Village On The Sand

Album: Fires At Midnight (2001)
Play Video

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

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Facebook, Bromance and Email - The First Songs To Use New Words

Facebook, Bromance and Email - The First Songs To Use New WordsSong Writing

Where words like "email," "thirsty," "Twitter" and "gangsta" first showed up in songs, and which songs popularized them.

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie Combination

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie CombinationSong Writing

In 1986, a Stephen King novella was made into a movie, with a classic song serving as title, soundtrack and tone.

Adele

AdeleFact or Fiction

Despite her reticent personality, Adele's life and music are filled with intrigue. See if you can spot the true tales.

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"Songwriter Interviews

Ian talks about his 3 or 4 blatant attempts to write a pop song, and also the ones he most connected with, including "Locomotive Breath."

John Lee Hooker

John Lee HookerSongwriter Interviews

Into the vaults for Bruce Pollock's 1984 conversation with the esteemed bluesman. Hooker talks about transforming a Tony Bennett classic and why you don't have to be sad and lonely to write the blues.

Al Jourgensen of Ministry

Al Jourgensen of MinistrySongwriter Interviews

In the name of song explanation, Al talks about scoring heroin for William Burroughs, and that's not even the most shocking story in this one.