"Love Will Remain"
featuring KATHERINE LAWSON, TIM BECK & THE SPACES SCRATCH CHOIR
by George Moorey, Shane Young & Eloise Hopkins
(with lines from Carol Ann Duffy, RS Thomas and Yeats)
recorded on 1 February 2018 at Gloucester Guildhall, Eastgate Street
recording engineer: Josh Petkovic-Short
film-maker: Nikola Jurčáková with additional footage by Chris Watkins
left to right: Lily Pardee, Clemmie Byrne, Megan Masters, Annabel Faulkner, Nikola Jurčáková, Charles Campbell, George Moorey, Tim Beck, Sebastian Field,
Pat Roberts, Shane Young, Katherine N, Colin Murphy, Josh Petkovic-Short, Helen Maynard-Watts, Stu Capewell, Vicki Field, Ellie Scrivens, Maria Dyer, Claire Weaving, Andrew Marshall
Eloise the project visual artist asked me the question “Is this church?” during the first session. Both Eloise and I have roots in the Christian faith but I guess most of the time we might describe ourselves as on the periphery of the established church, dipping in from time to time. I couldn’t answer a definitive yes or no. I think what she was alluding to and what I have begun to recognise is that, as artists, we have found a home in this project, somewhere we feel we belong. I’m going to explore that more in future projects I expect.
Shane has been my primary songwriting partner for the project and sending my initial musical sketch to him to come up with melody lines, harmonies, hooks and fresh verse has become a significant part of my writing process. Shane’s instrument is the drum kit, but he’s got such a good ear for melody and has a unique quirky mastery over the English language due to him being a writer.
The starting point for this song was Shane playing the drums. He’s such a great drummer, but his main role during the sessions has been as photographer, and I desperately wanted him to play on at least one of the tracks so he put down his camera for this one. He suggested listening to a Blockheads song and repurposing the groove. I then played around with some chords I was enjoying on the piano and the song started to take shape. Shane came up with the melody for the first half, all be it with some Beatlesy lyrics he’d penned just to get the melody down and I wrote the melodies for what I call “the tangle” at the end.
This song is a way of me expressing my core values and some of the ideas around what “church” is and might be. At the centre is LOVE. It’s everything in my world, it’s God, it’s purpose to life and it’s the thread of goodness that I feel blessed to be aware of throughout my life in many different manifestations.
The song is a collaboration. I asked Eloise to provide me with quotes and poetry and after a reflective period of about two weeks reading the poems pinned to my whiteboard in the studio, I was finally able to nail down my lyrics for the first half of the song and weave ideas from the poetry of RS Thomas, Yeats, Carole Ann Duffy and Eloise’s into what I call “the tangle” at the end of the song.
It’s recorded in Gloucester Guildhall. I’ve been working in this place on projects since 2000 and visiting as a member of the audience for all sorts of brilliant performances by amazing artists. It seemed fitting that I should bring the song that expresses what I truly and deeply believe in to a place that has a rich and strong tradition of music making and for myself and many is the heart of live music in the city.
To share the same performance space and to quietly stake a place in the history of music making at Gloucester Guildhall amongst the great and famous (Oasis, Radiohead, Mercury Rev, Eliza Carthy come to mind) has a similar surreal effect on me as paying tribute to Aethelflaed.
It is also fitting that I was able to invite my friends Katherine, Tim, Helen, Stuart, Vicki and Seb who share the faith I have, if not the sentiments in the song to sing the lead parts and make up the band with my closest songwriting collaborator Shane taking a break from photography to play drums, Colin and Charlotte who I play in a band with on guitars along with Charlie who has brought along his guitar and amazed the audience at the Guildhall open mic for many years, me on piano and an old best friend from university Stuart on bass who also sang some brilliant harmonies. It also features one of three scratch choirs that were assembled with the help of Vicki who also led the choirs, helping the singers to learn the songs quickly and get prepared for the recordings. If you listen carefully you’ll hear my original layered harmonies from the initial demo recording.
If you're wondering about the film. That's my eldest son Euan. Nikola and I reviewed her footage and edit from the Guildhall session and we agreed that it needed something dynamic to rescue it as a lot of the imagery was static, lacking movement. So I asked Chris to shoot some additional footage on Selsley Common one evening and then we slotted some bits into Nikola's edit replacing some of the shots that weren't working. It's not a masterpiece, but it was fun and nice to pay Euan some pocket money for his excellent work as an actor!
note that the time lapse at the bottom of the page only works on a computer and not on phones or tablets.
When all else fails
Love will remain
Love will remain
When all else fails
Love will remain
Love will remain
On those days when there’s no silver lining
Oh let my heart be true
So be kind, so be gentle, be patient and trust all that’s good
Take care of what you think
All those thoughts in your head
Shape the outcome of life
It’s those little things
Kindness to soften the heart that wins through
When all else fails
Love will remain
Love will remain
When all else fails
Love will remain
Love will remain
Love is ever expanding, holding the space of those within it
God is the big absence, the empty silence, great mystery
Even without faith the truth enters
Though we cannot pray a prayer utters itself
We made it through the long dark, knew we would
Love is intriguing, unexpected and can be missed in the small things
The darkness shall be light
Credits
photos by Chris Watkins
Katherine N
lead vocal
Katherine is a neighbour and friend. When my first son was born he had to visit the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Katherine looked after him because she worked there as a nurse. This was before we knew Katherine. We then got to know her and she's one of the most terrific people we know. She loves to sing and is an active member of the St Cecilia singers and participates in the Three Choirs Festival each year. We had been talking about making music together for a long while before she asked me to record her singing for something her dad was doing with his drama group. I was astonished at the quality of her voice then so I was even more keen to find a suitable opportunity to get her singing on one of my projects. While I was writing this song and the lyrics began to emerge I knew Katherine would be able to get behind the sentiment 100% so I invited her to be the first of several singers with prominent parts. Katherine sings Love is ever expanding, holding the space of those within it in the tangle.
Tim Beck
lead vocal
Having heard Tim's voice on his own original material I knew that his voice would compliment Katherine's and again that he would get behind the sentiment of the lyrics 100% so he is the 2nd voice prominent voice on this song and sings God is the big absence, the empty silence, great mystery in the tangle.
Stuart Capewell
bass and harmony/supporting vocals
Stu is a best friend of mine from university days (that's over 20 years ago now!). We were in bands together and he is a handy bass player and great at composing and singing harmonies on the fly. So originally I'd pencilled a line in the tangle for Stu, but as soon as I showed him the demo he was harmonising lovely parts all over the opening verses so we recorded his ideas and made them part of the arrangement. I composed the bass line originally and Stu expertly learned and reproduced it without fuss. There are only a few musicians that have been brought into the project from outside Gloucestershire, each has to be highly deserving of a place in the team and Stu's performance is brilliant and his harmonies a not altogether unexpected bonus! He sings We made it through the long dark, knew we would in the tangle.
Shane Young
drums
Shane is one of the greatest drummers I know. He's better than he believes. The blend of discernment, taste, creativity, professional experience and technical qualities makes him amongst my most valued collaborators, especially on this project. I can't wait to make more music with Shane so watch this space.
Colin Murphy
electric guitar
I met Colin through Shane a few years ago. Shane invited me to try out for a little band he had formed with Colin. I slotted in nicely and really got on with Colin (who writes all the songs). Life gets in the way of us making more music, but it was this new band (which also includes Charlotte Ayrton) that I had in mind as the backbone of this song production. I was really pleased to include Colin in the team and enjoy his unique characteristic guitar skills.
Charles Campbell
electric guitar
I've known Charlie for a while now. We met at Musiclab, the Guildhall's open stage so it was fitting that he was representative of the Musiclab community (along with Pat Roberts who was in the scratch choir and founded Musiclab originally) on this project. Charlie's day job (or should I say calling?) is as a pastor of a Gloucester church so to my mind it's fitting that he play on this song. Charlie is a brilliant guitarist with mastery of the fretboard that I envy. He tells me that he'd love to be able to play the way I do - well, Charlie the feeling is more than mutual!
Charlotte Ayrton
acoustic guitar
Not only was I able to get 2 of my favourite guitarists in the same band at the same time for this song, I was able to get 3! Charlotte has been playing with Colin, Shane and I in our little band called The Long Bees so she is familiar with our approach. It's actually Charlotte's guitar part that holds the arrangement together. She's not afraid to experiment and step outside of her comfort bubble in order to push the envelope. I'm so fortunate to have Charlotte enjoy playing on my projects. Back when Stu (above) and I were at university her band were on tour and played a show at our university. We didn't know her then but our band supported and it was only once I moved to Gloucestershire that we moved in the same social circles for a time. What a happy coincidence then for me to be making music in the same group as Charlotte over two decades later.
George Moorey
piano & pre-recorded backing vocals
Nice for me to play piano as part of the band instead of guitar. Despite not being a fan of my own singing voice my backing vocals from the original sketch have a very specific character that couldn't be reproduced so they stayed on this.
Helen Maynard-Watts
supporting vocal
Helen is another old friend from the same social circles from when I first moved to Gloucestershire that Charlotte was part of. Helen's been singing in a number of quality groups since I've known her, but weirdly we've never made music together. This was a good opportunity to include her in a song that I knew she'd enjoy singing. Helen sings Even without faith the truth enters in the tangle.
Vicki Field
supporting vocal and scratch choir leader
Vicki taught the scratch choir their parts and sings "Though we cannot pray a prayer utters itself" in the tangle
Sebastian Field
supporting vocal
Sebastian sings Love is intriguing, unexpected and can be missed in the small things in the tangle.
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© George Moorey 2018. Photography (unless noted otherwise) by Shane Young