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Mike & The Mechanics: Beggar on the Beach of Gold

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: WEA Records
Released: 1995
Time:
 60:09
Category: Pop/Rock
Producer(s): Christopher Neil, Mike Rutherford
Rating: ********** (10/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.mikeandthemechanics.com
Appears with: Mike Rutherford, Genesis, Paul Carrack
Purchase date: 1995.09.17
Price in €: 17,99





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Beggar on a Beach of Gold (B.A.Robertson/M.Rutherford) - 4:35
[2] Another Cup of Coffee (B.A.Robinson) - 4:41
[3] You've Really Got A Hold On Me (B.A.Robinson) - 3:28
[4] Mea Culpa (CH.Neil/M.Rutherford) - 6:20
[5] Over My Shoulder (P.Carrack/M.Rutherford) - 3:34
[6] Someone Always Hates Someone (Ch.Neil/M.Rutherford) - 3:42
[7] Ghost of the Sex and You (B.A.Robertson/M.Rutherford) - 6:24
[8] Web of Lies (P.Carrack/M.Rutherford) - 5:37
[9] Plain & Simple (B.A.Robertson/M.Rutherford) - 3:32
[10] Something to Believe In (Ch.Neil/M.Rutherford) - 4:19
[11] House of Many Rooms (B.A.Robertson/M.Rutherford) - 5:38
[12] I Believe [When I Fal in Love It Will Forever] (S.Wonder/R.Wright) - 3:10
[13] Going, Going...Home (Ch.Neil/M.Rutherford) - 4:30

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Mike Rutherford - Guitar, Bass, Keyboards
Paul Young - Vocals
Paul Carrack - Keyboards, Vocals
Peter Van Hooke - Drums

Additional personnel:
Clem Clempson - Guitar
Adrian Lee - Keyboards
BA Robertson - Keyboards
Wix - Keyboards
Gary Wallis - Drums
Andy Newmark - Drums on [12]
Tessa Niles - Background Vocals on [5]
Katie Cassoon - Background Vocals on [5]
Pete Beachill - Brass Arrangements on [13]

Paul Gomersall - Engineers on tracks [1]-[2], [4]-[11], [13]
Nick Davis - Engineers on tracks [3], [8]-[12]
Dale Newman - Programming
Rich Mendelson - Drum Programming
Dave Frangioni - Drum Programming

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


All songs co-written by Mike Rutherford except "I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)" (Yvonne Wright/Stevie Wonder).



"Pop, edel, ausgereift, mit schönen Hooklines, gefälligen Harmonien, einem federnden Beat und von Christopher Neil lupenrein in Szene gesetzt."

G. Matejka in HiFiVision 4/95



Was ihren Erfolg betrifft, haben Mike Rutherford und seine Mannen Höhen und Tiefen erlebt, die Qualitat ihrer Veröffentlichungen jedoch hat nie geschwankt. Paul Young (der von Safe Cafe, wie man immer betonen muß) und Paul Carrack sind herausragende Sänger und die Ausnahmemusiker verstehen sich wie immer blind. "Looking Back Over My Shoulder" und "Another Cup of Coffee" sind prima Songs. Schade nur, daß das Projekt als ganzes durch die schwachen Smokey Robinson und Stevie Wonder Cover etwas getrübt wird.

Jeff Bateman, Amazon.de



Draufhauen ist ihre Sache nicht - Genesis-Bassist Mike Rutherford und seine Mechaniker (Keyboarder/Sänger Paul Carrack und Vokalist Paul Young) lassen Schlagzeug-Hämmer und wilde Gitarrenriffs im Werkzeugschrank, spielen statt dessen gewohnt getragenen, eingängigen Melodic-Pop. Die Coverversionen von Smokey Robinsons You Really Got A Hold On Me und Stevie Wonders I Believe sind nur zwei Beispiele für durchweg unspektakuläre, clever arrangierte Songs. Ein rundum angenehmes Album zum Abtauchen und Schwelgen in goldenen Melodien.

© Audio



Die "Weitere Tasse Kaffee" und der Blick "Über meine Schulter" sind Songs, die uns bekannt sind und im Radio immer wieder mal zu hören sind. Man summt unweigerlich mit. Aber wer kauf sich diese Scheibe?! Jemand, der sich bei der einfachen, rhythmischen Musik entspannen will. Schade um die guten Texte! Danke übrigens für das Booklet, dass es auch Englisch-Ignoranten ermöglicht, dem Text zu folgen. Nicht gelungen ist der Beatles-Cover-Song "You really got a hold on me". Dafür ein verhaltenes Bravo dem Einsatz verschiedenster Percussions bzw Percussioneffekte. Etwas mehr unplugged nähme der Musik den leicht übertechnisiert wirkenden Eindruck. Rutherfords Genesis-Herkunft kann er nicht leugnen, verbirgt aber das, was die Musik ausmachen sollte: Seine unverwechselbaren Gitarrenklänge. Dafür rettet er seine Haut mit gut geschriebenen Songs, denen Paul Youngs Stimme Leben und vor allem Emotionalität verleiht. Genug gekrittelt! Musik für sensiblen Hörer, der Wert auf gute Texte legt, der genießt, der relaxen will. Musik, die mit einer angenehmen Stimme, eingängigen Melodien und einer ganz eigenen Mischung aus altem Hanwerkszeug und Mut zum Experimetieren begeistert und in den Bann zieht.



At first listen, I wanted to file Mike & the Mechanics' new album, Beggar on a Beach of Gold, under easy listening. Upon repeated listening, I now want to file this tedious album under comatose listening. The first song and title track is the most radio-ready and also sets the musical structure for the rest of the album. Instrumentally, the song and the rest of the album feature dreamy, airy keyboards and minimal guitar and drums. Structurally, a catchy melody is hammered into the ground with multiple verses and oft-repeated choruses. This combination wouldn't be so bad if the lyrics weren't so unoriginal. The title track's lyrics border dangerously on the overly sentimental, if not the tritely spiritual: "Oh lord I'm a poor man/with all the riches I can hold/I'm a beggar/I'm sitting on a beach of gold." "Another Cup of Coffee" stands out because it is the only song with a noticeable bass line, an actual groove. The melody is catchy, simple and fans can easily sing along even on the first listen. Credit that to this line, repeated ad nauseum like a mindless mantra: "Don't look back/don't give up/pour yourself another cup." But the death blow of this album is the terrible cover of Smokey Robinson's "You Really Got a Hold on Me." An organ-like keyboard holds down chords in the background while a drum loop keeps pitiful time. (This could be the same drum machine the Beastie Boys used on their low-fi album License to Ill.) The duet of Paul Young and keyboardist Paul Carrack singing "I don't like you but I love you" doesn't bail this cover out. And I'm not even going to get started on the Stevie Wonder cover--"I Believe (When I Fall in Love it Will be Forever)--also found on this album. "Plain and Simple" is also a disaster, mainly because it tries too hard. It's the only track with an upbeat, rock drumline and distorted electric guitar. The spacey keyboard is thankfully quiet for most of the song. But the problem is that the Mechanics take one guitar riff and try to make a song out of it. This embarrassingly mundane chorus, repeated about 10 times too many, also hurts: "Give me the simple life/the plain and simple life." The result is a song that desperately screams for variation. Take my advice and leave this 13-song, 60-minute album to the die-hard fans of Mike & the Mechanics and Genesis.

by Jason Scales 328-2237, 03/03/95
Atlantic, One star



Now four albums deep, Mike Rutherford's surprisingly hearty side project has generally proved more adventurous than bandmate Phil Collins' forays outside of Genesis, which might account, in part, for its comparatively spotty track record. On their first new album since 1991's patently substandard Word Of Mouth, Rutherford, vocalists Paul Carrack and Paul Young, drummer Peter Van Hooke and co-producer Christopher Neil have concocted a brew of soulful pop that'll be instantly recognizable to anyone familiar with M + M's calling card, The Living Years, and Carrack's own Don't Shed A Tear. Unfortunately, the seductiveness of the band's sound is repeatedly undermined by the utter banality of the words tumbling forth from Mssrs. Carrack's and Young's golden throats. "I'd like my life to be simple/I need my life to be straight/I'd like to see my existence/Going great ...," goes Plain & Simple. Or how about, "You're long ago/And far away/But I can still remember you ..."? This is one album whose potency increases in direct proportion to your distance from the lyric sheet.

John Sakamoto
 

 L y r i c s


A Beggar On A Beach Of Gold

I didn't know when I was lucky
Discontented feeling bad
Filled with envy
For possessions other people had

I found my pride had always hurt me
Fought the world to gain control
Not realising
I was sitting on a beach of gold

Oh lord I'm a poor man
With all the riches I can hold
I'm a beggar
And I'm sitting on a beach of gold

The problems I encountered
Gave me strength helped me sustain
To know the pleasure
First I had to cure the pain

When I was searching for solutions
I found the answer lay in me
I'm a drifter
But I'm drifting on a silver sea

Oh lord I'm a poor man
With all the riches I can hold
I'm a beggar
And I'm sitting on a beach of gold

I didn't have courage
My life was as dark as night
When alone in the darkness
I saw the brightest light
Let the light shine down

Are you out there now on empty
Feel you've nothing left to give
Sick of trying
Have you lost the will to live?

Don't be drowning in the shallows
With the beach so near at hand
Hear the voice say
Stand up get up
And join me on the gilded sand

Come and join me on the beach
With all the riches I can hold
Cause I'm a beggar
And I'm sitting on a beach of gold

Oh lord I'm a poor man
With all the riches I can hold
I'm a beggar
I'm sitting on a beach of gold

My children my salvation
The father to this man
They're my teachers
Playing on the golden sand

With my family all around me
I've all the riches I can hold
I'm a beggar
Sitting on a beach of gold

Oh lord I'm a poor man
With all the riches I can hold
I'm a beggar
Sitting on a beach of gold


Another Cup Of Coffee

And she pours herself another cup of coffee
As she contemplates the stain across the wall
and it's in between the cleaning and the washing
That's when looking back's
The hardest part of all

And she always did her best to try and please him
While he always did his best to make her cry
And she got down on her knees to stop him leaving
But he always knew one day he'd say goodbye

Where are your friends
Where are your children
Is this your house
Is this your home
Does nothing ever last forever
Does everybody sleep alone

And he tears the business tags from his old suitcase
As he packs away the pieces of his life
They all love him but they always try to change him
That's what happens when a girl becomes a wife

And she pours herself another cup of coffee
As the pictures leave a clean space on the wall
and it's in between the leaving and the loving
That's when looking back's
The hardest part of all

Where are your friends
Where are your children
Is this your house
Is this your home
Does nothing ever last forever
Does everybody sleep alone

Don't look back
Don't give up
Pour yourself another cup


You've Really Got A Hold On Me

I don't like you but I love you,
Seems that I'm always thinking of you.
Oh, you treat me badly I love you madly;
You really got a hold on me,
You really got a hold on me, baby.
I love you and all I want you to do is just hold me,
Hold me, hold me, hold me.

I don't want you but I need you,
Don't want to kiss you but I need to.
Oh, you do me wrong now my love is strong now;
You really got a hold on me,
You really got a hold on me, baby.
I love you and all I want you to do is just hold me,
Hold me, hold me, hold me.

You tighter,
Tighter I want to leave you don't want to stay here,
Don't want to spend another day here.
Oh, I want to split now;
I can't quit now.
You really got a hold on me,
You really got a hold on me.
Baby really got a hold on me,
I said you really got a hold on me.


Mea Culpa

You can't forgive
And you won't forget
We did something
That we both regret
mea culpa

I held my breath while you
Took your time
To tell the world
What's yours is mine
mea culpa

You don't need me
You don't need anyone at all
You've got what you desired
You lit the fire
And watched the rise and fall

And in your eyes I could see my face
A non believer
In a state of grace
mea culpa

I see no reason for your complaint
You got the sinner
And not the saint
mea culpa

I can't say much I can't say anything at all
You tell the story well
Then you retire to watch the rise and fall

You never know what's in your heart
Until you look
You never know what's in your heart
Until you look
Take a look
Just take a look
Just take a look
Just take a look

Ad libs to fade


Over My Shoulder

Looking back over my shoulder
I can see that look in your eye
I never dreamed it could be over
I never wanted to say goodbye

Looking back over my shoulder
With an aching deep in my heart
I wish that we were starting over
Oh instead of drifting so far apart

Everybody told me you were leaving
Funny I should be the last to know
Baby please tell me that I'm dreaming
I just never want to let you go

Looking back over my shoulder
I can see that look in your eye
Turning my heart over and over
I never wanted to say goodbye

I don't mind everybody laughing
But it's enough to make a grown man cry
Cos I can feel you slipping through my fingers
I don't even know the reason why

Every day it's a losing battle
Just to smile and hold my head up high
Could it be that we belong together
Baby won't you give me one more try
One more try

Looking back over my shoulder
I can see that look in your eye
I never dreamed it could be over
I never wanted to say goodbye

Looking back over my shoulder
Oh with an aching feeling inside
Cutting me up, deeper and deeper
Fills me with a sadness that I can't hide

Looking back over my shoulder
I can see that look in your eye
I never dreamed no no it could be over
I never wanted to say goodbye

Looking back over my shoulder
I can see that look in your eye


Someone Always Hates Someone

Last night I shook hands with the devil
In a dream that I can never lose
He laughed when he saw me cryin'
At the pictures on the evening news
He said it's not really a dilemma
You're just a little out of touch
Don't think of the situation
Cos it'll make you think too much

Someone always hates someone
Someone always hates someone
Someone always sells a gun
Cos someone always hates someone

A child will be born tomorrow
As open as an empty cup
And we'll fill it with hope and sorrow
The very things that messed us up
We'll ask him to join the congregation
A hindu moslem christian or jew
Pretty soon he'll recognise his brothers
But soon he'll know the enemy too

Someone always hates someone
Someone always hates someone
Someone always buys a gun
Cos someone always hates someone

I died and I went to heaven
In a dream I never had before
A good friend who had gone before me
Had kindly left my name at the door
I looked on the face of the almighty
Couldn't help myself
I started to shout
How come you made a mess of things
How come you didn't work it out

He said
Someone always hates someone
Someone always hates someone
There's so much love for everyone
But someone always hates someone


The Ghost Of Sex And You

It was an unbelievable night
She was an unremarkable girl
You may not call it poetry
But it changed my world

It was an unforgettable dawn
She was an indisputable fact
Even if I could have
I might not have it back

It's an unexceptional day
She's an unavoidable truth
Uncompromised elation
Suspended since my youth

It's an unforgivable lie
I have nothing in my defence
There can be no forgiveness
To caution this descent

It wasn't in a dream
A film or on TV
This was really happening
Happening to me
Though I may protest
Suggest I never knew
The ghost comes back to haunt me
The ghost of sex and you

I held her hand outside the hotel
Kissed her mouth in the back of the car
Whether fact or fantasy
I knew we'd gone too far

I feel her breath on the back of my neck
She's lying naked here on the floor
Wrap the sheet around her
Disappear beyond the door

It wasn't in a dream
A film or on TV
This was really happening
Happening to me
Though I may protest
Suggest I never knew
The ghost comes back to haunt me
The ghost of sex and you

It was an unbelievable night
She was an unremarkable girl
You may not call it poetry
But it changed my world
The ghost of sex and you

It was an unforgettable dawn
She was an indisputable fact
Even if I could have
I might not have it back
Sex and you

It's an unexceptional day
She's an unavoidable truth
Uncompromised elation
Suspended since my youth
Sex and you

It's an unforgivable lie
I have nothing in my defence
There can be no forgiveness
To caution this descent
The ghost of sex and you


Web Of Lies

Just a minor indiscretion
No need to apologise
I don't want this to become an obsession
But I just can't believe my eyes

Evidence in my possession
Points a finger straight at you
Every day I'm closer to a confession
If only I can face the truth

Every mistake that you make
Drives the knife into my heart
Twisting down deeper and deeper
Still tearing me apart

I'm trying to find a grain of truth in this web of lies
I'm trying to find a grain of truth in this web of lies

You swear to god you're on the level
And you've nothing more to hide
Then I turn around and "speak of the devil"
You're both together side by side

Every mistake that you make
Seems more careless than the last
I'm just amazed that you try to cover
The tracks of your past

I'm trying to find a grain of truth in this web of lies
I'm trying to find a grain of truth in this web of lies

Have you got me in your pocket?
Am I eating from your hand
I think we need to shed some light on the matter
So I can really understand

Darlin' there's no perfect crime
That's left without a trace
And right now I'm judge and I'm jury
Till I can rest my case

I'm trying to find a grain of truth in this web of lies
I'm trying to find a grain of truth in this web of lies


Plain And Simple

I'd like my life to be simple
I need my life to be straight
I'd like to see my existence
Going great going great
Going great great great

I want my life to be easy
Need my life to be pure
I want to see my success is
Guaranteed that's for sure
That's for sure sure sure

Give me the simple life
The plain and the simple life
You've got to give me the simple life
The plain and the simple life

Don't want my life to be anxious
Don't need my life to be tense
I'd like to see my existence
Making sense making sense
Making sense sense sense

I'd like my life to be simple
Like my life to be plain
So don't you say that I ever
Live in vain live in vain
That's insane sane sane

Give me the simple life
The plain and the simple life
Give me the simple life
The plain and the simple

Give me the simple life
The plain and the simple life
Give me the simple life
The plain and the simple


Something To Believe In

There's a silver moon
Shining in the room
Where we sleep like spoons together
Lying in the dark
I can feel your heart
And it beats with mine forever

Coming from the street
You can feel the heat
As the city sleeps
In the silence
And the perfect light
Of a summers night
Is broken by the violence

Then a woman screams
And a baby cries
And someone's dream is shattered
When the nightmares dance
Before your eyes
They can leave you bruised and battered

Then I realise
That I'm by your side
And I'm listening to you breathing
And in this room
With the silver moon
You're something to believe in

There's a boy out there
With a crazy stare
And a gun to make a living
In a sea of hate
Where you can't think straight
In a world that's unforgiving

And it's all gone bad
In a world gone mad
And you're scared that you'll discover
That the one you love
And the one you trust
Is like all the others

Then I realise
That I'm by your side
And I'm listening to you breathing
And in this room
With the silver moon
You're something to believe in
You're something to believe in

And in this room
With the silver moon
You're something to believe in


A House Of Many Rooms

There may be some things about me
Things you don't want to hear
For the rumours that precede me
May be very true I fear

They tell you I will deceive you
I don't know how to care
Though my intentions might be good
There's another darker look beware

When you walk through the door
Hang on to your senses
At best you must assume
It's a house of many rooms

Some rooms are filled with pleasure
Laughter and love and light
All the things you never see
I keep under lock and key at night

When you walk through the door
Hang on to your senses
At best you must assume
It's a house of many rooms

If you love me in the light
Love me in the shadow
I'm afraid you must assume
It's a house of many rooms
A house of many rooms

It's a house that's so unstable
There are those who recommend
If they'd the strength and they were able
It ought to be condemned
I don't agree but I will warn you
At best you must assume
I live in a house of many rooms

Here I'm in the library
Trying to understand
What empowers this behaviour
Degenerates the man
The same apartment later
With the bottle half consumed
I see a house of many rooms

In the parlour I'm your father
Who could ask for more
The bedroom compromise me
With your best friend from next door
In the kitchen being honest
The lounge a lying tongue
Locked in the bathroom
Pretending to be young

The chapel finds me kneeling
Praying for my soul
The painting in the attic
Can't prevent me growing old
Help me live forever
Silent as a tomb
I live in a house of many rooms

Join me at the dining table
Join me at the feast
Join me in the stable
I'm laying with the beast
You're walking in the garden
Oblivious who'd know?
I'm in the cellar ready to explode


I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)

Shattered dreams worthless years
Here am I encased inside a hollow shell
Life began then was done
Now I stare into a cold empty well
The many sounds that meet our ears
The sights our eyes behold
Will open up our merging hearts
And feed our empty souls

I believe when I fall in love with you
It will be forever
I believe when I fall in love this time
It will be forever
Without despair

We will share and the joys of caring
Will not be replaced
What has been must never end
And with the strength we have
Won't be erased
When the truths of love are planted firm
They won't be hard to find
And the words of love I speak to you
Will echo in my mind

I believe when I fall in love with you
It will be forever
I believe when I fall in love this time
It will be forever
Ever, ever, ever

I believe when I fall in love with you
It will be forever
I'm so glad that I found someone
To believe in again

God surely answered my prayer
God surely answered my prayer
You know God surely answered my prayer
You know God surely answered my prayer
God always will answer your prayers
Believe in one who will answer my prayer
Thank you God

I believe when I fall in love with you
It will be forever
I believe when I fall in love with you
It will be forever

Come on let's fall in love
You're the woman I've been waiting for
Come on let's fall in love
You're the girl that I really adore
Come on let's fall in love
Come on baby let's fall in love
Come on let's.


Going Going....Home

Going going home
I hold a memory I can't let go
Going going home
Going going home

You're long ago
And far away
But I can still remember you

Going, going home
I've got a memory that I can't let go
And I know I won't be alone
I'm goin' home

The ones I love will all be there
And I can see their smiling faces

Oh I'm giving in
It's like living in a war
It can't be right
And I can't fight this world
No more

I don't care where this highway goes

Going going home
I know I won't be alone
I'm going
I'm going home

I know you'll always wait for me
And now I'm going back to you

Oh I'm giving in
It's like living in a war
It can't be right
And I can't fight this world
No more
I don't care where this highway goes

Ad libs to fade

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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