NOAH VALE HOTEL

Tiled mausoleum, a piercing scream

Another drops so easily

Into mental vacuum

There’s ample room for nothing

Broken backed men, they fade again

There’s safety there in numbers

Drag each other backwards, no gain

Through an unlinked chain

So why should we be halfway now

We’ve gone so far we should be there

Oh deal me out some guidance now

Please deal me out some guidance now

I’ve got to find my way

In the morning’s light of day

From the mountains of the dazed

Where we finally find our way

Wild eyed and blind, a jangled mind

No peace no joy no haven

Sharing ancient tales,

Those ships have sailed, still lost at sea

So why should we be halfway now

We’ve gone so far we should be there

Oh deal me out some guidance now

Please deal me out some guidance now

I’ve got to find my way

In the morning’s light of day

From the mountains of the dazed

Where we finally find our way

This song had its genesis in 1977 and I first recorded in about 5 or so years ago and it was posted on the earlier version of mixposure. As luck would have it, I have located a copy of the original comments I posted at that time and thought I'd share them.

"A team of travelling archaeologists found this on my cutting room floor.

 This song was written in 1977. I had just finished uni and had been admitted as a solicitor, but was unable to find a job. To get some money I was working as an insurance assessor for a Workers Compensation insurer, investigating and reporting on claims made by injured workers. And that wasn’t going to last long, because I always tended to report favourably on the worker.

 One day I needed to ring the insurer about a matter but that was in the days before mobile phones, and unable to find a public telephone I decided that a nearby hotel was the best place to find one (well that was my excuse, anyway). I was amazed at how full the hotel was at 11.30am and how those that were there had clearly, as exhibited by their conduct and conversations, been there for some time. That was in a period of high unemployment in Australia and I assumed that hitting the grog and blotting out life’s miseries was the only answer for some people.

 It’s not the “happiest” song you’ll ever hear, but it was not intended to be judgmental either. Anyone who knows me can attest that I am the last person who could criticise others for resorting to alcohol. The lyrics (subject to some recent minor amendments) came to me while I was still in the hotel (well I had to buy a drink, didn’t want to abuse their hospitality) and the melody came almost simultaneously.

 At this time Sirrah 1 had broken up, the edited Sirrah had only had a short life span and there was some talk of reunion of Sirrah 1. But that didn’t eventuate so the song was put to one side for close on 30 years. Nigel Potter made a really valid thread in one of the Songwriting Circles about the need to get things out as an artist, whether they’re of commercial value or not. And Freddie Fumble Frets made a similar comment in his description of his unfortunately lost track Carnival. I guess I just needed to get this out, even though it has no commercial value whatsoever.

 At the present time it’s a partially completed studio version. I was going to delay posting it until completed, but then thought I would call on the collective wisdom of mixposure members for suggestions."

The original post on mixpo has been heavily edited. It dragged on for about 8.5 minutes at the first attempt and I've pretty much cut it in half. The present version requires further touches. There is no guitar in it as yet, the vocals were recorded the day following a "live gig" and it shows, and the outro either needs to be curtailed at an earlier stage or be developed further. But I would appreciate any suggestions for improvement.

Cheers

Brian