‘Complexity, but now there’s clarity’

When I first walked into Far Heath studios I noticed a gold record was on the wall by The Fall. I always liked The Fall and thought it was a good omen, as there are elements of The Fall in this song.

Inspiration came when I was working on a TV show. I overheard a conversation when I was in the dressing room. A lot of words were being uttered but nothing was actually being said. It was very early in the morning and I had been up since 3 a.m., and I felt ‘Nothing Here Is Real’. When I sang the phrase I think it stuck because it reminded me of the words ‘nothing is real’ from ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ by the Beatles.

‘Down and out I couldn’t stay, live to fight another day’

The song was born from a riff, but a riff which sounded very familiar. I was concerned about copyright so I phoned the MU who suggested I change it. Unfortunately, we had the studio booked the next day, so I had to come up with a new opening riff, sharpish. I came up with five, but decided to stay with the simplest. I think it works well.

‘I think I am going to lose my mind’

The opening riff was inspired by ‘Foxy Lady’ by Jimi Hendrix, but later modified. The theme is a doomed relationship. I was working at The Met pub in Manchester. I really liked this girl who always looked at me with a sweet smile. We were meant to meet up, but she texted me, saying she had just gone to France. I told my flatmate and he said, ‘She’s lying to you,’ so I responded, in effect, ‘Likely story!’ and the relationship ended there and then. I later heard that she had gone to France and that she did like me. I was such a fool, so ‘I Wish’ things had turned out differently.

‘Is history based upon a lie, the one they showed us from the sky?’

I wanted to write a song like Neil Young. His best songs give me the feeling that he finds a great idea and wants to share it with you to help your day and perspective on life. I have about seven of his albums; the ones I particularly love are Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere and After The Gold Rush.

The song was inspired when I met a group of people, one of whom, I could tell, had made up their mind about me and didn’t like me before I even spoke. I suppose the song is about predetermined judgement: prejudice.

‘Seeking some serenity, sowing tears placed in the sea’

I always loved the Blur song ‘Tracy Jacks’, especially the opening two-chord refrain with the name, and I wanted to write something similar. ‘Sally Anne’ is such a catchy name, I couldn’t resist!

Melodically, I felt inspired by mid-era Jam from the time of Setting Sons. I couldn’t think of a contrasting vocal section, so thought, ‘Why not write an instrumental section instead?’ I wanted to write a solo similar to John Squire’s work on the first Stone Roses album – a very melodic solo in that vein. For the last bit in the guitar solo I fused ideas from Bill Nelson and Mark Knopfler.

The song itself is about the frustrations we all sometimes have to face. I noticed that many of those who acquire wealth seem to move to the countryside to get away from other people. I thought that was interesting.

On the rooftop watch the sky
See the day drop from up high
See the day glow up ahead
Watch it wither when unfed

So we need to find a better frame of mind
Caught up in this race you’ll fall behind

Life’s a river, watch the flow
Never fight it, you should know
Catch the whirlwind if you can
Never lose it in your plan

So we need to find a better frame of mind
Caught up in this race you’ll fall behind
Open up, you might find

So we need to find a better frame of mind
Somewhere calm that can treat you kind
Need to find a better frame of mind
Caught up in this race you’ll fall behind, fall behind

‘I remember once upon a time’

I wanted a similar feel to ‘Better Things’ by the Kinks, with a touch of Weezer for good measure. I was also listening a lot to REM at the time of recording this, so perhaps that was reflected in the instrumental arrangement. I was once in a band signed to Atlantic Records. We released a record which got decent reviews. I thought my dreams were going to be realised, but sadly we were dropped. The song in many ways was about that. I was in denial at the time of writing it, but I now realise they were the best days of my life.

‘Struggle with the good times, struggle with the bad times’

The concept came to me when I lived in Manchester. We would walk to a nightclub in the winter, heading into the wind and rain. At the time, money was so scarce the idea of getting a taxi was completely foreign to me. When we arrived at the club we looked a mess, but everybody else looked amazing – unaffected by the winter weather. This is reflected in the line ‘Look at all the happy shiny girls, dancing round without their winter clothes’. I had originally wanted to sing ‘happy shiny people’ because I didn’t want to be gender-specific, but REM had already used that line, and ‘girls’ seemed to scan better.

Musically, the verses were inspired by Frankie Valli/60s girl groups – I wanted that doo-wop feel. The chord sequence and lyrics reflect that. Then, in the chorus, I wanted to write something like Weezer – I always enjoyed their choruses on the album Pinkerton. After the choruses I wanted a climax similar to the Police’s in ‘Every Breath You Take’.

‘Take another picture, post it up and show it to the world’

Musically, this song was inspired by Nirvana – a mix of ‘Drain You’ and ‘All Apologies’.

I saw an advert on YouTube showing someone giving ideas for what to wear at a red carpet event. I am intimidated by the glitz and glamour of that sort of thing; I feel really uncomfortable. That was the starting point of the lyrics. I just expanded on it.

There was a time when BBC sport had a batch of catchy guitar pieces, for F1, snooker, etc. I remember when I decided to memorise the snooker theme tune for a laugh. At the time I was writing this song I was listening to a lot of RATM, so this song is a mix of Rage and snooker. Lyrically, it’s about hypochrondria – at the time I was suffering from a few ailments.

This was written around the time Lemmy died. I have a couple of Motorhead albums and have read Lemmy’s biography. I always admired him, and took comfort from the belief that whatever was happening in the world, Motorhead would be on tour or recording an album. This song is heavily influenced by that group. I set myself a challenge of writing the fastest song I could with no-holds-barred guitar solos, in the spirit of Motorhead. It’s always fun playing this song live.

‘The trapping walls of yesteryear are gathering’

I wrote this song when David Bowie died. To be a singer is a strange thing. You have to find an identity you feel comfortable in. I like playing guitar more than singing, I won’t lie. David Bowie’s and John Lennon’s vocal styles were two I felt I could do and not be embarrassed by adopting. So I learned to sing a lot of songs from Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust. They were huge albums to me. I noticed ‘Life On Mars?’ has the credit ‘inspired by Frankie’ so I wanted to do a song for Bowie. Thank you, David.