TINDERSTICKS –
TRAVELLING LIGHT (THIS WAY UP)
This is an amazing
song. This is THE Tindersticks song, the
one that defines their careers and the benchmark all their other material looks
up to and attempts to reach, to attain such perfection.
Many years ago in my
hometown of Colchester
the first explicit pawn shop appeared situated near the train station, the
place where people sought and found escape.
The shop was a prototype Cash Converters and among the items was a rack
of CDs. These discs were of bands doing
songs I did not recognise. Much like
everything else in the shop, they were of no worth; they were the reject of
items of sad people. At a time in
nineties it seemed like every music act in existence had a CD. Then finally I found two discs by bands that
I recognised: Goodbye
Mr Mackenzie and Tindersticks. I
could only afford one so I purchased the former of the fact that their singer
was Shirley Manson of the then hot Garbage and Big John Duncan was
their guitarist that subsequently went on to play with Nirvana and
be part of their road crew. With
hindsight it was a most insane decision considering that the Tindersticks CD
was “Travelling Light”. For years I held
regret towards my purchase decision that day.
The positioning of
such a song in a pawn shop is funny and almost strategic one. In clichéd fashion it was the result of
someone real travelling light, stripping their belongings and moving on. This was stupidly appropriate.
The first time I heard
“Travelling Light” was on the old Mark Radcliffe graveyard shift on Radio One
in the mid nineties. At the time this
was not the sort of track I would usually listen to but after just one listen
its class was undeniable. Sure Mark and Lard would mock Stuart
Staples’ voice but it was born of affection and envy.
“Travelling Light” is
classic songwriting. It sounds like the
kind of song, if you were lucky, you would hear your parents play when growing
up. It is mature, melancholic and
masterful. This is not a band, it’s an
orchestra.
The subject matter is
timeless. It’s about exit, the end of
times, the loss of love. That is if it
was ever there in the first place. The
vocals are tender and affectionate while also resoundingly pragmatic and
realistic.
Accompanying and
complimenting Stuart Staples is the wonderfully pained voice of Carla Torgerson
from The Walkabouts. The Walkabouts was
a country tinged band on Sub Pop and these credentials served to lend
everything more weight. As I say, this
song is their hit, their height, the high water mark of their career. A song that leaves you scarred while wanting
more. You want to experience such highs
over and over but at the end of the day such a life is not sustainable. The listener’s reaction is both awkward and
amazing.
A perfect journey.
Thesaurus moment:
baggage.
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