Whilst creating his epic, 300,000-word prose-novel "My Tale" [A Ballad of Love], Irish singer/songwriter Paul Murphy additionally wrote a series of further songs during that time. In the recording sessions for that material, a file of lyrics to earlier songs, included 2 prose-works, never catalogued even as demo recordings, was discovered, and several of those were also given music. 29 of those titles are presented here.
Severely disabled by a muscle-destroying auto-immune conditionaty this point, many of the lyrics deal with ruminations on life, and mistakes made during it ['Not That Sorry (To Leave It All Behind)', 'Would Anybody Care', 'A Life In 2 Pages']; as Paul wryly notes in the enclosed essay Sapphire Tears On Soil, "I always seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Other subjects dragged under the spotlight of the caustic pen of this long-time social campaigner include Trump's America ['Past The Point', 'Values '26', 'Sacrificial Lambs', and 'Have A Nice Day', a swingeing excoriation of the tactics of ICE]; domestic abuse ['The Illusion Of Love' 'Malevolent Torment (A Strong-Stemmed Rose)']; broken relationships ['Mercury Kiss', 'Open Wounds Closed Exits']; and, experienced first-hand, the contemptuous attitudes of society, and charities, to the disabled ['Here To Help'].
As ever, the mischievous humour is there, in 2 double-entendre blues numbers ['Miss Glory's Latest Story' 'Fireman Blues', and several allegorical tales and 'mini-movies' were composed ['The Ballad of Old Luke Moore', 'The Demon's Lair']; also included is a re-written/re-nuanced version of the epic 1994 song 'Sadly; As A Storm', looking at the two lovers therein from a distance of several decades.
This collection presents a stunning series of narrative works - thought-provoking, heartbreaking, humorous, angering, and inspiring - all the more remarkable for the circumstances of their creation ['These songs were written in 2 kinds of pen and 28 kinds of pain']. All told in the unmistakeable lyrical flair of a true master of cinematic poetry.
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Also included as bonus material are reproductions of all the existing handwritten manuscripts, plus images taken from the last-ever online performance videos Paul made.
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A Life In 2 Pages [clip]
I was born a cursed child Beneath a voodoo moon Three men left my mama, smiling "See you soon" She looked into my basket Shrugged "Time to move on" By the hour the dawn broke She'd already gone
They took me to an orphanage Of waifs and strays Gave me a 10-year calendar And laughed "Mark off the days" The owners would call in Every now and then And say to the older girls "Come meet my friends"
I climbed over the wall One corrugated night Headed left Leaving prints indicating right Worked for food and warmth In an all-night café Where an old blues singer loaned me his guitar And said, "Play..."
