Album: Robyn Hitchcock
Year: 2017
. . .
Robyn Hitchcock’s father, Raymond, was a screenwriter, cartoonist and novelist who nearly had his leg amputated following the invasion of Normandy. Other than siring one of my all-time favorite musicians, his first novel, Percy, was the catalyst for one of the Prettiest Songs Ever Recorded, British Invasion Divison, “All God’s Children” by The Kinks.
However, Raymond himself was the catalyst for one of the Prettiest Songs Ever Recorded, Robyn Hitchcock Division — and a top 5 Robyn Hitchcock song — “Raymond and The Wires.”
“Raymond and The Wires” begins with the scraping strings of Emily Nelson over finger snaps — there’s very little percussion on this one — but there are soon keyboards and guitars that evoke the trolley bus he’s singing about.
My eyes have seen the trolley bus
On her pneumatic tires
Vamping down the highroad
Drinking from the wires
Obviously, trolleys and trains have always loomed large in Robyn Hitchcock’s music, but “drinking from the wires” is one of his most evocative phrases. Because, of course, electricity runs in a current. (And comes from other planets, according to Lou Reed.)
My eyes have seen the trolley bus
Her rivets and her wheels
Sinking electricity
I wonder how that feels
I wonder
Despite the floaty aspect of the entire song, “Raymond and The Wires” isn’t a dream of trains, instead, it’s a memory. A memory of a trip he took with his father over a half-century prior.
My eyes have seen the trolley bus
In 1964
I caught one with my father
We climbed through the back door
We couldn’t sit upstairs because
My father’s leg was bad
He spoke to me behind the glass
He was a lonesome dad
But, of course, only snatches of that memory. Lost to history — or at least omitted from the song — was where they were going and why. And also, we don’t know if young Robyn was disappointed because his father’s injuries meant that Robyn couldn’t sit upstairs, or if he was used to it. I wonder.
My eyes have seen the trolley bus
The silent way she moves
You miss the love you never had
The needle skips the grooves
I never knew my father close
Although i took him in
He travels round beside me now
He goes everywhere I’ve been
I wonder
I wonder
Whew! When his voice goes up on “I never knew my father close / although I took him in” it fucking breaks me every single time, and then of course “he goes everywhere I’ve been” is such a lovely way of explaining how the things you learn from your dad stick with you for the rest of your life, no matter what happens. And the Grant-Lee Phillips harmonies are spot-on, to boot.
I’m not going to lie: “Raymond and The Wires” gives me all of the feels — especially when I watch the lovely video he made for it — all the more now after losing my own father this year, and all I’m going to have is snatches of memories. But even before that, it always destroyed me, with all of its sparkling 12-string guitars and one of the most gorgeous melodies of a career full of them. I wonder.
“Raymond and The Wires” (Official Music Video)
“Raymond and the Wires” Live Acoustic on The Current, 2017
Did you miss a Certain Song? Follow me on Twitter: @barefootjim
The Certain Songs Database
A filterable, searchable & sortable somewhat up to date database with links to every “Certain Song” post I’ve ever written.
Certain Songs Spotify playlist
(It’s recommended that you listen to this on Spotify as their embed only has 200 songs.)
Support “Certain Songs” with a donation on Patreon
Go to my Patreon page