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| CD album |
West of Eden |
1993 |
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All text in this rather fetching blue-green by Hugh Featherstone.
The band RED SHIFT (1986-2000), with Hugh as writer and frontman, transmuted into Trans/At and more lately into Hugh Featherstone and a Panel of Experts. But while the original crew were still rocking around Europe they managed to produce this fine CD which showcases their collective as well as individual talents.
Fish on the phone, for example, is a very fine pop tune which one can't help thinking would have been a hot single - if only anybody out there had been listening. Is anybody out there?
Two of the line-up on this album, percussionist Christian Sichert and guest drummer Philby, were to become founder-members of Hugh's latest band Hugh Featherstone and A Panel of Experts, whose first CD was Live at the Chapel (2005).
To our friends and families and all those who have helped us on the way,
particularly Martin, Roland and Manni, go our heartfelt thanks.
Thanks to my Saints and Angels and other good citizens, especially Fellner,
Manfred and Heidi, Ralf W, Eric and Francoise, Paul D and Christof S
for their support through the years. May your luggage be light. |
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RED SHIFT personnel:
Drums: Yannick Le Roux
Percussion: Christian Sichert
Bass: Winfried Winkler
Keyboards: Ali Döhler
Electric guitar: Heinz Sondermann
Electric & acoustic guitars: Featherstone
Guests:
Philby plays African bush drum on track 2
Marcus Reyhani plays saxophone on tracks 6, 13, 14
Recorded in 16 track and mastered A.D.D. on private equipment
between January and October 1993.
Engineering & premix: Matthias Dechsene & Norbert Quast
Sound management & liaison: Christian Sichert
Remix: Featherstone
A Struts & Frets production
Inside liner photography: Marcel at Ralf Bremen, Aachen
Graphics and layout: Uschi Ronnenberg, Aachen
Cover painting: "Eden" by Ed Povey
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Edward Povey is a rising English artist whose work has been exhibited in major galleries in London (British Arts Council at The Royal Exchange in 1978), Brussles (Jan de Maere Galleries in 1988), The Hague (Art Gallery Gerard in 1991) and New York (Midtown Payson Galleries in 1991 and 1992). His giant multiple canvass, "The Trial of St. Deiniol", dominated the foyer of the Jacob Javlts Center during the New York Art Expo and was featured in The New York Times.
Recently, museums and galleries have begun to acquire Poveys for their permanent collections and his last major commission, a $50,000 fresco contract for the University of Wales, attracted the attention of The Times, which featured the painting on the back page of its Arts Section. The artist has also been the subject of a BBC television documentary.
The allegorical painting "Eden" concerns the possession and admistration of data and the power it represents within the context of "an almost holy civil service". The world of 20th century Adam, a middle-aged bureaucrat, and his shadowy but indispensible secretary Eve is shown as a cosy yet "warped and claustrophobic" realm where facts are gathered and processed hermetically for their own sake. She embraces the tree of knowledge in the form of a filing cabinet while he "farms" the ordered little paradise of his desk. The snake-like ambiguity of Adam's left hand suggests a certain discreet cupidity. The pillars of conformity hold up the heaven of retirement and a good pension.
The painting was commissioned especially for the CD and reflects some of the ideas expressed in the songs Solid State,
In the Nineties, Industrial Lace, Fine Print and The Line. |
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CD cover painting:
"Eden" by Edward Povey |
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| photos from the CD booklet |
Winfried Winkler
bass |
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Hugh Featherstone
guitar and vocals |
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Heinz Sondermann
electric guitar |
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Christian Sichert
percussion |
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Ali Döhler
keyboards |
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Yannick Le Roux
drums |
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| West of Eden |
lyrics and notes |
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All Hugh's CD album sleeves contain lyrics and notes, so the best way to enjoy
them is to read as you listen. But for those of you who can't wait, here they are.
All text in this rather fetching blue-green by Hugh Featherstone. |
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| West of Eden |
Solid state |
track 1 |
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For my friends in the East who agitated for change and were mugged by the new political reality.
The jobs don't grow on trees here
the cops don't keep the peace here
it's hard to tread that fine line
you've got your ocode, I've got mine
This won't bring heaven nearer
the post-atomic era
newspeak and clever cure-alls
Atlantic to the Urals
it's a solid state
Street corner cowboys calling
grab while the glass is falling
food getting scarce these winters
the brick, the crash, the splinters
When you can't get what you're owed
you take what's lying on the road
leaders go, bureaucrats stay
sooner or later they play
solid state
Street gorner curfew breaker
just left to meet his maker
two cops in mufti caught him
not prettywhat they taught him
I left the motor running
I'd seen the trouble coming
there's one thing l'd like to know
in one world where can we go? |
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| West of Eden |
Fine print |
track 2 |
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Have you seen the signs
the big print and the fine
have you?
Time we all grew up
ain't we seen enough
I have, have you?
Take a look at the world
we're not trying that hard
we throw money at problems
but they don't go away
just take a look at the world
it's crying out for a change
not just petrified systems from
yesterday
I'll take my guitar
sing right where we are
for you
for you |
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| West of Eden |
Don't walk away |
track 3 |
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Love is habit-forming, it's a way of life
the ties that bind, the Gordian knot
I know the colour red, I know the reason why
l saw you turn your head, l saw you catch his eye
but don't walk away
He may treat you better, he may treat you worse
but you'll keep this letter, you'll cry at this verse
so don't walk away
There's a time for taking and a time for giving
it seems you took my heart, so why am I still living here
I watch your picture fading on a rusty pin
I never had much pity for the state I'm in
but everything I am, everything I own
isn't worth a dann if I'm all alone
so don't walk away
don't walk away |
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| West of Eden |
Chinese takeout |
track 4 |
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He was your angel
he was your first love
he kept you guessing day of your life
Good enough to
fix his breakfast
not good enough to be his wife
Look out your window
look out your door
hey, sugar, he ain't coming no more
can't imagine why the sun shines on
your man's gone
Call your friends up
call your neighbours
hey, sister, did he come that way?
Just an inkling
just an idea
leave a message in case he calls today
Make a scene
what're you waiting for?
break his picture on the mezzanine floor
every dream that you had went wrong
your man's gone
He wasn't woth it
he didn't löve you
tell yourself that you're better off
They're all the same, girl
they push and shove you
and now it's time to take the fetters off
Place a call
to the Chinese takeaway
a little something just to take the ache away
a battle lost, but the war is won
your man's gone |
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| West of Eden |
In the nineties |
track 5 |
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To all the majordudes and majordupes.
You say you're gonna work the farm
kid you've got a lot to learn
you say Maggie didn't do you no harm
well, guess that's right, but now it's your turn
You ain't gonna hang around anybody's favourite
bistro no more
with the tickertape spilling
on the stock exchange floor
You live your life alone
be careful on the phone
You've someone to keep you warm
well, what a lucky guy you are!
Will she help you ride the storm
when the razor boys take your house and car?
You ain't gonna be washing your dirty linen
in public no more
you'd better beep a watchdog
posted on your backdoor
You live your life alone
be careful on the phone
Keep on walking to the right
down the tunnel with Mother Night |
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| West of Eden |
Fish on the phone |
track 6 |
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It's hard to make my presence felt
living outside your astral belt
among a number of unknowns
wish I could get you all alone
These are the best years of our lives
I wonder anyone survives
hang like a fish upon the phone
wish I could get you all alone
The party goes on every night
you seem to be their central light,
there's just one switch you haven't thrown
wish I could get you all alone
When you've got some time to call your own
come back and reap what you have sown
nothing the law would not condone
wish I could get you all alone |
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| West of Eden |
Everybody needs someone |
track 7 |
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She walks down Princes Street trying not to care
the shops like jewel boxes mocking her despair
she never knew what game he was playing
too much gets taken without saying
He leaves the toothbrush and the terry-towel robe
he leaves a letter though he doesn't have much hope
is this the price you pay for dropping your guard
who should he say he's leaving
Everybody needs someone
Ten minutes later and he's back home with the kids
his mind is screaming but he keeps it pretty hid
so much for sideline occupations
afraid she'll cause a confrontation
She walks back home and wonders how to twist the knife
will she just break alone, or will she call his wife?
she reads the letter through her gathering tears
if this is love, its frightenlng
How everybody needs someone
The tiger riders and the fools who play with sharks
the easy dealers and the three-a-penny marks
we're all just human on the inside
we wear our leather on the thin side
The tough, the humble and the terminally smart
have no protection against a bullet in the heart
she was his little backstreet business
so what's he shivering for now?
You know, everybody needs someone |
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| West of Eden |
Transatlantic nights |
track 8 |
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Burned out at 17 with a guitar in your hand
Lady Luck had another point of view
jumped school in the back of a Chevy to the promised land
bet your mother would hardly know it's you
But you kept all the photos anyhow
of the girl that you left in another town
She'd have to pay twenty dollars to see you now today
Are you doin' alright?
transatlantic nights, transatlantic nights
in the centre of the stage
in the circle of light
Are you doin' alright?
transatlantic nights, transatlantic nights
you wouldn't give it up now
not without a good fight
Are you doin' alright?
Back home you're the prodigal son, everybody shakes your hand
littlle sister just can't believe it's true
every kid with a Les Paul copy wants to sit in with the band
but no one knows what you're really going through
You kept all the photos anyhow
yes, you did it for her, she's married now
and your silver lining's just another cloudy day
Are you doin' alright?
transatlantic nights, transatlantic nights
in the centre of the stage
in the circle of light
Are you doin' alright?
transatlantic nights, transatlantic nights
you wouldn't give it up now
not without a good fight
Are you doin' alright? |
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| West of Eden |
Industrial lace |
track 9 |
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You've had a hard time from the start
no one could accuse you of a tender heart
beneath the shadows of the Darklin Towers
you learned the lessons of money and power
from the wrong side where the buck rarely stops
among the parking lots and boarded up shops
but who told you that you'd fallen from grace
industrial lace
A hundred years of crawling up
another hundred with a begging cup
a hundred years of angry blood
the ropes tightening, the flames coming up
a voice calling from the heart of the world
for the common man and the working girl
they promised you a beautiful place
industrial lace
But It seems that nothing ever works out here
there never was much to raise a cheer
you dream about a day of reckoning
a flash of thigh and there's destiny beckoning...
fast marriage to the life of the rich
the fancy clothes, the seven year itch,
look down now and you won't leave a trace
industrial lace
lt was in the lunch hour just the other day
a conversatlon in the works café
crazy dream of a world at one
some kind of magic for everyone
and the strange pressures and the barriers gone
the tide turning, the lights coming on
just then I caught a glimpse of your face
industrial lace |
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| West of Eden |
The circle of your arms |
track 10 |
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A live version of this song appears on the CD Live at the Chapel. Hugh made a video
of this song for his YouTube channel in 2011, when he wrote:
I generally play this thoughtful little song as a solo intro to my band concerts, so it seems natural to put it here, at the start of this new series of video recordings. The lyric sums up the way that love can rebuild the world in an instant, even in the most difficult times.
Life is hard
and the leaving is harder still
no one escapes
you can die with your hand in the till
Saints and angels
doing their best I guess
they've all got their niche
I found mine in the folds of your dress
And all the protection life can offer
the only known shelter from harm
is here within the circle of your arms
is here within the circle
of your arms |
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| West of Eden |
Silas in Tigertown |
track 11 |
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Face through a window, just a vision in a crowd
a look, half sun, half rain, get's you wondering aloud
what's the good of living if you don't share with anyone
what's the good of living if you're missing all the fun
You never get lucky forever
you turn back, you could get together
you walk on, you may just forget her
you never get lucky forever
Walk a mile and build your crooked house
buy a cat, catch a crooked mouse
if you never go straight to the heart of the matter anymore
don't expect no dream to walk in through your door
You never get lucky forever
you turn back, you could get together
you walk on, you may just forget her
you never get lucky forever
There you go stuck in your room again
stuck in your loom again
lost your faith, you lost your money too, what are you gonna do?
There you go with your nose in the air
you've got your eyes on the ground, you've got your knees nowhere
and you're walking on down to Tigertown, where they say...
You never get lucky forever
you turn back, you could get together
you walk on, you may just forget her
you never get lucky forever |
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| West of Eden |
George thinks again |
track 12 |
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George held his wife, kids and a social worker hostage for 3 days.
The Montana state police were not amused when he began to
have second thoughts; messy business.
Meanwhile at the lodge
they're calling George:
"Oh George, please come out
we won't hurt you, we're your friends"
The officer sends two more
snipers round the back
We have George on the phone:
"There are too many people here
I'm counting up to ten
when I look round
I hope you'll all have gone home" |
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| West of Eden |
King of the ocean |
track 13 |
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An earlier version of this song appeared on Hugh's 1983
limited edition cassette album "The Black Tape".
There's a boat in the harbour
there's a girl on the shore
she's only sixteen
he's about thirty four
just an innocent sailor
no more thirsty than most
and in love with wth the prettiest
thlng on the coast
Now McKirk said to Sandy:
"why don't you be mine?"
she said: "I only step out
for a ship-o'-the-line
get your papers together
and straighten your tie
'cause you'll never make captain
with that look in your eye"
So McKirk he pulled hard
for a couple of years
on a Panama merchantman
out of Tangiers
till the day finally came
when they gave him a break
he's a captain of line
and they're cutting the cake
But it's had to keep floating
so easy to sink
when you have to keep drowning
your problems in drink
'cause the girl of his dreams
wasn't one for his heart
he was only her sideshow
she was playing a part
In some tropical hotel
he's out on the floor
Sandy laces her sneakers
and walks out that door
well it isn't that happiness
evaded McKirk
but if life don't come easy, well
you just have to work
There's a boat in the harbour
a man on the quay
he's been drowning his sorrows
since a quarter-to-three
with a jug on the table
and a glass in the hand
he's a king of the ocean
but a fool on the land |
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| West of Eden |
One of these days |
track 14 |
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Slow motion in a lock-step family
they break your voice, then they break your will
two weeks on the Costa-del-annually
you bloom a little, then it's back to the chill
Breaking out of the nine-o-clock curfew
you weren't looking for anything much
just a sign that you might be somebody
some conformation, no magical touch
I'll get you one of these days
I'll get you one of these days
I'll get you one of these days
climb in the car and I'll drive you away
Head down on the bustling sidewalk
afraid to slip into a strangers eyes
so many people their pain like a mediicine
never say hello, you'll save yourself some goodbyes
Just a heartbeat away from your lover
just a heartbeat away from the truth
he'lll break the prison of father and mother
he'll free the ice from the fountain of youth, he sings
I'll get you one of these days
I'll get you one of these days
I'll get you one of these days
climb in the car and I'll drive you away
Nothing going on here, nothing you can call your own
nothing calls to you, nohirg you can say is home
you're locked like a frozen bird
the minutes pass into days
the scream inside is never ending
Started smoking when you were just a kid to calm your nerves
you'd like shock, dress outrageously
play your muric for impact, but
no one even notices that you're there most days
although you're young, you're pretty and you're
calling for contact
I'll get you one of these days
I'll get you one of these days
I'll get you one of these days
climb in the car and I'll drive you away |
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| West of Eden |
Cabriolet |
track 15 |
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Show me the place where the cabrios go
when the weather is chilly and grim
show me the place where the cabrios go
when we're all duffled up to the chin
l love the shimmering jazz of the heat
straw hats and Ray Bans too
if you know the place where the cabrios go
won't you take me along with you
Cabriolet, cabrio lie
every autunm they perch on the freeways
ready to fly
Show me the place where the cabrios go
when the avenues glisten with frost
show me the place where the cabrios go
when the last golden leaf is lost
my sneakers are leaking, my jacket's too thin
and everyone here has the flu
if you know the place where the cabrios go
won't you take me along with you
Cabriolet, cabrio lie
every autunm they perch on the freeways
ready to fly |
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| West of Eden |
The line |
track 16 |
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Written while shrimp were learning to whistle.
In the nervous hours before the red shift
when the key men wait to take the floor
you're excused confusng fom with motion
there'll be no revolutions anymore
Some are walking on air
some are sleeping on knives
you don't teach a planet how to jive
When your cities drown in their pollution
when the waters swallow Singapore
when Alaska slides down the Aleutians
there's no time for questions anymore
Some'll drown in despair
some are saving their lives
you don't teach a planet how to jive
Out on the threshing floor
it's winnowing time
light breaks through the open doors
on the stooks and twine
the good grain and the chaff all came
to the gleaning line
the line
When the flames come up and take your condos
when your kids go rotten to the core
and you're singing some suburban rondo
as the jungle jumps in through your door
Some are screaming "unfair!"
some are phoning their wives
you don't teach a planet how to jive
Here on the threshing floor
it's winnowing time
light breaks through the open doors
on the stooks and twine
the good grain and the chaff all came
to the gleaning line
the line
Move along
we'll sing another song
and let's all learn to fall with grace
pretend there's nothing wrong
and no one lost the human race
The stage and the centre page
the years of prime
the rage of a distant age
the water and the wine
the good grain and the chaff all came
to the gleaning line
the line |
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| West of Eden |
West of Eden |
track 17 |
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This short spoken piece is an excerpt from Hugh's poem West of Eden.
... emerging from under the tutoring brow of God
past the ambiguous tree and the flamlng sword
into a parallel realm
they made their humbled yet still upright way
along the margins of the wide new world
around the sluggish oxbow bay
across the mountains, desolate and grand
beyond the beckoning savannah land
dusted with bitter primitive grain
towards a more demanding peace
a far more controversial freedom
out among the cities of the plain
somewhere, not East
but West of Eden |
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| Hugh Featherstone plays Kraushaar Guitars |
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