Lucy Over Lancashire
"Lucy Over Lancashire" | |
---|---|
Paul Rooney | |
Released | April 23, 2007 |
Genre | |
Length | 16:26 |
Label |
|
Songwriter(s) | Rooney |
Producer(s) | Rooney |
"Lucy Over Lancashire" is a song by English
Composition and narrative
Lucy Over Lancashire is, by description, a sound art work, but has been regarded as a full-length song in itself. It was made specifically for broadcast on BBC Radio Lancashire's programme On the Wire, which the song references frequently in its narrative.[1][2] The song, built on a repetitive, hypnotic and atmospheric musical backdrop heavily inspired by dub reggae and Lancastrian post-punk,[3] features the voice of "Lucy", a "spryte of the air"[1] existing as a disembodied female voice speaking in a deadpan but constant Lancashire dialect.[4][5]
In an often self-referencing monologue text from her perspective, intended to resemble a conspiracy theory, she details the apocalyptic "master plan" of the Devil being executed in Lancashire that has been explained to her by the mysterious, evil and shadowy figure "Alan",[3] chronologically beginning with the Pendle witches who perpetuated the beginning of capitalism into the "dark Satanic mills" of the Industrial Revolution, and reaching the present day with Lucy tracing the origin of BBC Radio Lancashire to Revelation 13, leading to the voice of radio host Allan Beswick (whose voice appears on the record in character).[2][3][6] Musical entities linked to Lancashire, such as The Fall, Mick Hucknall and The Beatles, as well as figures important to the politics of the narrative like Marx and Engels and Lee "Scratch" Perry, are mentioned by Lucy but all have their names changed or distorted.[2][3] The song also frequently makes use of production effects that are relative and tie into the subject matter, including delay effects, backmasking, and psychedelic layers of Hammond organ playing.[6]
Legacy
Upon being premiered on the radio programme
Track listing
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "-" | - |
2. | "Lucy Over Lancashire" | 16:26 |
References
- ^ a b c d e f "OWD001 Lucy Over Lancashire [single] – Paul Rooney". Owd Scrat. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
- ^ a b c Genius. "Lucy Over Lancashire lyrics".
- ^ a b c d "Lucy Over Lancashire FULL VERSION". Paul Rooney / Vimeo. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
- ^ Biggs, Bryan (16 August 2017). "Paul Rooney".
- ^ Cooper, Neil. "Paul Rooney, Lucy Over Lancashire review".
- ^ a b Owd Scrat. "Lucy Over Lancashire on Bandcamp, with lyrics".
- ^ Massive Crush (3 January 2008). "Paul Rooney, Lucy Over Lancashire".