C2S7CD12 picked by Judith Falla (via Facebook) an ex work colleague with a love of animal and Bruce Springsteen, and a person so laid back I think she only ever see’s the sky!
I have blogged about Ford twice before, reviewing Easyworld – Kill The Last Romantic (24th May) and also I posted a video of Ford playing State Of The Union on 19th February which I still think is incredibly clever.
This is Fords second album and as I listened to it today I realised it’s the one I play the least (he has released three) and like the other 2 is a mixture of love songs, (some very bittersweet) and state of the nation addresses (Requiem) Ford has an ability to deliver a love songs either in the very traditional manner(Decimate and Song For The Road) and sometimes in a very honest real life way very few people write about (Go To Hell and Nobody Tells Me What I Do). For all his anger Ford writes some of the most beautiful love songs I have ever heard, and his lyrics often sum up things I wish I had said to people over the years but never had the eloquence to think never mind say!
This album is short 9 tracks (10 including the ‘hidden track’ which I get onto later) but Go To Hell, and Song For The Road has 2 of my favourite Ford tracks. Song For The Road is a road trip of a song, documenting Fords musical travels and his love someone and in my opinion is one of the best songs he has ever written. Whilst singing about his travels, “I’ll Tip My Hat To The Angel Of The North” he sings about missing someone whilst being away. One of the video’s I have posted below is a live version of this song from some American TV show, and the camera cuts away to a girl in the audience about 2 minutes into the songs, as Ford sings, “ But for this evening I will play back every message that that you sent, so I had sleep to the sound of your voice” a gorgeous line that I suspect melts hearts everywhere, well the girl in the video has a single tear falling down her face. Now the cynics out there will say it was all staged but if you have ever seen Ford live you will understand the emotion that he can bring to the stage.
His live shows are amazing whether playing with a band or solo, filled with humour and stories of ‘how he nearly made it in the music business’ He has just written a book of the same title, (I’m waiting for it to arrive in the post) which I suspect will be a brilliant read.
I can’t finish writing without mentioning the ‘hidden track’ from reading my blog you may or may not know that I’m not a lover of the hidden track, pointless and pretentious is how I have described them. This has one and although I haven’t changed my opinion of the idea of hidden track this is Ford covering The Smiths There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, accompanied by only a piano it is achingly beautiful, and truthfully deserves to written about or listed, not hidden away on an album.
Ford is one of those songwriters that deserves to be know but I suspect is destined to play small venues full of loyal fans for the rest of him career. I hope not but that’s the way of the world.....
Mark 9/10
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