Za Za's Garden lyrics

za za's garden

I'm standing alone
On a white foggy morning
Breathing the silence
Breathing the dawning
While the mistiness takes me
Into stunning enchantments
Bright, frosty branches
And radiant jewels

Oh, mystical children
Sailing the ocean
Laughing as they walk
Into the garden

This was the last track recorded for the album.  It was done during a
remix session at the now defunct Palladium studios in Edinburgh where I
used to make all my records. As we neared completion of the album which
had the working title of "Saint Francis Songs" we found we had all these
little bitty's going between tracks and they gave the record a feel of
being like a little garden, full of tiny flowers and weeds alongside the
bigger trees and paths. This led me to revive an old "Chewy Raccoon"
song called "Za Za's Garden" which I wrote in 1983/84 which was
originally written as a kind of Christmassy childrens song.
Incidentally, I made another album called "Za Za's Garden" in 1982 of
which I pressed about 60 copies on cassette and sold mainly to friends
and familly although there were a few copies in Falkirk library. The
album was mainly my portastudio demos some of it really experimental,
some of it good, some of it bad, but all of it a really great learning
experience. Anyway I guess that title's always been in my head and it
just seemed to fit. I remember half suggesting it one day and Brian's
then girlfriend Rebecca went "that's it". The song was recorded in
truncated form as an intro and it works well. Anyway I can still see yet
another version of that song coming out one day. For all the kind of
obvious poetry of the lyrics it has a naivety that I find honest and
appealing.

saint francis songs

Well, I'm walking with Fairlie Street clouds in my head
I'm remembering the words of a rhyme
Of big ships and alleys and cold frosty days
And my feelings are bound to that time

We were born in an age of discovery and rage
At the break of the new, daring dawn
With the world waging war, we were safe behind doors
With the hopes of the new generation, the new generation

So, I'll tell you, tell you my stories
Show you the buildings and places
Where I belong
And believe me, I will be waiting here
Bathed in the blue light of this town
Waiting for Saint Francis Songs

We were dazzled and dizzied on slow, summer days
My brothers, my cousins and me
Bicycle riders and comrades in arms
On purple nights fading to grey

To Victoria Place on the wings of my dreams
And the homes of the busy and brave
We were cursed, we were blessed
By the dreams of the rest
And the hopes of the new generation, the new generation

This is one of my favourite records. The song itself is a pretty obvious
nostalgia trip, which I'm very prone to. There are loads of real life
references in the lyrics. "Fairlie Street" was where my Gran Travers
stayed in Camelon and where I spent vast swathes of my childhood.
There's a reference to the street in "Everyday Storms" too ( the blue
plastic pools...) "Big Ships and Alleys" is a reference to the folk song
"the big ship sails down the eely alley oh" which my Aunt Ca Ca used to
sing to me. I always misunderstood it and had this vision of a ship
sailing down a concrete alley.
The "age of discovery and rage" is, of course the sixties. My "cousins
and brothers" were all totally thrilled at the reference to our carefree
Summer days and nights. Victoria Place was the tenement building in
Camelon where I was brought up until I was about four, now it's a
leisure centre. The "busy and brave" are the normal working people who
surrounded me in my early life. I was a lucky kid, because my Dad became
quite successful and made us all very comfortable, and we eventually
lived in nice houses and had continental holidays, etc but I've never
felt swanky or smart. My people are the people who were nice to me when
I was very young, the working people of Fairlie Street and Victoria
Place and I guess the song addresses that in a round about way.
Technically the arrangement is a combination of my rolling bassline, Jim
Gash just playing a drum solo from start to finish, Brian's brilliant
accordian figure and my picked guitar. Every element in the arrangement
starts and ends at a different bit of the bar....that's maybe Bill Wells'
influence there. The accordian also doubles the Hammond organ exactly
which is a great sound, and the electric's a fab tremelo'ed Strat. You
can probably tell that I like this one.
The mix that appears on the record is a quick monitor mix we made the
day of the last overdub. Mixing is usually total bullshit.
Oh, and "Saint Francis" was the primary school I attended and also the
name of the church that my folks still go to.

bottle of the best

I've been looking through the pages
Of my books and magazines
Trying to find some truth in a life of dreams
Trying to make a big connection
From my heart into your brain
And be what I want
Not just a pawn in your game

Well I'm twenty six years old 
I've got two things on my mind
I've got two strong legs, two strong arms
I've got twenty six good reasons
For everything I am
I've got four little angels
Struggling to keep me from harm

You can take away my life, you can take away my land
Take away the things that I hold dear
But I've still got my love, here in my heart
And a bottle of the best in my hand

I've been up and I've been down
I've been forward, I've been back
To the place that I knew
I was waiting at the station
But my train never came
So I stood and watched
Laughing alone in the rain

Never meant this song to be chest beating, but I expect it is a bit.
At this time I was really starting to get back the confidence I'd lost
through dealing with the music business for seven or more years and
feeling that what I had to say as an artist was worth something more
than getting a record deal. "Bottle Of The Best" is a pretty obvious
evocation of my experiences up to then when I look at the lyric now. "My
train never came"...writers often don't realise that they're employing
metaphor and so on. It's only later that you realise your soul has been
talking to you.
The four little angels are relatives who've passed on.
Although the track has a vaguely Scottish feel the arrangement is very
Carribean - check out the piano and drum figure in the second verse.
Can't remember what the "two things on my mind" were, though.

bedroom on the seine

I've been along this street before, I know these faces
And I've watched the orange banners
Beating breathless in the sun
The white clouds hanging in the sky, the noise of the children
And the echoes of a time that passed
Before it had begun
I trace the footsteps of a boy who wanted nothing more than everything
And nothing less would do
I hear the buses rolling by
I feel the sunspots in my eyes
Hold a photograph of you

Well I've been up, down
Living in a foreign country with my love
Well I've been up, down
Living in a foreign country with my love
Living in a foreign country with my love

Silent Sunday afternoons, we're feeling restless
Trying to work out how to dodge the priest
And find a place to go
Freezing Monday mornings, walking under white sky
To the cafe where my mind is fixed
On no one else but you
I wonder where you are these days
If you;'re connected to that time
Where your life is heading to
I hear the birds out in the trees
My song is drifting on the breeze
My thoughts are headed home to you

First...."We Make A Shape..." is about where me and Julie lived in
Garnethill and just the everyday grind of life.  I played Bonnie Raitt
this tune when I met her a few years back and she really loved the lyric
"all burning hope and twisted rope"...didn't cover the song
though...Drat and double drat!
The second verse is a reference to my Mum and her first son Paul, who
died in early infancy but who had, and has, a very definite spiritual
presence in our familly's life.  Although we never met him, he was real
for us, and I definitely regarded him as my big brother.  I guess I was
trying to heal my mum by writing this.
The last verse is more of the first if you know what I mean....pretty
self explanatory.
Musically I tried to recreate a sound I heard on a backstreet in Paris
when an organ grinder and his monkey were collecting rags....there was
traffic noise, the sound of the organ, a chattering monkey and these
kids yelling in French - total Mondo Truffaut. Anyway the tag is an
attempt to recreate that sound.
We still play this song now and again...it's a nice tune.

untitled

Sorry folks, no title & no words either!

This is an edit of the backing vocals from Russian Punks with a huge
amount of reverb added.  It kind of ends the first part of the record
which is so personal and specific in content, and opens things out a bit
more.

blanket of ribbons

January, standing at the crossroads
Morning moon, broken sky
Walking out, in the steps of a man
Caught between steel and tenderness

Women call, children collide
Birthday boys, wedding bells
On and on, streets without number
Taxis and girls with sea shell eyes

I've been up, standing at the mountain
Looking down, well it's your face I see
If I fall, spinning through the night sky
There's a blanket of ribbons for me

Days are sweet, time passes quickly
Here we are, there we stand
Watching on, part of the mystery
Caught between love and emptiness

This song has it's origin in a little Scottishy style tune that McAlpine 
used to drive me bonkers with during breaks in rehearsal.  Brian
can't sit still, and when everybody else is taking a breather, he tends
to noodle away at this and that.  Anyway I always liked the tune and one
Christmas we put together an arrangement of "Za Za's Garden" for a gig
and segued it into an instrumental version of this tune.  It worked well
so I went off and wrote some words for the song and presented them to
the surprised and undeniably bearded Brian.
What I like so much about this song, apart from the original melody is
the fact that the lyric is quite vague and open.  You could just about
relate to the atmosphere of the lyric without having to be me or go
through what I've gone through which makes it accessible to more people.
"Za Za's Garden" as an album is probably known for all the little bits
and the long tags on the songs, and the tag on this is really good -
delays on the guitar which I hardly ever use, congas, shakers, a
fabulous hammond and my little small bodied Washburn acoustic which
sounds a bit like a dobro.  This is about as groovy as The Pearlfishers
get, until of course the next album which should be a groove fest!

living in a foreign country

I've been along this street before, I know these faces
And I've watched the orange banners
Beating breathless in the sun
The white clouds hanging in the sky, the noise of the children
And the echoes of a time that passed
Before it had begun
I trace the footsteps of a boy who wanted nothing more than everything
And nothing less would do
I hear the buses rolling by
I feel the sunspots in my eyes
Hold a photograph of you

Well I've been up, down
Living in a foreign country with my love
Well I've been up, down
Living in a foreign country with my love
Living in a foreign country with my love

Silent Sunday afternoons, we're feeling restless
Trying to work out how to dodge the priest
And find a place to go
Freezing Monday mornings, walking under white sky
To the cafe where my mind is fixed
On no one else but you
I wonder where you are these days
If you;'re connected to that time
Where your life is heading to
I hear the birds out in the trees
My song is drifting on the breeze
My thoughts are headed home to you


This is "Saint Francis Songs" ten years later when I was starting to see
girls and hang out in Falkirk's nearest thing to a revlutionary cafe,
The Boulevard.  I used to go there every day after school and drink
cappuccino like a right little smartass.  The Orange banners weren't from
an orange walk, but the canopies that hung outside the shops next to the
Boulevard Cafe.  I can't beleive how on their sleeves the lyrics of some
of these songs are.  It's basically what you see...straight reminiscences. 
The one thing that I keep returning to in this tune is the idea of wondering 
where your pals and girlfriends are and if they think about you as much as 
you think about them....know what I mean?
Check out the bvox underneath "I wonder where you are these days..."
they were recorded with Abba in mind.  I felt, and still feel, that this
could have been a hit record, very catchy words and tune and just a top
feel.

sadness of a king

I found love, I found love
I found love, I found love
But it seems, what I thought, I would find, was inside of me
Bound and chained, bound and chained
And it seems, what, I thought, I would find, was inside

Living on the edge of something I can find no name for
No expression like a voice that rhymes and rings
Travelling on trails of mothers moonlight
Wondering why your voice comes flying back to me on angels wings
I found love, I found love
Now I walk in the sadness of a king

My dark star, my dark star
Shines inside, shines so strong
Small and blue, warm and new

I was staggered to find, just a year or two ago in a book of works by
Mattise, a cut out work called "The Sadness Of The King"....being an ex
art student myself, I'd obviously seen it years before and unwittingly
regurgitated the title.  This is one of the best melodies I've ever
written.  It's a beautiful song and again has the advantage of being none
too specific in content, it's more about a feeling that you can't get
your head round.  Fabulous playing by Jim Gash on this track.  This was
always one of Mil's great faves and he plays great on it too.  Mil always
wanted to play this when we were gigging but I drew the line when he
suggested doing it one night at The Clyde Bar in Helensborough.  The
strings on this are samples from my ancient Mirage keyboard.  Good sound.

throwing it away for love

Jenny's old man left home the week she turned forty five
She couldn't believe a thing like that was happening in her life
She said "Why ain't I bleeding?  After wasting twenty years with this man
Well the years rushed by and I lost everything I wanted for myself
Wasted time on someone who took me for granted, I threw it all away for love"

Throwing it all away in a moment
Throwing it away for the sake of an easy life
Till you find you've no tomorrows
You ain't got no past
You've thrown it all away for love

Jenny's whole life has been spent making up for the bitter times
Staring at the mirror sees a faded face she don't recognise
She says "Why ain't I screaming?  After wasting so many years in the world
And throwing it away
Throwing it away for love"

And there was I
Waiting at the church
Waiting at the church
And the rain fell down


Do you know the song "There was I waiting at the church.........can't
get away to marry you today, my wife won't let me"!
This was an old song when we came to record it, and one of the songs
that ultimately got me dropped from CBS ( along, incidentally with
Sacred, Destiny and Lovers Speak In Tongues ) but I've always liked it.
Lyrics are a bit right on, hey I'm a rennaissance man, baby, but the
heart's in the right place and it's an okay tune. The band pulls in all
sorts of directions on this one, Mil had this kind of Roxy Music vibe
for the drums, bass and guitar, Jim preffered the demo version, I
couldn't make up my mind and therefore the track is a little bit
muddled. The tag is an example of me trying to learn from great
songwriters, in this case using a Brian Wilson technique of moving the
bassline away from the root of the chord. At the tag you hear five
chords repeating but the bass line rarely if ever plays the obvious note
and so you get the impression of a fairly complex chord arrangement.
Sometimes to learn you have to try out these things...it's not stealing,
it's just a way to study and improve. Just like going to college. A lot
of writers are lazy bastards who won't put in the really hard work and
think they can churn 'em out. You've got to keep trying to get better
and learn from other writers. My method, and I'm not saying this is the
only way, is to learn classic songs, deconstruct the arrangements and
listen to what people like Bacharach have got to say about their method.
Often you find that these people are taking ultra simple ideas and
voicing them in certain ways, using key changes, simple melodic
developments and before you know it "Three Blind Mice" is "God Only
Knows" or something. "Throwing It Away.." is definitely not a great
masterpiece by any means, but it was a good learning experience to take
us on to other work. Sermon over. Oh, and Graeme Kelling plays a nice
guitar lick on this tune.

russian punks on speed

Emptiness, waiting at the window
Like a half born child
Reaching in, reaching in and touching something deep inside
Wide awake, staring eyes that look at you and pierce your skin
Work their way, deep within
Something blue, something nearly new

TV dolls, Russian punks on speed
And little painted boys
Spitting out, curious descriptions of painted noise
Wide awake, walking through a wilderness of hopes and dreams
Reams and rhymes, signs and schemes
Walking blind, walking through your mind

This one splits the vote, to say the least.  Just cut in an atmosphere of
"let's try chucking some elements together".  Some people hate this song,
others like it.  I'm proud that we tried it out.  The title is cribbed
from The Tubes "White Punks On Dope" and I wrote it after seeing a
documentary style movie about some Russian punks, like ten years after
it was over here.  Anyway all these kids with safety pins in their cheeks
and tartan bum flaps weren't gobbing or fighting and calling everybody
wankers.  They were discussing post modernist architecture and social
problems.  It was strange, and I guess that's where the song comes from.
Musically it's no more than a riff.
Donald Shaw and Brian McAlpine do a kind of duelling accordion thing on
this, which I know sends some people running for the hills.  Me too,
sometimes.  You have to try these things as an artist and be prepared to
stand by your work.  This isn't my all time fave Pearlies track but I'm
still really proud of it.  Bet it would come last in a Pearlies poll, though.

funny april strings/the campfire

This is the other instrumental!

This consists of the string part from Sunny April Skies with extra bvox
and a bit of audio painting called the campfire because I always
thought that "All Round Rosie" was like a folkie type thing that you
might sing by a campfire if you were so inclined.  I'm not.

all-round rosie

Well, I'm standing in line
For a word or sign from you, babe
I've been waiting all day
I don't think it's going to come
And each new day your voice rings in my head
And I look for you in every face I see
Well I don't know what it is
That makes me act the way I do
I fill with dread, lose my thread
My nerve goes too
We just skip the things we need to say
And we don't make time
To say exactly what's in mind

All-round Rosie
When you gonna be my girl
Will you wait for me knocking
On your front door
Or leave me waiting still
All-round Rosie
When we gonna make a start
Will you walk through the valley
Of 100 sins
Or leave me with a haunted heart

Well she walks down the stairs
So self-aware and so amused
Your in the room but your mind
Is somewhere else
And when you call she's always on the line
But you pay no mind
And you just fool yourself

Is it natural to be so downhearted
About something so unreal?
You skin is taut, your hands are knots
And your feet ain't fit to feel
Maybe you should find a place to hide
'Cause something's gone, so far wrong
So far wrong so deep inside

I like this tune a lot.  Again the lyrics are a straight narrative.  Like
a few of my songs it's based on three or four experiences rolled into
one.  You ask a lot of writers and they'll tell you that they do that.
Mil hated this one and used to refer to it as "Whole Lotta Rosie" .
Don't think Jim was on fire about it either.  There's a string section
from a sampler on this one and like on a lot of other tracks, I was
beginning to find out what string arrangement should be, and didn't quite
hit the mark.  Once we get to "Tall Poppies" the strings are much better.
Really good guitar sounds on this track, particularly the multi layered
acoustics by Mr McAlpine.  That approach where you have one acoustic down
low playing, say E shapes, then capo'd up and playing maybe C's on the
third fret and then maybe A shapes on the seventh fret is a real
Pearlfishers sound, and that's why the guitars are so chimy on "Tall
Poppies".

you want love

You want love
And you think that's enough
But look out
It could turn you to dust
You'll be running around, making no sound
Feet hardly touching the ground
And the funny thing is
You won't really know where you're going

All your friends
They say just keep your head
It's alright
Things are best left unsaid
So just keep it in, under your skin
hide it away on the shelf
Don't show your cards
Don't make it so hard on yourself

'Cause you want love
Love that will bring you alive
Love that will fill up your life
Just take your time
Tell me now, what will you do
Will you stand waiting in line?
Like the one who stands waiting for you

You want love
And you stand at the gates
And you think
That the hours won't let you wait
And you're tied up by time
And the things they expect you to do
Till you're down to a whisper
Turned out in ten shades of blue

So, I'm writing a letter back home
From a place I don't really belong
And I write as the night-time comes on

All the clowns and the jokers you meet
Trains and taxis and trembling lights
And the cities on every street
Oh my love
Let the fog cloak my head like a veil
All my senses dissolve into dust
Let the dirty black rain dull my sight
'Cause you're with me in my dreams tonight


Longest track on the record but funnily enough one that I've got least
to say about...just because it's so specific and literal.  It's as you
find it.  It's a beautiful melody and I've had near out of body
experiences playing this live particularly the last section,"so I'm
writing a letter..." which I used to just improvise words for on stage.
You can say a lot by just dropping your defences and letting your soul
speak.
Karen Matheson sings bvox on this track and also sings the lead with me
in the chorus.  You can't beleive how nervous she was, and she's a total
star.
My only regret about this track is that I wrote a string arrangement for
the verse and chorus and the band twisted my arm to leave it off.  I've a
rough mix with strings which I sometimes listen to, and it's better.  Should 
have stuck to my guns.

rhinestones in my eyes

I've got rhinestones in my eyes
And I wonder, I wonder, I wonder
I've got jewels deep and wide
And I wonder what it's all about
What it's all about

Into the sea
The sea of crooked dreams
The ticking of the clock
The whisper and the waves
And I wonder, I wonder
I wonder what it's all about

Into the sea
The sea of crooked dreams
The whispers and the wings
The hands that hold me here
And I wonder, I wonder
I wonder what it's all about
What it's all about

Another song which is more about a feeling than a subject, and in that
way pointed me in directions I've been glad to take.  The song means
nothing and everything if you know what I mean.  I cut it live on the
Bosendorfer at CaVa studios, Glasgow.  There's also a great demo of this
with strange percussion overdubs and extra vocals which might come out
one day when I get round to releasing stuff which slipped away.
Here's a funny thing, though, sometimes the ones you think are the real
crackers don't get picked up.  "Rhinestones..." is one of my faves, but I
don't think I've ever seen a reference to it in any of the loads of
reviews the album got.  Not to worry, I still feel that "Za Za's Garden"
is a good record and acheived what it set out to, and it's good to be
able to say that five years on.   Hope you like it, too.

Words & Music by David Scott (EMI Music Ltd, 1993), except "Blanket Of Ribbons" written by David Scott & Brian MacAlpine (EMI Music/Copyright Control, 1993).
Lyrics reproduced with the kind permission of David Scott