From the depths of the Outer Hebrides, a competitive powerlifter turned songwriter leading a life of remarkable transitions.
Born and raised in the Outer Hebrides, he started his career as a powerlifter following a severe leg injury. Releasing a debut album at 68 is just the latest phase of his varied life
ABOUT
Releasing a debut album at the age of sixty eight is the latest phase of Martin
Flett’s varied life. Born and brought up on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland’s
Western Isles, this father and grandfather had a first career as a successful
local government manager before running his own gym in Cheshire for a
decade after leaving local government to seek fresh challenges.
Martin started competitive powerlifting in 2002, first as a disabled lifter
following life changing leg injuries sustained in a near fatal car crash in 1980,
and latterly as a bench press only powerlifter. Over the years he has been
Scottish, British and Commonwealth Bench Press champion and has won more
than forty British age group championships across two federations. He has
also won European and World age group titles and set World and European
records, some of which still stand.
Martin was also a top powerlifting Speaker (MC) from 2006 onwards, and
when the sport started being professionally live streamed in 2015, he was the
original commentator for both European and World Championship events. Ten
years later, he remains lead commentator for the European Powerlifting
Federation.
“It would be fair to say that my voice is well known in the powerlifting
community,” said Martin, “but little did I imagine that I even had a singing
voice, far less one that would also become well known.”
Martin moved back to the Isle of Lewis on 2011 after a big win on The Chase
quiz programme in 2010 and has lived there ever since.
Martin’s other sporting passion is golf, and after years helping with the running
of competitions at Stornoway Golf Club, he became Honorary Secretary in
2020, on the eve of lockdown, a position he still holds.
Lockdown was also key to Martin’s musical journey. “Sitting indoors day after
day, apart from venturing out to exercise my dogs, I picked up a long neglected
guitar and started getting to know it again. After a few weeks, song ideas
started forming in my head. I likened it to muses planting seeds, and it was my
job to grow them.”
As his song catalogue grew, Martin realised that if he didn’t sing them himself,
they would never get past his front room. “My aim was always to be a
songwriter, not a performer, but you quickly realise that the only way to be a
successful songwriter is to perform your songs, at least until you bring them to
other peoples’ attention. But it was a terrifying prospect.”
“I went to the Open Mic at Macneills Bar in Stornoway for eight consecutive
Thursdays before I finally plucked up the courage to go up and do a couple of
songs. I was probably awful, but I had stepped through the door. I went back
the following week and, magically, Calum Macleod (Boydie from Peat and
Diesel) was there and played backing guitar. What a buzz! I was hooked!”
Through the Open Mic sessions, Martin met other musicians and learned about
the Bayhead Sessions in Stornoway on Friday evenings, and he’s been going
there ever since. Tony Dolby, one of the Bayhead regulars, played aerophone
(electric sax) on When The Introverts Come Out. He also got a regular gig at
The New Lewis bar on Sunday evenings that still continues. He plays every
week with Len Townsend and this has given him the chance to practice his
songs, try out new material, and get valuable feedback.
An Lanntair Theatre in Stornoway does amazing work for the arts community
in the Western Isles, both as a venue and as an artistic hub. When Martin was
told of mentoring opportunities at An Lanntair, he applied to the Artist
Development Co-ordinator, Andrew Eaton Lewis for help in ‘taking his songs to
market’. Andrew had heard several of Martin’s songs at the monthly
Songwriters’ Circle in the theatre, and offered to be Martin’s mentor himself,
an offer that was gratefully and immediately accepted.
Andrew got a recording date at Wee Studio (which in spite of the name is
actually a huge studio in a converted call centre that has developed from
humble origins and kept the original name). It’s a fabulous place, even in
February when there’s little daylight, the wind howls, and the rain lashes down
beyond its triple glazed windows, and the recording process began.
Keith and Scott from the studio went above and beyond to produce the very
best they possibly could from a songwriter making their first album on a
limited budget. One or both of them feature on most of the tracks, at no
additional cost. You hire the studio, you get Keith and Scott as well if you need
them. Keith played a magnificent piano part on American Wake, and Andrew
himself played all the other keyboard parts, including the beautiful piano parts
on Falling In Slow Motion and Places Like These, and the driving organ on I
Don’t Want To Be The One To Tell You and Just like you. He also did many of
the backing vocals, including some beautiful falsettos.
It was an honour to have the critically acclaimed Colin Macleod play drums. “It
was one of the best experiences of the whole process to play live with Colin
and Scott on Let The Introverts Come Out,” said Martin. “If I don’t sell a single
CD, it will still all have been worth it just to have that experience in my
memory bank.”
On the very last evening of recording, the super-talented Louisa Maclean
added all the fiddle parts and completely transformed some of the songs by
doing so.
“Nearly everyone I’ve played the tracks to pre-release has asked who the
female backing vocalist is,” said Martin. “Her name is Mary Suckling, and she’d
never done it before. You’d never have guessed, and I hope she’ll do it again
and again – with me and with others. There’s a genuine talent there that has
lain hidden for too long. Her contribution to Let The Introverts Come Out and
Just Like You in particular absolutely took the songs to a different place.”
“My thanks also to my friends, the Tomasi family,” said Martin. “Indrani has
been so encouraging throughout the process, boosting a self belief that
needed plenty boosting. She might even be ultimately responsible for the
album being made.”
“I invited Jeff along to the first recording session, not knowing he was a top
photographer, and he quickly became the official photographer for the whole
project.” - All photos on this website are from him!
“And their teenage son Orion is my website designer and developer. Quite a
contribution from one family!”
Martin is also an animal lover who lives with wolfdogs and has a pet sheep flock.
LYRICS
TRACK 1: I DON’T WANT TO BE THE ONE TO TELL YOU
You were always the one that I dreamed of
Even when you didn’t treat me right
For there can only ever be one first love
You were mine and you lit up my life
Later when you turned me down for Davy
Couldn’t really blame you for your choice
He was rich and he was home from college
And he lived in his daddy’s big old house
And I don’t want to be the one to tell you
Your man was playin’ away from home last night
For you’d remember I’m the one who hurt you
Even though I tried to do things right
Told you way back when how much I loved you
Told you money only went so far
Told you he would never stick with one girl (all his life)
You’d be lonely with your diamonds, big house and fancy car
I’m still here if you should ever need me
If one day you come walking through my door
Might not have the luxuries you’re used to
But I’ll still make you happy, like I did before
And I don’t want to be the one to tell you
Your man was playin’ away from home last night
For you’d remember I’m the one who hurt you
Even though I tried to do things right
So I don’t want to be the one to tell you
Your man was playin’ away from home last night
For you’d remember I’m the one who hurt you
Even though I tried to do things right
ABOUT THE TRACK
I was tidying up around the house and the lyrics, "I don't want to be the one to tell you, your man was playing away from home last night" just came out of nowhere. I stopped what I was doing, wrote them down, and asked myself the question, who do I not want to tell, and why? And a story formed of a first love who left me and made a bad choice, but maybe all hope was not lost? And over the course of the afternoon the song came alive.
I liked the song, but to me it didn't really stand out. Then one night I played the song in The New Lewis and an audience member asked me who the song was by? I told him it was one of my own and I can still remember his exact words - "You couldn't have written that, that's one of the best songs I've ever heard!" Perhaps a little fulsome with his praise, but it made me look at the song in a different light and work on it some more - add a word here, remove a word there...
I played it to Andrew when we had one of three get togethers to decide what songs show be on the album. He loved the story that the song tells and the melody and said straight away, "That's the opening track." recently, a fellow songwriter got a preview of the album and told me he like it so much that he played it eight times back to back. I hope you like it too.
TRACK 2: WHEN THE INTROVERTS COME OUT
Everybody’s singing
Everybody’s dancing
Everybody’s clapping
Everybody’s layin’ it down
Everybody’s laughing
Everybody’s happy
Everybody’s better
When the introverts come out
When the introverts come out
When the introverts come out
Everybody’s buzzing
When the introverts come out
All the years creating
All the years of waiting
Shiny shiny masks
Let the introverts come out
Everybody’s moving
Everybody’s grooving
Everybody’s jumping
Leaping up and down
Everybody’s jiving
Everybody’s high fivin’
Everybody’s smiling
When the introverts come out
They are not like you
You are not like them
But they need your fire
Helps to light their flame
So-no body loses
Everybody wins
Vive la difference
Let the introverts begin
ABOUT THE TRACK
Introverts is quite a recent song. As I met more and more creative people, I realised many of them played at being extrovert in public but were really introverts like me! You can't be an extrovert if you sit alone day after day creating content, but you need to be an apparent extrovert when you're delivering it! Wear a shiny, shiny mask... And an idea formed that extroverts need introverts to create the things that make them happy, and introverts need extroverts for an audience. So I wrote a song on that theme.
I thought it was just a throwaway song, but when I played it in public, everyone loved it. It didn't make the album cut. But as I was about to go into the studio, I had a chat with Lewis music legend Iain 'Costello' Maciver and he cautioned me to make sure that there were enough upbeat songs on the album. So we took a last minute decision to take out a quieter, slower song and record Introverts in its place, and the rest as they say, is history. When looking for a name for the album, someone said that the album was about an introvert coming out at the age of sixty eight, so why not make it the title track? So we did...
TRACK 3: IF WISHES WERE HORSES
Life can be vicious, hard to survive
Sometimes it’s just wishes that keep us alive
And I wish that you were still here by my side
If wishes were horses, then beggars will ride
If wishes were horses, then beggars will ride
The day that you left me, I cried and I cried
I had a strange empty feeling inside
Wish I was dreaming, but this is real life
If wishes were horses, then beggars will ride
If wishes were horses, then beggars will ride
Wish life was like, a black and white movie
Where good always wins, bad always loses
Wish I could go back, just one day in time
If wishes were horses, then beggars will ride
If wishes were horses, then beggars will ride
Wish that our love, had somehow survived
Wish that we could, have kept it alive
Wish we could be, together for life
If wishes were horses, then beggars will ride
If wishes were horses, then beggars will ride
But wishes ain’t horses, and beggars don’t ride
And I don’t have you, here by my side
I’ll sit here and wish, night after night
That wishes were horses, and beggars would ride
That wishes were horses, and beggars would ride
If wishes were horses, then beggars will ride
ABOUT THE TRACK
I watched the lunchtime news and then went to the kitchen to make myself a cup of coffee. When I got back, a programme I never normally watch had started. It was 'Doctors'. The policeman character had found his wife, who worked in the surgery, dead on the sofa, and he couldn't accept that she was dead rather than asleep. It was good television and it held my attention.
Just as well! He used the expression 'beggars will ride', and as the plot developed it transpired that her favourite saying had been 'If wishes were horses, then beggars will ride', and I thought, what a great title for a song. Over the next hour, the words and melody poured out of me, and the song was complete. As soon as Andrew heard the first verse, he said, "That's the single." And if I hadn't chanced upon a programme I never normally watch, it wouldn't exist!
TRACK 4: FALLING IN SLOW MOTION
I don’t wanna hear the things you’re saying
I don’t wanna listen to your parting words
I feel my legs giving way beneath me
And it’s starting to feel like the end of my world
Feels like I’m falling, in slow motion
Feels like I’m breaking, breaking in two
Feels like I’m drifting, lost on the ocean
Feels like it’s over, feels like we’re through
I’m reaching for something I can hold on to
To stop me falling down, right before you
I’ll be green and blue if I’m gonna lose you
Please don’t let this be the end of my world
Feels like I’m falling, in slow motion
Feels like I’m breaking, breaking in two
Feels like I’m drifting, lost on the ocean
Feels like it’s over, feels like we’re through
I’m trying to stand, trying not to fall
Trying to hold on, trying to stay tall
Feels like I’m falling, in slow motion
Feels like I’m breaking, breaking in two
Feels like I’m drifting, lost on the ocean
Feels like it’s over, feels like we’re through
Feels like I’m falling, in slow motion
Feels like I’m breaking, breaking in two
Feels like I’m drifting, lost on the ocean
Feels like it’s over, feels like we’re through
ABOUT THE TRACK
In early 2022, I had a period of collaboration with renowned island musician Cree Mackenzie. One of the things to come out of it was the beautiful song Falling In Slow Motion. I had written a song of that title and left it with Cree while I was away commentating in Pilsen, Czechia. He took most of the words, took out quite a few more, added some words of his own, and came up with the beautiful melody.
He sent me a rough draft on Messenger, which I played to the rest of the media team one evening. I could tell from their reaction it was a winner. Cree's version was more guitar based. We went with a piano based version for the album, but it would be great if Cree were to release his own version as well.
TRACK 5: IT'S WHEN YOU'RE NOT LOOKING
When I was younger, my mama said
Don’t chase young ladies, who wanna be chased
If something’s meant for you, it won’t pass you by
Life’s not a race, just take your time
It’s when you’re not looking, love sometimes comes and finds you
When you’ve given up, when you think all your loving is through
When there’s no hope, you’re resigned to being lonely and blue
It’s when you’re not looking, love sometimes comes and finds you
When I was younger, my papa said
Don’t fight over girlies, who want you to fight
The one that’s meant for you, won’t pass you by
True love will find you, if you take your time
Guess that I listened, to what they both said
Though sometimes I worried I waited too long
But as they foretold, love did not pass me by
So glad I waited, till you came along
ABOUT THE TRACK
I don't know how many people watch it, but I love 'Opry Le Daniel', a TV show hosted by Daniel O' Donnell and featuring many country music stars - mostly Irish, but artists from the USA and Scotland as well. It's an Irish Gaelic programme with English sub titles, which I found on BBC Alba.
While watching it one week, I had the idea of writing a song that might suit the show. Nothing came to mind. Then, in the middle of the night, the fully formed chorus came into my head - words and music. I got up about three in the morning, wrote down the words and sang the basic tune into my phone's voice recorder. It took nearly a month to complete the verses. Some things you just don't hurry, you just let them happen.
I don't play it very often in public - it's a soft song that needs a quiet environment. But every time I play it, I think I like it a little bit more. Maybe one day, it WILL be played on Opry le Daniel?
TRACK 6: SHAPESHIFTER
Shape shifters, shifting shape
Shifting shape, shifting shape
In the water, on the sand
Shifting in the moonlit night
Slipping in, slipping out
In and out, in and out
Slipping, shifting, in and out
To and fro between two worlds
To and fro between two worlds
To and fro between two worlds
Stranger danger, stranger danger
In the distance, stranger danger
Getting closer, getting closer
Stranger danger, to the water
Where it’s safer, where it’s safer
To the water, where it’s safer
Don’t look back, don’t look back
Deep deep deep into the water
Deep deep deep into the water
Deep deep deep into the water
Tempted by the other world
The other world, the other world
Love makes fools of everyone
Everyone, everyone
Come ye back into the sea
Come ye spend your life with me
Shifting shapes, shifting shapes
Always back into the sea
Always back into the sea
Always back into the sea
You’re not human, you’re not human
Even in your human form
He will take you, he will take you
From the sea onto the land
But I love him, I so love him
I know he’s the one for me
You will weaken, on the land
Need to stay here, in the sea
Need to stay here, in the sea
Need to stay here, in the sea
Life was good, life was good
Life was good upon the land
He did love her, truly love her
Happy happy, hand in hand
Till the day her legs did weaken
Carried her back to the bay
Let her shift her shape again
Rejuvenate, rejuvenate
Rejuvenate, rejuvenate
Rejuvenate, rejuvenate
Pull him down, hold him down
Let the water take his life
Try to fight back with his knife
With his knife, with his knife
Lungs are filling up with water
Till a hand pulls him ashore
His own wife, with his own knife
Kills the one she loved before
Kills the one she loved before
Kills the one she loved before
Killed the one she loved before
Loved before, loved before
Saved the one that she loves now
She loves now, she loves now
He still takes her to the bay
Sees her kind down in the deep
Shape shifter, shifting shape
Rejuvenate, rejuvenate
Rejuvenate, rejuvenate
Rejuvenate, rejuvenate
ABOUT THE TRACK
I was browsing through social media, and came across a folklore story about selkies at Barvas beach. Barvas is a village on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis. A selkie is a seal that takes on human form when it leaves the water, but if it spends too long out of the water, problems begin. Shape Shifters tells the story of a selkie who falls in love with a handsome man who came walking along the beach late one night.
I spent a few days trying to come up with a melody, but nothing came to me except a gradual realisation that not every 'song' needs a melody. The track was recorded in less than fifteen minutes, me in one sound booth and Keith in the other with his boran. We had one dry run, after which Scott told me to talk softly, let the microphone do the work, that's what it's there for. So I did it in more of a whisper, and afterwards Scott said, "That's it."
I had expected a few more takes, but no. It's different from everything else on the album. Some will love it, others will be more ambivalent. Maybe someone somewhere down the line will even come up with a melody and completely change the feel of it. The Arctic Monkeys did just that with a John Cooper Clark poem. Or maybe it's right just as it is?
TRACK 7: BETTER DAYS
The best song that I’ll write is still unwritten
I’ll keep searching till it comes along
Never ever resting on my laurels
Knowing that the best is yet to come
Remember when you’re going through the dark times
You got better days ahead of you
All our lives are filled with light and shade
And soon the light will come and shine on you
The best day of your life has yet to happen
The best thing that you’ll do, it ain’t been done
Something even better’s round the corner
You’ll shine ever brighter one day soon
Remember when you’re going through the dark times
You got better days ahead of you
All our lives are filled with light and shade
And soon the light will come and shine on you
ABOUT THE TRACK
It was a cold and very windy autumn Sunday morning. Power lines had come down in the wind and I sat without electricity waiting for it to come back on. And over two hours, I wrote two complete songs. Better Days was one of them. It turns out it's a motivational and uplifting song. The message is, if your life has been good, it'll get even better. If your life hasn't been so good, better days lie ahead. I didn't set out to write something motivational. As so often with songs, it just happened. (The other song was Wrote It Just For You, which I hope to feature on the second album. So quite a productive power cut!)
When I played the original song in the studio, Scott commented that it was a great three minute song masquerading as a far too long five and a half minute one. So I compressed the second and third verses into one, and did two choruses at the end instead of three, and it got as close to three minutes as one of my songs ever will. It's a favourite to sing at noisy venues, because I can drown out the shouters. And it gets people dancing.
TRACK 8: PLACES LIKE THESE
So used to the sounds and the smells of the city
Hard to believe there are places like these
Only the scent of the salt and the seaweed
The lap of the water, the call of the birds
Took a picture that captured the moment in time
To always remind of the days I spent here
Could sit here forever if things stayed the same
But I know that the cold and the darkness is near
The longer I sit here, the more my mind wanders
The more that I don’t want to leave this behind
But reality calls me from the near distance
I cling to this present as long as I can
Way out to sea, near beyond vision
Gannets are diving, hunting a meal
Taking the life that will keep them alive
In all of this beauty, still kill or be killed
The longer I sit here, the more my mind wanders
The more that I don’t want to leave this behind
But reality calls me from the near distance
I cling to this present as long as I can
The longer I sit here, the more my mind wanders
The more that I don’t want to leave this behind
But reality calls me from the near distance
I cling to this present as long as I can
As long as I can...
ABOUT THE TRACK
Places Like These is one of two songs on the album that came out of a songwriters' retreat in Black Bay Studio, Bernera, Isle of Lewis, in May 2023. We were given various prompts during the course by tutors Willie Campbell and Findlay Napier. On this song, the first part of the challenge, from Findlay, was to write a song using sustain chords. I didn't think I knew any sustain chords, but it turned out that I did - I just didn't know that's what they were called! The second part of the challenge came from Willie. We sat on a beach near the studio, and were asked to take in the sights, smells, sounds, sensations and emotions we were experiencing.
After I'd written my words and melody, Findlay mentored me and helped me fine tune the song. I had written four verses, and Findlay suggested we turn one of them into a chorus and use a verse, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, chorus progression. I wasn't sure that the song was strong enough for the album, but Andrew liked it from the first time he heard it, and one of my golden rules is, if you're going to work with an expert, listen to what they say and follow their advice. Andrew turned the song into something better than I thought it was with his beautiful, understated piano, and the falsetto right at the end is Andrew too. I hope, if it gets radio play, DJs don't fade it out, because the final ten seconds really make the song. As does Louisa's fiddle. It's so much better with the fiddle than it was before it was added.
TRACK 9: JUST LIKE YOU
You’re invisible to everyone but me
I’m the only person who can see
You shrinking in the corner
Wishing you were almost anywhere
Anywhere but here
Anywhere but here
Anywhere but here
And I can kinda empathise with you
Cos I got the self same feelings too
Feeling even lonelier
The more the room gets full
Can only lose my loneliness
With a kindred spirit just like you
Just like you
Just like you
Just like you
We’re holding on as long as we can do
Wish I could get closer, hold on tight to you
Hold on to you until these scary feelings go away
Till we can be alone, together every day
Together every day
Together every day
Together every day
ABOUT THE TRACK
Just Like You is the other track to come out of the songwriters' retreat at Black Bay Studio. Again, there were two prompts. One was to write a song using the 'loop of death' (G, D, Em, C, for example). The other was to write ten six word stories. After doing that, we were told to use one of the stories as the opening words of a song. My story choice was the first I wrote - You're invisible to everyone but me.
Where the words came from, I don't know. What the words meant, I didn't know either. But the challenge of the six word story is to develop the story from that first line, and the song became about two introverts who's eyes meet at a busy social function where both of them are squirming with discomfort. This time, it was Findlay's prompt and Willie was the mentor. I knew the song was catchy when I heard Willie walking along the corridor singing 'Just like you' over and over. It was also Willie's idea to put in an octave jump at the end of each verse and into the chorus. It will capture the attention, he said, and he was right.
Again, the words and melody flowed. I wrote the bones of the song really quickly, and not a single word has changed from that day to this. But when it came to recording it on the final day, I just couldn't play it, hard as I tried, and Willie had to accompany my vocal without me playing a note. I just couldn't grasp the timing of the loop. Things have changed since, and it's now one of my go to songs in a noisy room. But every time I play it solo, I miss Mary's backing vocals, because they're what really makes the song. I hope you agree.
TRACK 10: AMERICAN WAKE
Soon be the time, to say our goodbyes
To our young ones, so brave and so bold
Leaving a home that holds nothing no more
From a far away land, opportunity calls
They’ll set sail tomorrow, cross the wide ocean
Holding the hope that their dreams will come true
While us left behind we’ll shed silent tears
When they break the horizon, and vanish from view
For the ones who sail over the sea
Will never be this way again
And the ones who stay on here at home
They’ll never again see their kin
So we’ll not have a wake for the dead
For they’ll live long and prosper we pray
We’ll not see them again, so before they set sail
We’ll have an American Wake
Say goodbye to the ones, we’ll not see again
With an American Wake
They’ll fish the Atlantic, fish the Pacific
Farm on the fresh, fertile land in between
Dig up the coal, below Blue Ridge Mountains
Build tall great cities, we’ll never see
Pan rivers for gold, ride horses, herd cattle
Build roads and railways, work hard day and night
With always a mind, to the land left behind
In misty eyed memories, the Emerald Isle
For the ones who sail over the sea
Will never be this way again
And the ones who stay on here at home
They’ll never again see their kin
So we’ll not have a wake for the dead
For they’ll live long and prosper we pray
We’ll not see them again, so before they set sail
We’ll have an American Wake
Say goodbye to the ones, we’ll not see again
With an American Wake
For the ones who sail over the sea
Will never be this way again
And the ones who stay on here at home
They’ll never again see their kin
So we’ll not have a wake for the dead
For they’ll live long and prosper we pray
We’ll not see them again, so before they set sail
We’ll have an American Wake
Say goodbye to the ones, we’ll not see again
With an American Wake
ABOUT THE TRACK
In early 2023, I was out walking the dogs one afternoon, headphones on, listening to the radio, when I heard the expression 'American Wake' for the first time. A hundred years ago, when young Irish people with few prospects in Ireland left for 'the new world', those staying behind held what they called an American Wake. No one had died, but they would never have the resources to visit North America, and those leaving were unlikely to return. So they would never see them again, hence the wake. And that's what the song is about. For anyone from the Isle of Lewis reading this, there are strong parallels with the Metagama. (The SS Metagama was a Canadian Pacific Railway steamship that sailed between Scotland and Eastern Canada. On Saturday 21st April 1923, she sailed from Stornoway with 300 Lewis emigrants on board, all but 20 of them young men, with an average age of 22.) 2023 saw commemorations of the centenary of the emigration. American Wake is also set in 1923, from an Irish perspective.
I had a vision that I would sing the first chorus myself, a choir would join me on the second chorus, and the choir would sing the third chorus on its own. I saw it as the last track on the album, giving an emotional and stirring end to a concert of the album, should one ever happen. Andrew agreed. It was a perfect farewell song to finish the album with. But then two things happened. Budget realities and the lack of availability of a choir during our recording window meant that we ended up using my voice on all the choruses, with Andrew providing lovely backing vocals. We agreed that the first priority, and the raison d'etre for the album, was to get the song out there, and the stripped back production would mirror the rest of the album. And the second thing that happened was that I played Andrew If Only I Had Known. And he thought that IT was the perfect goodbye song. So the finale with the choir became the penultimate song with no choir.
There's a certain Irish group that I have often visualised doing a wonderful, full orchestral version of the song. One day, maybe, but every time I listen to our stripped back version I like it a little bit more. Play it several times, and you'll hear more and more layers on each listen. Keith's piano, Louisa's fiddle, Andrew's harmonies, the melodic variation on the final chorus...It took well over a month to take the song from its earliest form to the version you hear on the album. I remember when I went to Black Bay in May 2023, it was my 'latest song'. The first half of 2023 was a particularly productive time...
TRACK 11: IF ONLY I HAD KNOWN
I’d have held you closer
If only I had known
I’d have held you longer
If only I had known, If only I had known
It would be the last time that I’d hold you
Last time I’d smell that perfume on your skin
Last time that I’d feel your warmth against me
That I would never be with you again
If only I had known, If only I had known
I’d still be holding on to you right now
I’d have never, ever, ever let you go
I’d have never, ever, ever let you go
If only I had known, If only I had known
I’d have held you closer
If only I had known
I’d have held you longer
If only I had known, If only I had known
It would be the last time that I’d see you
Last time that I’d look into your eyes
Last time that I’d ever taste your sweetness
That we’d never get the chance to say goodbye
If only I had known, If only I had known
I’d still be holding on to you right now
I’d have never, ever, ever let you go
I’d have never, ever, ever let you go
If only I had known, If only I had known
ABOUT THE TRACK
If Only I Had Known is not only the last track on the album, but it's also the oldest song, written in 2021. The Bayhead Players did a concert in Tarbert, Harris in June 2022, and this was one of two songs I played at what was my first ever concert appearance. It was the favourite of my songs for a lovely lady called Chrissie who was still singing at Bayhead well into her nineties. She still had a beautiful, pure voice. When she passed away, her family came from Canada and USA for her funeral and I played the song at the post funeral wake in Bayhead. I was scared to look up as I played, as I could sense everyone was in tears and I was worried that if they set me off I wouldn't be able to finish the song. I kind of retired the song after that, but Andrew, and others whose opinions I value all told me to put it on the album. It's raw and pure, they tell me, and who am I not to take their collective advice?
In the studio, day one is about laying down sample tracks, which the musicians then play to and a new vocal is added at the end. But this was just guitar and vocal, with fiddle to be added later, so after ten minutes of putting a new vocal on, Scott said, what are we doing here, the sample track is as good as anything you're going to do today. So what you're listening to is actually the sample track recorded on the very first day back in February, with Louisa's fiddle added at the very end of the last session in April, late at night when we were all exhausted and ready to go home. What's it about? Death? Departure? Break up? Shattered dreams? Disillusion? I guess only you can decide what it means to you.
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CONTACT
Contact Martin by email on Fitflett@aol.com
Martin plays a live set in the New Lewis bar in Stornoway most Sunday evenings between 9.00pm and 10.45pm (these hours will change to 8.00pm to 9.45pm during winter opening hours). Why not call in, say hello, listen to a few live songs, and perhaps buy a CD directly for only £10?
Martin is available for one man acoustic performances of the album tracks and additional self-penned songs. Please make initial contact by email and he will get back to you at the earliest opportunity.
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