20 Comments

Hi Nerina

My wife an I have been fans of your music for many years and I used your song 'Stay Lucky' at the end of her funeral, 3 years ago...her final wish for her friends and loved ones. It would be great to hear your take on this song and how you imagined it. Best. Ronnie Gleeson

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Gosh Ronnie. Your post has absolutely floored me. I am so so sorry about your wife but so grateful and humbled that in some that song has meant something to you both. I will definitely cover it in this series; if only for you and your wife. X

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Ronnie, just to let you know I have chosen ‘Stay Lucky’ as this week’s episode and I go into it in some depth, and also invite one of the musicians on the record to chat to me about it and their work. I hope you find it insightful. XX

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I suspect most of the chat about which songs to do is happening on Facebook or Twitter so I hope I am not missing out by only being here. Inspired by over egging the pudding and shagging, I would like to hear you talk about Cigarette.

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You’re definitely not missing out by staying on Substack. I love it here! But everyone is spread out across all the different sites so I have to flit from one to another. Cigarette eh? So much I could say about that song…okay…I’ll put in my little book that I’m keeping to write down ideas for this series.

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Oh good! Thanks. By the way, I am totally a "threw grenades into their lives and rebuilt in the aftermath" person (great writing). The friends and family I left behind in the UK will attest to that. I am genuinely relieved I didn't hear Happy until I was happy. I feel pretty sure that I would have sang along very literally to "Oh my God, I'm crying!" Cheers! David x

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Hello Nerina,

I wondered whether you ever wrote with alternative guitar tunings. My favourite tuning is

E E E E B E. It looks weird and it's limited in its scope, but it is beautiful. One song you might appreciate in standard tuning is 'Someone To Lay Down Beside Me', written by Karla Bonoff. Check out the live versions sung by Linda Ronstadt, if you're not familiar with the song.

David

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I will check out that song too!

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I do write with alternative tunings - Halfway Home is double drop D I think and Very Good Sir on my first album is in a tuning so bizarre I don’t know what I was thinking. There’s a song on the new album called Lover which is also in a fairly open tuning and capo’d. Might be fun to do an episode about tunings I’ve used and the songs that inspired them. (Most likely Nick Drake or Joni Mitchell. Those two are my go-tos for tunings.)

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Thanks Nerina.

An episode about open tunings would be fascinating.

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Hey Yeah E Yeah That's Really Something. And I would like Everything To Be Illuminated but was that song too much in the spotlight.😂. Seen as I requested in Whelans October 2018.

Six years gone in a blink of an eye.

Always have and always will Love your lyrics and music. Unless you go full on Metal or Classical without singing.

Hear you later songbird.

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No chance of metal but an outside chance of classical…

I may well pay these songs a visit, That’s Really Something is one I’ve only played live once. Might be worth letting it have its day in the sun…

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A wonderful addition to Wednesday afternoon’s thanks Nerina.

Always interesting to hear your inner voice and where you gain inspiration.

Looking forward to much more.

The song that brought me, hairs on the back of the neck, drop dead, stop the clocks, what the fuckery..

was My Last Tango.

(Thank you Gary Clark)

Would love to hear more about its creation

Love in abundance

James Kenny

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Oh I would love to talk about this one. It’s a very special song to me, and there’s a funny story attached to the recording that would be worth telling.

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That's really interesting. I love hearing of the influences of songwriters. I wonder if you've heard Miss America by James? It's a nice track about the state of the country across the pond.

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No I haven’t, I shall check it out now. I once had the pleasure of going to lunch with Tim Booth - I think we were going to write together or something but it didn’t happen, this is a good 15,16 years ago - and he was just the loveliest man. Such a great songwriter, I’ll go and listen now.

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The song's rhythm and tempo make it incredibly lively and uplifting, which creates an infectious energy that’s perfect for dancing or just brightening up your day.

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I'll be there Nerina. Really appreciate the choice of 'Stay Lucky'

Best

Ronnie

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Hi Nerina

One in a Million would be great to hear about.

I have dreamer images, sounds and words with this song, the book White Nights and me sending a substack message to you. Wonderful!

David

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If you go to full screen. Portrait is perfect.

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