Introduction: Afraid of Sunlight was Marillion's fourth Hogarth-era release. After the bleak introspection of Brave, many fans might have expected something a little lighter in tone. At first listen, one might be tempted to think that AoS was that album but scratch the surface and you have an album that has an emotional intensity rivalled by none.
Afraid of Sunlight Intro
Introduction: Afraid of Sunlight was Marillion's fourth Hogarth-era release. After the bleak introspection of Brave, many fans might have expected something a little lighter in tone. At first listen, one might be tempted to think that AoS was that album but scratch the surface and you have an album that has an emotional intensity rivalled by none.
Gazpacho
Introduction: Boxers Mike Tyson and Jake la Motta and American Footballer/actor OJ Simpson all feature in this song, Tyson and La
Motta are used in the analogy of the raging bull and OJ Simpson's escape 'attempt' is narrated by a journalist from Los Angeles television during the infamous 'slow pursuit' of Simpson's white Ford Bronco.
The news report
Fangorn has sent in an exact version of the news report heard under the intro: "Ladies and gentlemen in attendance, and boxing fans joining us around the world, it's show time! The Heavyweight Championship of the World..."
If anyone happens to know from where this is taken, please let us know.
Cannibal Surf Babe
Introduction: The following comes from an interview by Rob Benaquista for Rock Eyez in March 2007 entitled Interview with h (Steve Hogarth).Benaquista: What's the first thing that comes to mind when discussing [...] Cannibal Surf Babe?
h: The Beach Boys. Happy Days. Twin Peaks.
Beautiful
'Le Soleil émergea de la montagne, les vagues se déroulèrent sur la baie, de fabuleux oiseaux de couleurs flamboyantes s'envolèrent de la forêt. Eh bien, nous sommes tous de
jolis anges ensemble au paradis. Couche-toi mon cheri, tu vas bien apprécier cela.'
Thanks to Gérald Jay Salvat for sorting me out with a proper French version with all the proper accents etc. and nAr in the comments below for further refinement.
Afraid of Sunrise
'Great White Way' The Nevada Desert is a vast salt flat that stretches across the whole of the SW behind the Sierra Nevada Mountain range.
Greg Kohs added: "The 'Great White Way' is the commonly known nickname of Broadway theatre district in New York City."
This would tie in nicely with the notion that the song might be about a celebrity who knows they are about to be exposed in the tabloids.
Out Of This World
'Bluebird' Donald Malcolm Campbell (1921-1967) set water speed records of 202.32 mph (1955), 276.33 (1964). In a jet-powered automobile, he set the land speed record of 403.1 mph (1964). The son of Malcolm Campbell, a previous water and land speed record holder, Campbell was said to be obsessed with regaining the water speed record after losing it in 1965. In 1967, against the advice of his racing team, Campbell took Bluebird II out on to Coniston Water in the Cumbrian Lake District.
Afraid of Sunlight
'I will deny' & 'Afraid of Sunlight'On the night before his arrest, Jesus tells his apostle Peter that the disciple will deny him three times that night before the cock crows. Peter laughs but that night he is asked on three separate occasions whether he 'hangs out with the bloke that reckons he's the Messiah?' Three times Peter denies that he is a confederate of Jesus, knowing that Jesus is a political hot potato, wanted by both the Jewish and Roman authorities. As he denies Christ for the third time, the cock crows for morning and Peter realises what he has done.
Beyond You
Introduction:This song is recorded in mono, and is meant to recall the famous 'Wall of Sound' production popularised by producer Phil Spector.
Spector was a notorious drunkard and junkie as well as one of the most famous producers of the sixties and seventies. He made his mark with songs such as The Leader of the Pack by the Shangri Las, and was also famous for massacring the Beatles last album (in release terms) Let It Be. In 2003, he was arrested on suspicion of murder of his actress girlfriend with a revolver. He was eventually convicted of second degree murder in 2009. He died in prison in 2021, aged 81.
King
Introduction: The following comes from a Web UK interview, 6th June 1995, located for us by Simon Clarke.Steve Hogarth: "But I think this song is mostly inspired by Kurt Cobain's suicide notes. I have never met him, but I felt very close to him in some ways. The last ever Nirvana gig was at Munich's Terminal 1. From there the band travelled to Rome and stayed at the Cavalieri Hilton, one of my favourite hotels. Cobain took an overdose in his hotel room and I could just about imagine him there, I could see the hotel room, the bathroom, the furniture...
Icon
'Linda', 'Pam' & 'Naomi'Evangelista, ...ela Anderson Lee, Campbell, respectively model, actress and model.
'Saving up for Mary, saving up for Jane'
Mary-Jane is (primarily) US term for marihuana, the green or gray mixture of dried, shredded, flowers and leaves of the hemp plant (Cannabis sativa).
Live Forever
'Cocaine' and 'Crack'Cocaine is the drug extracted from the leaves of the coca plant. It is a potent brain stimulant and one of the most powerfully addictive drugs.
Cocaine is distributed on the street in two main forms: cocaine hydrochloride is a white crystalline powder that can be snorted or dissolved in water and injected; and "crack" is cocaine hydrochloride that has been processed with ammonia or sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and water into a freebase cocaine. These chips, chunks, or rocks can be smoked.