~ Dandy Lad and the Cannonball Princess ~

explained

I have been posting a song a day on MySpace bulletins, writing about the inspiration behind the music and words. The initial two weeks worth of tunes came from the 1st KSH album "Blame it on the Stripes and Pearls", click the link to check them out. The next two or so weeks the tunes came from Dandy Lad and the Cannonball Princess. I've collected together the posts and stuck them together here for you all to read. Listen and enjoy. Mike.

Learn all about...."Making of this man" Today we have "Making of this man". It's about measuring up to ones father (or not). Now, my own father is a total legend. I love and respect him completely. He's a great guy as well as a wonderful dad. So, they're quite big shoes to step into. It was written in a very bleak period (what a surprise!) where I felt that I couldn't measure up to him. Now, he would say I am my own person and shouldn't compare myself to anyone else, but it's hard not to try and be like one of your heroes. So may I introduce..."Making of this man"

Learn all about...."Little Rays" "Little Rays" works around the idea that when you're under a dark cloud, everything else you look at or think about is also cast under a dark cloud. The reverse is also true, when things are going well you tend to cast things in a better light. Seems an obvious thing to say but how many times have you had somebody you know down in the dumps who can't be convinved that things won't always be that bad? I'm a firm believer in the fact that people make their own luck. So may I introduce..."Little Rays"

Learn all about...."Scars" The words for this song came from scraps of ideas from lots of different but related conversations I'd had. The song paints a picture of a girl who's troubled by their past but who is able to trust somebody enough to tell them about it. I try to make the point, that which we survive defines us. Both good and bad experiences are what make us who we are. The main tag line for the song is "Every scar has tales to tell of", meaning there is always something to be learned from trouble we have faced. Also, I think this song has possibly THE most cheerfull solo I have ever written. So may I introduce..."Scars"

Learn all about...."Solace" This song concerns itself about having somebody living in your shadow all the time, how they feed of your own achievements as if they were their own and how they can't/won't reveal themselves as their own person. It goes on to talk about what could happen when they are left to be on their own, how they're in for a big shock. "Solace" refers to having time to reflect, on your own, to find your own peace and confidence. Musically, I think I'd been listen to Iron & Wine's "Women King" EP lots and lots and lots... So may I introduce..."Solace"

Learn all about...."One suiter of many" This song is about the perils single men face whilst trying to catch the eye of a pretty lady. It's an anthem to all of us out there who are terrible at chatting them up. There are lots of us, as one gets the brush off there's always another hopefull soul stood in their place to try their luck. I LOVE playing this song live. Musically it takes its cues from Kelly Joe Phelps, who is an awesome player. I'd always wanted to write a slow shuffling number like this and it is now one of my favourite songs. So may I introduce..."One suiter of many"

Learn all about...."Killing Karma" This is actually a really old song. It goes back to the last days of "Bodhi", the band I'd started in university which struggled on into my early 20s. It died from too many line-up changes, diva like singers (not me may I add) and a general apathy setting in. The music originally had a big rock sound, mad distortion and shouty vocals. It was fun re-arranging stuff for an acoustic setup and you know what I prefer it this way. You can actually hear what's going on for a start. The words concern themselves with a soulless call centre job I had at the time. It works around the "what comes around goes around" idea, that the bad things that happen to me feed back out into the world in various ways. So may I introduce..."Killing Karma"

Learn all about...."Brothers born" This song is about the group of friends I hung out with whilst at University, some of the best friends I've ever had. For various reasons some of us drifted from the group. This song is me lamenting at that fact. Musically, I've always had a certain amount of Latin American influence running through me. I was born out in Colombia, South America (to British parents). My Dad really absorbed the culture there, if he'd stayed he'd have gone native for sure. So, I soaked up the music he loved by listening to him play guitar and from the records he brought back. So may I introduce..."Brothers born"

Learn all about...."The rambler" Ever wondered whether you've just made an utter fool of yourself in front of people you've only just met? Worried that you've either been too shy or too excitable? Well that's what this song is about. I did indeed find myself in that sort of situation and went away asking myself why I was trying to hard to be likeable to these people. I put it down to a matter of confidence (or lack of). So may I introduce..."The rambler"

Learn all about...."Teacher" This song is about how I find faith in the things and people around me. I'm not a religious person, so far I have found inner strength friends, family and experiences I've been through. These thoughts were inspired after reading James Joyce's "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man". There was little thing that set me off thinking... "Stephen Dedalus is my name, Ireland is my nation. Clongowes is my dwelling place And heaven my expectation." ...it prompted me to think about where I would place myself in a similar way, where I get faith from. My version of what Mr Joyce wrote appears in the middle of the song. I'll leave you to find it. So may I introduce..."Teacher"

Learn all about...."Bruised black and telling" This is another song with dark subject matter. It paints a picture of somebody stuck in a dark, bleak place and state of mind. What starts out as misery soon turns into anger fed by fear. The words came about after a friend of mine was in a low place but became difficult to help as they lashed out at people trying to help. In the end I left them to it. So may I introduce..."Bruised black and telling"

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