Shortly after the universe banged into life, when I was 19, I wrote a song called One Chance. 'twas a youthful tale of exuberance, bravado and general cockiness. I was going to grab life by the scruff of the neck, make it my own and would be unstoppable in my endeavours. It was written at a time when I knew nothing of music production, so it was never recorded and, for whatever reason, I rarely played it live but over the intervening decades it has ear-wormed its way around my head. During that time life had its own ideas about where I would be grabbing it and tested my unstoppableness regularly so when I finally came to revisit the song a whole 26 years after it was first penned, it felt wrong to sing it with the original lyrics. I re-wrote it with an intention to stay true to the spirit but tempered with the reality of experience. Lyrically I think I achieved that, but the tune changed too and it ended up becoming more than it ever was.
The cover art you can see here is a composite mosaic. The main image is me on stage at the Chester Beer Festival (2019 I think) with a band called The Perpetrators that I was in for a while. The mosaic is built of other images of me performing live over the last 20+ years.
The Music Plays On is available on all streaming services now, you can also listen and read the lyrics below.
- The Music Plays On Bransby 5:17
The Music Plays On
There was a boy who grew up to be me
Who needed some help but now gives it for free
He made himself proud and proved that I could be
The thing he admired but it wasn't easy
This is my life and this is my future
And this is my past and these are my photos
Some snapshots of fame, my first taste of cocaine
The first time we kissed, the first time I stood to the mic
And I sang for my life
My Life passed me by in the blink of an eye
And still the music plays on and helps me see why
It all had to happen the dreams needed mapping
It's always been such a slow burn
It's all just a process it took time to know this
The slow pace at which I must learn
And still the music plays on and I'm keeping time
He wasn't wrong it just took much longer
By the end of the song he's feeling much stronger
Despite what he said it turns out he did care
By the middle eight he sees that he's got there
He's still got that spark in his eye
When my life passed me by in the blink of an eye
And still the music plays on and helps me see why
It all had to happen the dreams needed mapping
It's always been such a slow burn
It's all just a process it took time to know this
The slow pace at which I must learn
And still the music plays on and I'm keeping time
The dull day to day, the jobs that don't pay
The shared loneliness, your life's such a mess
It's getting to the point where I can't hear your voice
When my life passed me by in the blink of an eye
And still the music plays on and helps me see why
It all had to happen the dreams needed mapping
It's always been such a slow burn
It's all just a process it took time to know this
The slow pace at which I must learn
And still the music plays on and I'm keeping time