Recorded at London’s Abbey Road studios in November 1999
While critics and fans have always commended the attention given to arrangements and production on Black albums, this all-acoustic album gave Colin a chance to strip the songs to the bone. Colin, a guitar and Lady Black entered Abbey Road studios in November 1999 to re-record back catalogue hits and new songs ‘Alive’ and ‘I’ll give you something to cry about’. The resulting CD reflected Colin’s recent solo tours, where he had performed old and new songs acoustically.
I wish I had forced myself to do solo shows a lot earlier. Having done it, what you get immediately is a sense of where the dead spots are in a song. You can sing a line and get an immediate response, so you know when you’ve made your point and can move on.
CV
The album was the first of many to be sold exclusively through colinvearncombe.com.
Listen to the silence growing louder A whisper can sometimes be louder than a scream Even in your wildest dreams Oh growing louder But I am Never more alive than when I am Lying in your arms again
Some say that each and everyone of us is dying They don’t admit that they have never really Lived at all And swung it at the big ball Oh I don’t fight it ’cause I am never more alive than when I am lying in your arms again
Some people act like love was just a kind of guessing game So when they want you what the hell are they responding to? And some people act like they’re immaturing I don’t know if I am growing younger But I am never more alive than when I am lying in your arms again
Gone and gone for good Grown up and gone away Passed from now to then like a river running by to Rush headlong in to the sea
She hears the band play ‘Ave Lolita” She sees her future coming to her in a flash Starts counting hours, starts counting minutes And walks the line while there’s still time Ave Lolita
If you sleep at all sleep well for the coming day won’t spare you If fear is the key you are locked outside the door And you’ve been there before
When you heard the band play ‘Ave Lolita’ And you saw your future coming to you in a flash Start counting hours, start counting minutes And walk the line while there’s still time Ave Lolita
Watch the sky for details, watch the distance for fire Fiery pinpricks out of reach I can’t hold the lines of words To tick them off but it won’t be long now
Cause she hears the band play ‘ave lolita’ She sees her future rushing by her in a flash Starts counting hours, starts counting minutes And walks the line she still can’t define Ave Lolita
Lately we’ve been acting like strangers We never show our feelings Or say the things we mean It’s hard to admit But maybe it’s time to quit pretending ’cause we both know
it’s better letting go there’s no point hanging on to what used to be why can’t we see it’s better letting go
It’s crazy to sit here in silence Counting off the seconds The beating of our hearts When there’s no more to give There’s no easy way to live together We both know
It’s better letting go It’s time to walk away And start again This makes no sense It’s better letting go
No matter how we fake it This love has faded The feeling has gone It’s time to move on It’s no good looking back It hurts but we both know it baby
It’s better letting go There’s no point hanging on To what used to be Why can’t we see It’s better letting go
It’s better letting go It’s time to walk away And start again This makes no sense It’s better letting go
Gonna fly up to the moon Raising all of my money Can’t make it too soon I am sick of it down here Gonna fly up to the moon
So this is how the world ends ‘not with a bang but with a Wimpy’ don’t laugh too soon, I am sick of it down here gonna fly up to the moon
who needs all the troubles of today, what’s the difference anyway? I feel out of focus but what can I do there’s only you?
Gonna fly up to the moon Raising all of my money, can’t make it too soon I am sick of it down here Gonna fly up to the moon
When they open the borders where will you be? I’ll climb the highest tree to avoid the stampede And if I should fly there’s only you You There’s only you that would say Goodbye
Sometimes I wonder at this shame I hide Pare away the man and find the worm inside Your mind’s unclear and instinct is a lie I hear what you say you’d do And I wish it were true
How can he take you when you give yourself? All the old lies just to bind yourself Then you wrap yourself around me and Whisper in my ear ‘where is your jealousy?’ all I feel is fear I want to hear you, I want to see Let me watch you make love And imagine that it’s me
I think my heart must be made of clay Cause everyone said it would be broken some day And now I’ve come to that fateful day So I sit on the floor with my head in my hands And don’t tell me how to make it pay I write a new song every day I just wish I was made of wood I might not feel pain even if I should Even if I should
The sweetest smile that ever did Melt the pats in the butter dish And if you could have believed in me I swear to God I’d have made damn sure Our hearts were warm, and gald with wine I’d keep the doors locked all the time I just wish I was made of wood You might not seem glad, even if you should Even if you should, if you should
I think my heart must be made of clay Cause everyone said it would be broken some day Seems that I have come to that fateful day So I sit on the floor with my head in my hands With my head in my hands Even if I should, if I should
Breaks her vows and keeps the ring Buys a car and steals a gun and tries to run Stares ahead and drives the night and when she’s run the county line she looks behind With angry eyes
‘Your bloodless hands, your stupid friends, your vicious lies I’ll give you something to cry about
I am more than pussy face I am more than pretty thighs wrapped up in lace And I want more than broken dreams I was always more than I seemed and I’ll give you something to cry about
I want a child I want to play Like children do I want much more than I could Ever have with you I’ll give you something to cry about’
Breaks her vows and keeps the ring Buys a car and steals a gun and tries to run
Tell me have you seen her Did she look the same as before? The last time that I saw her I swore That I didn’t know that she was who she was But if I tried I could still see that look In her eyes; the one that went missing The way she was before
And tell me how d’you find her Did she look like she was having fun? Smiling at a stranger is when she’s dangerous; Never ashamed of what she has done But if I try I can still see that look in Her eyes; the one that went missing The way she was before
The clothes that she wore I loved the way she walked The jokes she liked to tell I loved the way she smiled And it was fun while it lasted It didn’t last long but I’m not bitter I just miss her the way she was before
Here I go out to sea again The sunshine fills my hair And dreams hang in the air Gulls in the sky and in my blue eyes You know it feels unfair There’s magic everywhere Look at me standing Here on my own again Up straight in the sunshine
No need to run and hide It’s a wonderful, wonderful life No need to laugh or cry It’s a wonderful, wonderful life
The sun’s in your eyes The heat is n your hair They seem to hate you Because you’re there And I need a friend, oh I need a friend To make me happy Not stand there on my own Look at me standing here on my own again Up straight in the sunshine No need to run and hide It’s a wonderful, wonderful life No need to laugh or cry It’s a wonderful, wonderful life
I need a friend, oh I need a friend To make me happy, not so alone Look at me here, here on my own again Up straight in the sunshine
No need to run and hide It’s a wonderful, wonderful life No need to laugh or cry It’s a wonderful, wonderful life
Original album credits
All tracks written by Colin Vearncombe except Better Letting Go written by Colin Vearncombe and John O’Kane.
All songs published by Hornall Brothers (Music) Ltd. except Better Letting Go published by Hornall Brothers (Music) Ltd./Warner Chappell Music. Produced by Mike Hedges.
Most modern records leave me cold: I don’t like the songs, the way they sound, the performances just seem to get weaker and weaker. I don’t even like the way most are made these days with such a focus on the hard/software and so little on performance.
The Americans have a cute expression: “put up or shut up”. Sometime in 1999 I began (again) to ‘put up’ and an unpromising December day found me in the somewhat unreal position of being in the cinematically large Abbey Road Studio One, the most famous recording studios in the world, playing live and acoustic and looking through the glass at old friend and producer Mike Hedges (now of course one of the hottest producers on the planet) and new old friend and calm engineer Ian Grimble, standing alongside them is old friend and long-suffering manager Steve Baker, a small smile playing across his mouth for reasons I am yet to discover, John Warwicker of Tomato shuffles about adjusting the cameras that will document the day (why not?).
I am aware that it will probably be seen as absurd to bring so little to such a tooled up session. I don’t care, backed by guitarist Christian Marsac and the mellifluous singing of Ladyblack I play all day. These nine songs are the best of it. I have a feeling that very soon I shall look back upon this day as a real turning point: the point of remembrance. This is why I live with the bruises and the nausea of constant adrenaline.
Music is the reason the world exists, let it breathe!
CV
With thanks to Mike, Ian, Steve, Christian and Ladyblack (xx)
