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We Are All Stardust EP

by alan_neilson

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1.
We Are All Stardust 06:35
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2.
Go With the Tide (C major version) 04:34
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3.
Go With the Tide (A major piano version) 04:27
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4.
I'll Go With the Tide (with Neil Robinson - Neilson mix) 06:52
info
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5.
We Are All Stardust (radio edit) 03:25
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about

The song is about and inspired by my grandad Charles Allen. I had already recorded an album using Charles’ voice, where he spoke about his life growing up in Liverpool in the 1920’s and 30’s working as a drummer and big band leader. When he recorded those stories in the 1980’s he had retired and just returned from a trip of a lifetime to visit family in Australia with his wife (my gran). One of the expressions he had used while over there was his version of the more common phrase “I’ll go with the flow” (referring to someone who lets things happen, is relaxed about random events, or is versatile and able to change plans) – Charles used the more archaic version: “I’ll go with the tide”. This would be in the context of him being asked what he would like to drink, or where he would like to eat, or where he would like to visit. I guess he didn’t want to be any trouble or dictate what the group was going to do, so would go with the majority. His Australian family thought this was a very funny phrase to use.
I was shocked to learn Charles was like this whilst there, because usually he was very forthright and set in his ways. He was a man of routine, he was tidy and punctual, he liked structure in his life. So to read that he would just allow his life to take an undirected course was surprising. So much so that the phrase “I’ll go with the tide” originally became the title of this song and its main theme. This later was taken over by the idea of immortality and being part of the universe, through the original middle eight section which started out being related to the tide ("We are only waves, returning to the sea") and then continued to deal with wider things: "We are all just dust, returning to the earth. We are particles, we are all star dust. We are all just dust; we are all star dust".
The phrase ‘Waves returning to the sea’ is a line I first heard in the TV series ‘The Good Place’ – the character Chidi is quoting from Buddhist teaching. It just fitted so beautifully with Charlie’s phrase ‘I’ll go with the tide’ I had to include it. Originally this section was a middle eight but I felt it was so important that after a melody change it became a chorus, and the original chorus became a kind of bridge.
I had already written before in my earlier song ‘We Are Dust’ how the human race and everything else on earth is made up of galactic debris that was pulled today by the gravitational force of stars. Therefore it seemed natural to continue with the theme of existence with the idea that we are made up of space dust.
It is also reference to the Hoagy Carmichael/Mitchell Parrish song ‘Stardust’ which was Charlie and Minnie’s favourite song. A part of its ghostly refrain can be heard at the end of the track. There is also a hint of Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust in the arrangement, particularly the handclaps and guitar solo section inspired by ‘Soul Love’.

The song is released on elementary recordings on 25 October 2022. the day there is a partial eclipse of the sun. As Rockets in the Trees sang on their track "w w w": "Planets moving in circles, a universal ballet" - we are all connected and should look after each other a bit better than we are.

The Bandcamp version has bonus content, not available on other releases: an additional track in collaboration with the awesome talent that is Neil Robinson and a PDF booklet showing artwork and how the song came to be.

credits

released October 25, 2022

Lyrics by alan neilson
Music composed by alan neilson
except tracks 2,3 and 4 by alan neilson and Neil Robinson

Produced and engineered by alan neilson
except Track 4
Music and production by Robinson/Neilson
Instrumentation by Neil Robinson except guitar, piano and vocals by Neilson


All other instruments and vocals by Neilson

Track 1 mastered by Pete Maher

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alan_neilson Stourbridge, UK

Please use the contact link if you wish to buy a CD (£6.00 for albums, £2 for singles).
Imagine someone who thought he could save the world, then take twenty plus years to realise that the world is big and ugly enough to look after itself. neilson now just sings about simple stuff - things that mean something to him and you. ... more

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