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12​:​26

from Vox Artis by Caryl Archer

/

about

Not many songs mention Blackpool, Poulton-le-Fylde or Kirkham, but due to my writing location it turned out to be the most natural thing.

I began scribbling down the lyrics while sitting at Platform 1 of Preston railway station. I remember being very flustered because I thought I was going to be late for my train to take me to visit my parents, but it turned out I was three minutes early and needn't have panicked quite so much. Story of my life... That's why the working title of the song was 'Three Minutes Early', though I later decided to name it after the time of the train I had caught.

The sampled voices and rumbles that can be heard at the beginning and end of the track are Dictaphone recordings (taken on a separate occasion) of a station staff member announcing the Manchester Piccadilly train coming into Preston while another pulled into the platform where I was standing. The latter sample was tuned somewhat and chopped up to make it sound like she was singing.

lyrics

12:26 to Blackpool North
22 minutes of solitary thought
Trying my best not to get caught
Up in these things, ideas and dreams

Kirkham and Wesham slip out of sight
The couple beside me
Watching me write
Tourists and teenagers headed for Saturday night
While I sit here with nothing
But fears to fight

Scared of staying still
Feeling trapped in my own skin
Though I'm longing to begin, I'm stalling
Scared of moving on
It's like I don't know what I want
I afraid of what's to come...

Train now arriving, Poulton-le-Fylde
Pushing past people like some impatient child, 'cause I'm
Feeling too stormy for weather so mild
My spirit is willing, but my flesh is wild, I'm...

Scared of staying still
Feeling trapped in my own skin
Though I'm longing to begin, I'm stalling
Scared of moving on
It's like I don't know what I want
Hiding here, behind a song...

Yeah
I'm sick of staying still
And I scared of moving on
It's like I don't know what I want
I'm afraid of what's to come

No, I don't know what I want
I'm afraid of what's to come...

credits

from Vox Artis, released December 17, 2012

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Caryl Archer UK

Singer songwriter; happily flitting between genres; pop, rock and electronica.

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