OLD BOOK ON THE SHELF
„A guy sitting in an old, small bar in Amsterdam, no one in the bar except him and the bar man. He is sitting contemplating and reflecting on life, the highs the lows, the mistakes, the triumphs and the frustration that he can’t find any meaning to his life or any inner peace.
He looks up to see a bookshelf in the bar and the shelf only has one book on it. When he starts to read the book, it is the story of his life. The book helps him to realise that he is just like anyone else and that his peace and happiness will come if he simply accepts himself for who he is and doesn’t try to fight it or prove himself to anyone anymore. Just to simply be himself. When he begins to realise this, the bar man looks across and smiles, as he has seen this many times before.“
OVER MY DEAD BODY
„An old friend who played a very important part in your life, but when you really needed him to stick with you, as a friend, he quit on you. You go on to find your way and live out your dreams, the old friend doesn’t follow his dream and resents you for it. He wastes his life, complaining, feeling bitter, while you fight to succeed in yours. The next time he is in your presence, is at your funeral.“
COLD LIGHT OF DAY
„A song about jealousy, bitterness and resentment. With the basic message that it only ends up destroying the people who carry these emotion within them and not the person the emotion is directed at.“
SONG FOR A FRIEND
„Written for my dear old friend, who died recently. He helped me when I first moved to Edinburgh, to start my professional music career. He was a person who was always loudest in the room, always fooling around, women loved him and his friends did too. He had a tragic accident in the South of Spain, where he was on a trampoline beside a swimming pool and as he entered the pool, he hit his head and broke his neck, which paralysed him. He lived and fought to get his life back together, but in the end just couldn’t find peace. He, with his helper, went to the small port town where he was born, to show her where he lived as a young man. They went to the harbour side and he asked his helper to get a jumper from the car, as he was cold. When she did, he drove his wheelchair into the sea and sadly died.“
HOW LONG IS TOO LONG
„This song was also written for the same friend. It is how I imagine he felt inside. I obviously could never truly imagine this.“
NOT LONG TILL SPRINGTIME
„My girlfriend is a dancer and the reason I moved to Poznan, 8 years ago. She was doing an 8 month dancing contract last year and after 2 months she became injured. She called me early that evening, devastated by this injury. I wanted to write her a song before she went to sleep that night, to try and lift her spirits. This is the song I wrote for her and sent to her 3 hours later.“
BACKSEAT DRIVING
„I, with my band, travel about 70 to 80 thousand kilometres, by road, each year. We very often leave in the small hours of the morning. I have British, German and Polish band members and the mix of language and noise can be a bit overwhelming at time, especially at 5am. The song draws a parallel between the pointless noise and chatter that people give off and the way in which politics and society tries to control you with Propaganda, Lies and Fear.“
PARALLEL SOULS
„Since the age of 30, I have adopted a more spiritual approach to life, although not affiliated with any religion. I feel that there is probably a third dimension to us as human beings, that we can only feel, but not see and if you allow yourself to believe this, then it can help guide you through life. That’s what this song is all about.“
TRIED AND FAILED
„This song is about a girl I know, who over analyses life and always seems to pick the wrong friends and partners. She eventually learned to trust her own judgement and broke away from the people who drained her energy. She now lives a happier life.“
HIGH HOPES
„A great Pink Floyd song from the Division Bell. Three of my band quit last year and tried to cause a lot of destructive mess when they quit. They failed. This song just seemed to fit, for me. Says what I wanted to say, without me actually writing it.“