Like I said in the deleted thread, I was very sceptical first but I've been listening to the album for the last couple of days and now I love it! Yes, I still think some of the musical themes are very familiar, and I still don't know if MK sometimes copies himself consciously or subconsciously... Strange, but as long as one song doesn't sound like another on the same album (like it's VERY often the case with new albums nowadays) and each tune has its individual character, I shouldn't complain.
I also said it would be nice if he was a little more daring regarding new instruments/sounds and I still think so to some extend but then I wonder how some of the tunes might sound then. They'd be something entirely different, probably sound totally overproduced. So I can very well live without additional saxophones or lap steels. In fact, this is what disturbed me a little during the last Straits tour. The arrangements of the songs (well, some of them) were too overloaded, Romeo & Juliet for example. MK knows which instrumentations fit to his songs and I shouldn't doubt his ability.
About the lyrics, it's true that some themes like the theme of the title track have been there a couple of times before but having read some of the comments about it here, I think it's perfect the way it is. I can't really say anything about the other song lyrics yet as I haven't seen them before me (and as a non-native speaker it's always a little tricky to decipher sophisticated lyrics when you're not familiar with some of the words, even if you've studied English literature, LOL) and I shouldn't make a judgement before I have read them thoroughly.
As for a track-by-track analysis - like I said, it's difficult to say something about the songs without knowing the lyrics properly, so I'll need some more time to listen closely until we have the CD booklet. I've started to transcribe "So Far From The Clyde" because that was the one which interested me the most. Here is my attempt - any corrections are very welcome.
So Far From The Clyde
They had a last supper
The day of the (I think it's the name of the ship, it sounds like Beaching or something but I'm not sure)
She's a dead ship sailing
Skeleton Crew
The galley is empty
The stove pots are cooling
And what's left of the stew
The time is approaching
The captain moves over
The hangman steps in
To do what he's paid for
With the wind down the tide
She goes proud ahead steaming
And he drives her hard into the shore
So far from the Clyde
Together we ride
We did ride
A sift (?) to a wave (?)
From her
to her rudder
Bravely she rises to meet with the land
Under their feet they all feel her keel shatter
Shadows seen washes their hands (I know this makes no sense tense-wise but it's what I understand, LOL!)
Later the captain
Shakes hands with the hangman
And climbs slowly down
To the oily wet ground
Goes 'bout(?) to the car that has come here to take him
To the graveyard and back to the town
So far from the Clyde
Together we ride
We did ride
They pull out her cables
And hack off her hatches
Too poor to be wasteful with pity or time
They swarm on her carkers (?) with torches and axes
Like a whale on the bloody shore lies (Oh dear, this image gives me goosebumps!)
Stripped of her pillars
They stay at her stantions (?)
When there's only her bones on the wet poison land
Steel ropes will dragger with winches and engines
'Til it's only a stain on the sand
So far from the Clyde
Together we ride
We did ride
Wow. Now that I've read it entirely, what a scary, sad image of the poor old ship being, well, dismantled... The last verse almost makes me cry.
I need to look at the other song lyrics; could it be that death is a subtle red thread on this album? (Piper To The End, Remembrance Day...)?
EDIT: Did a quick research... I think this song refers to this?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_River_Clyde
