Betty Thatcher - About The Lyrics

About The Lyrics

John Tout described Thatcher's lyrics as "reclusive, almost. They're not drawn from the normal sort of thing that people write about in a rock band" and Jon Camp opined "What she's written has always been correct for the group. It fits very well with what we've tried to do musically".

"Carpet of the Sun" conveys Thatcher's "joy of being alive, and seeing the grass grow" and "Ashes Are Burning" relates "a near death experience". "Running Hard" tells of "a long dark cliff path, that if you miss the last bus from Hayle to St. Ives, you have to walk... the sea's at one side of you and there's a train the other side... the trees looked like webs and the stars and the moon looked like mirrors". "I Think of You" conveys how "you can love everybody, in every way, even the unlovable". "Black Flame" relates to the Vietnam War and the horrors of killing."

"Mother Russia" was inspired by Alexander Solzhenitsyn's book One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. About "Ocean Gypsy", Thatcher "always thought the sun was the man and the moon was the woman... it's like they're lovers and they never really meet". "The Vultures Fly High" was "actually written for Wishbone Ash and it had even darker words... so I tried to make it a little lighter". Thatcher "always regretted writing "Sounds of the Sea" because I felt that it was such a personal thing... every time I heard it for the first five years I cringed and thought, oh my God, everyone can see into my brain". Thatcher revealed that "Can You Hear Me?" is "about the city and... people hiding behind their social facades".