Our hero heads back to the place he began, to spend the rest of time with the person he started it with it. There's an open road road to feel this, I wanted to keep the sound as driving as possible without being too distorted, more a musical pean to the open road and the journey which he is about to recommence with a spring in their step. At the same time, he recognises that he thought he had it mapped out before, and at this moment he can't take that for granted.
There's another dab of existentialism in the lyrics here, but tinged with optimism that things will work out better. Semi autobiographical detail: I'm not the son of a Jack, but the grandson of a Jack; Jack Clarke.
lyrics
I dropped the burden along the highway,
Gave the driver all my cash and the keys,
And turned my back on all the roads that lead back home
Turned myself to face up to me.
Spent thirty seven years on probation,
I’ve got a lifetime left to get it right;
But when your time is measured out by the beat of the drum,
You haven’t time to see the end in sight.
You haven’t time to see the end in sight.
I’ve got my cards down on the table,
And the joker still laughs in my face,
I’m the son of the Jack turned red from the black,
I’m the King without a queen or ace.
I found no answer from the frowning doctors,
I got not wisdom from my neighbours in Hell,
I heard no certainty from the friends and the loved,
No solace in the news that I read.
I found no truth within the Holy Bible,
No certainty in scripture or scroll,
I just need the hope in break of the morning light,
To save my mortal soul.
To save my mortal soul.
I’ve got my cards down on the table,
And the joker still laughs in my face,
I’m the son of the Jack turned red from the black,
I’m the King without a queen or ace.
When your life has no place, like a passing plane;
Just a bird for another’s idea,
The truth is what you make for yourself,
The truth is what you make for yourself.
Now my hands grasp for something to cling to,
Something certain in an unsure fate,
A place in space and time that I can call mine,
Change before it gets too late.
credits
from Begin Again,
released December 1, 2016
All instruments and vocals by Iain Clarke
Hailing from Leeds, West Yorkshire, and now residing in Wakefield, a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist in his own right,
Iain has played with well received Yorkshire bands including Hobson, Ringo and the Wolf, Late Arrivals Club, Crossland Fold and Nine Violets as well as releasing an album with respected New York artist Marc Teamaker and songs alongside Craig Buchannan as 2018 BC....more
Jazz and soul fuse together with pop and sound collages to make something quite unique. The timeless music of Marc Teamaker blended with that of Kathleen White becomes a fitting testament to love. Iain Clarke
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