Composers From England

"When I was younger I had an incredible sensitivity; I suppose there were too many brain cells, or they were organised in the wrong way, and they've either reorganised themselves or I've lost lots of them through alcohol and substance abuse. I can get along without being terrified now. Maybe I've just got used to it."

"Everything on Tubular Bells was done on the first take – it was lovely, so spontaneous. I had such a long time to prepare it, and I had just one little chance to do it, and now I listen to it and it has a lovely spontaneous energy. It's got mistakes, and I could easily have cut them out, but I left them on."

"Hey, cool princess With your eyes hanging The milk of the moon Hey, pretty princess Take me down to your cave in the dawn And you're gonna be a queen When the stars water Heaven with tears And you gonna love me When all our Golden lands are free."

"If it was a horrible thing I was known for, like some horrible pop song, it would annoy me, but it doesn't. I'm proud of it."

"The biggest problems were to do with... well, to get that successful when you're so young, it attracts hangers-on, parasites, people who want to feed off you. I thought people actually liked me, but they actually liked my money. I'd probably say to my younger self, get yourself a whole collection of lawyers. Which is what I have now. I don't have any friends; I just have lawyers. At the last count I had about 15 different sets of them for all kinds of problems. And you can trust them because you're paying them. I know that sounds very negative, but that's the world we live in."

"I watch the boats go by As the evening colours of the sand The rain is bringing tears From my lover's land I watch the silver stars melt in love with the sea I cry to the wind: – Bring back my lover to me! -"

"Look down from in high places Lift up the ground Without a sound [...] Check altitude Check your heart 'n this cloudless blue 'n this starlight night..."

"Come, take my hand And wander in the willow river Glistening the blue bells Come, take my flesh And wander in the sunny corn That shimmer stills at snowfalls 'Cause I love you lover I love you, like I love The Four high Seasons."

"And now the story's just begun A thousand years to stay We wake each morning with the sun To live our dreams away"

"We're looking For the strangers With sunlight in their eyes Who lived on Earth When Man was new When Time was Just a coloured dew That grew inside their mind..."

"Somebody's out to get you Hiding in the shadows Poison arrows! Somebody's out to break you Hiding in narrows Poison arrows!"

"I know you'll never stay the same In time, most of us lose it, But I'm hoping, just the same, You'll shine and learn how to use it."

"I want not to panic. I want to be comfortable in my body and my life. I don't want to keep thinking that I don't belong here, that I have ended up on the wrong planet, completely alienated. (from Changeling)"

"Smile to me, like the very first smile You are magnificent when you're innocent. Walk to me Like the very first walk You are from heaven sent when you're innocent."

"I was hoping Could you be my inspiration Whatever should become In the candlelight? I was dreaming Was it my imagination? Tomorrow never comes In the candlelight"

"In this world, everything has a pulse or a vibration. This sound is unique to each living or non-living thing and in itself creates a music that no-one can hear. I believe that this has a very powerful resonance with, and a deep effect on, our lives. What would happen if we took this further and applied it to bigger things, more powerful things; like an entire solar system or galaxy say, what would that sound like? Musica Universalis is the ancient theory that every celestial body, the sun, the moon and the stars, has an inner music. This is a harmonic and mathematical concept derived from the movements of the planets in the solar system. The music created is inaudible to the human ear. Music of the Spheres is my interpretation of this theory. Every planet and every star; the whole universe has music within it that no-one can hear. This is what it would sound like if it was set free. This is Music of the Spheres. (from the introduction to Music of the Spheres)"

"Drifting a dream On a mystical sea... A wishful emotion A drop in the ocean A hush in the air You can feel anywhere In the cool twilight Of a tropical night..."

"Once in a lifetime, you find that power To break out and run from the Devil's deep clutch All that you need (it's the finest hour) Is to believe in the magic touch"

"There's a new path That we found just today I was lost in the forest And you showed me the way"

"We can never Be closer somehow For the moment that lasts Is this moment now"

"We took a place in the sun To see just what had become The warm wind blows constantly Does the answer still blow? Did you find your château In that Mediterranean fantasy?"

"Standing in a new space, Waving at the sun... So you probably back in darkness To where I belong. Just by being with you Pictures flow out of my mind... Have we danced before Long ago or in another time?"

"Saved by a bell Suffer in hell But you were too blind to tell! Saved by a bell Suffer in hell And you made it through so well!"

"We are islands But never too far"

"On dusty roads and tracks Now it's the time to turn back The warm wind blows constantly Riding that storm Since the day you were born Is there somebody in? Now answer me"

"I'm half a crazy man Waiting for confirmation; Signs keep are changing And I need some more information."

"Voices in the dark And the lights burn low Teach yourself the art That you never know Try to put a message through To your sweetheart Won't you like to know The secrets of the heart?"

"Something tells me how Her bright blue eyes Are smiling; She turns her head and now When she wants she denies him..."

"Some are tricks of the light You'll never know Make a flickering midnight Light into a glow..."

"I see a picture by the lamp's flicker... Isn't it strange how dreams fade and shimmer?"

"When you want the score When you need a helping hand And you find closed doors And you're back where you began Keeping those secrets Telling those lies... Can anybody tell me What's the big surprise?"

"Do we have to be so distant How can you be so unreal? What's the reason for hiding and How this crying make you feel?"

"The writing on the wall at North Point Speaks to a silent room They shut the bars down, leave you to the gloom"

"Treat me like I'm evil Freeze me till I'm cold Beat me till I'm feeble Grind me till I'm old Wire me till I'm tired Push me like I fall Treat me like a criminal, just a shadow on the wall!"

"Somewhere far above has a new day risen Way beyond the searchlight (Comes a light, comes a light) Then on a bright day at North Point The gate was open wide They chanced to look at what was inside"

"I was listening To the wind that walks the hours I never would have heard In the candlelight I was hoping Would you shelter me from showers? I believe every word In the candlelight"

"How can you sleep How can you turn away Thinking so cheap? Some day you're gonna pay! You're keeping secrets I can see in your eyes: Can anybody tell me Why the big disguise?"

"Talk about your life I'd like to know It's not easy going Where no-one goes And no-one knows..."

"Save me, holy mother, please save me, I got a heart of gold... And for your love I'd go hungry and thirsty. I need a saviour and you're the one... I throw myself into the arms of mercy, There's still hope for the runaway son!"

"To the everlasting glory of those few men blessed and sanctified in the curses and execrations of those many whose praise is eternal damnation."

"Visitors unwelcome."

"With a wracking head and literally my whole body shaking as with ague I write this and tell you I have just this afternoon early finished Clavicembalisticum... The closing 4 pages are so cataclysmic and catastrophic as anything I've ever done — the harmony bites like nitric acid — the counterpoint grinds like the mills of God..."

"Forget the word youth – this is one of the best bands you'll ever hear."

"It is not governed by the senseless world of current style that pervades and pollutes popular music, nor is it part of an established hierarchy, so that it is cloistered and protected."

"Jazz today can be spiritual, cerebral, motivating or moving. It can evoke tension, relaxation, laughter, tears. Surely jazz is truly the music of the era, combining stature, dignity and emotion with the highest musical ideals."

"Couth, kempt and shevelled."

"The hardest thing to do is to swing quietly, with control and restraint. Lots of bands swing loudly. I refuse to let my band play loudly in order to try to swing when it isn’t swinging softly. I think that the best jazz in the long run is the jazz that is controlled and will swing on its own terms."

"I have never looked like being in that incredible virtuoso class like, say, Stan Getz. I think people made a mistake and put me in that embryonic class when I was very young and thought that I was going to branch out to be a big instrumentalist in some way or another. But I always find that I very, very seldom get anywhere near what I consider a satisfactory standard. I would much rather be judged for my writing because writing is a thing that you can have second thoughts about and, if it isn’t right, you can’t blame somebody else but yourself."

"The lights are much brighter there; You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares and go Downtown where all the lights are bright, Downtown, waiting for you tonight, Downtown, you're gonna be alright now."

"She's ma lady love, she is ma dove, ma baby love, She's no gal for sittin' down to dream, She's de only queen Laguna knows; I know she likes me, I know she likes me Bekase she says so; She is de Lily of Laguna, she is ma Lily and ma Rose."