Sun, Sorrow, Flowers, Moon

A word about the songs

Sun, Sorrow, Flowers, Moon

Songs of Love and Chains volume three.

This is a collection of songs that I’ve loved, mostly growing up, but also from more recently! There are great classics here that I’ve re­interpreted, like Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘Scarborough fair’, which I’ve sprinkled minstrel magic on, Elvis’s ‘Can’t help falling in love’, where I croon, and Percy Sledge’s ‘When a man loves a woman’ with its’ emotional chord structure borrowed from Pachelbel’s Canon, but also more obscure songs like Dylan’s sleepy ‘All the tired horses’ and ‘Kilkelly, Ireland’, by Peter Jones (not the department store or Dragon’s Den entrepreneur!)... which I find impossible to sing without crying. We’ve discreetly edited the tears out!

I sing in three different languages other than English, too... French, Spanish and Hungarian! ‘Le facteur’ is by French/Greek singer­songwriter Georges Moustaki, who died this year. He wrote for Edith Piaf amongst others. I’ve remained very faithful to the original arrangements, but nevertheless, it turns out to be a subtly different ice-sculptureof a rendition. ‘Llorando se fue’ is a Bolivian folk­song that got morphed into the Lambada by Kaoma in the 1990’s, but I knew it in its original form as a kid, and was enchanted. It was used at the 1978 world cup in Argentina as the opening ceremony song! I’ve managed to combine the Andean, ethnic folk feel with the bootylicious vigour of the Lambada somehow, in the alchemical cauldron of my musical kitchen! ‘Tavaszi szél’’ is hewn from the Hungarian soul and nature... it’s their ‘Greensleeves’ equivalent; a children’s folk­song that everybody knows, with a profound message of love! I sing it first in Hungarian and then in English, using the cimbalom, a traditional Hungarian instrument, in the arrangement.

Leonard Cohen, Bob Marley and Van Morrison are also represented on this album, with a lullaby­like ‘Bird on the wire,’ a sexy ‘Stir it up’ and a gospely ‘Tupelo honey’. They are three of my famous five, iconic troubadour influences... the others being the aforementioned Bob Dylan, and also Bruce Springsteen, two of who’s songs I covered on my original Songs of Love and Chains double album. These are artists that I regard as messengers... as Hermes or Mercury figures... as spiritual postmen! They bring messages from the Gods and make them sexy. As a singer myself, I feel a great honour in re­telling these tales, these stories in song.

I’ve included two Donovan tracks, ‘Colours’ and ‘Ballad of the crystal man’, and made them jangly and crystalline. Also pure and crystalline is my rendition of Sting’s pastoral ‘Fields of gold’ and Dylan’s ‘Don’t think twice’, which I’ve transformed from the gritty and folky original into an upbeat, skiffly road song. From 2014, I’ve covered ‘Calm after the storm’, this year’s Eurovision runner-up from the Netherlands! It’s a cracking song by the lovely Ilse de Lange, a classic ‘road’ song.

If ‘Calm after the storm’ is the newest song I’ve included, ‘Poor little fool’ is the oldest, from 1958 (except for the traditional ballads ‘Scarborough fair’ and ‘Tavaszi szél’’). It was sung by Rick Nelson, who looked like my Dad! I love singing ‘Poor little fool’ because mostly I’m inspired to sing sacred themed or spiritually interpreted ballads, but Rick Nelson’s sweet, do-wop lament is pure boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl philosophy.

The other track is instrumental, a melancholy French, sepia vignette... ‘Natalia’ by Georges Moustaki. His version was for his sweet guitar, but as piano is my ‘home’ instrument, I’ve arranged it around that.

By counterpoint, I’m now recording a version of Bob Marley’s ‘Stir it up’ that is as sexy as a Creole mango curry and will make you take all of your clothes off and run down to the nearest beach to dance!

I have more than enough ideas for a Songs of Love and Chains volume four, actually... more Dylan, Cohen, Springsteen and Van Morrison songs; Buddy Holly tracks; Louis Armstrong’s ‘What a wonderful world,’ and ‘Lord of the dance’... lots of songs that helped me to become the man I am today; the rock and roll legend, sex icon and Rasputin of rock that both my fans know and love.