Wings Of Speed

Album: Stanley Road (1995)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The closing track on Paul Weller's 1995 album Stanley Road, this features a vocal contribution from former Young Disciples singer, Carleen Anderson. Speaking to The Independent May 27, 2005, Weller described Anderson's voice on this as, "the nearest I'll get to hearing angels sing." He added: "It's heavenly. She sang one verse free-form and we put it down. Then she did another take, then another, and she wouldn't play them back so we put them all together, weaved them in and out of each other."
  • The lyrics describe how Weller feels when he looks at Pre-Raphaelite artist, John Waterhouse's, The Lady of Shalott. The oil-on-canvas painting is a representation of a scene from Lord Alfred Tennyson's 1832 poem of the same name, which is based on Elaine of Astolat, who yearned with an unrequited love for the knight Sir Lancelot and died of grief. Weller explained to The Independent: "The lines 'With Jesus at the helm' and 'one candle left to light the way' refer directly to the painting. I love Waterhouse's paintings, the drama in them, and I was trying to capture that in music."
  • Beyond capturing the mood of the Waterhouse painting, Weller was also reacting to an upheaval in his personal life. "It's also about splitting up with my wife at the time and feeling removed from her and my children and even becoming a different person," he told Daniel Rachel, author of The Art of Noise: Conversations with Great Songwriters. Weller was married to English soul singer Dee C. Lee, who was also a backing vocalist in Weller's post-Jam band The Style Council.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Little Big Town

Little Big TownSongwriter Interviews

"When seeds that you sow grow by the wicked moon/Be sure your sins will find you out/Your past will hunt you down and turn to tell on you."

Millie Jackson

Millie JacksonSongwriter Interviews

Outrageously gifted and just plain outrageous, Millie is an R&B and Rap innovator.

Don Dokken

Don DokkenSongwriter Interviews

Dokken frontman Don Dokken explains what broke up the band at the height of their success in the late '80s, and talks about the botched surgery that paralyzed his right arm.

Martyn Ware of Heaven 17

Martyn Ware of Heaven 17Songwriter Interviews

Martyn talks about producing Tina Turner, some Heaven 17 hits, and his work with the British Electric Foundation.

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In Songs

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In SongsSong Writing

Songs where something goes horribly wrong (literally or metaphorically), and help is needed right away.

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.