Tracklisting:
Kingmaker (Spawton)
Fat Billy Shouts Mine (Spawton)
British Racing Green (Longdon / Spawton)
Brambling (Longdon / Spawton)
The Wide Open Sea (Longdon / Spawton)
Master of Time (Phillips)
Note: The original version of the EP featured a cover version of an Anthony Phillips song called Master of Time. The import and download version featured Kingmaker as an alternative track to Master of Time. The remastered 2017 re-issue of the album (available on CD only) features both Kingmaker and Master of Time.
Credits:
Kingmaker
This song tells the story of King Alfred’s granddaughter, Queen Eadgyth. In 929, Eadgyth was sent by her brother King Athelstan to marry Prince Otto. She went on to become Queen of the Germans for a decade. Her remains have recently been identified in Magdeburg Cathedral.
Fat Billy Shouts Mine
Legend has it that William ‘Fatty’ Foulke, the Sheffield United and England goalkeeper from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, died on Blackpool beach whilst earning pin money in a ‘beat the goalie’ booth. In this song BBT imagine larger-than-life Billy finding the afterlife less exciting than his life on earth.
Written alongside Victorian Brickwork as part of a suite of songs set on the coastline, Fat Billy was originally intended for The Underfall Yard album. However, the band did not have enough time to finish recording it for inclusion on the album.
British Racing Green
This is Big Big Train’s Christmas break-up song. British Racing Green tells the story of the end of a real-life love affair. Inside a busy restaurant a couple are coming to the end of the line, whilst outside, snow is gently falling on the bustling Christmas shoppers. British Racing Green was originally written for the Bard album but Andy Poole felt it was too bleak and so it was left off the release. The version on Far Skies Deep Time was heavily re-arranged by David, although Tony’s piano from the original version of the song survived and features on this recording. British Racing Green features the debut of future Big Big Train keyboard player Danny Manners (on double bass).
Brambling
A rite of passage that is as old as the hills. First love awakens profound, stirring feelings in the young man only for it to tragically end in heartbreak for him when she tells him it’s over. It is this hurt that she inflicts that will help him grow.
An instrumental demo for this song was originally written during the Difference Machine sessions but Greg didn’t feel that it fitted with the rest of the songs on that album, and it was not completed until David added melodies and words in 2010.
The Wide Open Sea
The backing track to The Wide Open Sea had been written by Greg around the time of The Difference Machine album in 2006 but it was not completed for that album and had been abandoned. Andy later found the song on an old hard-drive and asked David to write the words and melody lines. The Wide Open Sea chronicles the last voyage of Belgian singer Jacques Brel as he reflects on his life and fate. In 1973 he set sail on a yacht, planning to travel around the world. When he reached the Canary Islands, Brel was diagnosed with lung cancer. He returned to Paris for treatment and later continued his ocean voyage. In 1975 he reached les Marquises islands, and decided to stay, remaining there until 1977 when he returned to Paris and recorded his well-received final album. He died in 1978 at the age of 49 and was buried in Calvary Cemetery only a few yards away from the painter Gauguin.
Master of Time
Big Big Train heard the demo of Master of Time by original Genesis guitarist Anthony Phillips when it appeared as an extra track on the reissue of his The Geese and the Ghost CD. In this new version, BBT give the song the full band treatment that it deserves.
‘Kingmaker’ live from Kings Place
