"Constellations (A Trip Through the Stars)"

Completed in six days across August and September of 2008, the new line-up of The Ill-Fitting Garibaldis' spent a final session (5th Sep) layering last instrument overdubs to (Also Known As) Constellations and in one-sitting recording most of the vocal tracks, alongside starting/finishing lyrics. God created the world in six days - not that impressive when compared with our achievement.

I had written the music for "Constellations" several years previous, intending it to open a soon-abandoned album concept, "Censor This...". These lyrics were rush-written during the final recording session and interestingly revisited in 2012 when Steve Wicked, Rob Heart and I sat down to finish off the appropriately titled, Orion (Constellation XIII).

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Constellations (A Trip Through The Stars)

Constellations, a voyage through time

Orion calls, a journey of the mind

Up and coming, born for the stage

The uproar of the crowd, this is our age

The trip begins, ten days too soon

The crew is lost, we’re unprepared

Take a wrong turn, lost in Orion

Me, Julie and Dave – my pet bear

"An Exploration into Space & Time (the Vegetable Song)"

A revolutionary track in The Ill-Fitting Garibaldis' catalogue and a personal favourite from 2008's (Also Known As) Constellations.  My diary reveals the song was recorded September 3rd - a hugely enjoyable session, it being my first time participating in a one-on-one writing session with the bass legend, Robert Heart.  The song cements his introduction to the band, hinting at the grand scale of songwriting we would embrace on the likes of 2011's Hope And Monet, showing the possibilities of developing the improvisation always at the heart of The Garibaldis.  Finding myself in a band with Steve Wicked and Robert Heart is all the proof I needed to confirm the existence of Almighty Saviour Him/Her/Itself.  Peace be upon him/her/it.

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An Exploration Into Time & Space (The Vegetable Song)

An exploration into time and space

Vegetables survive as the only race

Dressed as carrot I storm their base

The turnips defend armed with mace

An underground war fought by garlic

Mayonnaise dressing holds the barrier

The city walls made of bricks

Cannot hold back our army of hicks

With the hillbillies we unite

Our spaceship lands, we doth fight

Vegetable armies control the land

Our main weapon a frying pan

Got some oil, ready to cook

But I’ll to refer to my recipe book

I glance the pages as the aubergine marches

It’s too late, they stab me millions of times I’m dying I’m dying I’m dying…

"Spread the News"

Bassist David Picklesworth's official departure from The Ill-Fitting Garibaldis, late 2006, brought about a hiatus in band activity.  Around eighteen months had passed when Steve Wicked and I reconvened at the Bowels Of The Basement studios (in Huddersfield, UK) in the summer of 2008.  We intended to start work on new material, little did we know the Constellations sessions would prove to be the birthplace of TIFG-Mark II.

I believe "Spread the News" was written on the 19th August (based on a vivid dream the night-before) - the day of our first session where, upon arriving at the studio, we bumped into none-other than the Robert Heart. The track has become a Garibaldi favourite seeing release on 2009's Sold Out and accompanied "Suffocating" the same year as double a-side single from Wicked-McButt-Heart's debut "(Also Known As) Constellations".

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Spread The News (Spread The News!)

A man walks down a corridor

No-one knows his name

All around people bustle for

The kick-off of the game

Strolling down this corridor

Two people he meets

Brushing them accidentally

He drops down to his feet

Sound the news!

News spreads from the corridor

A media rush ensues

Who was this man, what did he want?

“We have the breaking news”

Police had blocked the entrance

Word of mouth had travelled far

The stranger was a stranger no more

He’d become a film star

Russell Crowe? Spread the news!

Next day, the World wakes in shock

“Murdered film star” headlines

Conspiracies and tributes

Who did this heinous crime?

A man dies in a corridor

Propelled to worldwide fame

In all this media confusion

We’ll never know his name