Give the Game Away.

A song about the ups and all too familiar downs of success and status, chronicling one man’s optimistic view that if the girl of his dreams could just admit that she loves him, then she would be able to give up all that aspirational clap trap. In doing so he implores her to “Give the Game Away”. The part of that man in this song is played by me.

Change

The day we recorded Change was memorable because whilst driving up the M1 to the studio I narrowly avoided a pile up. I was the first person on the scene and tried to reassure those involved. Something about that incident infused the lyrics and recording of this song. Change sometimes comes out of the blue. Learning to go with it definitely helps.

21 Visions

21 Visions lists the various ways in which we could make the world a better place. It was inspired by 9/11. The chorus is a response to the fact that in times of trouble the powers that be always seem keen to categorise us by which religious group we were born into. I don’t think this idea is particularly helpful, certainly not if you are a Muslim right now. It also wasn’t particularly helpful for the Jews before WW11.

New York Carriage Ride

A while back I was signed up by RCA Records in the U.S. Ric, my A&R man at the time, asked me to write a song about NYC. I suspect that he was looking to help me feel a bit more at home. My response was to write a particularly English sounding folky song, about an immigrant couple’s annual treat of taking a pony and trap ride around central park. Actually I did feel a little better once it was finished, so thanks Ric.

The Need to Know Song

This song is a tribute to the people who inspire us to ask questions. At school I never used to ask questions in case I accidentally came across as interested (Which was not really my thing at the time) or stupid. However, eventually I woke up and started to get curious. It wasn’t long after this that I developed what’s called an enquiring mind, for which I am eternally grateful.

In The Middle of the Ocean

This was originally released under the band name Runway Picnic The band name was inspired by the picnics that we used to have on long summer days at the far end of the runway at Luton airport, until one day a ciggy accidentally caught the hay alight and we had to run. We changed the band name once people started to shorten our name to The Runs! The original posters featured a picture of Robert Maxwell not too long after his mysterious demise. Unfortunately we shared a publicist with the Sci-Fi Channel at the time, and they used the idea to promote a re-run of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Their posters were a hit; the song has yet to be.

Everything you

This is a nostalgic song. Windy beaches and waves crashing on the shore cannot free the man from his obsession with the girl he loves. It is an examination of his obsession, joy and desperation.

2AM

I lived for 4 ½ years on a narrow boat in Camden, London. I started to write 2AM at that precise time one summer night in the late 90’s. I was out of luck at the time. I had just lost my record deal and my publisher had gone too. Oddly I didn’t feel down so much as free at last from the treadmill of writing, gigging, recording and talking about me. A mixed blessing, if ever there was one.

Automobile

The song that got me signed. I wrote it in the company of my then girlfriend, in a flat just off Liverpool Road in Islington. I wrote it for fun, yet managed to say something else in the process, which is often the way with a song. It has brought me good fortune and exasperation in near equal measure. For me, the nicest memory is that my friends Neil and Andrea had it played at their wedding. Thanks.

With You

A love song about getting back together with someone and planning to stay that way. The second verse refers to that feeling you get when you’re out together buzzing around a local market on a Sunday morning having fun. However, there always comes a time when the person your with is checking out yet another stall and your ready to go. Frustrating, but kind of nice to look back on when there gone. The kind of thing that makes you want to get them back.

More song stories to come...