1970 - ‘What's to become of us?’ indeed. Elegiac, uncertain, looking back and then forward, a song that speaks of England (as much as anything) emerging from a tumultuous decade and blinking into the daylight.
lyrics
When Willie sang you’re on my mind -
Not fleetingly - but all the time,
He knew something.
He knew someone.
Serendipity, or happenstance?
To roll again, or bet the farm?
Who are you running to,
Or running from?
What’s to become of us?
I’d really like to know.
It’s not enough to feel this way,
It doesn’t make it so.
Etiquette and epithets,
Inspect the range -
I’ve got the set.
Does that trouble you,
As it troubles me?
Words and sounds and images,
Through England’s towns and villages.
Engraved in me
Indelibly.
What’s to become of us?
I think we should be told.
Is it enough to say these things?
It doesn’t make it so.
Is it me in the darkness?
Is it you?
Or is it me?
The hollyhocks and four leaf clover,
I stumble through over and over,
I ask myself.
Have I fooled myself?
From first to last and last to first,
Lest not a blessing become a curse....
It’s how it plays,
And not the hand itself.
What’s to become of us?
I’d really love to know.
It’s not enough to feel this way,
It doesn’t make it so.
credits
from Whimsica Sardonica,
released January 14, 2022
Vern Asbury - Lead Vocal
Wendon Davis - Backing Vocals & Percussion
Ralph Salmins - Drums
Dale Davis - Bass
John Wheatcroft - Electric & Acoustic Guitars
Kevin Webster - Piano & Organ
Andrew Ross - Saxophones & Flutes
Ralph Lamb - Trumpets & Flugel Horns
Steve Turner - String Arrangements performed by
FILMharmonic Orchestra, Prague®
Adam Klemens - Conductor
Milan Jílek - Sound Engineer
Michal Petrásek - Assitant Sound Engineer
Petr Pýcha - Orchestra Contractor and Recording Sessions Manager
Bruce Marcus - Backing Vocals
Recorded & Mixed by - Lester Salmins at The Bunker
Additional Recording by - Jake Skinner at Brighton Road Recording Studios
Mastered by Ben Pike at Rare Tone Mastering
Produced by - Andrew Moorhouse
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