this song is the result of leaning over a fence in Wiltshire. having heard a very white opinion of the events of ‘Black Lives Matter’ I was left stewing over what a lot of white people feel and why; this was the result couple of days later
The recording was live in my front room.
If you do have any questions please feel free to comment; my intention is to understand different opinions so I can engage with them better.
Up there is Carol but
the little boy in this video is 16 years old today.
so “that was us then :- )”
ps. the kids may be bigger but they’re still lovely : -)
Autobiograpical innit?
Wrote this in Nathaniel’s bedroom which may be why it become something about the 4 of us.
Last week in wet October me and Laurie, (or possibly Laurie and I) did the video, having gone through one phone and 2 cameras I finally figured out we could yank the computer about on extension lead and do the stop motion like that. A lot of it worked pretty well and some of it didn’t but that all got cut!
it’s available at https://vincentburke.bandcamp.com/track/1234
and here are the words for the hard of hearing:
1,2,3,4!
I
can’t be found
all my hits
go underground
file them away
because I got
1,2,3,4
something to be sure about
early combinations led me to a cold war
I’m in
I’m ready to begin
something to be sure about
I didn’t know too much about the world before
I used to sit at home and observe the floor
I want more
so here I am
here’s my wife
here’s my pram
time slips away
but I got
1,2,3,4
something to be sure about
early combinations led me to a cold war
I’m in
I’m ready to begin
something to be sure about.
ah technology
I was feeling a bit tired sat in the kitchen one night and let my mind wander; this happened and I liked it.
Recorded it over the last couple of weeks, there’s quite a lot going on in it; squeaking door, whistling, sitar and I laid a lot of harmonies on the end
I did the video over the past couple of days ( I mean if you could listen with headphones and without watching that’d be even better) if you are watching though see if you can guess some of the sources – enjoy!
forward to the sun
I
I am myself
there’s been nobody else
could stick a flag on me
but if you like
you can rock my world
maybe it’d be fun fun fun fun fun.
salt upon the sea
and diamonds on the beach
the sunlight hits your hair
the gods are unprepared
do do do do do do
don’t
don’t you wanna roam
into an ancient world
like a killer bee?
come
and let your sky fall in
maybe it’d be fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun.
salt upon the sea
and diamonds on the beach
the sunlight hits your hair
the gods are unprepared
do do do do do do
don’t you want to run?
stepping out of this world
with me
forward, to the sun!
I take a limited responsibility for this..
– In a dream an American woman was pursuing a man around a glass table singing the ‘Can’t you see I like you?’ bit – when I woke up I filled in the rest.
Having accidentally wiped the hard drive of all music and back ups I thought I’d start fresh by doing something light, and it was fun to do, lots of harmonies, claps, clearing throats, whistling and springs; it all got thrown in and most of it stuck. It also has the added bonus of a bona fide chorus – in case you thought I couldn’t do them…
The video is cut up from a very serious 1950’s Film, ‘Office Courtesy’ and a ‘Safety at Work’ film – I’m hoping I’ve stayed on the ironic side of saucy, but all complaints should be forwarded to my Mother.
Is it Summer yet?
well almost, and this song’s ready for you when it does arrive…
…doing the album was learning as I went, I kept adding things and then taking them off again because – in the end I hope this just sounds like someone singing to you late at night on the beach.
When I did my bit of travelling often people would wind up on a beach around a fire, and wherever I went they seemed to be playing the same handful of songs; so one of my tests for a good song is can you play it just with a guitar and a voice; all the tunes on this album can be sung that way and this one in particular is pretty good for it.
At first I didn’t rate it that highly because it came so quick, but straight away friends liked it, and when I first played it live, a couple started kissing so I knew I was on to something, now I like it a lot, hope you do too …
here it is with the words : https://vincentburke.bandcamp.com/track/yellow-guitar-3
nice photo hu? (thanks Jonathan)
After the optimism of the previous ‘wedding’ song comes this,
a marriage gone sour.
It’s not my most popular, but it is one of my best – both the lyric and the melody hit the spot for me and Late Junction on Radio 3 played it last year
(they’re in the process of being cut by the way, so sign the petition here if like me you want a place for adventure and experiment on the radio).
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/save-late-junction
About the song though, I wanted to write something that used the things people really say as opposed to what gets said in songs. To that extent it’s kind of kitchen sink drama – half a conversation, the male half, explaining how his cheating was partly her fault – there is a level of irony 😉
I’m not talking about my marriage by the way (we’re still all good, honest!), but the fact this guy’s talking like an idiot doesn’t mean I don’t feel it when I sing it.
song and lyrics here!: https://vincentburke.bandcamp.com/track/can-i-just-explain-2
in a break from banging on about the album:
here’s a thing I just wrote and recorded, and then did a video for singing at the computer nice and quick (like it should be). Actually there’s a lot you can do with a mac and one Halloween mask.
It’s a bit out of my usual zone (wherever that is) but I like it so maybe you will too – Like I say I wrote it quick – like people I think songs are happiest when you let them take their own shape and stop bossing them around, and this one wanted to stretch it’s legs a bit.
Britney Spears has always been huge influence on me so here again you may note the reference to her ‘oops I did it again’ single from the year 2000 (that’s the bit at the end) and there’s a Shakespeare quote too ‘by the pricking of my thumbs’ by which I mean texting.
that’s probably enough wanna see the video?
…and if you want to download it’s here: https://vincentburke.bandcamp.com/track/im-not-supposed-to-talk-to-you
– this is me and my sister buried in the sand at bantham beach, devon quite a long time ago.
I thought ready made sense as track 1 – it’s quite fast and it starts with me very young
in a dream I used to have.
In the dream I’m on a swing; I swing forward and back as the frame gets bigger and bigger until I’m sweeping forwards and back again over the roof of our house;
it keeps getting bigger,
until I’m sweeping high up into clouds and down across whole counties.
I can feel the wind on my face and arms,
until I know I on the next downward sweep won’t be able to hang on any longer;
I grip tight to the chains but as I fly forward gripping, I’m catapulted away through the sky and …
I wake up.
well; I changed it to a bike but you get the idea, a boy wakes up in bed and wonders where he’s going…
the sound affects at the beginning are the bike running and taking flight away from the world. The rest is me looking around my room wondering what I will be, as the lights of cars sweep oblong shadows under my curtains and across the ceiling.
Actually the last time I ever had that dream,I fell from the sky and bounced into a big stack of hay
so that’s all right then; never had it again.
the track’s available via
https://vincentburke.bandcamp.com
or if you want the album with pictures and stuff, e-mail me vncntburke@yahoo.co.uk
next time track 2!
well yes I did dig a hole – none of your photoshop fakery here.
then I got in it
various pop star poses were adopted
the artistic process was observed
it went on a while…
The idea came from a dream I had where I was walking round these suburban streets pointing out things like a big pot and telling a friend how everything was art (even asleep he’s pretentious). I turned around and in this grass verge of a very normal front garden, a Spanish looking man was buried to the waist standing; as I watched two woman walked from behind and put a marriage veil over his head.
Obviously I woke up and thought that will do for the cover. The hand is held up to resemble the international sign of greeting (I kept my trousers on).
I chopped it up a bit to add a hint of dis-orientation and off-set that with a ‘learning to read’ primary school font in lower case, because it’s nice to look at new things like 7 year old does.
As for the title: ‘over here in the trees’ refers to my finally drawing some attention to myself after all this time (and that joke with the punchline ‘over here on the swings’ – I’ll tell it to you some time 🙂 )
