These songs were recorded in my friend Chris' flat in Totnes. Songs 10 - 12 were written in the aftermath of the end of my first great relationship.

1. Hey boy

Once of these looking on/being looked on songs. The verse about journey and destination is continuing pre-occupation which found another outlet in Stations.

2. She seems near

Woman as a mystical presence? Really? But not a bad lyric.

3. Black and white

Black and white films of World War I soldiers saying goodbye to loved ones are heartbreaking. We know the arguments about the greater good outweighing personal loss, but it's still hard to confront the misery. An uncle of mine died in the far East in World War II and you have to ask, 'How did that help exactly?'.

4. My broken heart

It is interesting (again) to see that I was writing songs about having broken up some while before the break up. It seems I was rehearsing for the inevitable.

5. Seeing the world

This is about rootless middle class people like me who have moved for education and employment and not sure where they fit in.

6. I am falling

An intellectual falls in love. The final section was grafted on to make it a little less cerebral (so he deconstructs with hindsight).

7. On a pinnacle

When I think of this song the senior management of the school I taught at spring to mind. Safe in their bunker, missives were issued and they were accorded suitable respect.

8. Wasteland

The picture I have in mind is a middle-aged middle class representative in the garden of his or her pleasant suburban home screaming silently at the futility of it all.

9. So be it

To be harsh towards a loved one and be taken at one's word is to be served right.

10. All is not what it seems

Sometimes I wonder whether anything is what it seems.

11. Mary has a problem

This is a mixture of the Nativity and the pressure that young women find themselves under to replicate it.

12. Get yourself gone

The biggest relationship of my life was over. After ignoring huge red warning signs I finally had to face the truth. I was a victim of the inertia trap: the longer it goes on the more you have to lose. This is the angry visceral response.

13. Love again

I start to get nostalgic here and mourning over the loss is the hardest part. I think this is one of my best efforts with the talking coda to balance things out.

14. Stronger now

Finally there is coming to terms with it. The strange thing was that she still considered me her good friend, but the most I could do was offer to be a listening post, because to do more would be the start of a suicidal hope.