53.
on the boring side
other artists would love to have this as an a-side
53. A New Life
6.5902777778
B-side to "What Have I Done To Deserve This?
Highest score: 10 (
@Eric Generic,
@Bleu Noir)
Lowest score: 3 (
@funkyg,
@JakeMagnus)
Neil: Helena had a recording contract with Arista, and she asked us to write a song with her, and we went over one afternoon to her flat and she had a little bit of a chord change we quite liked. She'd already written an idea, which became the bridge of this song, and we took that away and wrote the rest. She also already had that part of the lyric: "The night goes by..." I wrote the rest of the words, except she had a good line we wanted to keep in" "then rise the daylight sky".
Chris: She had some lyrics that were very positive, and when Neil had changed it around the song became more negative.
Neil: This version was made as a demo for her to sing. We sent it to her because she was touring with Elton John at the time, and we never heard anything back [...] finally we got a message saying she'd recorded it, but it wasn't our version so we couldn't have any money. [...] We were dead disappointed because we thought it was a really good song. Then we got David Jacob to mix it and put it on the b-side of "What Have I Done To Deserve This?" – we had been recording "King's Cross" with Stephen Hague and stayed one night to mix this.
Ray: You know where you went wrong? Here's where you went wrong, Neil.
Neil: (Alternative) In the end her version was never released because she was dropped from Arista.
Neil: (Actually – Further Listening) Helena Springs did her own version, for her solo album which was never released, which she called "A New Love". [I own this LP, and considered gifting it to Neil at one point – Ray] Hers was much more complicated. The words I wrote – which were for her to sing – are about a woman leaving her husband, going to get a new life.
Ray: I underscored this. I gave it 5 points. It's a 7-8 pointer. It wouldn't have made a massive difference, but still, this song is beautifully haunting. Perhaps it's my age that makes me appreciate the line "At night it hits me cold/there's so much more to life than I'll ever know". But it's also a lovely tune, and Neil's voice sounds gorgeous. I don't know why I gave it 5. Must have been in no-nonsense-get-things-done-stop-whining mood.
@Mikey1701:
The perfect B-side to What Have I Done To Deserve This. It’s a remarkably strong track- although it’s not surprising, given the calibre of their bonus tracks- that could have replaced One More Chance on Actually. [Yes! Yes! Ye– er, no.]
@Farnaby:
Beautiful "liquid" and rich sound, nice bridge, but weak verses and weak chorus.
@Jóga:
Same as Jack the Lad. (For reference, that means "I don't get what's so good about it. I enjoy it, but it's far from anything amazing.")
@Sally_Harper:
This is good but I feel like it’s lacking something. [More Helena Springs perhaps?]
@One Stop Candy Shop:
Not bad, but also not very different than their other b-sides. [Practically the same as "Sound Of The Panties Splitting", "Paninaro" and "Music For Boys", I see what you mean.] [No, I actually don't...]
@DominoDancing:
Okay, but a bit on the boring side.
@Future Lover:
Not very memorable, is it.
@TrendyMüller:
This is one of those „other artists would love to have this as an a-side“-songs. [Those artists are called Helena Springs]
It's so hard not to give you some hints as to what's leaving next, but you'd say the rate is being boring if I did that. In any case, one more is departing later tonight.
