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The Man Who Sold His Town

from Think Positive! by The Whisky Priests

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Comes in a jewel case with an attractive 16-page booklet including lyrics to all songs, a selection of individual photographs of each contemporary band member who played on these sessions, recording details and additional credits, etc.

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    Includes unlimited streaming of Think Positive! via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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about

A song about the selfishness of guilt and a song of two halves (but nothing at all about football, the 'game of two halves'!).

The album's unashamed epic - after all, every album should have one! This song could, in fact, have had about 20 verses but we deliberately kept it down to a minimum. As with 'Alice In Wonderland' and 'What I Could Have Been' there are a lot of unused lyrics for this song. A lot of great lines came to be discarded as a result of our editing policy (maybe if this song is popular enough, we could do a sequel!). One unused verse contained the mention of a brass band playing a parting farewell but we feel this concept has been retained in the feel of the instrumental section which makes up the second half of the song.

It was Glenn's inspired idea that the first half - the 'song' - should feature no accordion, in a break from our usual way of thinking about arrangements, with only guitars, bass and drums supporting the vocals, before the accordion, plus all the other 'folky' instruments finally make an entrance, on the second half - the 'instrumental'. It works to great effect as the emphasis changes half-way through.

We deliberated hard over the title of this one as we'd already had a song called 'The Man Who Would Be King' (from 'The Power And The Glory') which has a similar title but 'The Man Who Sold His Town' seemed to sum this song up perfectly. A stronger person than our character might have sold the world, instead of just his town! An earlier working title we had was 'Song Of Guilt' which didn't really seem to convey the same epic qualities which 'The Man Who Sold His Town' brings to the song.

(Taken from The Whisky Priests April 1998 Newsletter)

lyrics

THE MAN WHO SOLD HIS TOWN

I stood and watched the last boat leaving here for the last time
Alone among my townsfolk without a tear in my eye
As the weeping sky took pity on the souls I'd left to bleed
For all life was my victim in my battle to succeed

Like a young tree seeking rich soil uprooting from a barren land
I went seeking greener pastures in the city far away
With profit as my master I returned with the gift of death
For one man's final chapter is another's opening page

I never shed a tear for my family torn apart
My proud father disowned me, my poor mother broke her heart
And my brother swore he'd kill me if I crossed his path again
When I turned my back on all I knew I left without a friend

So where do I go from here? Where does my life now stand?
Where are all the choices I once held at my command?
Now I've become the victim of this selfishness and greed
Heed this broken mind in the weak hands you now see

The brass band fading out of sight and out of sound at last
Blows a final farewell fanfare to my present and my past
And then I know that they have marched like ghosts across my grave
Lamenting something dead in me to which I can put no name (*)

I stood by my beliefs as they tore my town apart
No stranger to indifference with no sleeve to place my heart
But now I've come to realise just where my heart does lie
A traitor to my conscience as well as my own kind

Now I find there's no one else can clear the shadow from my name
No one else can share my sorrow or the burden of my shame
Or know my mental anguish or shoulder any of my blame
When guilt is the safety valve which so selfishly I claim

[* Additional verse not used on recording]

(Gary Miller)

Copyright © 1998 Gary Miller / Whippet Records

credits

from Think Positive!, released May 1, 1998
Gary Miller - vocals, acoustic guitar
Glenn Miller - accordion
Hugh Bradley - electric guitar, whistle, backing vocals
Andy Tong - bass guitar, backing vocals
Cozy Dixon - drums
Chuck Fleming - fiddle

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about

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Gary Miller Durham, UK

Gary Miller first rose to international prominence with folk-punk/rock pioneers The Whisky Priests (1985-2002), founded with his twin brother Glenn - “the Joe Strummer and Mick Jones of Folk Music". He now performs as a solo artist and with his new band 'Gary Miller's Big Picture' whose debut album is coming soon. ... more

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