Sons of Selina in the Studio
As Sons of Selina, Robin and myself recorded Anxiety using some of 4Q’s ‘Systemisation’ lyrics that Edi had written for the verses and I wrote a kind of syllable bouncing chorus. The 4 track recording made to sound like a 16 track one and the mix from hell. Track after track was recorded pre-mixed and bounced using a 4-track machine with painstaking care. We had to record the backing vocals (the ‘oohs’ in the 2nd verse) during the mix. The power also failed (Robin forgot to put 50p in the meter) whilst mixing and we actually lost a kick and 2 snare beats which we had to manually put in after and didn’t sound the same. To disguise this fact we recorded a loud trill on the mono-synth which became the talking point of many a review and is now an integral part of the song. This is what made the Sons Of Selina thanks to Mark Radcliffe and the other DJs, my only regret is that we didn’t have an album to follow it up quickly, or at least the nonce to get it released properly.
ANXIETY
We are the people from the government
We’ve come to see just what you want
You complain about the system that we made for you
Well were gonna see what we can do
We’11 build a wall, we’ll build it thick
And we’ll make it out you’re just a little sick
So you’ll come into our cell without hesitation
And we can ask you lots of questions
It’s running through your mind
It’s making all your thoughts go blind
It’s running riot in your head
It’s making you wish you were dead
You’re a square peg but we’ll make you fit
Although deep inside it might hurt a bit
We’11 give you little pills to take away the pain
And the system you hate won’t seem the same
We’ll help you choose, help you decide
But then there’s always suicide
It’s running through your mind
It’s making all your thoughts go blind
It’s running riot in your head
It’s making you wish you were dead
You feel it jumping on your back
It’s on the counter attack
It’s creeping underneath your skin
You obey it’s every want & whim
It’s leaping round your brain it makes you hopelessly insane
Yes you’re permanently sad, anxiety…
Think you’re going mad
Also wrote & recorded ‘Once Every So Often’ which is about being lost on the Parisian Underground, & ·Palms to the sky part 4·.
ONCE EVERY SO OFTEN
I boarded the train at 6.32,the crackling speaker bleated
Mind the gap
In an incohearant language
Ploughing through a sea of faces I felt alone, very alone
An obscure whistle rang in my tiresome ears
And the sliding doors closed trapping us in a steel tomb
Intravening into the bloodstream of the city’s womb
I felt a tap on my shoulder I turned to see but there was no one there
Only the thoughts of a thousand travellers
Stemming the romantic system
Two eyes met mine,I gave a nod of acknowledgement
but they turned away
then the speaker announced
Maisons-Alfort
The train stopped and I got off
The escalator took my weary torso up to ground level
I stopped and observed all around me
I was lost,very lost
I attracted the attention of a passer by and asked him
Excuse me I am lost
And his reply was…
It’s about myself being lost on the Paris Metro – if you didn’t know. And the same recording appears on the M+E cassette Ambition & on the German compilation IRRE TAPES No:33. People either love or hate this one, there is no inbetween.
Robin played this to a couple of friends soon after we recorded it; one of them was tripping on acid and when the vocal on the track says “Mind the gap”, this drug-head leapt up and screamed; ‘FUCK OFF’ at the speaker!!
