FUTURE SADNESS PAST
Slow light, runway from the sun
So right, time and times are done
We must pay the price for fun
Until we have Night Man on the run

Slow light, MacBeth witches’ brew
Best seen from some distant view
We know, do what you have to do
It’s an icy night we must all live through

Now we rage against the cold sky
Now we hate tomorrow
Now we say we will try
To kill the birds of sorrow
To kill the birds of sorrow

Words by Peter Greatorex.
Copyright ℗ 1991 D & G Music.

Lyrics by Peter Greatorex.
Music by George Davies/Peter Greatorex/Jeff Willmot.

Recorded live at Silent Running Studios, Exeter, Autumn 1991.
Audio lifted from a cassette bootleg and cleaned.
Remastered at Wud Records Studios 2010.

Originally released 19th December 1991.
First re-release March 1992.
Second re-release June 2000.
Third re-release 16th December 2010.

Performers:
Peter Greatorex – vocals, cigarette lighter, Fast Fret tin
George Davies – guitar
Jeff Willmot – bass

Cover Art:
Mushroom Baby by Peter Greatorex
https://www.wudrecords.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/0647a_Mushroom-Baby-2.jpg

Fun Facts:
* This song was composed using just a bass, a guitar, their volume knobs and a shiny new set of lyrics from the prolific pen of Pete.
* An Alesis Quadraverb Plus and a few pipes of some extraordinarily good gear also deserve accreditation.
* Several subsequent attempts were made to record Future Sadness Past using the reel-to-reel machine.
* This live version was by far everybody’s favourite.
* It is lifted straight off the rehearsal cassette from the day when it was originally created.
* George plays Nicodemus for the beautiful icy ringing of the strings when played beyond the bridge and the nut.
* Jeff was rather fond of using his Mighty Mite bass to make whale noises and would often break into them during quieter moments.
* He would also play a solo version of Misty by Johnny Mathis on the bass, which was completely wonderful.
* An acoustic version of Future Sadness Past song emerged a few years after the original.
* It is based around an Em9 chord, exactly the same chord as the start of Ship to Shore.
* Future Sadness Past is completely atemporal and relies on the performers’ interactions.
* There are no beats at all until Pete starts flicking his unusual Zippo gas lighter by the mic and then tapping George’s Fast Fret tin with it.
* We felt these added sounds were very atmospheric, reminiscent of the clicking of dry bones echoing from inside a fog over the darkened River Styx.

Copyright ℗ 1991 D & G Music.
Copyright © 2010 Wud Records.