I Could Be Dreaming: the Belle and Sebastian song-by-song, album-by-album thread

It's no State I Am In or Stars Of Track And Field, but It Could Have Been A Brilliant Career is a rather lovely opener and I think sets off the rest of the mood of the album quite nicely. Stuart's singing is top notch. 4.5/5.

 

I have the Jeepster UK LP as well--sound is really stunning.

 

It Could Have Been a Brillant Opener: 4/5

First time I heard it, at the end I thought...Oh, that's it? I was expecting something more adventurous or epic, an unexpected melodic twist, I don't know, I feel the song lacks something, also that it's too restrained and subdued. The word play on "having a stroke" is quite clever though, and the song is solid lyrically, so I can't say it's bad.

I'm not gonna lie, I don't like the sound of this album at all (I have it on CD). It's way too... "chamber-esque", and the vocals are too low in the mix. This particular song I think suffers from that a lot.

 

I'm afraid I don't get the wordplay. Is it a pun on medical stroke and brush stroke, or something? Sorry for being thick.

 

I think the first couple of lines want to make you believe it's about a heart/brain stroke, but the more the song goes, the more it also could be understood as an ephemeral stroke of genius that the characters couldn't live up to. I didn't think about the brush stroke before; that's another very interesting layer of meaning!

 

I though you meant, like, masturbating. But that makes more sense.

 

Following the theory 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' this is a similar style of opening song to "The State I Am In" and "The Stars Of Track And Field" on the previous 2 albums, although not quite the masterpiece that those other 2 are. I would rather it lasted a bit longer than 2.23 minutes but I like the melodies and Isobel's backing vocals always add something dreamy to the mix, even though I can't hear what she's singing and I think she may be singing different lyrics to Stuart.

4/5

 

4/5
Another one that builds nicely, but not as great an opening track as the first two albums. Very hard acts to follow.

I could never understand how the very start of it was even more low-fi than anything on the first two albums. So much noise. I can only assume it was a deliberate choice.

 

I like the noise.

 

Our votes for "It Could Have Been a Brilliant Career"

1-0
2-0
3-0
4-4
5-5
Average: 4.1111

 

Today's song is "Sleep the Clock Around", written by Stuart Murdoch and credited to Belle and Sebastian; produced by Tony Doogan.


Spotify: Sleep The Clock Around
LYRIC.

The song was released as a promo single.
A version was played for the BBC and included on The BBC Sessions, recorded in July 1997, more than a year before release. I'll link to that below.

Another version recorded on May 22nd 2015 was included on Live 2015 album.

In addition to the band, Ian MacKay plays bagpipes on the track and it's Isobel Campbell on the co-lead vocal.
---
According to Stuart David's book, this song was written in 1995 in the Beatbox course with a comptuer program called Cubase, with which Murdoch also wrote "Electric Renaissance."

Murdoch: That song was about walking over the brow of a hill, away from the two people I loved most, when I had betrayed them somewhat: after they cast me out of their confidence and out of the cafe. So it’s a song that cries out for recovery. If you take it to be about ‘maturing and eventually becoming happy’ then I’m happy about that

 

BBC version, recorded in 7/97.

 

One of my favourite B&S songs. There’s a beautiful live version with a piano part (I think from the Black sessions) which builds and builds and I wish it was part of the studio version.

 

Another great track, but still not as good as some of their earlier highs. I like the electronic touches - 4.5/5

 

I heard this done on the BBC session prior to the album coming out (along with another track from the album) and they got me really excited for the album. I presumed this would be The Big Song.

I cooled down on it slightly later, and it became just another good song on a great album. Listening to it now, and comparing it with the BBc version, my conclusion is that that album recording just isn't as good as the BBC version. It's cooler, more detatched, more clinical, more bloodless. The BBC version (which I hadn't heard for years) still sounds thrilling.

But to be more positive. In any version it's a great song, particularly the climax when the title phrase is finally sung. It's no surprise to discover this is an early song: so many of my favourite songwriters start out with a rich vein of material from their first streak of creativity, that takes several albums to use up.

4

 

It's interesting that both this song and the last song have no real chorus, just verses. Which is sort of a folk thing, I suppose. And if the melody and words are strong enough as they are here, you don't really need much more.

The greater limiting on the BBC release hinders my enjoyment, but I do like the driving sound of the electric guitar on that one as well as the beefier drums. However, my preference is the studio version: detatched sounding? Perhaps, but thers something about the piano I like and again the overall sound drives it well -- the weird electronic sounds re buried in the mix for the most part and give the song an odd, off-kilter charm. The synth/bagpipes/trumpet solo is a great moment in Belle and SEbastian's catalogue -- so thrilling. I won't rate it quite as high as the best of the best, but it's still pretty brilliant, and again I marvel at the way the band's arrangement enhances an excellent song in it's own right. It may have taken a year to get there, but they got there.

4.6/5

 

I love Brilliant Career: the wordplay, the instrumentation (which is expanded on this album), the build up over three verses (I think) and obviously the lyrics and the story of failure that they convey. This was my introduction to the band and it took a few plays to sink in, I admit, but it has everything that I like about this period of the band. It's also really easy to play on the guitar!
4.5/5

 

Sleep The Clock Around, I'm not even going to bother describing it, a high point. 5/5

 

Sleep the Clock Around: 5/5

Arguably the best song on the album. It's only verses, but every third verse, the break in the otherwise steady meter and the departure from the hypnotic melody hits you almost like a chorus. The arrangement is beautifully eerie (what is THAT sound exactly?!), the Isobel backing vocals are gorgeous.

Too bad it's all going to go downhill from here

 

New to the thread. ...

If Your Feeling Sinister is one of my favourite albums, and their masterpiece , and I love B & S ..

The early EPs are great , love the Smiths style artwork and lo fi videos ...they created their own world ....

So look forward to contributing further ...

Sleep the clock around ..great track from a nearly perfect album ...4/5

 

I've huge sentimental attachment to the album, and it has been ingrained in me since the late nineties, but I must admit that I hadn't played it in its entirety for a very long time until this thread prompted me to do so.

I have great affection for certain songs on this album that - I suspect - some others do not, and likewise, I'm possibly not as impressed with other songs as others would be.

As such, it's a 4/5 for me.

 

I prefer the BBC version for the extra energy the guitar gives it, and also because there are no electronic doodlings which I liked ok at first on the studio version but now irritate me a little for some reason I haven't worked out.

4/5

 

Definite 5/5 for Sleep The Clock Around. Long been one of my faves from this album and from them in general. I think sublime is the right word for it. I only wish it went on for longer. I like the album version better than the BBC. I had a boot of a show from Europe 1998 (Amsterdam? I think it was on a cdr, long gone) where they played this and it was just wonderful. Was on my holy grail of songs to hear them play live for the longest time from that. Lucky to have heard it 3 times now. I'm glad they started playing it more.

 

I think it might be the one I mentioned - French session though oddly broadcast on Danish radio

 

The last song, starts after 44 minutes....