastering
the artwork
very occasionally there is a co-writer in there
lucifer was one such example
from time to time i get a few production suggestions
from my little bro
lately i've been getting some useful feedback on lyrics from a couple of friends

(thanks to el joven and 'christopher')
but basically it's all my doing
i don't wanna take all the credit of course
most of this stuff is summoned from the ether
by the subconscious
dredged up from some dark deep place

bubbling out from some hidden underground spring
words emerging mysteriously as if to a medium at a seance
but to take on all these roles
one has to be a jack of all trades
even at the risk of being master of none
i admit it
i am a sloppy guitarist and bass player
i have a reedy voice and a limited range
i am a novice keyboard player

my instruments are mediocre and always going out of tune
my technology is meagre and basic by today's studio standards
i've got a few ideas about effects and engineering and production

but i'm not into it bigtime
i'm good at arranging
i have a way with words
and the art of song writing is definitely my forte
how good are these songs?

i really don't know

the buzz i get from writing and performing them is enough

giving expression to the thoughts and emotions that flicker incessantly through my brain
but as for being a master
to hell with that!
i like to spread my creative net wide
and i sometimes think that maybe too much mastery is not such a good thing
there are plenty of fretboard-shredding lead guitarists out there
plenty of keyboard hotshots
guys with degrees in composing and recording engineering
and where are they?
i mean the thing is
a lot of this stuff can't really be learnt as such
it's intuitive and self-taught
the beatles didn't do masters degrees or a phd did they?
so i do my music
i record it
i put out cds
i play my songs every week at the tower of song

to those who have ears
i've even started putting together some primitive little videos
when i'm not being musicianly
i grow my vegetables
i look after my bike and my daughter's bike
i write my poetry and my blog
i draw my pastel portraits
i teach my students
i get stuck in
i have a go
i get on with it
and i don't worry too much about messing up

THE DEATH OF DEATH OF A GOD

this blog is almost done
and i must say that it has served its purpose well
as aid and accomplice
to its musical counterpart
steadily filling cyberspace with zeroes and ones
while its audio cousin slowly gestated in the dark womb of my computer's hard drive
this project has been a long haul
its immaculate conception last autumn seems an awful long time ago
like a foetus it has developed in fits and starts
lengthy periods of inactivity
interspersed with intense growth spurts
it overran the third trimester
and it is now a month overdue
its creator has felt like a heavily pregnant woman
overburdened, impatient and unable to get comfortable
but today i have recorded and mixed the fourteenth and final track
and mastered a compact disc
so there you have it:
ten months of my life condensed into a hundred or so blog posts
and fifty-three minutes of musical catharsis
the theme of DOAG runs like a seem through the songs
colouring them with the same palette
a loss of faith in the culture of which i am a part
but no longer identify with
the dawning recognition that redemption or salvation are impossible
probably best summed up in infidel
something of a pivotal track around which the album revolves
i don't believe in progress
i don't believe in rules
i don't believe in science
and i don't believe in school
i don't believe in violence
i don't believe in war
i don't believe in justice
and i don't believe in law
there's a lot of hurt and frustration on this record too
relationship and incommunicado are pretty honest confessions
remnants broadens that hurt and pain out
with the difference that as a culture
we've lost the ability to even feel or communicate the hurt
what are my tears? avoids acknowledging the pain altogether
songs like asleep-awake and right here right now provide a counterbalance
a much needed more positive more uplifting less bleak outlook
musically the record is a little less consistent
i hope that's a strength rather than a weakness
there are several quite heavily 'produced' tracks on there
multi-tracked backing vocals and overdubbed guitars and keyboards
some of it rocks - the electric guitars and drums
are sometimes louder and more distorted than ever before
but overall i've been moving towards a more 'live' sound
i think that comes through in some of the vocals
and also in the songs that were literally recorded live
just voice and acoustic guitar straight into the mixer
so the artifice of 'artifact' and 'menagerie' and 'total' has been leavened somewhat
i think it's the way to go actually
so watch out for a future 'fireseed unplugged' release
just me and my fender acoustic...
anyway there are gonna be a few changes on here too in the coming weeks
as one project is delivered another has already been conceived
just as i did with 'total'
i have been two-timing this album
moonlighting on a new project
which will soon be launched right here on this blog
so keep watching this space my dear fiends
and i hope you enjoy the cd!