Abubilla Music

Background to Songs, A Market Town, KHT

Written by Jimmy

A Market Town is the fourth song, from our fourth album, King Henry’s Tears.   

Lyrics: This song was born on a too sunny day during our 2011 Summer Spanish Jam.   Jimmy and Kathy had been very moved by a documentary on the Market Town of Wootton Bassett, which stands on the road from an Air Base and John Radcliffe hospital.  All the fallen British Soldiers pass through the town on their way to the coroners at the hospital before they are released to their families.  Quite organically, veterans who lived in the town started to assemble to salute the hearses as they passed.  Slowly this grew and grew to hundreds and sometimes thousands from the town lining the road.  The families started to come to the town to the be in the centre of the ‘honour guard’ standing ‘shoulder to shoulder to shoulder’ with the town.   Jimmy new he wanted to write a song about this and finally sorted out how to do it during a break from sun and studio in Spain.

Musically:    Jimmy knew the musical phrase he wanted for the first lyric of the chorus – it was a set of chords he played during his ‘black key phase’ twenty years ago.  He showed that to Ed.    Jimmy also knew he wanted the rest to be quite discordant and out of time (his speciality!) and played some chords to Ed.   Ed took it from there and sorted the basic structure and with Andy’s help the odd, discomforting timing.    Ed particularly likes the third chord in the verse, which reminds him of Dennis Wilson Thoughts of You.   We invited Louise in to work on the melody for the verses and the remaining chorus.  Louise came up with the character to sing it – a war weary, troubled observer.  Lots of respect, but there’s fatigue, resignation, exhaustion and anger in the voice.   Like Breathe, we then put the track down quickly, thinking we would return to it.  We kept thinking we would change it.  But we left that take.  One piano.  One voice.  A simple take.   We had not heard of Thoughts of You until Ed told us about it in context of A Market Town.  Sadly, the two songs really go together and we encourage you to listen to both:

Recommendations: First and  foremost, please watch the documentary.  This is about the fallen and A Market Town.    Second, if you or intrigued with Louse’s voice, as you should be, here are two additional songs to listen to:

Third, if you’re interested in other songs about the tragedy of war by the Saturday Morning Canasta Club, you might want to listen to:  No Bells from our 3rd Album, If I Were a Little Birdie, or Roadside Comedy from our 1st Album, Six Months of Saturdays.    Fourth, if you want a recommendation on moving songs about war, here are three to listen to:

• • One, Metallica, 1989:    The band bought the rights to Johnny Got His Gun to be able to do the video for this song.  A wounded soldier trapped in his body with no one understanding his mind is still there.

• • 19, Paul Hardcastle, 1985.  Jimmy met Paul, coincidentally, on a family vacation to the Seychelles.  Paul wrote, performed, produced, and distributed this song, funded by a loan from his father in law.  First use of sample.  The number 1 global song of 1985.  Jimmy had never heard of it, because the US was the only market where it wasn’t a hit.  Paul was still living off the proceeds when Jimmy saw him 10 years later.

• The Fish Song, Country Joe MacDonald.  Like Phil Ochs with ‘Small Circle of Friends’, Country Joe was at his best when his protest songs were ‘happy sing-alongs with frightening lyrics.  Here’s the lyrics:

Yeah, come on all of you, big strong men,
Uncle Sam needs your help again.
He’s got himself in a terrible jam
Way down yonder in Vietnam
So put down your books and pick up a gun,
We’re gonna have a whole lotta fun.

And it’s one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam;
And it’s five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain’t no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we’re all gonna die.

Well, come on generals, let’s move fast;
Your big chance has come at last.
Gotta go out and get those reds —
The only good commie is the one who’s dead
And you know that peace can only be won
When we’ve blown ’em all to kingdom come.

And it’s one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam;
And it’s five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain’t no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we’re all gonna die.

Huh!

Well, come on Wall Street, don’t move slow,
Why man, this is war au-go-go.
There’s plenty good money to be made
By supplying the Army with the tools of the trade,
Just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb,
They drop it on the Viet Cong.

And it’s one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam.
And it’s five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain’t no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we’re all gonna die.

Well, come on mothers throughout the land,
Pack your boys off to Vietnam.
Come on fathers, don’t hesitate,
Send ’em off before it’s too late.
Be the first one on your block
To have your boy come home in a box.

And it’s one, two, three
What are we fighting for ?
Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam.
And it’s five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain’t no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we’re all gonna die.

For those who might be interested, here’s the video and lyrics for Phil Ochs, Outside of a Small Circle of Friends, one of 1,000 songs we wish we had written

Jimmy