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English Electric Recordings
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English Electric (part one) hi resolution audio

by Big Big Train

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scarroll007
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scarroll007 The absolute pinnacle of modern British progressive rock. The loss of David Longdon is a huge blow, but this band has the talent to carry on. This album was my introduction to them and is so melodic and memorable to be so intricately arranged and performed. Favorite track: A Boy In Darkness.
bobtech65
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bobtech65 Love love love this track. Rest in peace David Longdon!
Favorite track: The First Rebreather.
Martin Ingram
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Martin Ingram This album has all the appeal of the best of mid to late seventies progressive rock, but is definitely not in thrall to that period either. In a new golden era of "prog", this still stands head and shoulders above the pack. Favorite track: A Boy In Darkness.
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1.
In a place where the river banks draw near men work a heading to the west. Where streams like giants’ fingers close from the hills to the emptiness beneath, to the depths of the mere. Morning light midwinter sun underneath; the river song. In a place where the river banks draw close men break stone to make new ground. Light and air are hard down deep to find engines work to hold the water back to the edge of the mere. ‘Run boys run toward the light; the river’s in, the tunnel’s in’; Here she comes the sleeper wakes, ten thousand years she lay in wait for this. Every night their dreams were filled with the fear of the river breaking in. But this was not a river god, this was something rising from the deep, from the depths of the mere. ‘Run boys run make for the light, save yourselves, the tunnel’s in.’ Here he comes the first rebreather, like a mummer, like a souler (come to save them.) Rising up to the height of the river at flood tide. Engines fail, lost to the water as silence falls. This man will walk into darkness, one foot in front of the other, into the unsounded depths of the heading; into the fifth circle of hell, with no light to lead him home, man is all alone at the end. This man will walk into darkness without fear of what lurks in the shadows. Watching the surface grow quite still, waiting for hope at the ninth hour, man all alone in the darkness. Here he comes: the first rebreather.
2.
Uncle Jack 03:43
Uncle Jack knows A song of the hedgerows The tilt of the earth Makes the sun high In the bright summer sky Intensity of light The earth turns around the sun Spinning around the sun Uncle Jack knows A song of the hedgerows Yes he does Uncle Jackdaw You see he’s heard it all before Ancient and reborn The flowers and the leaves The birds and the seeds The flowers draw the bees And just after three Evergreen and a mug of tea Dog and master sound asleep Uncle Jack knows A song of the hedgerows Don’t you know The hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel Hedgerow Oh Oh Rose Hips, Haw Berries Hedgerow Dry Stone Dog Rose Honeysuckle Blackbirds Red Wing Song Thrush Yellowhammer Lacewings Ladybirds Fox Earths Rabbit Warrens Badger’s Sets Partridge Nests Rose Hips Haw Berries Hedgerow Dry Stone Dog Rose Honeysuckle Blackbirds Red Wing Song Thrush Yellowhammer Lacewings Ladybirds Uncle Jack knows A song of the hedgerows
3.
Take the path to the top of the hill follow the trail, look to the west. Alfred had me made (or made me again). Others came before, to Oram’s Arbour A river flowing from the chalkhills through the water meadows and the open fields. Walls were made and streets were laid down, halls and houses, schools and churches. The East Prospect of Winchester from the hill, go high enough see further; the making of England; the long song. the story in the stones and the lie of the land. A river flowing from the chalkhills through the water meadows and the open fields. Walls were made and streets were laid down halls and houses, schools and churches. A river flowing from the chalkhills through the water meadows and the open fields. All you see is set out before you all you need is walking beside you. Walls were made and streets were laid down halls and houses, tunnels and bridges. A river flowing from the chalkhills through the water meadows and the open fields.
4.
Venetian expertise Inspired by Titian Which he modified Fine tuned along dutch lines He’s painting revenge Embittered by lack of success With signature techniques Attention to details And fine tell tale brushstrokes of badger and sable Expressing contempt For greedy dealers Getting rich At the artist’s expense Infamous forger and restorer Judas Unrepentant branded a charming old lovable rogue Judas Unrepentant Hey Judas Unrepentant Hey Judas! His time bombs are in place And anachronisms Clues pointing to the truth If ever they are X-rayed Wrote legends in lead white to trick the experts And hoodwink Hoodwink the trained eye Infamous forger and restorer Judas Unrepentant branded a charming old lovable rogue Judas Unrepentant Hey Judas Unrepentant Hey Judas Unrepentant Establishing provenance Acquiring old frames with Christies numbers Then paints a picture in the same style Specialising in minor works by major artists All rise Thirteen watercolours by Samuel Palmer Have proven to be his undoing And so he confesses then he is arrested Charged him with conspiracy to defraud Years of chain smoking and breathing in fumes from restorations The stress of the court case had taken its toll His trial was halted due to ill health So now we can all buy Real genuine fakes That’s posthumous fame It’s always the same Infamous forger and restorer Judas Unrepentant branded a charming old lovable rogue Judas Unrepentant Feeling like Robin Hood Just as good As Rembrandt or Titian Hey Judas Unrepentant Hey Judas Unrepentant Hey Judas Unrepentant
5.
Took a little time to find the past to walk the roads we used to know that lead us home. Houses in terraced rows that crowd around the railway yard, just sidings now, all overgrown. Above the high fields clouds are grey and gold; it’s as good a place as anywhere. War came and fires were seen from 30 miles away; a city burned, they wait in line, out in the high fields, summoned by bells, church; school; factory; home. Along the London Road across the park at Spinney Hill, sledging in the snow, we had our scrapes and our fights, it was part of the deal. Time moved quickly then things were changing all around, the world came to this small world, over the hillsides and rooftops, different stories were heard. We moved on found a new place, we remembered the days of our younger lives, we moved on. Long years pass we walk the roads we used to know, carried with the rain that falls. A stone’s throw from the line some of the old places survive, a golden thread in time, a stream running down from the hills into the heart of the high fields. So come on now, you know it’s alright, those were the days of our younger lives. Early evening, midweek in a market town, walking down those same old roads we know.
6.
Upton Heath 05:39
Many times I’ve walked alone here Carried with the breeze And many more have walked beside me Carried with the breeze All that we are And all we shall be Walk with me Up on Upton Heath So many times I’ve walked alone here Carried with the breeze And many more have walked beside me Carried with the breeze And all that we are And all we shall be Walk with me Up on Upton Heath Early distant warning finds us lost along the way The echoes of a perfect summer Lost along the way Through the years So many times I’ve walked alone here Carried with the breeze Many more have walked beside me Carried with the breeze All that we are All we shall be Walk with me Up on Upton Heath So many times I’ve walked alone So many times along the road Many times I’ve walked alone here Many times I’ve walked alone here Carried with the breeze
7.
Part 1: Brookbottom Colliery, Heanor, Derbyshire, 1842 Extract from Sub Commissioner’s report, 1842 on the conditions of children and young people employed in the collieries. “His name is Godfrey Fletcher Eleven years old Worked these pits for nearly three years Does not know the alphabet Cannot read in the least” The pit shall keep him body and soul But better that than going to school Or ploughing the field Hot as any fire and brimstone Methodist’s sermon down here In the awesome stillness of the deep black A Boy in Darkness The seam they work is more than a yard The headway here is nearly four feet He hears the eerie sound of the whistling wind Deep down here in the dry and the heat A Boy in Darkness Part 2: The March of Progress, Enlightenment and the Passing of Time Part 3: Present Times Once upon a time A secret shared Threatened not to breathe a word To a living soul Especially mother... He was just a boy But even though It wasn’t the way it’s supposed to go Needed a father Not this hunter To speak of the unspeakable Takes guts and nerve It’s going to disturb He can’t bring himself to say the words Misplaced blind faith In church and state Tied up in too much red tape If help comes, pray not too late We face ourselves Look long and hard Make the difference A safer place But most of all Don’t be afraid To shine Light Into the dark A Boy in Darkness
8.
Hedgerow 08:56
Tell me do you know The song of the hedgerow? Coal for the winter Ashes and cinders Hey Come on and see what I’ve found Too many hours spent under the ground Hey Come on and see what I know Get out in the fields And out of the town o Hedgerow do you know Which way the wind blows? Stoking the fire Bramble and briar (Springtime) Come on and see what I’ve found (Summer) Too many hours spent under the ground (Autumn) Come on and see what I know (Winter) Get out in the fields And out of the town That is where you will find me Out there Waiting o Hedgerow Dog Rose Honeysuckle Blackbirds Red Wing Song Thrush Yellowhammer Lacewings Ladybirds Fox Earths Rabbit Warrens Badger’s Sets Partridge Nests Dog Rose Honeysuckle Blackbirds Red Wing Song Thrush Yellowhammer Lacewings Ladybirds Fox Earths Rabbit Warrens Badger’s Sets Partridge Nests

credits

released September 3, 2012

Produced by Andy Poole

Recorded by Big Big Train at English Electric studios
Double bass on Upton Heath, Judas Unrepentant and Summoned By Bells, drums, brass band, classical guitar and violin recorded by Rob Aubrey at Aubitt studios

String section and double bass recorded by Ken Brake at Regal Lane studios

Recorder on Summoned By Bells recorded by Edo Spanninga at Studio Aurelia

Mixed and mastered by Rob Aubrey at Aubitt studios

Curator: Greg Spawton

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Big Big Train UK

'The standard-bearers of new UK prog' MOJO

Big Big Train have revisited the sound world of early Genesis and Yes and have managed to create music with great emotional clout’ THE TIMES

'They make beautiful, pastoral quintessentially English music: their name is Big Big Train”
BOB HARRIS, BBC RADIO 2
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