Village On The Sand

Album: Fires At Midnight (2001)
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Songfacts®:

  • The 15th and final track on the 2001 Fires At Midnight album runs to 4 minutes 54 seconds. An entirely original song with as usual music by Ritchie and lyrics by the lovely Candice, in concert this is a barnstorming number performed with enthusiastic audience participation. Although it sees Ritchie pick up his Stratocaster after an acoustic introduction, it is largely violin-based.

    While an historical ballad, it is difficult not to conclude that it was based in part on the dreamlike romance of the Black Knight and his Faerie Queen.
  • On the 2005 live DVD Castles & Dreams, on which it runs to around 7 minutes 20 seconds, Candice said, "This one's our pirate song," and explained how they came up with it. Castles & Dreams was recorded at Burg Neuhaus, Germany, a venue they had played before. That time, the day before the concert, there was a torrential storm with thunder and lightning which led to the whole band getting soaked. It was though she added an inspirational moment; Ritchie wrote the melody in "the bedroom with the silver paper on it." The lyrics were written at Jamaica Inn on Bodmin Moor in England. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Alexander Baron - London, England, for above 2

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