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In Another Life was recorded by the band during 2016 and 2017. Most of it was recorded in Gerry Callaghan’s home studio.
The band was:
- Norman Lamont on guitars
- Fiona Thom on guitars
- James Whyte on bass
- Suzy Cargill on drums and percussion
- John Lawrence on keyboards
John left the band just after completing the recording.
Welcome to See You In Another Life!
We start with a song that’s pure fantasy, pure wish-fulfilment: Green Lights All The Way.
The song is ridiculously literal. Green Lights started when I was driving home across Edinburgh from a friend’s house and – you guessed it – I seemed to get all the green lights! From there I just riffed on the idea of good luck and the song was written pretty quickly.
It’s been compared to Jonathan Richman, probably because my voice is nasal and slightly flat! Anway I’m a big fan of Jonathan, and wrote an article about him here.
The most fun part of the recording was doing the backing vocals. ‘Oooh, jammy bugger’ appeared one night at band rehearsal and we adopted it as standard operating procedure; but when recording we wondered if if might cause issues on radio so we recorded another version going ‘Ooooh, jammy dodger’ (Jammy Dodgers are a popular sweet biscuit made in Wales). There’s a short behind-the-scenes video on the Jammy Bugger Choir below.
The guitar solo is by special guest John Farrell, a long standing friend of everyone in the band, and one of the most tasteful, ego-free guitarists I know.
Before we started the album recording I made a solo version using synths instead of guitars. It has a different feel entirely, much more slinky and sly.
There’s another song on the album In Another Life, the title track, which is also about fantasy lives but the narrator of that one doesn’t take his fantasies so seriously!
Green Lights All The Way
I’m the type of guy who don’t worry too muchI’m the type of guy with a golden touch
Golden touch every golden day
Green lights all the way Now I’m heading downtown, some bar or another
(ooooh, jammy bugger)
And I find myself talking to my long lost brother
Long lost brother who just got paid
Green lights all the way Green lights all the way x 4
I wake up every morning and it’s always my day
Green lights all the way Everything I buy I know damn well
Price is gonna shoot up on the day I sell
Could be Wall Street, could be eBay
Green lights all the way
Bombing down the M9, a hundred and ten
Speed camera fails, just about then
Shit happens, what can I say?
Green lights all the way
Chorus
Now I hit the dance floor, and I’m not shyGoing to find that woman with a look in her eye
Look in her eye that seems to say …
Green lights all the way
- Norman: acoustic and picking guitar
- Fi: electric rhythm guitar
- James: bass
- John: keyboards
- Suzy: drums
- John Farrell: guitar solo
If you want to play this on guitar, it’s in A. The verse is all A7, E7 and D7. The chorus is just a twelve bar blues in A7.
Green Lights All The Way – solo synth version
Here’s one I made earlier. Just to demo the song, I recorded a solo version. Looking back, it’s got its own quality, quite different from the band version, so I’m happy to share it here.