Dear George
What would you tell George if you had the chance? I'd want to say a lot of things, but that's just me. Given I probably won't be invited around for tea any time soon, I figured I could just as well say some of them here. So consider this a kind of "Dear George" approach. It's not like he's ever gonna read it, but hey, fuck it, I'll waste my time typing it anyway. Here goes nothing. *cracks fingers*
***
First off, congratulations on your album. When I first heard 'da-da-da' on "Amazing" that Monday morning in February I thought "uh... what the f...?" This was also because the wanker on Radio 1 introduced it as "Patience". Anyhow. I rewound the tape (God, you do not want to know what I had to do to get a good enough reception on my little shit radio, trying not to wake my eight mad room mates up at 8:15 in the morning...! Not to mention that endless day listening to Radio 2, waiting for new tracks the week before "Patience" was out!) and listened to the lyrics. They hit me right where it hurt. I've no idea what exactly it was, given this isn't a pass-me-the-tissues song. At all. It was probably the feeling of... honesty. For years I haven't had a real positive sensation when listening to a song. (Jeez, can anyone cry from 5 spotty teenagers singing about 'love me, baby' and 'forever love'? I sure as fuck can't! *adding northern accent* "Me, I sing, dance, speak and shit the way my manager and choreographer have taught me, I do!") 'I guess that cupid was in disguise the day you walke din and changed my life' is wonderfully stated and beats the crap out of 'I love you, baby, yeah, I want to be with you forever...' etc.
About a month later (after countless braindead hours waiting in front of the radio), hearing "American Angel" I found myself sobbing again at the lyrics. (At this point you may wonder what he hell is wrong with me, but trust me, you don't want to go there! lol!) It was the 'Through all of those battles, then you came. Stepped out of the fading light, said "Baby, I'm American, dry your eyes again cause I'm here to save your life"' has to be the most... I've said this before, but I'll say it again: Had anyone written something like that about me I'd surgically attach myself to them. So I guess I cried the first 15 or so times I heard it. Now I'm able to contain myself and appear decent. At least amongst normal people. *cough* Had there been more love songs like this, the genre hadn't had such a bad reputation. I always thought "Safe" was brilliant, for the simple reason that it stated something so simple but true. We all want to feel safe, and you'd obviously found someone who made you feel that much needed safety. You don't need to put 17 different ways of saying "I love you" in one song to make your sodding point.
Hearing "Through" (again) was... Christ Almighty, it was the Friday before the album was out, I was in Highgate looking after a dog when it came on, and I had to tell myself to breathe. Which I managed at least four times during the track. I still remember hearing the track in your car in July. The 'so hear me now, I've had enough of these chains. I know they're of my making, no one else to blame for where I stand today.' I couldn't make out the lyrics then, but I remember the phrasing, thinking "Fucking hell, those are some vocals!" It had already been discussed what this song was about, and seeing the last picture in the booklet set me off again. (Honest to God, I usually never cry!)(No, honestly!) It was like... the visual proof of "he's really through". The song is extremely powerful. The breathing towards the end on 'I think I'm, I know I'm...' completes the whole feeling.
"John And Elvis Are Dead". This was another funny meeting. I was absolutely not certain at all whether to take you seriously or not, given you couldn't even tell me the title without grinning broadly. So I thought "ok, so you're taking the piss. Fine, so can I!" and we got onto the discussion about the Lennon piano. I asked cockily, "so you used the Lennon piano on it then?" and you going, "YEAH! Yeah, I did, actually! I used it on the intro to give it the right feeeel." Add even wider grin and a wink. So now that I hear the song, I can't say that I hear a piano intro...! So... *hands on hips* what the phuc happened to that? At one point I thought the intro may have turned into "Patience" at some point, cause as far as I can hear "Patience/ pt 2" is written in the same key as "John and Elvis". Then again, it's also fully possible you were taking the piss.
I have to say, though, that the song is quite amazing. I also have to say that it's the first song I skip to if I don't listen to the whole album. I could go on for hours about it (some of my email buddies will vouch for that!) and the little mysteries in it I'd like to get an answer to. I think I may have worked it out, but you never know, right! It's not like I'm some musical genius who can listen to a song and break it into little sections and call them by their professional names and so on. As I'm sure some can. I'm always curious though. Like on '...and tears to change' and '...inside of their clothes'. I first thought it may be an implied key change. Or a key change. Or a chord. Or something. After breaking the melody into pieces it sounds like the key change (or whatever!) isn't on 'change', but indeed on 'then he laughed and said...' and what actually happens on 'change' is that the "omph" comp goes away and a part of the 2nd of the 3 melody lines doesn't change at all, but as the 3rd line disappears totally, the 2nd appears stronger and therefore sounds like there's a bigger change. I could be wrong though, but I just love analysing something that appears to be a mystery. At least to me. ;)
Sometimes when you listen to someone tell a story you can relate to it without really having gone through it themselves. It all depends on the way it's being told. One grand example would be "My Mother Had A Brother". I haven't had an uncle that took his life because he was gay, but it doesn't stop me crying from it. (Yeah yeah... Loonie bin next! Whatever!) Even though I "wasn't there" and haven't "been there" myself personally, I still am there. What did it for me there was 'I can't imagine the joy and pain in equal measure, tears in the dirt and all over your newborn treasure.' You know when you're being knocked back by something, like it slaps you in the face and leaves you dumbstruck. That's what I felt when I heard that. The feeling of "it could might as well have happened to me" sensation. Also 'but mama will you tell him from your boy...' Wow, I mean, shit, that's... *slap, gawk* That's the thing about your songs. You listen to them and you think "well, of course it sounds like this" like it couldn't sound any other way. With other artists I have a tendency to think "it could have sounded better if..."
I still remember the first time I heard "Freeek!" in 2002. I had already been in touch with Universal for bluddeh weeks, and the guy promised me the promo the night before given I didn't put out a review before it had been on the radio 7am the following morning. I was in my editor's office, waiting for a delivery from the record company, who managed to get lost and couldn't find the fucking office. So I said I'd get up there myself to get it. I thought it couldn't be that far, and started walking. And I walked. And walked. Turned out the street was about ten miles long. It started getting late, so I started running. Out of breath I arrived at the office about 2 seconds to seven o'clock in the evening, fought my way past some snotty receptionist and upstairs to the promo guy's office. Close to an asthma attack I got on the tram back to my ex's place, put it on his computer and heard the first bars of the opening track, sat down and thought "Fuck, this is cool! Fuck, this is cool!" I got on the phone to a few people and played clips from it. It was rather flippin' exciting. When I got to the end bit with the "someone's-either-run-a-mile-or-had-a-serious-wank" panting I was like *add shocked expression* "I did not just hear that!" In the review I believe I wrote something nasty about Kenny joining you to the studio that day. Ahem... The whole song spells sexy: the vocal, the melody, the lyrics... It's got lewd written all over it, but it's soddin' hot.
Everyone's favourite seems to be "Round Here" and even though I think it's an excellent song, very 'new' sound (innovative, like "Spinning The Wheel" was when it released!) and a homely lyric if you may, I don't know if it's the favourite for me. It's definitely a favourite, just not the. 'So come with me, yeah yeah, let me show you where I've lived. I want to put my hands in this earth again, music fell like rain to the streets' is another excellent phrasing. Music fell like rain to the streets. Wow. Again, it's the feeling of "Well, of course it did. When you put it like that...!"
I spoke to another fan about a possible video for this song, and he threw out the idea of you driving along through London, singing. First in black&white to represent 1957, but then not one of those horrible pretend-scenarios from the past where a Greek looking guy and an English looking woman skip along or some weird looking kid with curly hair and window framed glasses is supposed to be "George at 7", but instead you drive i.e. past a couple holding hands and sing 'it was 1957 but love felt the same...' Change to colour, drive past a school as you sing 'I remember my first day at school...', look at the kids in the playground with their mothers, grin and sing 'I remember it all, like yesterday.'
One thing I find fascinating is that sometimes I hear quotes from other songs thrown in. If this is deliberate or not, I don't know, but I've found three of these quotes. In "Round Here" where you sing 'yesterday' ('I remember it all, oh yeah, like yesterday...') it sounds exactly (and I mean bloody exactly) like "Yesterday" by the Beatles. It's like I'm expecting '...all my troubles seemed so far away' to follow, rather than 'don't you?'. Also, on "Through" I hear a Sonny and Cher quote with 'I've got you, babe'. I could of course just be hearing things here, but... one day, maybe you'll tell me if I'm right or wrong. (Hint, hint!) On "Round Here" the 'it's magical'('...can't you see, that some of us do more than dream') is sung exactly like 'it's logical' etc on "I Want Your Sex". Probably also just a coincidence, but... nonetheless, intriguing.
I could go on and on. But I won't. (What do you mean I've already been "going on" for a while already!?) I doubt anyone but me will be fucking interested though. ;) However, I thought I'd write it anyway. The point I'm trying to make is that I find the album excitingly interesting. I feel like I discover something new every day (like for instance, who's that moaning on "Cars and Trains" on 'he gets laid every day'? I guess that's you again, given Hippy was credited for panting on "Shoot The Dog", and it doesn't exactly sound like Jo Bryant, the only person credited for "additional vocals" ;)...)(What the hell were you doing in the studio anyway between inspirational sessions!?)(Don't answer that!)
So anyway, looks like you're off to America for a bit and then, oh-la-la, you're off the promotion. For a while at least. I'd imagine it would take more than four whole days to break America, but then again... again I may be wrong...! I bet it's doing your head in to be asked the same muthaphuckin' questions over and over and over again. I can imagine your brain going on auto-pilot once the "So, why did this album take so long then?", especially when followed by "Tell me about your depression". Fuck originality, really. Fuck asking about the album, the reason for doing this bloody promotion in the first place. Never mind that, right? Jesus, whatever happened to doing yer research? It's a bit like asking Bush "So, how's the wife?", as if that's of any relevance to the situation with Iraq. That's the feeling I'm getting anyway. I wonder, though, if the first question had been "Can you tell me about the creative process behind the album?" instead of "The past ten years have been rough, haven't they?", what turn the entire interview had taken. I'd guess an interesting one, for a change, but hey... I could be wrong. Again. :)