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ONCE
by ROY HARPER
(Most of this review is a direct transcript of the one that Sue and I wrote for Hors d’Oeuvres in 1990, but there are a few tweaks and additional thoughts which bring it up to date.)Our initial gut reaction (24-carat Harper) to the album was reinforced by two wonderful nights at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London on 1st and 2nd June 1990.
Does the manual – to use an expression of our friend El (though not in
relation to this) – ‘Knowledge the fun out of it’, as some
have suggested? Well, maybe the same could be said for the ‘explanations’
at gigs, but I look at it this way. Good art has the ability to stimulate, to
inspire, to consider, and yet pointers can aid interpretation and intent; consequently,
they add value. (Rather like a few defined values, or ‘clues’, in
Sudoku don’t give away the entire puzzle, they just set you on the right
path, so the rest of it falls into place.)
I have the feeling that Roy’s songs are a distillation of knowledge, experience and a lifetime of questioning and scepticism, as well unabashed expressions of honesty from a man who wears his heart on his sleeve. Lyrical inclusion must be a conceptual wrestling match when trying to make a point and to be both concise and poetic about it. Poets don’t – can’t – generally write for the hell of it. They write when they’re moved to do so and the vehicle of that expression may not be universally appreciated or understood.
The pensive air of the cover photo hints at some of what’s to be found
within.
The build-up to the title track is carried on the wings of Gilmour’s lead
guitar and Roy’s crystalline strings send a tingle up the spine. It gives
the listener time to relax, to adjust, to tune into Radio Harper. Kate Bush’s
vocal adds a wonderfully ethereal presence to the theme. The concepts of one
planet and a short life to make the most of her – along with the fluke
of her position in relation to the sun and the influence of the moon that made
life possible, and the Zen moment of the now. The subsequent ‘floaty link’
is an aural celebration, outdoing Steve Hillage.
Our world isn’t an infinite sink – it’ll only take just so
much undone washing up and we don’t get another one. This song can throw
you off on all manner of tangents.
Around the time of the release of ‘Once’ we visited a rural nursery
and were invited to pay a quiet visit to some rare wallabies secreted at the
back of the place. Some of these had been rescued from extinction a few years
ago when, during a regular wallaby “cull”, one person realised that
among those being killed were a species thought to have been extinct for over
five years! A few of these rare creatures were saved and are now a handful kept
hidden from man’s greedy barbarity. One of the pairs we caught a glimpse
of was thought to be breeding, so there’s hope yet. ‘Nowhere to
Run’ is the cry of injustice and hopelessness, lost and incarcerated in
the depths of man-made depravity. (Part ‘Hangman’, part animal activist.)
Roy’s guitar and vocal are brilliantly complimented by Mark (Nine Below
Zero) Feltham’s heart-rending lament on harmonica and Tony Franklin’s
bass is never invasive, but always effective.
On the day we wrote this (5th June ‘90) three million indulged in breast-beating
at Khomeini’s shrine, and Khamenei (who succeeded him) reaffirmed the
threat against Salman Rushdie. According to islam there is only one god…their
god. Monotheism is both extremist and flawed – see “My god is better
than your god” in the live intro’ to Nick’s ‘Building
my own Temple’.
As with ‘White Man’ the content of ‘Black Cloud of islam’
is uncompromising and direct. It’s fair to say that the song caused considerable
unease among some Harper fans and it’s easy to see why, but needs to be
set in historical context. December 1988 saw the Lockerbie bombing and that
was the impetus behind Roy’s reaction. This was what he had to say on
21st August 1991 at the Half Moon in Putney: ‘I wrote this song because
I was disgusted that you could be a human and also put bombs on aeroplanes with
children on, and I guess it’s a mentality..I guess..there’s a ying
and a yang, I dunno. It is best, that we sort it out. Of the two schools at
the moment we’re middle of the road, if you get anything that’s
left of left of left it’s cranky, get anything right of right of right,
cranky, you go off the deep end, we all know this. So you stick to more or less
the middle, there’s a bit of a left in it..so as not to send the whole
thing into dictatorship either way. The muslim system is a very much more rigid
thing altogether. I would rather have it on my own terms, life as a free thinker,
as a kind of a free being, than be crushed inside something that was so unforgiving.
So I’m definitely on one side. One side is safe at all costs and the other
is on your own terms. But ‘Who Dares’. I think it would be wrong
to get the nosebag out, together with the blinkers. I dunno. Think for yourselves.
I know where I’d rather be.’
It’s not intended as a racial slur, but it does set the sights on extremism
well beyond these shores of ours. These things have to be said and Harper isn’t
afraid to say them. Perhaps it would be a good idea to release/record another
version and just call it ‘The Black Cloud of Abraham’? Address the
unholy trinity and/or the triple axis of evil?
I went into a local guitar shop some years ago and decided to buy a plectrum
like Roy’s – a chunky number called a Herco. The guy who ran the
shop said, ‘Are you sure? It’s not for the faint-hearted that one!’
Says it all.
Then, from anger to compromise (of sorts) as ‘If’ soothes after
the previous onslaught and asks a series of more gentle questions. ‘Heaven’s
loaded gun’ could’ve alluded to the Supergun, which we’d sold
to Iraq around this time. A lot of what shapes us, fundamentally, occurs at
quite a young age and losing your natural mother to have her replaced by an
ersatz maternal usurper – and a Jehovah’s Witness to boot –
is gonna have an affect. So maybe Roy’s religious hang-ups aren’t
entirely objective. But having said that, I’m with Michael Palin who when
he was asked about his religious beliefs replied, ‘I’m an agnostic
with doubts!’ Humanity’s religious crutch gives way to Roy’s
vision of a global village…love is hope.
‘Winds of Change’ is a bouncy little number, albeit fated to become
anachronistic with its references to Dung Xiaoping and Mikhail, and could happily
be longer and have a pop at many of the other world leaders/movers and shakers
of the time. At the end it echoes the title track with its reference to a ‘flash
in the pan’. In 1990 we wrote an additional verse for the review and had
a go at George Bush. It could equally be applied now in 2008 to Dubbya:
George,
Are you a foe or a friend?
Committed to peace
Or just born again
Anyway, it paves the way for ‘Berliners’, which opens with a recording
Laurence Binyon’s poem read on Armistice Day (the anniversary of the signing
of the agreement that ended World War I on November 11th 1918) at eleven minutes
past the eleventh hour. The delicate beginning (like ‘Same Shoes’
tuned by happenstance?) draws its energy from the gain’s reverb and coalesces
into an anthem of respect and thanks: ‘For those who died, so that we
can play cricket’. It commemorates those who gave their lives for the
benefit of others, not just in the Great War (can war be great?) but every conflict
and with the soundtrack of the Berlin wall falling the optimistic energy is
captured perfectly in the arrangement. Bearing the Harper hallmark of the spirit
of freedom this stirring piece should have more regular live airings.
‘Sleeping at the Wheel’ brings welcome romantic warmth and balance
to the preceding heavier sentiments. Roy used a lot of verses and choruses on
this album and they are excellent hooks, well utilised. This song stuck in our
minds from the first time we heard it – at the Marlow theatre in Canterbury
– and it continues to haunt, in a good way. I was going through a tricky
time at work and spent many a night with ‘busy brain’ watching Sue
sleep. Nick’s disciplined picking highlights the emotion in perfect synergy.
The beautiful lyrics on this track bring a smile to the heart, followed swiftly
by another. Hard to say which is the more poignant, but ‘For Longer than
it takes’ certainly tickles the soft bits nicely and gives an insight
into Roy’s perception of soul mates. Frank, open and honest these songs
will continue to have meaning for lovers everywhere.
‘Ghost dance’ bookends the album, reflecting ‘Once’
and redefining the message with what, initially, appears optimistic ‘You
imagine you can change the world, and you’re right’, but then you
catch on and realise that the world is changing, that we’re changing it.
Clawing at her jewels, wolfing down her treasures, abusing the Zen moment in
the worst possible way, stealing our children’s future and assuring the
paucity of our own. Heads in the sand relying on either the mental failsafe
of a ‘supreme being’, or the misguided school of thought that ‘It’ll
all be alright on the night’, just won’t cut the mustard. The greatest
western idol is profit and greed (Mammon), with the ‘Green wave’
being dismissed as political bandwagonning by all but an enlightening few.
We read, somewhere, a quote from a Kayapo Indian living in the Brazilian rainforest:
‘For the Indians, the forest represents the bones that support the body.
The land is the flesh; the rivers are veins where blood flows through the body.
That is why destroying the forest is like killing ourselves.’
Following the accelerated events of the year in which ‘Once’ came
out – discernable ‘winds of change’ – from Tiananmen
Square, the Berlin Wall, ecology, Poll Tax and the release of Nelson Mandela,
this is a Harper album that covers a lot of ground in a consistent and cohesive
manner. Roy has the gift of being able to live simultaneously inside and outside
world society, reporting back with well-informed truth and objectivity…well,
for the most part…forming rational ideas and communicating them to us
with unparalleled elegance. We hope that humanity is going in the right direction
for the sake of the planet, but we know that Roy is.
After all, as the man once said himself: ‘Playing guitar is a serious
business’.
Piece of trivia: the lead-out on the vinyl version says, ‘If you could
have seen the things I’ve seen with your eyes.’ A reference to Blade
Runner and Philip K Dick (one of Roy’s favourite authors) in which Batty
(a replicant played by Rutger Huaer) is quizzing Hannibal Chew, who designed
replicants’ eyes.
Dave and Sue Burnham
June 1990 (Updated January 2008)
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