Manuscript by Al Stewart

Album: Zero She Flies (1970)

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This is the first historical folk-rock song Stewart wrote and the one that can be said to have started the genre. Provisionally entitled "England" from an album that was provisionally called Guitar Tunes And Song Poems, "Manuscript" is also part autobiography and part metaphor for the passing of time, and of an era, that of the British Empire, the greatest empire in the history of the world on which the Sun never set. Although technically a Scotsman, Al Stewart spent most of his early life in England before emigrating to the United States in the '70s.
"Manuscript" opens with bigwigs in the Admiralty concerned at the perceived rise of German sea power, and his grandmother writing in her diary. The foreign news is that an archduke was shot down in Bosnia, "but nothing much." This assassination was of course the first in a chain of incidents that led to the Great War, at that time the bloodiest conflict in history.

The song ends with Al himself standing on the beach at Worthing with his then girlfriend Mandi, who inspired the song "The News From Spain." He reflects on a similar visit to the same beach with his late grandfather, and wonders where he, his beloved England, and the world in general is going.
"Manuscript" also appears on the first volume of Oceans Of Delphi, a three-volume unofficial set of live recordings from 1970-96; on this version Stewart tells his audience this is definitely the favorite song he has ever written. The aforementioned Admiralty bigwigs were Admiral Lord Fisher (1841-1920) and Prince Louis Battenberg (1854-1921), men he refers to as "superheroes."

"I must have read a biography about Prince Louis of Battenberg at the time, but I can't for the life of me remember who wrote it," Stewart recalled to Uncut magazine in 2022. "The key question in all of this is actually how did I get Prince Louis Battenberg into a song that was really about my grandfather? I have no idea! It was a completely different type of song for me to have written. There's a lot going on in it."
Stewart called the song "Manuscript" because it is like holding an old manuscript in your hands and watching it crumble, when what you are in fact watching is your own lifetime crumbling away. >>
Suggestion credit:
Alexander Baron - London, England, for all above

Comments: 4

Libby from Louisville, KentuckyI think it's a case of that quote- You have the whole of your life to write your first album,& six months to write the second. Al had a lot to say of his past when he began the historical/ autobiographical songs. There isn't that urgency now. Love the man's work.
Chepooka from Homewood, AlabamaAgree with Jeffrey and Mike, one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite artists. I saw Al in Houston on the second night of a 2-night stand. Those who attended the 1st performance were able to request a number to be played at the next night's show. My choice would have been "Manuscript". I purchased a CD after the show and those who did so were able to have it signed by Al. I asked him when it was my turn if he had performed "Manuscript" the previous night and his response was, "No, can't do them all".
Mike from Cambridge, United KingdomManuscript is my favourite Al Stewart song. I heard him say once, when someone called out for Manuscript: "Hmm. That's a good song. In fact the only good song I wrote". Which isn't true of course, but it shows how he regards it.

I agree that his older material surpasses the more famous records like YOTC. But he's not finished yet. Take a listen to "A Beach Full Of Shells" and in particular "Somewhere in England 1915".
Jeffrey from Reading, PaWhat a fantastic song, and SOOO playable on acoustic guitar. I was at an Al Stewart concert
in 2008 and hoped we would ask the audience if they had any song requests. This would have been
my overwhelming choice had he done so.
So much of Al's older material (like this song) is absolutely wonderful. It's a shame so many associate him with only "Song on the Radio"
and "Year of the Cat", very mediocre efforts
(by his own admission).
If I played to live audiences, I'd certainly do
a LONG Al Stewart set, and this song would always
be included in it. Kudos to one of the world's
greatest song writers for this song.

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