On a whim, I'm going to start a new thread about this remarkable song.
I could listen to the little ambient intro all day. Little arpeggios and backwards twiddles that remind me of the lovely sounds of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra. Then some piano; a simple little refrain that sets the scene for some of the most simple, yearning lyrics that Barney has ever managed.
If you listen hard, you can hear some fantastic little New Order tricks. Listen to what happens behind the words 'winter gale' and you'll see what I mean.
Spoken lyrics are like hard kicks in the bollocks as far as I'm concerned: very difficult to deliver without causing terrible pain. Somehow, this song contains a spoken couplet that causes a fantastic rush of pleasure, rather than the kidney-bleeding agony of a failed rap. There's only two spoken lines, juxtaposed by a classic pop moment as two of the most optimistic lines ever are sung with a beautiful upneck guitar riff like a funk glissando. Wow. Worth the admission price alone.
The rest of the song kind of drifts around. The casual listener is in a dream by now and anyone trying to follow the lyrics is blissfully lost in the happy/sad/you/me/together/apart confusion that's been created. The overall feel is optimistic and that's all you know. Barney seems to sense that his four minutes are nearly up and shouts out a plaintive series of appeals against pared-down drum and synth back with echoey backing vocals.
Then a quick instrumental break to catch his breath and then we're off into the closing refrain where he invites us all to leave with him to some happy land by promising no end of eternal truths, love and flight from some unspecified uncongenial situation.
What a fucking track.
