Drift - The Songs

Ghostland (Andrew Knight)

Andrew Knight: Guitars, bass, drums and vocals

Alex Ryan, Katie Brianna, Michal Duvdevani and Lisa Knight: Vocals

Heading out to ghostland, where the wild wind blows
Fortune flies, look in your eyes, and the ancient river flows
I will always be there with you when we sail behind the sun
Makin’ plans, holding hands, when the whole wide world is gone

Doo doo doo doo…

Heading out to ghostland, through the chiming dawn
Wings in phase with time and space and they’re landing on the lawn
When the light is in the moment and the truth is in the song
Shadows lift and the mountain shifts, and the whole wide world is gone

Doo doo doo doo…

I’ve been taking the long way home,
Driftin’ by as my life goes driftin’ on
Castin’ away from here, all alone, tangled up in a song

Heading back to ghostland, down the sodium Redcar Road
Sky’s on fire in the turning gyre as they burn the mother lode
I will always be there with you as we fade into the sun
Haloed halls, Transporter falls, and the whole wide world is gone

Doo doo doo doo…

An alternative, time-slip autobiography. Sort-of “After The Goldrush” set on Teesside. My old home town.

Go to: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPBBzmSN5N8&feature=related

And google “Tees Transporter”.

Guitars:

1973 Martin D-18

1965 Gibson LG-0 (Nashville tuned)

1956 Gibson LG-1 (doubling the riff)

2007 Scintilla Esquire

1959 Fender Duo Sonic (slide)

Modified 1959 Fender Duo Sonic (“The Plank”)

1966 Gibson LG-0 (Nashville tuning)

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South (Andrew Knight)

Andrew Knight: Guitars, piano, bass, drums, mandolin, Oberheim synthesizer and vocals

Lisa Knight: Vocals

There’s a door standing in the outland
Sand-blown, shimmering in the heat
Under stars of midnight and the suns of Galilee
And south of nowhere lies the key

There’s a man moving through this wild land
In his hand the starfield slowly wheels
To this quiet stranger the doorway gently yields
And fades away on a desert breeze

There’s a door standing in the outland
Sand-blown, shimmering in the heat
By the ghosts of midnight and the sons of Galilee,
And south of nowhere lies the key

“South” is a song that came down the antenna sometime during the mid-1990s. That was a bit of a barren writing period for me (hence the desert motif?) and, thinking back, it may be that I actually dreamed the song into being rather than wrote it so.

Guitars:

1957 Martin 00-17

1959 Fender Duo Sonic

1965 Gibson ES-125T (lead solo)

1957 Martin 00-17

1965 Gibson ES-125T

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The Lost Wave (Andrew Knight)

Andrew Knight: Guitars, bass, drums, organ, Oberheim synthesizer and vocals

Alex Ryan, Katie Brianna, Lisa Knight and Michal Duvdevani: Vocals

Ain’t no way to tell you how I feel
To always feel the sand beneath my keel
Stars are bright, this charcoal night
And the ghost of a lonely Captain at the wheel

Ain’t no way to ever understand
Why things just never end the way they’re planned
Rusty bones and sacred stones
Compass guide us through this sea of sand

How many times have you seen the ocean roll
And drawn its breath upon my grave?
How many years to free this broken soul?
What I would give for one more wave…

Sailing through this tapestry of night
Southern Cross just fading out of sight
Chosen few of a fallen crew
Lost among the latitudes of light

1963 Epiphone Sorrento

There have been a few shipwrecks in my life (literally and figuratively speaking) but thankfully I’ve never been in one. I spent much of my childhood at Whitby, on the north Yorkshire coast, where the receding tide exposes about a mile of seabed. There were two shipwrecks we used to play in – the reinforced-concrete sailing boat “Creteblock”, and part of a hospital ship called the “Rohilla”, which was torpedoed during the First World War. Exciting stuff for a young Yorkshire lad! Ee by gum! And criminy(!), you can see both wrecks on Google Earth! Email me for the co-ordinates.

This tune was was written after visiting the wreck of the “Cherry Venture” at Rainbow Beach on the coast of Queensland. The old ship’s ghost was truly there. My mother is delving into our family history and has discovered that we have ancestors who were wreckers on the coast of Cornwall. Wreckers were those gallant and intrepid souls who walked the cliffs with lights to lure ships onto the rocks, whereupon they would kill the crew and steal the cargo. Spiffing! Despite the cool, romantic pirate connection I’m naturally somewhat ambivalent about great, great, great grandad and his cronies, but still, at times, I can feel the call of the waves. And, yeah also, besides being a big fan of Hammond Innes, I must’ve seen “The Poseidon Adventure” about twenty-seven times, and surely you can’t get much more nautical credibility than that!

Guitars:

1956 Gibson LG-1

2007 Scintilla Esquire (rhythm guitars)

1963 Epiphone Sorrento (lead solo)

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Mad As The Mist And Snow (Words: W.B. Yeats; Music: Andrew Knight)

Andrew Knight: Guitars, bass, drums, mandolin, banjo and vocals

Alex Ryan, Katie Brianna, Michal Duvdevani and Lisa Knight: Vocals

Bolt and bar the shutter for the foul winds blow
Our minds are at their best this night and I seem to know
That everything outside us is mad as the mist and snow

Horace there by Homer stands, Plato stands below
Here is Tully’s open page, how many years ago
Were you and I unlettered lads, mad as the mist and snow?

You ask what makes my sigh, old friend, what makes me shudder so?
I shudder and I sigh to think that even Cicero
And many-minded Homer were mad as the mist and snow

1924 Gibson Tenor Jr

This is the well-known Yeats poem that, over the years, several people have set to music.
Oh, and I just found out that I share a birthday with Marcus Tullius Cicero…how about that?
As well as Stephen Stills, Michael Schumacher, George Martin (!!), Mel Gibson and J.R.R. Tolkein. That’s a pretty cool bunch – the Philosopher, the Singer, the Racer, the Producer, the Actor and the Writer. Yikes! All heroes - well...except perhaps Mel (although I have met him!). Just as well I don’t believe in astrology...

Guitars:

1964 Gibson TG-25 tenor guitar

1959 Fender Duo Sonic (lead and slide guitars)

2007 Scintilla Esquire (rhythm guitar)

1924 Gibson TB Jr. (tenor banjo)

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Pocketful Of Everything (Andrew Knight)

Andrew Knight: Guitars, bass, drums and vocals

Damien Kendrick: Piano

Lisa Knight and Alex Ryan: Vocals

Long ago and far away, through the clouds of yesterday I roam,
In this ancient story
I could fly on foolish wings, pockets full of everything I own,
And bound for glory

And through these waves of wonder I know I love you more each day
And so our cares will fade away…

Through the ways of time and space, I will always see your face, I know
You are my only
I could fly on foolish wings, pockets full of everything I owned,
And never lonely

Nice things come in small packages.

Guitars:
1973 Martin D-18
1959 Fender Duo Sonic
1964 Gibson SG Junior (solos)

1964 Gibson SG Junior

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Way To Go Home (Andrew Knight)

Andrew Knight: Guitars, bass, drums, mandolin, Oberheim synthesizer and vocals

Alex Ryan and Katie Brianna: Vocals

Light a candle in the raging wind
Hang the holy cross ‘tween soul and sin
Haul away, haul away, ring the bells ring

Walk the fire in the ancient light
Chase the tiger through the sacred night
Find a way ‘cross the universe, be home tonight

On my way back home
I’ve found a way to go, way to go home

Chart a course across the swirling skies
Through the islands on the edge of my eyes
Cast away, cast away, turning the tides

On my way back home
I’ve found a way to go, way to go home

This is obviously some science-fiction, Christian-mystic, astral-travelling, nostalgic, gospel, redemption song. It appeared clear out of nowhere one quiet morning in 2001. Don’t ask me why. Nevertheless, years later, I placed some nice guitar and my sweet young friends sung it like it mattered, so that’s all that counts.

Guitars:
1973 Martin D-18 (main acoustic)

1956 Gibson LG-1 (lead acoustic)

1959 Fender Duo Sonic (electric)

1956 Gibson LG-1

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Just Like A River (Andrew Knight)

Andrew Knight: Guitars, drums, congas and vocals
Damien Kendrick: Electric piano
Lisa Knight: Bass and vocals
Alex Ryan and Katie Brianna: Vocals

I used to know your father back in 1969
Ain’t no use in cryin’ over time
Drivin’ down to Memphis on my way to Lord knows where
You don’t have to make out like you care

I think I understand now, you never meant to stay
But ain’t it just like a river to take it all away

Walking by the water on the night I saw you cry
I could see the bird about to fly…
Close enough to midnight, far away from way back when
There’s a chance we’ll meet up once again

1964 Gibson TG-25

I wrote this the day after Jeff Buckley drowned in the Wolf River, flowing dangerously and righteously into the big Old Man Mississippi. I was a fan of his Dad’s music and thought that young Jeff was a breath of fresh air during the grungy 1990s. He also proved to be a tragic case. Much like his Dad in many ways, but old Tim made nine albums in nine years, and Jeff made just one in ten. It’s never quality versus quantity, you know, but simply doing versus not doing. Strange ways indeed. All these years later I can still (as always) listen to Tim but, sadly, not quite so much Jeff. Consequently, the lyrics may possibly make more sense now than when I first wrote them. Hmm. And life goes tumbling on…

Guitars:

1964 Gibson TG-25 (tenor guitar)

1956 Gibson LG-1 (lead acoustic)

1973 Martin D-18

1962 Gibson ES-330

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Andrew Knight: Guitars, bass, drums, electric piano, Oberheim synthesizer and vocals
Alex Ryan, Katie Brianna, Lisa Knight and Michal Duvdevani: Vocals

Rainfall on rolling green, wavy lines and peacock sheen
Rainfall on rolling green, prettiest world I have ever seen

Faces and places in a highway land, beads strung on a silver strand
Quicksilver in a callused hand, never a place for the Son of Man

Born under a rainbow sign, flash of wave in space and time
Molten glass and hearts that shine, stone to gold in fire refined

1950 Gibson ES-140

I’ve been a fan of B.C.s work since the 1970s. I first met Bruce when I became the inadvertent publicist on his 1983 tour of Australia. Long story. We had a couple of chats about music and writing (from both our perspectives), and the general course of world events.

Of course, I was enthralled to meet him, but also intrigued that this particularly nice, internationally-famous person would be remotely interested in what I did too. I went away thinking ‘yeah, that’s what a true pro WOULD say’, but subsequently realised that Bruce WAS actually a genuinely nice guy and was actually interested in what I (and everyone else) did.

The rest of his career has confirmed this, a career that has inspired the notion that decent, regular folk can be successful in this weird business without resorting to embarrassing characterisations or publicity stunts. And Bruce is clearly a chap with his ears and mind well and truly wide open. He showed me how to play “Wondering Where The Lions Are” properly (!), and gave me his blessing to play his tunes whenever I gigged (knowing, of course, that no publicity is bad publicity). Special chap.

So, in the hope that the old blessing still applies, here is the first song from the first album of his that I heard (fully licensed and with all royalties paid!). It’s my (completely different) arrangement, so hopefully, if B.C. hears it he won’t think I’ve mangled it too much. Buy his records.

Guitars:
1964 Gibson TG-25 (tenor guitar)

1950 Gibson ES-140 (lead)

1987 Fender Stratocaster

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Visions of Cody (Andrew Knight)

Andrew Knight: Guitars, drums, harmonica and vocals
Lisa Knight: Bass and vocals
Alex Ryan and Katie Brianna: Vocals

Through these eyes I watch and wonder always
‘Bout the times that shape the soul of a man
Though I’m bound to wander endless hallways
Know I’ll pray just as hard, just as hard as I can

There’s a light shining up ahead now, there’s a way to go
There’s a world waiting in the sun and I feel I’m goin’ home

With these walls wrapped around me closely
I can see your face in the shining sun
And though the past rolls before me slowly
I can reach right through to the things I’ve done

This tune was written for a chap we know, who resides on death-row in Cañon City, Colorado, as a guest of the United States Department Of Revenge. They wanna kill him in the name of God. OK, I know that Cody’s been a bad guy in the past, but everybody deserves a shot a redemption. And friends, despite the fact that I’m certainly no expert in these matters, and as the owner of a life so far spent trying to work out the basic nuts and bolts of this whole weird, scary shooting-match, it seems to me that redemption is pretty-well, perhaps even ENTIRELY, what Christianity (and indeed life itself) is all about.

Guitars:

1973 Martin D-18 (main acoustic)

1959 Fender Duo Sonic

1968 Guild M-20 (lead acoustic)

2007 Scintilla Esquire (chorus rhythm)

1968 Guild M-20

12007 Scintilla Esquire

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I Should’ve Been A Train (Andrew Knight)

Andrew Knight: Guitars, drums, piano, mandolin and vocals
Lisa Knight: Bass and vocals

There’s a cold wind in August Town, driftin’ through the wood
And I would paint a fairer sky for you if I could
But nothin’ stays forever, nothin’ will remain
You knew I was a station, I should’ve been a train...

On the road to Nazareth I saw you passing by
Strolling over broken stones towards the my oh my
I thought I knew the answers then but nothin’ can explain
How you knew I was a station when I should’ve been a train

I can hear the engine roarin’, I can hear the whistle blowin’
I can hear the thunder on the rails
Sittin’ in a railway car, doesn’t matter who you are
‘Cause time just slips away…

Tonight will last forever… if only for a while
Floating on a feather, walk a crooked mile
Gonna leave this town tomorrow and I won’t come back again
You knew I was a station, I should’ve been a train…

Every record needs a train song. This one pulled into the station early in the recording of Drift.

Guitars:

1973 Martin D-18

1962 Gibson ES-330

1973 Martin D-18

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One Fine Day (Andrew Knight)

Andrew Knight: Guitars, harmonica, drums and vocals
Damien Kendrick: Piano
Lisa Knight: Bass and vocals
Alex Ryan, Katie Brianna, Michal Duvdevani and Raine Kornfeld: Vocals

Goin’ where the water tastes like wonder
Walkin’ on a wire in the sun
Dancin’ to the sound of fragile thunder
Feelin’ like the world has just begun

One fine day, one fine day
We’re gonna make a world together one fine day

With the world fallin’ down around our shoulders
The skyline will never be the same
Can we still be friends and not be soldiers,
And recognise that no-one was to blame?

Hold me close I feel a little scared now
Dry your eyes and put the gun away
We can work it out somehow
And maybe we won’t throw it all away

1987 Fender Stratocaster

I wrote this song in the wake of September 11th 2001. In Australian time it was the morning after. At the Leura traffic lights, a minute after I left home, Lisa called me and said “ You gotta listen to the radio” and, as I did, I remember thinking that the world would never be the same again.

I’ll never forget listening to the radio reports as I drove down the Great Western Highway from Leura to Sydney. I also remember the gradual, spooky realisation that it all sounded like the whole thing was scripted in Hollywood which, as eventually became apparent, may have actually been the case.

By the time I reached Annadale the lyrics were finished. I tidied up the music during the day at my workshop. No actual guitar work got done that day. And, of course, like everyone else that evening, I was speechless as I saw the TV footage.

Guitars:

1973 Martin D-18

1987 Fender Stratocaster

1964 Gibson SG Junior (slide)

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I Remember The Rain (Andrew Knight)

Andrew Knight: Guitars, drums and vocals
Damien Kendrick: Piano
Lisa Knight: Bass and vocals
Michal Duvdevani, Raine Kornfeld and Alex Ryan: Vocals

In the shadow of my way
Could it be another day
There’s a light across the room
And a silence like a tomb

I remember the rain
Rollin’ in across the bay
And the sound of your name
As you turned and walked away

I could be another man (oh, to be another man)
If circumstance would run to plan (nothing ever runs to plan)
Down along the waterside (in the shade of the willow)
Turning on this ancient tide

I remember the rain (and the shadow on the harbour)
Rollin’ in across the bay
And the sound of your name (I will always be there)
As you turned and walked away

This is an old song about a goodbye to an old love. And yeah, it did actually rain.

Guitars:
1973 Martin D-18

1959 Fender Duo Sonic (harmonics etc.)

1962 Gibson ES-330 (solos etc.)

1962 Gibson ES-330

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Trust Not The Air (Andrew Knight)

Andrew Knight: Guitars, bass, drums and vocals
Damien Kendrick: Piano
Alex Ryan and Katie Brianna: Vocals

Trust not the air, fear not the light
All is calm in the world tonight
Breathe not a word, hear not a sound
Rest your bones in this cold hard ground

Now you know I was the moonlight
Now you know I was the breeze
Now you know I was the shadow dancing
Down among the pinewood trees

Heed no anger, feel no pain
Fade away in the fallin’ rain
Soul ascending, faith reborn
Helter-skelter in the delta dawn

Crosses smoulder in the pale twilight
As the fire fades from the winter night
Faith forgive all the heart contains
With the darkness gone only love remains…

I have a book called “American Murder Ballads”, by the wonderfully-named Olive Woolley Burt, and in the book there’s a transcript of a Ku Klux Klan poster. Despite the evil and poisonous rubbish of the subject matter there is a weird and undeniable sense of poetry about the poster’s text. Go figure.

The title of this tune was drawn from said text and inspired this spooky song. Written at Rosebank in 2004, I kinda re-wrote it as a basic murder-ballad, with a few hints of the nasty racial stuff. Trust me, this is fiction, I don’t agree with the narrator of this song AT ALL. Damien plays some very sinister piano, and sweet Katie spooks the whole darned thing certifiably UP with her last, scary, and actually spontaneously-improvised, word.

Guitars:

1973 Martin D-18

1964 Gibson SG Junior

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Kokomo (Andrew Knight)

Andrew Knight: Guitar, piano, marimba, bass, drums and vocals
Alex Ryan, Katie Brianna, Lisa Knight, Michal Duvdevani and Raine Kornfeld: Vocals

Way down, way down in Kokomo tonight
There’s a river like a woman, where the water’s shinin’ bright
Way down, way down in Kokomo tonight
There’s a lover in the morning, there’s a railroad in the night
Way down, way down in Kokomo tonight
Everyone is waitin’ for the light
Way down, way down in Kokomo tonight

Way down, way down in Kokomo tonight
There’s an angel in the streetlight, there’s a carnival of light
Way down, way down in Kokomo tonight
There’s rhythm in the moonlight, there’s motion in the night
Way down, way down in Kokomo tonight
Everyone is waitin’ for the light
Way down, way down in Kokomo tonight

Way down, way down in Kokomo tonight
There’s a river like a woman and I love her more than life
Way down, way down in Kokomo tonight

In the real world, or in dreamland, we’ve all been there.

Or would like to go…

Guitar:

1973 Martin D-18

Acoustic guitars recorded with Neumann km84 and TLM102 microphones;
Electric guitars recorded direct via Alembic or ART pre-amps, or through a 1954 Fender 5C3 Deluxe via a Rode NT-1 mic;
Vocals recorded via TLM Neumann, Rode NT-1, or weird Shanghai U87 knock-off that actually sounds pretty darned good;
Lisa’s bass on the album is a 1971 Fender Musicmaster modified with a 1960s Fender Mustang bridge and pickup;
AKs bass parts played on a 1967 Gibson EB-0, a 1962 Gibson EB-2, and a 1997 Alembic 5-string, all recorded direct via the Alembic pre-amp.
AKs keyboards are a 1980s Oberheim Matrix 6 synthesizer, a 1980s Oberheim Matrix 1000 module, and a Roland U110 (with samples) triggered via a new Roland something-or-other.
Damien’s keyboard parts are played on a Yamaha P-120.
The harmonica is, of course, a Hohner.
AK plays (after a fashion) Gretsch drums and Zildjian cymbals.
No sponsorship, of any kind, is attached to this endeavour, but I just thought you might like to know…

Recorded, mixed and mastered in ProTools.
Monitored via Tannoy and JBL speakers, and AKG 271 headphones.

No animals were hurt during the recording (although four or five of them were loved to the point of silliness). Our little cat Midnight (sadly no longer with us) is deep in the mix on one of the fade-outs.

Drift took years to finish. The next one will be quicker. Promise.

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