An original idea of ian's, who is heard playing drums, timbales, maracas and cowbell. Jon is playing claves. The percussion instruments were tracked on afterwards of course. The song is about one of jon's nightmares. Nicky's bass line is a gas.
Jon Lord said this about the song in April 1996:
The song was something to do with a nightmare I'd had and the lyrics
as I wrote them were:
Chasing shadows, over my walls with myself hardly sleeping Dwarfs and giants, twenty feet tall fill the room with their creeping Sounds of breathing sharpen my ears then they fade into nothing Someone's laughter out in the street fills the night with their loving I feel the ice in my head Running its hands through my bed Not even dreaming I seem to be dead Colours of yellow and colours of red All I'm asking some secret voice is to lead me to darkness
Jon forgot the two last lines:
I'm so tired, dawn never comes I just hide in the shadows
Jon plays harpsichord on this track, which is a love song, sort of squeezed into the format of a twelve bar blues. The middle section is a descending chromatic sequence which is intended to give a sort of "slowing down" effect.
I see reflections in the water Autumn colours, summer's daughter And as as the year is growing older I see winter on my shoulder I stand in the haze Watching stormy ripples grow on my own Never knew your needed Till I found myself standing here alone And in the water, such a sad face Slowly drowning, such a sad face If only I could change the seasons Like a poet, I've my reasons It started to snow in the middle of July Wonder why Never did understand you My sorrow is hanging in the grey sky In the summer days we flew to the sun On melting wings But the seasons changed to fast Leave us all behind Blind But then the stone fell on the water Putting end to summer's daughter And me, I turn away remembering All the seasons, such a sad thing It started to rain in the middle of the sun Winter's begun Never did understand you My sorrow is hanging in the grey sky In the summer days we flew to the sun On melting wings But the seasons changed to fast Leave us all behind Blind
Donovan's song done how we thought Donovan might like to have heard it. The only double tracking on this cut is the guitar passage at the end. The slightly "jazzy" feel to the organ is a bow in the direction of Donovan's mellow yellow days.
When the sun goes to bed That's the time your raise your head That's your lot in life Lalena Can't blame you Lalena Arty Tart la de da Can your part get much sadder That's your lot in life Lalena Can't blame you Lalena Run you hand thru your hair Paint your face with despair That's your lot in life Lalena Can't blame you Lalena When the sun goes to bed That's the time your raise your head That's your lot in life Lalena Can't blame you Lalena Arty Tart Oh so la de da Can your part ever get, ever get much sadder That's your lot in life Lalena Can't blame you Lalena Oh, Lalena
Recorded when we heard that we were going to be in L.A. at earthquake time. The drum track was recorded first (with organ) and then reversed.(instrumental)
This track was recorded live; no double tracking.
Painter Come colour up my life Oh painter Come colour up my life Take away the misery Take away the strife Writer Make me up a play Writer Make the meaning gay [For I don't know who I am] Just give me words to say Singer Let me sing a song Singer Let me sing a song You don't have to worry Cause singer you can sing along
Vaguely inspired by an Otis Spann number, and again it's an attempt to widen the scope of a plain 12 bar sequence; in fact the verses are 14 bars long and the guitar solo verses are 17 bars long. Interesting words from Rod.
There's a black hill We had a climb Everything I need but nothing's mine Satan's world, I've had a kill Why didn't Rosemary ever take the pill? Lying there waiting, waiting for the kill Oh man won't do it, but the devil will I'm losing time and my mind Why can't I ever have what's naturally mine? I got life and the things that go with it If there's something else, where can i get it? Lying there waiting, waiting for the kill Oh man won't do it, but the devil will Well here's my views, I always lose Things I want to do are yesterday's news Say life's a ball, I've had it all Out there in another dance hall Lying there waiting, waiting for the kill Oh man won't do it, but the devil will Take me as I am, an excuse for a man Wherever I push someone stops my hand As a matter of interest, tell me if you will Why didn't Rosemary ever take the pill? Lying there waiting, waiting for the kill Oh man won't do it, but the devil will Oh, why won't Rosemary ever take the pill?
A different recording from the version released on a single. Ritchie tracked the wah-wah guitar on afterwards and also the guitar at the end of the middle section.
Oh the beggar on his cornerstone Catches pity in his wrinkled hand But the lover whose bird has flown Catches nothing only grains of sand All the children in the distant house They have feelings only children know But the lover whose bird has flown Catches nothing only flakes of snow The sensation is not new to you It's something we all have known You get it - it goes right through you Yes it's something we all have known And the bird it has flown To a place on it's own Somewhere all alone Now the hermit in his lonely cave Has himself to keep him company But the lover whose bird has flown He has heartaches same as you and me The sensation's not new to you It's something we all have known You get it - it goes right through you Yes it's something we all have known And the bird it has flown Now the hermit in his lonely cave Has himself to keep him company But the lover whose bird has flown He has heartaches same as you and me Oh it's started snowing
A sort of 3 part of concert about the month of april. The first section is played by just Jon and Ritchie. Jon played piano and organ, and Ritchie played acoustic guitar (a rhythm pattern and a double tracked lead pattern) and electric guitar. The choir was added afterwards. The whole section used about 11 different tracks. Also Ian on timpani can be heard in the background. The second section is Jon's orchestral description of April. The instruments used were : two flutes, two oboes, cor anglais, two clarinets, two violins, viola and two cellos. The third section is a treatment of the chord sequence of the first section in a more "Purple" way. As a whole, we hope April hangs together as personal evocation of a beautiful, but sad (to us) month.
April is a cruel time Even though the sun may shine And world looks in the shade as it slowly comes away Still falls the April rain And the valley's filled with pain And you can't tell me quite why As i look up to the grey sky Where it should be blue Grey sky where I should see you Ask why, why it should be so I'll cry, say that I don't know Maybe once in a while I'll forget and I'll smile But then the feeling comes again of an April without end Of an April lonely as they come In the dark of my mind I can see all too fine But there is nothing to be done when I just can't feel the sun And the springtime's the season of the night Grey sky where it should be blue Grey sky where I should see you Ask why, why it should be so I'll cry, say that I don't know I don't know
Deep Purple was, unusually, the band's third album, recorded between January and April 1969. It was the last album to feature the band's original line up, which survived until June 1969. The album was their most ambitious at the time; combining hard rock and classical music together - hardly the most obvious combination. The track "April" was a taste of things to come later that year - the "Concerto for Group and Orchestra"....The song notes that appear before the lyrics on each track are the sleeve notes that were issued with the original gatefold sleeve album.
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