This song emerged from a recurring dream about old friends.

This song was co-written with my friend Dave (AKA Twin Castor). It began with a poem Dave wrote, recalling a recurring dream he was having about old friends – from many years ago – in his home town of Runcorn. Dave and I chatted about the poem and then I worked on developing a first version of the chorus, to go with Dave’s verses, and a first version of the music. Together, Dave and I then “chipped away” at these first versions, to turn them into the final version.

Whilst the song is routed in the past, wondering whatever happened to those old friends, it is also about now and the extent to which a part of us is always stuck in that previous life; trapped like the occupants of Hotel California.

Musical inspiration came from, amongst other places, The Eagles and Pink Floyd – hence the sweeping guitar lines and soaring vocals that feature in the song. Dave also adds a haunting flute line, heightening the song’s bittersweet mood.

Once we completed the song, Dave discovered a brilliant piece of video footage and stills, as produced by former Runcorn resident and contemporary of Dave’s, Mark Rosney. This shows the demolition of Ferry View Walk, filmed between March / April 2005.
You can watch the video here

Having discovered this video, Dave was all set to reach out and re-connect with it’s maker – Mark Rosney. However, the tragic post-script is that we discovered – through reading the comments on his video – that Mark sadly died back in 2015. RIP Mark.

The artwork here comes from a pencil drawing by Dave’s son Finn. Finn drew this based on the video footage and other photos and, I think you’ll agree, he manages to brilliantly evoke a desolate aesthetic. Many thanks to him.