Thinking about the lyrics a lot. It seems it is indeed about the cover-band thing .. while he was picking his way (out of poverty in Deptford days if you like), they don't care about his amount of work and just steal his production. The poor old fakers are asociated by him with mutineers who make the main part of a spectacle with their executions. A certain bitterness sure enough. I find it very remarkable that he mentions The Pig, which seems to be a Hotel in New Forest, where he indeed lives?
Then, while they try to make a buck with selling 20.000 tickets online, he no longer cares and goes over and goes on, he is long out of their sight while they steal his old "gold", he has long developed to America with the transatlantic blues... and the folkies are featured in the music at that part. Love it.
London, Bristol and Liverpool were the main slaving ports. Slaves were transported from there into the Caribbean and the Americas. Of course we know that the Blues thing started here, music coming from Africa to the US... that what he referred to .. the story from the ways music takes, that famous where the Delta meets the Tyne quote. It seems he is using this to differenciate simple stealing of music from influencal ways music takes.. that's for me the best way to describe the jumps in time that are pretty new for him in these lyrics.
Very very personal. Great and approbiate for the title track. Plus that Down The Road Wherever sounds so inbelievably geat..
LE
