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This is the tale of an idyllic childhood set against 'the troubles' of N. Ireland: written by Colin Agnew, Head Gardner of Botanic Gardens Belfast who asked if I could record it for him. So I made a little arrangement of guitar parts and vocal harmonies on my trusty 4-track living room recorder; whereupon my good friend Nick Scott dropped over to pick up an electric wheelchair that my recently deceased Mom had left behind; Nick could use it for his wife who was terribly unwell. So Nick hears the track and says, 'would you like some bass on that?'. I must mention at this stage that Nick is the bass player with Mary Black, Van Morrison and a host of other global superstars. 'Yes', says I and so the next day Nick comes back and records his impeccable bass-lines for which he is flown all over the world! Our humble gardner, Colin, is so astonished! he was expecting a folky guitar and voice - not a sonic landscape of guitar lines, harmony vocals and world class participants! So he thinks even bigger and hands it off to the wonderful production talents of Paul McNeilly, Pinegrove Studios Ballymena; Paul adds organ, drums, background vocals and makes it huge!
- and all the while it's about the surreal environment of a wee lad growing up in lush meadows, playing football, dreaming the dreams of a wee fella and then watching his world collapse in warfare! That was N. Ireland 1973. Thank God our own sons and daughters no longer live in what was a very dark and frightening universe! I personally witnessed murder.
The track is a poignant reminder of what it was like to grow up in those days. But thankfully all of that is now consigned to history, so I hope you enjoy the track. 1973.