Singled Out: The Jerzey Street Band

Anyway, we recorded and track called "Tombstone World" and one called "Landing" and then we ran out of time and Money so Pale Blue River was never recorded.... And we had pushed the time that much that we couldn't mix the two that had been recorded...

A very productive project I'm sure you'll agree..

So, Pale Blue River was the first song I presented at the very first Jerzey Street Band rehearsal.. In fact, we didn't have a name... We blasted through a couple of songs and went outside for a break and I said "we need a name" and then my brother Neil pointed at the Jerzey Street sign and said what about......... The Jerzey Street Band... Exciting huh? I don't know of many Bands that settled on the very first Band Name suggestion.....

Okay, the Song.........

Having spent much of my earlier life growing up in the South Pacific on the Island of Papua New Guinea and taking long holidays travelling to Australia, America and all kinds of wonderful places, I was certainly set up to be a BMX riding, Skateboarding, Beach Running Mall Rat... Haha, well not quite but I was cultured in a way that never prepared me for life in the Grey and Gloomy industrial town of Oldham, Lancashire....

The reason for this upbringing was due to my Father's work commitments and when we finally came back to England he continued to travel and pursued his Job in the Middle East...

One night, just out of College while sitting out the back of my Parent's Home cradling my Guitar and sipping a Cold Beer I got to thinking about where I was in reality and where I was in my head ... To describe the two as unrelated would be an understatement and even though I had been in England for a substantial amount of time I identified myself as uprooted and I felt that I just didn't belong where I was... That is when I thought of the line "It's like this World was mine to roam".....

It was the first time I had really sat back and compared my childhood to my progressing adult life and the two didn't make any sense to me and in fact brought an intense feeling of sadness for a few reasons... I missed my Dad, I felt sorry for my Mum because her husband was miles away and I just missed the life that I knew and identified with...

The Chords came quickly because I had the melody already going and I started to sing Rivers, Blue Rivers, Pale Blue Rivers, Pale Blue Rivers Running Down...

With the lyrics in the verse I was trying to express the feeling of the reality that was in the small Northern English Town "Never thought I'd make it back here don't you know"... And the reality that I really felt in my mind "Jumped this Train about a mile from Mexico"... In my head that is what I should've been doing...

It's a story of what actually is, and how the Character(me) felt life should be....

The last Verse says "I've got aching heels and a pain I can't describe, but I feel like I've been lifted" and then the final Bridge "Pale Blue Rivers running down, got to make it out of this Town".... Got to move, my feet are hurting but there is a fire burning inside I need to keep moving... Got to get the hell out of this place... I'm too uprooted

The lyrics in the Chorus were dedicated to my Dad... I'm going crazy here but "we're all crazy too" I guess we're all in it together... I started to feel positive and I felt a great pride and I saw my Dad as a river.... Unstoppable, pure and fast and I began to make more sense of the initial confusion...

The Song was a bit of a journey for me and it made me realise that I should think less about what I feel I've lost and more about what I have gained in the process... Also, it made me notice that my Parents had sacrificed much more than I ever had in order to keep me safe and from that I tried to look forward and not back...

When I had finished writing the song I knew it would be an opener and even though it didn't make it on the demo I intended it to be on, I always knew that when the time came it would be the anthem that set me off... It epitomises exactly what The Jerzey Street Band's sound is and the song that made us call our sound "Freight Train Rock" ...

That's pretty much it.. I hope I haven't bored you all...

Thanks

Dave