BRIDGE OF SPIRITS BOOKLET (PDF)

A beautiful full colour booklet with lyrics and original art, by Martin Springett, for each song.

The Owl: Origin Story

NEWS FROM THE POTTING SHED – ORIGINS DEPT – Generally I would say, the music speaks for itself, but sometimes the story behind a song, can add interest and depth to the listeners enjoyment. In the case of The Owl, the inspiration for the song, and the entire 17 minute suite that grew from that exploration, came from an indelible childhood experience. 

          The year is 1956, I was eight years old and staying with my auntie Bill in Leicester, which is in the midlands in the UK. My folks had recently separated, I had a new ‘dad’ and was somewhat bewildered by this turn of events and these Summer visits were a way, I think, of my mum giving me a break from the ongoing drama of the puzzling changes in the family.  Auntie Bill and I were close, and not only that, she ran a quintessential English Sweet Shop! Heaven for a small boy, especially an imaginative sprog like me, who gave the dark blue velvet curtain that separated the shop from the living area, power to change the reality of any person who walked through it’s soft enveloping folds. (You are now an Egyptian Queen, and will give me unlimited acsess to all the liquorice in the land, etc) I felt I was truly staying in a magical place, and my auntie was indulgent and great fun to be with. 

          I slept in a small upstairs bedroom, and as it was a warm Summer night, the window was open. I was woken up by the the clamorous sound of fire engine bells, sirens were not in use as yet, and as my eyes became accustomed to night time vision, I was amazed to see that my room was filled with a yellow flickering light. I could see from my window a great blaze was underway, some way off but close enough to wrap my bedroom in a sulferous glow. (I learned later that it was a lumber yard on fire). Alarmed I sat up in bed and as I looked out the window, a large barn owl landed on the window sill. It fluttered it’s wings in that way birds have of making sure it’s feathers are aligned and ready for the next flight. He was in profile to me to begin with, but then it slowly turned his/her head and looked directly at me. This unblinking look could not have lasted more than ten seconds, and yet in that moment, something happened that I found mysterious and puzzling, still to this day. As I looked into the birds eyes there was a feeling of something familiar and entirely alien at the same time.

           A memory that stays with one for this long, suggests that a door opens and never closes again. Is that door opening the mind to a different level of understanding, fuelling a new and life long curiosity about the strangeness of existence; after having had a while to think about it, I would say, yes, it’s exactly that and maybe a lot more.

           All the other movements in The Owl suite are connected to this central theme, but how they connect and why, well, I will let the music speak for itself from here on… 

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