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Rafferty, Gerry - Sleepwalking [full album]
Identifier
028799
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
Wikipedia - Sleepwalking
The 1982 album Sleepwalking saw Rafferty taking a very different approach to his work. Christopher Neil replaced Hugh Murphy, Rafferty's usual producer, introducing synthesisers and drum machines that give the album a harder, less acoustic sound, and apparently eschewing the richly detailed arrangements notable on Rafferty's three previous records. According to Murphy, interviewed a decade later:
"Gerry had made three albums on the trot and I think he was pretty jaded at that time and feeling the pressure and he just thought, 'Well, I'll try another tack,' which is understandable".
Instead of a cover painting and hand-lettering by John 'Patrick' Byrne, who had illustrated every previous Rafferty and Stealers Wheel album, Sleepwalking featured a simple, stark photograph of an empty road stretching to the sky.
There was change too in the songs. The deeply introspective lyrics of Sleepwalking suggest Rafferty found success far from glamorous: tracks like "Standing at the Gates", "Change of Heart", and "The Right Moment" .... – and continued his long-running theme of alienation.
Liner notes for the compilation album Right Down the Line (prepared with Rafferty's close co-operation) confirmed this several years later, noting the singer was now "finding himself at the crossroads and looking to replace the treadmill with a new dimension in his life".
A description of the experience
Sleepwalking - Gerry Rafferty
Out on the street and the rain is fallin'
I got nowhere to go
Here in my heart I can hear you callin'
Maybe I should come back home?
I don't know what keeps us together
But I can't break the chain
I don't mind a little stormy weather
But I just can't stand the rain
Sleep-sleepwalkin'
(Hey-ey)
Deep sleep talkin'
(Hey-ey)
Reelin' and rockin'
(Hey-ey)
Wailin' at the moon
(Hey-ey)
Sleep-sleepwalkin'
(Hey-ey)
Deep sleep talkin'
(Hey-ey)
Reelin' and rockin'
(Hey-ey)
Wailin' at the moon
Sleep won't come so you lie there waitin'
Lookin' at the silvery light
Tellin' yourself there's nothin' new
So whatever gets you through the night
Meanwhile back in the music business
The beat goes on and on
I sell my soul to the company man
When there's nothin' else to lean upon
Sleep-sleepwalkin'
(Hey-ey)
Deep sleep talkin'
(Hey-ey)
Reelin' and rockin'
(Hey-ey)
Wailin' at the moon
(Hey-ey)
Sleep-sleepwalkin'
(Hey-ey)
Deep sleep talkin'
(Hey-ey)
Reelin' and rockin'
(Hey-ey)
Wailin' at the moon
People come, people go
Friends they disappear
There's only one thing that I wanna know
Tell me: where do we go from here?
Everybody's on the make
Everybody's tryin' to get ahead
In a world like this you just exist
To feed the walkin' dead
Sleep-sleepwalkin'
(Hey-ey)
Deep sleep talkin'
(Hey-ey)
Reelin' and rockin'
(Hey-ey)
Wailin' at the moon
(Hey-ey)
Sleep-sleepwalkin'
(Hey-ey)
Deep sleep talkin'
(Hey-ey)
Reelin' and rockin'
(Hey-ey)
Wailin' at the moon
Lookin' out on a world gone crazy
Waitin' for the fun to begin
The race is on, yeah they're gettin' ready
Jesus, what a state we're in!
Meanwhile down in my backyard
I'm sittin' doin' solitary
Now that I've milked the sacred cow
I just worry ‘bout the military
Sleep-sleepwalkin'
(Hey-ey)
Deep sleep talkin'
(Hey-ey)
Reelin' and rockin'
(Hey-ey)
Wailin' at the moon
(Hey-ey)
Sleep-sleepwalkin'
(Hey-ey)
Deep sleep talkin'
(Hey-ey)
Reelin' and rockin'
(Hey-ey)
Wailin' at the moon
Whooh-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo
Get ready
Get ready
Get ready
Get ready
Get ready
Get ready
Get ready
Get ready
Get ready
Get ready
Get ready