Closing the first side of the album, and intended to be the final song of the 'Lifehouse' film, '
The Song Is Over' is among the most beautiful ballads that Pete has ever written. Once again, it highlights the contrasting voices of Roger and Pete as well as some lovely piano work from session musician Nicky Hopkins. A very complex song which was never played live, the closing passages are enhanced by an almost subliminal top-of-the-scale synth harmonic line which traces the melody with a marvelous undulating counterpoint.
It's only by listening to these songs that the real potential of 'Lifehouse', at least from a musical point of view, can be appreciated. A rock opera, or at least a cycle of songs build around tunes as strong as this would surely have been the rock masterpiece to end all rock masterpieces. Sadly, when it failed to materialise in the way he had envisioned it, Pete's disillusionment led to his first nervous breakdown and almost broke up the band
"The song is over
It's all behind me
I should have known it
She tried to find me
Our love is over
They're all ahead now
I've got to learn it
I've got to sing out
chorus:
I'll sing my song to the wide open spaces
I'll sing my heart out to the infinite sea
I'll sing my visions to the sky high mountains
I'll sing my song to the free, to the free
I'll sing my song to the wide open spaces
I'll sing my heart out to the infinite sea
I'll sing my visions to the sky high mountains
I'll sing my song to the free, to the free
When I walked in through the door
Thought it was me I was looking for
She was the first song I ever sang
But it stopped as soon as it began
Our love is over
It's all behind me
They're all ahead now
Can't hope to find me
(chorus)
This song is over
I'm left with only tears
I must remember
Even if it takes a million years
The song is over
The song is over
Searchin' for a note, pure and easy
Playing so free, like a breath rippling by"
'
Getting In Tune', which opens the second side of the album, uses the time honoured tradition of tuning up before a show as an allegory for creating harmony between disparate societies. This is another dynamic rocker - maybe not as breathtaking as others on the record, but certainly no slouch either. Like the previous song, this features Roger at his absolute best
"I'm singing this note 'cause it fits in well
With the chords I'm playing
I can't pretend there's any meaning here
Or in the things I'm saying
But I'm in tune
Right in tune
I'm in tune
And I'm gonna tune
Right in on you
Right in on you
Right in on you
I get a little tired of having to say
"Do you come here often?"
But when I look in your eyes and see the harmonies
And the heartaches soften
I'm getting in tune
Right in tune
I'm in tune
And I'm gonna tune
Right in on you (right in on you)
Right in on you (right in on you)
Right in on you
I've got it all here in my head
There's nothing more needs to be said
I'm just bangin' on my old piano
I'm getting in tune with the straight and narrow
(Getting in tune with the straight and narrow)
Getting in tune with the straight and narrow
(Getting in tune with the straight and narrow)
Yeah, I'm getting in tune with the straight and narrow
(Getting in tune with the straight and narrow)
I'm singing this note 'cause it fits in well
With the way I'm feeling
There's a symphony that I hear in your heart
Sets my head a-reeling
But I'm in tune
Right in tune
I'm in tune
And I'm gonna tune
Right in on you (right in on you)
Right in on you (right in on you)
Right in on you
Baby, with you
Baby, with you
Baby, with you
Baby, with you
Baby, with you
I've got it all here in my head
There's nothing more needs to be said
I'm just bangin' on my old piano
I'm getting in tune with the straight and narrow
Getting in tune with the straight and narrow (repeat)"
With its rolling, appropriately 'mobile' rhythm and absence of harsh chords, '
Going Mobile' might lack the grandeur of many of the other tracks on the album, but it's a witty and worthy contender nevertheless. A travelogue song with vocals by Pete about the joys of driving around the country gypsy-style in a holiday home. Lines about hippy gypsies are particularly apt in this age of 'new age travellers'!
Apart from the tricky little acoustic rhythm sequence, the song is also noted for the guitar solo, in which Pete wired his electric through a device similar to a wah-wah pedal called an 'envelope follower' which results in a sound like the instrument is being played underwater!
"I'm goin' home
And when I wanna go home
I'm goin' mobile
Well, I'm gonna find a home
And we'll see how it feels
Goin' mobile
Keep me movin'
I can pull up by the curb
I can make it on the road
Goin' mobile
I can stop in any street
And talk with people that we meet
Goin' mobile
Keep me movin'
Out in the woods
Or in the city
It's all the same to me
When I'm drivin' free, the world's my home
When I'm mobile
Hee, hoo!
beep beep!
Play the tape machine
Make the toast and tea
When I'm mobile
Well I can lay in bed
With only highway ahead
When I'm mobile
Keep me movin'
Keep me movin'
Over 50
Keep me groovin'
Just a hippie gypsy
Come on move now
Movin'
Keep me movin', yeah
Keep me movin', groovin', groovin', yeah
Movin', Yeah
Mobile, mobile, mobile, mobile, ...
I don't care about pollution
I'm an air-conditioned gypsy
That's my solution
Watch the police and the tax man miss me
I'm mobile
Oooooh, yeah, hee!
Mobile, mobile, mobile yeah"