Ricky Ross On This Is The Life
E Card March 2002
Ricky Ross talks us through his latest album This Is The Life |
Northern Soul |
I realised soon after I came up with this idea that the chords were the same as "This Is The Life" but in different places. I played it to my pal Charlie (Dore) and she encouraged me to go on. Eventually she suggested some changes (mainly lyrical) that really made it work. Without being over specific it's based on every parent's nightmare - a missing child. I'm more than aware how corny it is to start writing songs about your offspring. At the same time I'm resolutely determined to write about what is now not then or might happen soon. So this is love defined by loss. |
London Comes Alive |
Originally I wanted to write an album of songs for my friends. I also wanted to put things down which wouldn't get left until after people died. I'd spent so much time talking about my late father I thought it wrong I hadn't written something for my mother. So here it is. Inspired by a rail journey into London one July morning in 1999 as I came into London and realised how beautiful and exciting it is as you get close and closer to the centre. |
Rodeo Boy |
This was a guitar based work-out I'd recorded on a walkman. I brought the rough idea to rehearsal where we just played it through then Davie added a great hook in the chorus which really makes it. Lyrically it started
with an idea based on one of my favourite films; Bus Stop with Marilyn
Monroe. The tale is live with nearly everything kept. |
Angel & Mercedes |
Angel and Mercedes are two people (I think I can now call them friends) I met in 1997. I was doing a gig in The Mean Fiddler in Dublin the night after I'd played the worst show of my life. I'd been booked (by my now ex-agent!!) to play the most inappropriate gig in Manchester. It was wrong, there was hardly anyone there and after it I though I was making a big mistake playing shows on my own. I got to Dublin and was scared at the idea of doing a show as bad as the night before. As we sat downstairs in the bar, however, we were aware of people coming up and chatting and saying they were coming to the show. Two of these people were Angel and Mercedes from Madrid who seemed to symbolise the healing that night offered me. It was one of the best shows I've ever done and was a real turning point in my life. |
I Sing About You |
This was written
with Mick Slaven and recorded a couple of different ways before we got
this version down. It's another song of loss but I firmly believe you
can never have too many. |
Nothing Cures That |
This is a quote on
unrequited love from a man who knew - Philip Larkin. The full quote was
in Martin Amis biography of his father ... People dream "of all
they might have done had they been loved. Nothing cures that." |
This is The Life |
This idea ran
through my head throughout 1999. I had a great year in '98 and realised I
was enjoying life despite it being different to how I'd imagined it going. |
Threatening Rain |
Written the day
before the eclipse in the summer of '99. Dedicated to two good friends who
were going through a painful separation. |
Starring Love |
There is really
nothing I can say about this is that isn't obvious from listening to it! |
Hippy Girl |
For my eldest daughter, Caitlin. When she first went to Disneyland aged seven she remarked that it was the happiest day of her life |
My Girl Going to Town |
I think it's important to write lots of songs about parenthood. That's why I deliberately put the last song and this one beside each other. If you only write one you'll end up creating a version of Dumbo's "Mother of Mine." And let's face it - great as it is - we don't need any more! A few years ago a woman was interviewed on the news after the murder of a prostitute in Glasgow. The woman was a voluntary care worker in the red-light area of the city. When she talked about the murdered woman she described her as "like a daughter to her." In all the mess of this story and in the criminal way these events are reported this phrase cut through like a knife. I guess that formed the background to a song which is one of many I continue to write about being a father. |
Looking for my Own Lone Ranger | ||
This is a beautiful song written by Charlie Dore. She played it to me when we first met and despite my moaning she couldn't finish it. In covering the song I've managed to get her to complete it and let everyone else hear it.
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