See You In Another Life day 1: fantasy lives

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Green Lights All The Way (MP3 8548K)

Green Lights All The Way (WAV 47169K)

In Another Life (MP3 6502K)

In Another Life (WAV 35877K)

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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 passed away in 2018.

Welcome to See You In Another Life!

We’ll be taking the songs out of the album order here, but if you download them they’re all numbered to play in the correct order.

We start with a couple of songs that are pure fantasy, pure wish-fulfilment: Green Lights All The Way and In Another Life.

Both of these songs are 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.

In Another Life was also pretty literal. I was walking down the street in London one day, saw a girl, for a second or two imagined getting to know her, our life together, etc. Based on no knowledge or information at all. Then I thought ‘Not in this life!’ moved on and forgot about it. Later, crossing Yorkshire in a train, I saw a farmhouse on a hill, and went off on the same sort of fantasy trip, thinking ‘yes, in another life’ Later I wondered if that might make a song. I remembered the girl in London and suddenly I had a song!

It’s got a bit more realism. Unlike the guy in Green Lights, this narrator knows when it’s time to put fantasies behind him and get on with real life. ‘Now it’s time to say goodbye.’

Green Lights All The Way

I’m the type of guy who don’t worry too much
I’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 shy
Going 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.

Making Green Lights – the Jammy Bugger Choir

In Another Life

This video was made by Terry Dray for Edgeoftheworld productions.

See that girl? In another life, she’s with me
But now it’s time to say goodbye See that house? In another life, I live there
But now it’s time to burn it down And sing:
Doo doot doo, woah See that screen? In another life, I’m up there
But now it’s time to turn away. See that girl? In another life, she’s with me
But now it’s time to say goodbye And it’s also time to sing:
Doo doot doo, woah

The guitar here is simple – G and Am all the way!


  • Norman: acoustic guitar
  • Fi: electric guitar
  • Suzy: djembe, percussion
  • James: bass
  • John: keyboards
  • Phil Ramsay: trumpet

In Another Life – the view from the bass

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