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Peter Hammill: Fool's Mate

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Charisma Records
Released: 1971
Time:
 44:28
Category: Progressive Rock
Producer(s): John Anthony
Rating:
Media type: CD
Web address: www.sofasound.com
Appears with: Van der Graaf Generator, David Jackson
Purchase date: 2002.06.18
Price in €: 13,99





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Imperial Zeppelin (P.Hammill/Smith) - 3:39
[2] Candle (P.Hammill) - 4:17
[3] Happy (P.Hammill) - 2:36
[4] Solitude (P.Hammill) - 4:59
[5] Vision (P.Hammill) - 3:15
[6] Re-Awakening (P.Hammill) - 3:58
[7] Sunshine (P.Hammill) - 4:00
[8] Child (P.Hammill) - 4:26
[9] Summer Song (In the Autumn) (P.Hammill) - 2:13
[10] Viking (P.Hammill/Smith) - 4:43
[11] The Birds (P.Hammill) - 3:36
[12] I Once Wrote Some Poems (P.Hammill) - 2:46

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


PETER HAMMILL - Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Piano, Keyboards, Vocals

RAY JACKSON - Harmonica, Mandolin, Harp, Background Vocals
NIC POTTER - Bass
HUGH BANTON - Organ, Piano, Keyboards, Background Vocals
ROD CLEMENTS - Bass, Violin
GUY EVANS - Percussion, Drums, Background Vocals
DAVID JACKSON - Saxophone
ROBERT FRIPP - Guitar
MARTIN POTTINGER - Drums
PAUL WHITHEAD - Drums
JOHN HARGREVAS - Background Vocals

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


1971 LP Charisma 1037
1990 CD Blue Plate CAROL-1697-2
1990 CD Buddah 1037
1990 CD Plan 9/Caroline 1697



Although not on par with his best albums (1977's Over, 1978's The Future Now, etc.), his solo debut Fools Mate shows Van der Graaf Generator's Peter Hammill taking his first steps toward later prog-rock perfection. What makes Fools Mate different than VDGG's material is that it's more mainstream, and for the most part piano/acoustic guitar-based. But Hammill is still able convey the grandness of classic VDGG, as heard in the sweeping sounds of "Re-Awakening." And Hammill never grows predictable, the tracks "Sunshine" and "Imperial Zeppelin" showing that he doesn't take himself as seriously as many of his then-contemporaries (an important reason why Hammill's music has held up far better over the years than some other prog-rockers). But Hammill's lyrics weren't as sophisticated and developed as they would later be, which is understandable, since it is his very first solo outing, after all. And the album's closing song, "I Once Wrote Some Poems," hinted at the style Hammill would pursue more thoroughly on future releases (venomous vocals set against contrasting music). Fools Mate is not as bad as some Peter Hammill purists make it out to be, but casual fans should check out the above-mentioned albums first.

Greg Prato - All-Music Guide
© 1992 - 2002 AEC One Stop Group, Inc.
 

 L y r i c s


IMPERIAL ZEPPELIN

Pack your bags, we're leaving
earth, where hate is seething;
nothing's worth believing....
There's no time, make up your mind!
Imperial Zeppelin....

Quick, the engines are turning,
cabin lights are burning,
now there's no returning....
We'll have love a mile above...
Imperial Zeppelin, Imperial Zeppelin, Imperial Zeppelin!

We, the undersigned, being of sound mind,
hereby do declare:
'We henceforth pledge ourselves unto the power
of the Upper Air.'
Doesn't that sound simply super,
Zeppelin visions of the future?
Of course we all know very well
it wouldn't work, but what the hell -
every dice deserves a throw,
and when we get back home below
we can say we had a go!

Overboard we are throwing
seeds of love we are sowing,
hope to God they're growing....
Flying high across the sky:
Imperial Zeppelin!

We will try to do some good,
I don't know why we really should,
I only wish that we could!
Down below they'll see and know all about
Imperial Zeppelin, Imperial Zeppelin, Imperial Zeppelin!


CANDLE

Look at the candle, as its life is bought,
as the wick just rolls of and dies;
look at the wax-drops as they cease from their goal
and the game they were playing loses its joy
and the youth which they played in runs away....
How long will you be gone?

Flame sucks at air now and its breath comes short
as it wavers to half its size;
vacuum closes in and it attacks the soul.
Now the force omnipotent itself is destroyed
and for lack of itself it wanes away....
How long will you be gone?

So does my mind fly as I fight my thought -
and I lose, for I cannot find:
sent my eyes long miles, they do not know home!
For the life I was part of breathes its last
and not only life, but hope has gone away....
How long will you be gone?
How long will you be gone?


HAPPY

How was it that we first met?
I forget, all I know is you
looked happy.

We walked around and talked a while;
In your smile I found that I
was happy.

I want to tell you;
it seems a thing to do;
I want to show I truly care.

Now at every time we meet
we walk the streets, I'm with you and I
feel happy.

Just thought I'd tell you.
It seems a thing to do,
I want to prove I truly care.

But how long will all this last?
Time goes fast, It doesn't matter,
with you, I'm happy.
Time goes fast, It doesn't matter, with you
I'm happy.


SOLITUDE

Silently I rest in the tall green grass
and look steadily upwards.
Birds sing ceaselessly around me,
and the blue of the sky surrounds me strangely.

Out here, life is at its essence,
and watches the world with innocent eyes;
far from grime, far from rushing people
it seems that I have found a tiny peace.

On the blue backdrop of the unknown
water droplets trace their paths;
on the sky, mortals hang on metal -
but who is to know how long either will last?

The lovely white clouds glide
across the sky and into my dreams...
I feel as though I had died some time ago:
now I'll wander with the clouds through eternal space.


VISION

I have a vision of you, locked inside my head;
it creeps upon my mind, and warms me in my bed...
A vision shimering, shifting
moving in false firelight;
a vision of a vision,
protecting me from fear at night,
as the seasons roll on, and my love stays strong.

I don't know where you end, and where it is that I begin.
You simply open my mind, and the memories flood on in.
I remember waking up, with you arms around me;
I remember losing myself
and finding that you'd found me,
as the seasons roll on, and my love stays strong.

Be my child, be my lover, swallow me up in your fire-glow.
Take my tongue, take my torment, take my hand and don't let go.
Let me live in your life,
for you make it all seem to matter;
Let me die in your arms,
so the vision may never shatter...
The seasons roll on;
my love stays strong.


RE-AWAKENING

If you catch me running along by the sea, with bare feet in
the sand, then you'll know I am dreaming my life out in a way
you won't understand.
I'm slipping right out of your mind, this I know, and I accept
the fact lazily, for I must go into the next field,
where grass is green and I'll find peace.
Let me sleep!
Let me dream!
Let me be!
Re-awakening isn't easy when you're tired.
Don't push me: I was taught self-expression
when I was a child, and so I know
the best way to go is slow.

Sometimes, when skies are cloud-grey, and trouble's hanging
heavy on your mind, I advise you: curl up, slide away and
dream your life out, as I am.
Re-awakening isn't easy when you're tired.
Don't push me: I was taught self-expression
when I was a child, and so I see
the best way to be's asleep.

Re-awakening isn't easy when you're tired.


SUNSHINE

Oh, suddenly things begin to come clear in my mind
as I look into the land laid bare by your eyes;
E-S/M attractions are working behind my thought,
I can't help my feelings, the way that my emotions
are over-wrought.

Good morning, sunshine!
You're all around my head,
Good morning, sunshine!
I'm ready to be led.
Good morning, sunshine!
You know how sad it makes me to see you unhappy
so smile, spread sunshine all around....

How sweet it would be to be chained by your side;
how sweet if you would strip my worried mind.
Your blonde/brown hair hangs down on you,
how I wish that it hung on me,
there's something in your allure, that makes me know I'll
never again be free.

I'd like to run on the clouds of my liberty,
but for you I'd get hooked and float six inches mud-free.
The sight of your smile just makes me want to jump and clap;
the fact that you may be owed to someone else can't
entirely tight your trap.


CHILD

I don't know quite what's happening
and my eyes don't see too clear;
all I know is I need you here,
if only to shield me from the mood of the world
and hold me and say it doesn't matter....
but I'm like a child whose dreams are shattered,

Crowding round me: images of broken thought,
lines of my life now overgrown.
All I can feel is I'm so alone,
without even your bright eyes to reach into my mind
and say that in my life I've done right,
and I'm like a moonchild in the sunlight.

So cast your thoughts upon me, wherever you are,
that I may feel you close beside me
and hold your hand, for you to guide me
through all these catacombs which freeze me
with their touch;
unknowing, knowing so much, my mind cries out
and I'm like a child when the light's out

With a child's fear of the dark....


SUMMER SONG (IN THE AUTUMN)

Summer song in the autumn, for you didn't catch
the colour of the falling leaves.
So many words have been spoken which you
didn't understand and so couldn't believe.
And the song that you're humming is yesterday's tune -
Someone who you love is leaving you.

You're walking in sunshine by the sea with gulls crying overhead;
but now the skies are cloudy, and the love you had is dead.
And the water recedes from the farthest dunes -
Someone who you loved is leaving you.

You remember the happiness you had
as you laughed along in the sun
but now your eyes are coming dull,
there's a numbness on your tongue....

You look out at the water which is calling you
over the wind,
then you throw aside your handbag and slowly
walk right in.
And tomorrow you'll be in yesterday's news:
someone who you loved has left you.


VIKING

Looking out forward over the prow of our long ship,
pulling our oars and listening to the foam;
helmets and sheepskins salt-damp in the sea-mist:
We're going home.

Aslak of Langadale, Einar Thorgeirsson,
Olaf the White and Sigurd the Powerful...

Looking for constellations above the horizon,
West wind cutting sharper than our blades;
smiling forever into an endless sunrise,
we're flying on the waves.

Thorfin Karlsefny, Aud the Deep-Minded,
Snorri Thorbrandsson, Thorstein the Black....

Out of dark Vinland, with grey waves racing before us -
We want no rest.
Back to the homeland, Iceland, sleeping in winter -
back from the West.
Five years we roam;
now we're going home.


THE BIRDS

Spring came far too early this year:
May flowers blooming in February.
Should I be sad for the months,
or glad for the sky?
The birds don't know which way to sing and, my friends,
neither do I.

Two days ago, a girl I truly thought I loved
suddenly didn't seem to matter at all.
Should I sing sad farewell to things
I'm really glad I've left behind?
The birds don't know which way to sing and, my friends,
neither do I.

In another day, heavy snow will lie upon the ground,
and buds prematurely bloomed shall fail;
And every creature living now, then will
surely die...
The birds don't know which way to sing and, my friends,
neither do I.
The birds don't know if it's time yet to fly,
and they don't know which way to go and, my friend,
neither do I.
Neither do I.
Neither do I.
Neither do I.


I ONCE WROTE SOME POEMS

I once wrote some poems of stillness and silence,
standing by rivers of reflected light:
my thoughts were on being loved and yet unloved, too -
I surrendered to the warmth of the night.
And now I feel like dying,
and if the water were still here, it would
hold me close.

I once wrote a poem while walking on gravestones,
as cobbles, rain and tears lashed down my face....
I then felt my whole world was fading
as memories jostled and fell into place.
And now I feel like dying,
and the pain of old fires still burns.

I never wrote poems when I bit my knuckles
and Death started slipping into my mouth...
but that was really a long time ago,
and I'm not writing poems now.
And though I don't feel quite like dying,
there is something deep inside me
softly crying.

And though I don't feel quite like dying
there is something deep inside me softly....

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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