Inside the Whale
The Curator
Inside the Whale
Snakes and Ladders
The Warmth On My Pillow
Courtiers
First One Home
By day, a mild Norfolk museum curator and by night a be-caped purveyor of sophisticated excess, Alistair Murphy's second solo album finds the eccentric keeper of antiquities in fully-fledged Orchestral Rock mode.
Consisting of one twenty minute side-long spanning epic and four shorter pieces, the album revels in its non-digital-era arrangemen. and 1970s influenced sense of scale.
Orchestrated by Phil Toms and featuring the Ely Sinfonia conducted by SAW Bingham, Inside The Whale also includes the ever-versatile Pat Mastelotto on drums.
Developing further the musical and lyrical themes that marked his quirky debut Sometime Soon, Inside The Whale evokes singer-songwriter, Progressive and 20th Century Classical styles. A modern man adrift in the modem world using modern technology to make a traditional statement of grand intent, The Curator is a fascinating anachronism; not quite of this time or any other.
"Having tasted the wonderful multiple violin overdubs of Steve Bingham on Sometime Soon I wanted more of these textures. Bored of shiny digital string samples almost as soon as I had first heard them in nineteen-eighty-sometime, I recently At out with Steve and string arranger Phil Toms on the road to orchestral heaven. With Phil slipping the tadpoles on the telegraph lines and he and Steve caught in huddles A the side of the road smirking over some obscure musical reference we went down the neglected pathway of rock orchestration. Standing on the shoulders of giants, Tony Visconti, Dee Palmer, Nicky Harrison, Mick Ronson and others, we strode on...(it was fun too)." Alistair Murphy
INSIDE THE WHALE
Fair wind fading away, from me
Dark wave, towering grey, cold wind
There must be someone, somewhere
To ring the bells and blow the horn
As you're waiting on the dawn
Wishing that you, not been born
And that someone, somewhere
Knows that when you try, when you can try you can only fail
Riding the wave, or riding the gale
Or sliding down inside the whale
Young men fresh from the farm
The wet of the sea at their ear
Never thought that they could come to harm
But never dreamt, for a moment of ending up here
It's as dark as the night in this place
The daylight never penetrates far
And the faces that hang in the void should be hung
But they still trade tales at the bar
We all row on, hour by hour
And the wine that we're all rely on
Will spill, stain and turn sour
One too many drinks on the house
A falsehood too many to bear
X marks the spot where you signed on the line
With a scuffle, a shout and a cry of despair
We all row on, day by day
With our heads held high
Never look to the sun or our watches to show us the way
We all row on, year by year
And the strength that we all call upon
Will falter, fade and disappear.
One cold morning
One knot on the rope
One deep mooring
One last fleeting hope
Running onward
Fighting against the tide
One last foot forward
Feeling cold inside
Drifting backwards
And moving downwind
And listing sideways
And sinking always down
Every night has got its morning
Every tide has got to turn
Dangers always bring their warning
The westtest wood can always burn
It, so long, it, so far to stray
We're not always walking on our own
Not always walking away
Fair wind blowing my way and home
There must someone, somewhere, to milk the cows and bake the bread
To tell the children, and wake the dead
And drag the Burgermeister from his bed
And that someone, somewhere, knows though he fails, though he fails
He can only try, one day he'll fall but the next he will fly
And watch the world below go by
And now the world is calling and all the walls are coming down
And the lights are shining and the crowd has gathered round
There must be someone, somewhere,
Who'll grab their coat and grab their hat
Ring the changes, fetch in the cat
Sweep the streets and beat the mat
And that someone, somewhere
Knows though they falter
Knows though they falter and, though they may fail
Last week they stumbled and this week they trail
One day they'll rise up from out of the whale
And I can see the harbour as I turn towards the land
I coil the ropes and stow the sails and I hear a marching band
And in the dark I see some faces as I'm stretching out my hand.
SNAKES AND LADDERS
It's time for change and there, nothing to say
Your bag, in the hall, our lives are in freefall
It's looking like rain and it is over again
You said you could change but it, all stayed the same
I'm looking ahead at the ladder of light
The snakes all slide back to you
Time after time I waited for someone to call
I waited for you what else could I do?
Over and over again is that the key in the door?
I waited alone, I waited some more
I'm looking ahead at the ladder of light
The snakes all slide back to you
Time after time after time my mind is running away
Lying awake I wait for the new day
Over and over and over again in the blink of an eye
Time frozen still, life rushing by
I'm looking ahead at the ladder of light
The snakes all slide back to you
THE WARMTH ON MY PILLOW
When all's said and done and dusted, entrusted and ready for home
I find myself here, where ever is here
I could not have made it alone
You're a light through the trees, you're the snow on the fell
A voice in the street, with a story to tell
Be the warmth on my pillow in the cool of the night
We're all on the move with nowhere to go and no one to show us the way We eat where we can, we sleep where we fall
Pause where there, somewhere to stay
I've walked to your town. I've stopped in your street
Thrown stones at you light, used your step for a seat
Be the warmth on my pillow in the cool of the night
There, a man at the corner, it, late and he, heading for home
Now some should warn you, that it, me at the side of road
I'm holding, I'm holding my breath
You're holding my world in the palm of your
If you look in my eyes, I can't fail the test
But should you say no then I'll understand
The lights going off, at the corner
The sound of the music is drifting away
I'll chance what I have,
if I haven't a chance then that's a price I'll have to pay
You're a light through the trees, you're the snow on the fell
A voice in the street with a story to tell
Be the warmth on my pillow in the cool of the night
COURTIERS
Well, you've taken every fence
Although the highest ones have left you sprawling
No, there can be no defence
For the accidents that are your calling
The chosen ones have found their form, the guides they had to meet They've fallen on their feet, while you're just falling
Oh if you could find their way, trace their path, have their good fortune
Oh yes, if you knew who they knew, had what they had
Oh, such sweet torture
Meanwhile sitting in the stands, trying to catch a sight
Reaching out our hands, for we're all Courtiers
Jesters, shysters, their foot-soldiers, Christmas puppies, all time losers Innocents and victims too, at the tail end of the queue
Stop, your life is passing by, there, no reason why, you can't enjoy it
But time and time again you find, the illusion, fine, you can't destroy it
We're waiting by the road, we're waiting in the rain
They, coming round again, for we're their Courtiers
Nuisance Callers, whores and stalkers
Stallers, crawlers, touts and hawkers
Fighters, fences, late-night brawlers
Beggars, bawlers, back-street prowlers
Saints and sinners, thieves and judges
Innocents and victims too, and we're still waiting in the queue.
Well, you've taken every fence
Although the highest ones have left you sprawling
No, there can be no defence, for the accidents that are your calling
The chosen ones have found their form, the guides they had to meet They've fallen on their feet, while you're just falling
(Where are we falling to?)
FIRST ONE HOME
There's someone waiting in my life again
In moments that I find, I will think of them
Day and night and time and tide again
All the roads ahead are leading back to them
Once I waited for my time pass
Not knowing where I wanted it to go
There's someone waiting in my life again
And I'll soon be there with you
And now there's someone looking out for me
Shouting in the dark when I am drawing near
Moon and stars and a silent ship to steer
And glowing phosphoresence slips astern of me
Once I waited for my days to pass
With the water breaking hard upon my prow
But now there's someone looking out for me
And I am looking out for you
And when I'm walking in the rain
Or fighting hard against the wind
There's someone calling out my name
Someone's placing bets on me
In a dirty bookies shop
Just before the ten to three
Newly printed notes and shiny currency
Amongst silent gambling men
Awaiting news of Wetherby
Once I waited at the starting gate
With nothing riding on the race at all
Someone's waiting at the post for me
And I bet I'll be the first one home
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