» RiversongRamshackle Crow

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Days were crazy on the east-bound river
She would break your heart but you’d forget and forgive her
It was hotter than summer… we never thought it would end.

Nights would linger in the eaves and the awning
‘Til the sun came prying past the shoulder of morning
It was hotter than summer… we never thought it would end.

But it’s about time now we brought it all back again.
Yeah, it’s about time now we brought it all back again.

Time was slow by the fast-moving water
You would break your promise to keep waiting forever
It was hotter than summer… we never thought it would end.

And with the beach fire burning, we would run without reason
into the wine-dark sea, laughing and freezing
It was colder than winter… we’d swear we’d never do it again.

But its about time now we jumped back in all the same
Yeah, it’s about time now that we brought it all back again.

The crows in a choir, this tree our steeple
Let the river witness the sky our cathedral
Let the rivermouth praise and listen for the sea’s amen.

‘Cos it’s about time now we woke it all up again…
Yeah, it’s about time now we brought it all back again.

Maurice brought this song to the table with an early acoustic demo recorded on his trusty Zoom H4. I immediately loved it.

I began to hear a different approach to it – a more tight guitar part, finger picked, with choppy synths and a spacious loop on the Drumtraks. I moved the short choruses around, “80s-ed it up a bit” and added a few chord changes. It was a really fun session – very quick. The demo is almost identical to the finished version:

Maurice liked it:

That’s a fantastic job! I love the chords you’ve brought in, and you’re absolutely right about the half-chorus thing. I assume, when you do the proper version of this that we can have it acoustic only or quiet at the start, then bring drums etc in later? But I’m very excited about this! And humbled: your guitar playing here makes mine sound like an old, thick fingered amateur. Which, when I think about it, is pretty accurate! Ha ha! Keep up the good work!

The process was a lot of fun, and ultimately led to the line which became the album title. Some amazing lyrics by Maurice, really – especially the last verse, which gave us the album title: