The recording that I made selections from for this 20/3/93 Peel Show only included 2 of the 5 tracks which Velocity Girl recorded for their only Peel Session. Those were the first two on the video. Session opener, Always had a question mark against it with regards to going onto the metaphorical mixtape. It was one for Velocity Girl fans who had been with them since the start given that it was originally recorded as the b-side to their first single, I Don’t Care If You Go, released in 1990. However, it was always going to be up against it once I decided that this was going to be a Copacetic themed post.
The remaining four tracks on the Velocity Girl session promoted the band’s debut album, also called Copacetic. The title track, which begins at 2:52, was the other one of the tracks I heard on the recording and if nothing else, it shows just how far the band had come since the days of Always.
If the previous track on this blog chronicled a relationship at the point where mutual loathing has taken hold, Copacetic appears to be set a stage earlier than that and there is an irony at work given that copacetic is an adjective used to describe something that is in excellent order. We are left to ponder whether this is really true given that the song seems to be about a need for renewal and change. This could be achieved by the couple themselves, but Sarah Shannon also appears to be suggesting that she may rip up her current routine and do something solo and spontaneous, while also keeping the pathway open for their partner to join them, because as Shannon admits, The sun doesn’t shine as bright in other parts of the world.
Despite the mentions of laughing and smiling at old, established jokes and shared kisses, the chorus makes it clear that the couple are moving onto different pathways:
Feel you right beside me.
But you’re nowhere to be found.
Feel you walking behind me.
Wish I could turn around.
The dying fall of her voice on the final line at the end of the song really packs a punch and leaves the listener hoping that some kind of painless resolution can be found.
The video contains all of the tracks from the session. The only other one that I would have put onto a mixtape from it would be the fourth track, the wonderfully sultry Here Comes.
The video features an erroneous date for when the session was recorded. It was actually recorded on February 23 1993.
As a song title, I’m sure that Copacetic has a long way to go before it rivals Tonight as a default title, but Peel was able to segue from Velocity Girl to The Upsetters 1971 release, Capasetic. Peel described it as being not one of Lee Perry’s most nimble productions. It’s certainly a bit of a rambling beast of a track albeit one featuring some nice flourishes and anchored by a bassline that sounds like a ringing telephone. If you’re going to listen to anyone working in progress, then you could do a lot worse than listen to Lee Perry
Videos courtesy of FruitierThanThou (Velocity Girl) and HutxyShaAk (Upsetters)
No comments:
Post a Comment