Paul Weller, Above the clouds.
From the 1992 1st solo album. Weller is back and thank god. Beautiful simple acoustic song, driven by the lyrics that touch:
“As my anger shouts
Above the Clouds, from the album Paul Weller, 1992.
At my own self doubt
So a sadness creeps
Into my dreams
When you’re scared of living
But afraid to die
I get scared of giving
And I must find the faith to beat it”
There are some nice videos of the live performances but one of my favourites is Weller on a train, playing it in a carriage.
Such an important song for me, in the darkest Ph.D days, really felt the meaning like Broken Stones. As a tribute put a couple of lines in the separator pages of my thesis and glad I did.
Pele, Beside the fields.
Graceful opening song to “The Sport of Kings” second album. A string powered celtic-esque song about lost love. Ian’s powered lyrics are second to none on this track. Video talk through of the whole album.
“Beside the fields and the roads
Pele, Beside the fields from Sport of Kings, 1993.
I’m not just singin’ now you know
There’s no romance they say that’s dead
An’ give us factory life instead
It’s only shit about Northern towns
The lying bastards bring you down
Our lives, our lives”
Pet Shop Boys, Being Boring.
Lovely synth intro to a dedicated song to a long lost friend (who died of AIDS). Beautiful imagery of friends “some are here and some are missing”. Tenants on top form with decades swishing buy in this tumultuous tune! Lloyd Cole said the best song ever written and even features Marr on guitar 🎸
‘Cause we were never being boring
Being Boring, The Pet Shop Boys, 1990.
We had too much time to find for ourselves
And we were never being boring
We dressed up and fought, then thought: “Make amends”
And we were never holding back or worried that
Time would come to an end”