Glad that the real BHITPZ has won this little discussion. This song features some of Bill's snappiest, most sardonic and sharply rhythmic lyrics - and over a dozen tiny doses of caustic satire. I have to say, I love the phase of Bill's career in which he would go in for the kill like this. Does the urge still come over you these days, Bill?
Thanks for all your inputs. And sorry if I sounded churlish at any point. I think I've got the answer to the 'mystery' though. The lyric sheets were inserted into a WLTP of Sound-on-Sound alongside a press pack. From the accompanying letter it appears the package had been originally sent to a Japanese record exec ('Mr Miyoshi') by EMI. I reckon that our Caroline, being a British expat and musician(cellist?), was roped in to transcribe the lyrics to some of the songs for translation into Japanese for whatever reason. The actual lyrics were not available and so, not being able to distinguish them very well from the record, she made quite a few errors, as has been pointed out.
Thanks again for helping me get to the bottom of this.
Fair enough, guys. Lyrics do evolve and it's possible these were/are a first or very early draft. Or they're a so-so transcription. I guess the only reliable arbiter would be Bill himself, but he's so far declined to pronounce on them, only on the mysterious Ms Dale..
So what happened to " Your relatives are white and all your children have record players...They listen to Tom Robinson, the Beatles and the Byrds and Leo Sayer!"
or " I caught you in the kitchen you were curing something itching or so you saidThen you turned off all the motors put away your toys and photos and crawled back to bed"?
The lyrics she's suggesting are very, very unlike the actual lyrics, so I'd guess she was just a fan who decided to listen and scribble them down... badly.
When one Googles “Caroline Dale Tokyo,” the British School Tokyo appears. It’s a music school, Caroline Dale’s a cellist and there are several photographs of children playing violins but I can’t find her name on the BST website.
Sorry, Bill, I assumed you were connected with her; the reason being that I've acquired what appear to be the original lyrics to three of the songs on the Sound-on-Sound LP, all typed on her headed notepaper. I found them by chance nestling inside a white label of the Red Noise album alongside the usual press handouts Here's one of them.
If it’s the same Caroline Dale, cellist, in the Wikipedia entry, hopefully she heard Channel Light Vessel.
Glad that the real BHITPZ has won this little discussion. This song features some of Bill's snappiest, most sardonic and sharply rhythmic lyrics - and over a dozen tiny doses of caustic satire. I have to say, I love the phase of Bill's career in which he would go in for the kill like this. Does the urge still come over you these days, Bill?
Thanks for all your inputs. And sorry if I sounded churlish at any point. I think I've got the answer to the 'mystery' though. The lyric sheets were inserted into a WLTP of Sound-on-Sound alongside a press pack. From the accompanying letter it appears the package had been originally sent to a Japanese record exec ('Mr Miyoshi') by EMI. I reckon that our Caroline, being a British expat and musician(cellist?), was roped in to transcribe the lyrics to some of the songs for translation into Japanese for whatever reason. The actual lyrics were not available and so, not being able to distinguish them very well from the record, she made quite a few errors, as has been pointed out.
Thanks again for helping me get to the bottom of this.
Fair enough, guys. Lyrics do evolve and it's possible these were/are a first or very early draft. Or they're a so-so transcription. I guess the only reliable arbiter would be Bill himself, but he's so far declined to pronounce on them, only on the mysterious Ms Dale..
So what happened to " Your relatives are white and all your children have record players... They listen to Tom Robinson, the Beatles and the Byrds and Leo Sayer!"
or " I caught you in the kitchen you were curing something itching or so you said Then you turned off all the motors put away your toys and photos and crawled back to bed"?
Really, Ms Dale's lyrics are way off.
The lyrics she's suggesting are very, very unlike the actual lyrics, so I'd guess she was just a fan who decided to listen and scribble them down... badly.
When one Googles “Caroline Dale Tokyo,” the British School Tokyo appears. It’s a music school, Caroline Dale’s a cellist and there are several photographs of children playing violins but I can’t find her name on the BST website.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Dale
Sorry, Bill, I assumed you were connected with her; the reason being that I've acquired what appear to be the original lyrics to three of the songs on the Sound-on-Sound LP, all typed on her headed notepaper. I found them by chance nestling inside a white label of the Red Noise album alongside the usual press handouts Here's one of them.
They can't be the real thing, can they?
I'm afraid I can't recall anyone with that name. I knew no-one in Japan at that time.