Sobre
certas canções
(notes
on certain songs)
1
Os comentários sobre certas canções foram escritos por Peter Hammill em seu livro "Killers, Angels, Refugees" e nos encartes dos Cds "The Calm (After the Storm)* " e "The Storm (Before the Calm)".
Os
originais em Inglês foram mantidos somente para que as palavras e
idéais do autor
não
fossem deturpadas.
*
|
|
| Not
For Keith
In a general sense this song is all-too-uncomfortably modern. Keith was Keith Ellis, the original Van der Graaf bass player.Otherwise I think the song itself says all that is not private. |
| The Birds
This was one of the earliest songs I wrote which was worthy of the name; it's stood the test of time surprisingly well. Robert Fripp makes a spiralling appearance on electric guitar. |
Rain,
3AM
Recorded at Worth, Hugh Banton engineering.The song date from '67. David Jackson played the flute in the bathroom. The tune of the chorus got cannibalised later. This was originally intended for "The Silent Corner...". I think. |
| Just Good Friends
(version 2)
This is the second, "orchestra" version of the song, co-produced with David Lord. We set out to make a single - but for better or worse made this instead! The song is one of a number of room-and-story, near-cinematic efforts. |
| (On Tuesday she used
to) Yoga
The lateToni Stratton Smith once gave me a lute;this is its only recorded appearance. All the bottom strings were tuned identically...producing the dark low end sound. These days I suppose it'd be some sampled stuff. Lyrically, is a spot of self-deprecation's always a good thing. So's a bit of b/w guitar, musically. |
| Faith
One of my (all too?) rare totally optimistic songs.This is taken from the "One Pass Of Hands "recordings. "And Close As This". Perhaps it's only in the first flush of a relationship that things are as simple as this; or is it later, when they're more complicated? |
| Dropping The Torch
This began life as a poem and only later became a song. Dark, yes, but without acknowledgement of what might happen it WILL happen. Nonetheless, one could say that the young man here is a tad too serious for his own good! |
| After The Show
One of many Actor songs which have littered my path. What does happen to those lives which tread the boards? What's the trade-off ? There are several onion skin layers of reality here and some of them are obviously self-referential... |
| Stranger Still
Well, if it's not to be the cafe it's almost certain to be the restaurant. The bulk of these lyrics were written straight off over a Parisian lunch. I've often been caught like this, between panic and ennui (usually waiting for the show, rather than after it). It may seem somewhat abstract to drag Entropy into the equation...but modern scientific metaphors are surely currently relevant? |
| Wilhelmina
It's probably only possible to write such an uncomplicated song about or to a child before becomes a parent oneself. Shirley Bassey nearly covered this once upon a time! Now that would have been interesting.... |
| Again
Like the version of "If I Could" represented here, this is taken from "The Love Songs", on which old tracks were revisited. The song has some connection with "Just Good Friends", I suppose... a combination of longing, regret and absolute nowness. |
| Been Alone So Long
A great song by Chris Judge Smith. It skates around some dark ice without falling into self-pity. I wish I still had the "fluid sound box"that the second guitar is played though. |
| Ophelia
Two parts the Lady of Shallot to one part Ophelia, actually, I guess. I don't know if the feeling goes for the stranger, for her or for both of them. There's a certain inevitability here, anyway. This is a real "found" song. |
| Autumn
Any over-idealised relationship is, sooner or later, going to hit the reefs. A little bit more realism and acceptance, please! Everything goes around and and it's all a walk upon the water. |
| Sleep Now
I hope that this is the antidote to "Autumn". Incomprehensible, confused and contradictory though they are, this is some kind of effort to depict non-possessive parental feelings, and specifically those of a father, naturally. "As though he never knew the meaning of the words" is exactly right. Good night. |
