the site
David Ferrard
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songRain |
at OOTB
(June 2004)
First on stage was seasoned veteran and compere for the night David Ferrard. David started with the highly philosophical and probably autobiographical "In the Morning". He inadvertently seemed to set the tone for the rest of the evening, which tended towards the more introspective and reflective side of song writing. (usual kind of stuff then!). Lines like "No reason to rise" and a lot of lyrics about the futility of working in financial sector in the States, nothing Gordon Gecko would agree with here- fancy a job with Standard Life anyone? David followed this with a new song "Cold speaks the morning air" a short and poetic number that I really enjoyed, again the thoughtful lyrics stand up well "Saying I love you sounds so contrived", more critical self examination from David. The final song with no obvious title homed in on the shaky shady world of the TV evangelistic republican Christian fundamentalist that so irks most of us. David has a lot of venom saved up for these low-life guys and I fully agree with him. They're all going to get it in the end! Dubya got his first name check of the evening also (no OOTB would be complete without that, maybe the CIA are checking the website, hence the high hit rate) and I think David will be ok on judgement day, not so sure about you lot though.(Nov 2003)
Someone I rate very highly is David Ferrard and I'm glad to say he was back tonight. As a dual citizen of the USA and UK he dedicated "How They Fail Us" to 'Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee' (Bush and Blair). His remarkable voice sounded fragile and powerful at the same time on this incredibly moving lament. The gentle "Rain" had an extra verse as a friend told him his songs were too short (I agree) and was about being in a room and only coming out once the rain had stopped. Inspired by the possibly underrated Emmylou Harris "The Hills Of Virginia" was written about war from a soldier's perspective and was powerful, evocative stuff.