Good
Fortunes - track by track
Phase
One -
Intro
- The roller coaster starts gently, with a quick and
polite introduction to the Penny Drops. After the initial
30 secs of chanting and a cough, the disc starts with a
sing-a-long recorded at JK's 29th Birthday Party. Among
the merry singers SK can be heard in one speaker saying
"Tiny Tot", for reasons known only to him. The
music was written for a TV theme and rejected...RK can be
heard playing a blistering guitar solo at the end of the
track.
Everyone
Deserves a Prize - The music for this was written wholly
by JB except for the middle eight. Beatlesque to say the
least this is a fairly representative track of the whole
album, at least in as much as what not to expect. There
was no great scheme to have it sound so Lennon but once
the association had been made...
On
a See-Saw - This track started out as a jerky pop song
on the Bhagavad Guitars first EP - 'Foreverglades'. Changed
in nearly every way this song went through many versions
until settling at the released one. Loosely based on the
notion of alien abduction, this was written wholly under
the guidelines set out in the KLF's "The Manual - How
to Have a No.1 the Easy Way". Still waiting...
It's
That Time of the Month Again - JB and JK were moved
by a 'sensitive new age guy' type of a book during this
part of the recording (which was, by the by, recorded in
the order that the songs appear on the finished disc). A
section which particularly interested JK recounted of an
ancient tribe which lived 'normally' until the three days
of the full moon. Then the men would take refuge in a temple
and meditate whilst the women partied hard on the hilltop.
At the height of their intoxicated frenzy they would cover
themselves in the blood of a virgin goat, storm the temple
and fuck senseless the first man they saw. This song is
an invocation to reinstall these glorious days...Later,
the song was used as the theme to a short film JK was involved
in making, called 'It's That Time of the Month Again'. It
features the debut acting performance of one SK as a figure
of terror...
The
Declaration - This is a beautiful song, made special
by the vocal performance of Gemma Deacon. JB and JK came
up with the lyrics after the above mentioned book. The track
features purring from Tiddles and subliminal sutras. The
strange pipe like sound that forms the basis of the track
is an Omnitron, a JK invention.
Phase
Two -
The
Lock - This, along with Love Drifted South and Love's
Particular, was written in one fell swoop with Ian Shadwell
and Gemma Deacon. The songs are the result of a game which
JK tenaciously clung to with a wild fervour. Here, a strange
throw away song is transformed into a mini opera of huge
proportions. Blink and you'll miss it, listen and be baffled
at its structure...
Love
Drifted South -This is a laid back sixties type of thing
with a great melody and JK doing harmonies to Gemma's glorious
voice. Written simultaneously with the Lock and Love's Particular,
this track is the straight cousin of those two songs.
Stress
Hangover - This is the centerpiece of the album, a long
and involve suite in its own right based on the Beach Boys'
'Surf's Up'. JK wrote and lost the music and had to rewrite
it again from scratch. RK adds some soulful vocals. This
song was attempted briefly by "Ball Losing Carrot";
the Kilbey Brothers aborted all-in-one band.
Love's
Particular - Here we have a strange and pumping two
minute mini opera. JK again interested in making music based
on unusual song structures. For some reason a lot of people
think this track sounds like Bowie...
An
Ocean to Cynthia - Written on piano for all the girls
he has never known, JK almost overdoses on the overdubs
and racks up some eight part harmonies with himself. Featuring
a live string quintet and thumb tack piano...
Lento
- One of three covers on the album. This piece was inspired
by JK's flatmate at the time whom was playing this from
an old piano exercise book. Written by Stravinsky, it should
be much faster than it appears here but JK liked the sound
of someone learning to play it. This is the albums interlude.
Happy
Hallelujah! - Written with the same 'game' technique
as the Lock etc., this time with a group of school kids.
The results are somehow melancholy, in the way only children
know how to be. Listen for the exquisite antique cup smashing
by Caroline Trengove.
Phase
Three -
Hidden
Agenda - Originally recorded by the Bhagavad's during
the Hypnotised sessions, this song is reworked into a rocking
three stage hoe-down on all things paranoid. The "building
stations on the moon and taking all the girls" line
refers to a British TV mockumentary called 'Alternative
3'.
Good
as Gold - An old song written during the Bhagavad spell.
Nice three part harmonies here and a light and breezy acoustic
feel. Some say this is their favourite on the album.
Lucid
- As with the other songs in this phase, Lucid was written
during the Bhagavad years and attempted on occasion. Inspired
by lucid dreaming, when the dreamer is aware of their dreamstate
and able to 'control' the dream. The vocal for this, as
with the other two in this phase, was recorded as the bed
(first) along with the acoustic guitar.
Epilogue
I'm
Confessin'/ Medley
These
tracks are built around the solo piano recordings made by
Les Kilbey in the 1940's. Finding the original lyrics and
adding the other instruments, JK recreates eerily the sounds
of a forgotten era. LK's voice can be heard adding comments
along the way.
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