History
The album features a mix of musicians and instruments, including the Vauld Symphony Orchestra (named after the Marden, Herefordshire farm Harper owned and recorded in at the time). The CD release (Science Friction HUCD021) has been remastered with SNS 20-bit digital supermapping.
"Naked Flame" is modelled on the traditional Lady Franklin's Lament, in much the same way as Bob Dylan's Dream (from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan) used the same source.[3]
One of Those Days in England (Parts 2–10)
One of the album's highlights is the epic, 19-minute, "One Of Those Days In England (Parts 2–10)" (originally side 2 of the album on vinyl). Comprising several musical movements, the song is a collection of reminiscences from both a personal and cultural perspective. Harper sings of "Britannica and all those who sail in her, especially those with Albion's cultural heritage claws...", and refers to the Alfred Jewel,[4] the legend of The Sword in the Lake, Avalon, signing on for the dole, Captain Kirk, Linda Lovelace, Stanley Matthews, and The Blitz.
Watford Gap
Originally the album contained the song "Watford Gap" which contained somewhat disparaging lyrics concerning the Watford Gap service station, a motorway service area situated between junctions 16 and 17 of the M1 motorway, near Watford Gap, in Northamptonshire, England.[5]
- Just about a mile from where the motorways all merge
- You can view the national edifice, a monumental splurge
- It's the lonesome traveller's rotgut or bacteria's revenge
- The great plastic spectacular descendant of Stonehenge
- And the people come to worship on their death-defying wheels
- Fancy-dressed as shovels for their death-defying meals
- It's the Watford Gap, Watford Gap
- A plate of grease and a load of crap
Harper claimed the food was "junk, absolute junk. I tried to get the media food commentators of the day interested, but none of them would help me because they were all kind of bought off in some way, they were in the pockets of the corporations. I got a reply from Bernard Levin – he agreed with me but wouldn't go public about it".[5] Subsequent pressings omitted the song at the behest of an EMI board member who was (also) a non-executive director of Blue Boar (the owners of the service station).[5] Under duress, Harper replaced the controversial track with "Breakfast With You", a song he himself allegedly described as "pap".[6] In 1996, "Watford Gap" was finally restored to the re-issued CD, with "Breakfast With You" now the closing track.
Track listing
All compositions credited to Roy Harper
Side one
- "One of Those Days in England Part 1" – 3:25
- "These Last Days" – 4:26
- "Cherishing the Lonesome" – 5:54
- "Naked Flame" – 5:06
- "Watford Gap" – 3:22
Side two
- "One of Those Days in England Parts 2–10" – 19:27
[2]