Introduction: Steve Hogarth in the liner notes for Six of One: "The song didn't really exist until just before we commenced recording Holidays in Eden in February '91. We had just given Chris (Neil) a cassette of unfinished half-ideas along with songs that were already complete and he telephoned one night to say that if we were to arrange two of the ideas together, we would have another 'single'.
"When we got together at Nomis to routine the album, we set about with glue and string... Sixties actress Eleanor Bron inspired the original lyric idea. See if you can spot David Niven.". He later added on Marillion.com, "Lyrically, it's a fantasy about beautiful women - an intensity of beauty which intimidates and scares. The examples are stolen from movies, art, literature, and pop videos."
The verses to the songs came from a song by How We Live called Simon's Car.
'Like the girl in the novel in the wind on the moors'
A reference to Catherine Earnshaw in Wuthering Heights; Emily Bronte's classic novel of love, hate, passion, revenge and crappy weather in Yorkshire, and, it hardly needs saying, the inspiration for the Kate Bush track of that name.
'She's like the girl in the movie when the spitfire falls'
Duncan Lauder said: "In one of his films (1946's Stairway to Heaven directed by Michael Powell) David Niven plays a pilot who crashes to the ground and for various reasons is between heaven and earth. The girl is the radio operator who he talks to on the way down."
Duncan also located the following review by Andy Morely: "A fantastic film, the era was one of celebration at the end of years of the horror of war. Britain felt 'Great' again, and yet some film makers chose not to wallow in the glory of self promotion and victory. The 'trial' where Squadron Leader Carter is faced with a jury made up from nations that Britain has at some point in the past, wronged is in my opinion a masterly piece of cinema. The outcome excellent. If you haven't seen this film, then keep your eyes peeled on the listings, or find a video store that stocks it. The perfect film for a crisp winter afternoon."
I have two things to add. The first (trivial) point is that it's actually called A Matter of Life and Death; Stairway to Heaven is the US re-titling - films often change their names in different markets. But my major problem with the idea that it was this film was that Niven is in a Lancaster Bomber not a Spitfire... I asked h on the MOLF and he said that it was A Matter of Life and Death, but that 'Lancaster' didn't scan!
Song Listing:
Songs with a link have explanations.
I suspect that "David's Pool" is a reference to Hockey's famous paintings of LA swimming pools.
ReplyDelete"Dusty's eyes" is a reference to the pop singer Dusty Springfield, famous for her heavily mascaraed eyes, while "Sandie's toes" relates to the oft-barefoot singer Sandie Shaw.