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Rating: "Well, they say they like it, but in the market
It might not do well because it's too retro
They need more pa-pa, nothing like
Frank Zappa"
from"Blood From A Clone"
"Somewhere In England" saw the light in '81 and for Harrison its realization was very arduous. The first verses of the opening song, "Blood From A Clone," already explain a lot. George had the first version of the album rejected by Warner because it lacked commercial appeal. Disheartened and disappointed, he then recorded new, simpler songs to make the album more marketable. The result is a compromise work with some good things and a lot of convention that reveals Harrison's great disillusionment. However, "Blood From A Clone" is a pleasant track, with a breezy rhythm, an easy pop song with some snippets for Harrison's guitar. Despite everything, George manages to save a spiritual song recorded for the first version of the album, "Life Itself." A slow chant marks the typical reflective Harrisonian verses, "You are the absolute/You are my love/You decide the coming of the rain and bring the sun/You live in solitude and reveal the truth/You are the breath of life itself", it is a very beautiful, calm, and welcoming song with a very interesting final guitar solo. What surprises the most is that in "Somewhere In England" George records two covers of Howard Carmichael, one of the most important popular USA authors; "Baltimore Oriole" and "Hong Kong Blues" are pleasant tracks but do not add substance to the album. Even tracks like "Writing's On The Wall" and "Teardrops," the latter very catchy with easily engaging synth lines, do not lift the work from a mediocrity that betrays Harrison's reluctance to make an album partly different from how he had conceived it. But "Somewhere In England" turns out to be a great commercial success thanks to the leading single "All Those Years Ago." Dedicated to Lennon and recorded with contributions from Ringo Starr, Paul and Linda McCartney, and Denny Laine (although they never actually met in the studio), it is a song that remembers the departed friend with evocative and direct verses, "Now we're here sad and speechless/Because of someone, the devil's best friend." A pleasant and harmonious melody helped make it a successful hit.
The following year, George decided to make an album without any promotion. "Gone Troppo" turned out to be a remarkable failure, and Harrison left music for cinema.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Blood From a Clone (04:04)
They say they like it, now, but in the market it
May not go well as it's too laid back.
You need some oomph-papa, nothing like
Frank Zappa
And not New Wave they don't play that crap
Tyr beating your head on a brick wall
Hard like a stone
Don't have time for the music
They want the blood from a clone
I hear a clock ticking
I feel the nitpicking
I almost quit kicking at the wall
There seems a confusion, under the illusion
That they know just what will suit you all
Beating my head on a brick wall
Hard like a stone
Ain't got time for the music
They want the blood from a clone
There is no sense to it
Pure pounds and pence to it
They're so intense too makes me amazed
Don't want no music but, they're making you
sick with
Some awful noises that may get played
By beating their heads on a brick wall
Hard like a stone
Ain't no messing 'round with music
Give them the blood from a clone
Where will it all lead us
I thought we had freed us
From the mundane seems I'm wrong again
Could be they lack roots, they're still wearing
jack boots they're
Marching somewhere in the pouring rain
Beating my head on a brick wall
Hard like a stone
Don't have time for the music
They want the blood from a clone
04 All Those Years Ago (03:47)
I'm shouting all about love
While they treated you like a dog
When you were the one who had made it so clear
All those years ago
I'm talking all about how to give
They don't act with much honesty
But you point the way to the truth when you say
"All you need is love"
Living with good and bad
I always looked up to you
Now we're left cold and sad
By someone, the devil's best friend
Someone who offended all
We're living in a bad dream
They've forgotten all about mankind
And you were the one they backed up to the wall
All those years ago
You were the one who imagined it all
All those years ago..
(All those years ago)
(All those years ago)
Deep in the darkest night
I send out a prayer to you
Now in the world of light
Where the spirit free of lies
And all else that we despised
They've forgotten all about God
He's the only reason we exist
Yet you were the one that they said was so weird
All those years ago
You said it all though not many had ears
All those years ago
You had control of our smiles and our tears
All those years ago..
All those years ago ...
All those years ago ...
All those years ago ...
05 Baltimore Oriole (03:59)
Baltimore Oriole
Took one look at that mercury, forty below
No life for a lady
To be draggin' her feathers around in the snow
Leaving me blue, off she flew
To the Tangipaho - down in Louisiana
Where a two - timin' Jaybird
Met the divine Miss O
I'd like to ruffle his plumage
That Baltimore Oriole
Messed around with that big guy
Till he singed her wings
Forgivin' is easy - it's a woman like, now and then
Could happen to thing
Send her back home
Home ain't home without her warbling
How she can sing
Make a lonely man happy, Baltimore Oriole
Come down from that bough
Fly to your daddy now
06 Teardrops (04:09)
Teardrops - I've had my share of crying buckets
full of
Teardrops - so hard to take - I got a soaking
with those
Teardrops - and it feels like I have taken over from
the rain.
In the heart of the lonely man
In and out of love more often where most others can
He walks the streets like the losers in some
lovers game
He talks so sweet but the news is always much
the same.
Teardrops - I've had my share of crying buckets
full of
Teardrops - so hard to take - I got a soaking
with those
Teardrops - and it feels like I have taken over from
the rain.
In the eyes of the lonely one
Everything is cold and hopeless that he looks
upon
He needs a friend a lover who can comfort him
His deeds offend he knows that he has brought
on him.
Teardrops - I've had my share of crying buckets
full of
Teardrops - so hard to take - I got a soaking
with those
Teardrops - and it feels like I have taken over from
the rain.
08 Writing's on the Wall (04:01)
The writing's on the wall brother
Your life is in your hands
It's up to you to see the writing's on the wall.
It looks you in the eye mister
It's time we stand up tall
Go see and understand the writing's on the wall.
Strange we hold on to things that have no grace
or power
While death holds on to us much more with every
passing hour
And all the time you thought it would last
Your life, your friends would always be
'Til they're drunk away or shot away or die away
from you.
There's nothing that you need sister
The Lord is in you all
Life is designed to see the writing's on the wall.
The music's in the air mothers
You may have heard it call
To you that you may see the writing's on the wall.
Be careful going home sister
Be watchful down that road
You've got a lot of love sister
More to grow.
The writing's on the wall brothers
Your life is in your hands
It's up to you to see the writing's on the wall
I hope that you may see the writing's on the wall.
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