10. Prairie Rose

Released: 15th November 1974

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(Ferry/Manzanera)

(Texas) Oh that’s where I belong it seems to me
(Texas) Lonesome star shine on the big country
(Texas) With your open skies and you for company
(Texas) Oh prairie rose, how happy I should be

Hey, hey, You can take it from me
Hey, hey, I’ll be coming, you’ll see
Hey, hey, Oh what a state to be in
Hey, hey, You’re tantalizing me

(Texas) I will compose in fancy rhyme or just plain prose
(Texas) A song of praise to you, prairie rose
(Texas) Though I’m not sure I can explain your strange allure
(Texas) Oh prairie rose, a crown of thorns, a scented flower

Hey, hey, I’d better leave right away
Hey, hey, I can hear you calling me
Hey, hey, Prairie rose
Hey, hey, Prairie rose
Hey, hey, Prairie rose
Hey, hey, Prairie rose
Hey, hey, Prairie rose

History

Released in 1974, ‘Country Life’ defined Roxy Music as an imperial force within both mainstream pop culture and the then heavy rock dominated album charts. From the mannered urgency of its opening piano chords, giving way to a three way crescendo of Manzanera’s screaming guitar, Thomson’s avalanche-like drumming, and the method actor crie de coeur of Ferry’s impassioned vocal, this was a relentlessly fast paced record in which high drama seemed to alternate with the strained nervous energy of Weimar cabaret.

The artwork for ‘Country Life’ – the title being in one sense a pun on that of the long-standing magazine of the same name, much read by the landed gentry – caused significant controversy and earned itself an outright ban in more conservative America. Conceived and art directed by Bryan Ferry, with the assistance of photographer Eric Boman and fashion designer and long-term Roxy collaborator Antony Price, the sleeve featured a revealing ‘paparazzi’ style photograph of two girls, both wearing sheer underwear, and attempting to cover themselves in a manner which made they appear even more daring. Witty and stylish, it was an image that perfectly captured the musical energy, eroticism and theatrical swagger of the album. At the same time, the confrontational sexuality of the sleeve became the most effective advertisement for the record, becoming an instant talking point and ‘must have’ artefact.

All of this corresponded to Ferry’s founding vision of Roxy Music as a total pop and rock package, in which music, lyrics, image and performance were drawn together into a single hi-energy spectacle. ‘Country Life’ had a distinctly cabaret feel, as the spiralling rush of ‘The Thrill of It All’ was followed by the romantically nostalgic ‘Three and Nine’ – a paean to the penumbral pleasures of first dates in old-fashioned cinemas. Hot on the heels of this sly elegy came the instant hit ‘All I Want Is You’ – which joined with ‘The Thrill of It All’ and ‘Out of The Blue’ to reveal the seemingly effortless manner in which Roxy Music could create their own unique and towering wall of sound. Triumphal, echoing, looped through with dazzling passages of near feedback, yet grounded to a beat that was as weighted as any heavy metal, these were songs that spliced the heartbreak and sugar rush of pure pop with soaring rock extravaganza. As documented on ‘VIVA! The Live Roxy Music Album’, these were also recordings that thrived in live performance, becoming gloriously theatrical and anthem-like.

In its original vinyl format, ‘Side Two’ of ‘Country Life’ introduced a darker mood that brilliantly nuanced the overall temper of the record. ‘Bitter Sweet’ and ‘Casanova’ were both showcases for Ferry’s appreciation of European café-cabaret – a musical and artistic genre in which he excelled as a singer and lyricist, wringing from the words the anguish of world-weariness and self-destructive romanticism – stranded between love and art. It was a masterful pose, in perfect pitch with the icy alienation summoned up on ‘For Your Pleasure’, the Scott Fitzgerald like glamour of Ferry’s second solo album, ‘Another Time, Another Place’, as well as the preening, retro-sci-fi vaudevillian on ‘Roxy Music’.

Punctuating the Weimar like atmospheres of ‘Bitter Sweet’ and ‘Casanova’ was the equally dark ‘Triptych’ – haunting and sombre, and joining with ‘Psalm’ on ‘Stranded’, to reveal Ferry’s inclination as a lyricist toward the Bible-black of mysticism and a certain religious melancholy. It was a track that added a shadow to the greater painting of ‘Country Life’, bringing out the vivid, somewhat American colour of ‘Really Good Time’ and ‘Prairie Rose’ – the latter magnificently concluding the relentless performance that comprised ‘Country Life’.

In retrospect, ‘Country Life’ can be heard as a pivotal record for Roxy Music. It is perhaps the group’s most musically aggressive release, and certainly one of their most exuberant. It catches a party in full swing, and tracks the action through to a moment of collapse – a hedonistic vortex, marking the rites of passage of an era.

–Michael Bracewell, 2010

Lyrics

1. The Thrill Of It All

(Ferry)

The sky is dark the wind is cold
The night is young before it’s old and grey
We will know the thrill of it all

The time has come it’s getting late
It’s now or never don’t hesitate or stall
When I call don’t spoil
The thrill of it all

And before you go to sleep at night
Preying shadows, do they ask you why?
And in the morning through the afternoon
Do you wonder where you’re going to?

Every word I use each crumpled page
Strange ideas mature with age
Like leaves oh when autumn falls
Turn gold then they hit the ground

Every time I hear the latest sound
It’s pure whiskey reeling round and around
My brain oh and all of that jive
It’s driving me wild the dizzy spin I’m in

Everywhere I look I see your face
I hear your name it’s all over the place
Hey girl though you’re gone
Still I recall the thrill of it all

You might as well know what is right for you
And make the most of what you like to do
For all the pleasure that’s surrounding you
Should compensate for all you’re going through

So if you’re feeling fraught with mental strain
Too much thinking’s got you down again
Well let your senses skip stay hip
Keep cool to the thrill of it all

When you try too much you lose control
Pressure rises and so I’m told
Something’s got to give
Oy weh high life ecstacy
You might as well live

I can’t see I can’t speak I couldn’t take more than another week
Without you, oh no so I will drink my fill till the thrill is you

Oh the thrill of it all oh the thrill of it all
No I won’t forget the thrill of it all
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no

2. Three and Nine

(Ferry/MacKay)

You might remember
How it used to be
3 and 9 could show you
Any fantasy
Parti-coloured pictures
Now and then 3D
No cheap nostalgia
Conjured up by me

Back to the old days
Close to home
Show me some new ways
I’ll carry on
Whether making out or playing out
Three and nine make twelve
I’ve a dozen reasons
Lying on the shelf

B Feature back rows
Filed away
No point pretending
Change is here to stay
3 and 9 to 45
Decimal romance
If you’ve warmed to centigrade
You stand a sporting chance

I’m not so special
You’re a misfit too
Why must they interfere
In everything we do?
Should we play safe now
Or go all the way?
Six and two threes now
More I cannot say

3. All I Want Is You

(Ferry)

Somebody told me just the other day
That you’re leaving me we’re through
Well if you knew how it hurt me so
Then you’d change your mind I’m sure

Don’t want to hear what’s going on
I don’t care what’s new
Don’t want to know about anything
Cause all I want is you

Going out with other girls
Was always such a bore
But since I fell in love with you
I need you more and more

Don’t want to know about one-night stands
Cut-price souvenirs
All want is the real thing
And a night that lasts for years

If you ever change your mind
I’ve a certain cure
An old refrain, it lingers on
L’amour, toujours l’amour

Don’t want to learn about etiquette
From glossy magazines
Why should I try to talk correct
Like they do in other scenes?
Say no more about imagery
You’re starting to confuse
Just make an offer of more romance
Of course I can’t refuse
All I want is you
Oo oo I’m all cracked up on you

4. Out Of The Blue

(Ferry/Manzanera)

All your cares now they seem oh so far away
All your fears I fear I once shared
Now I know there’s a future for all of us
Not so long ago I was so scared

You seemed so sad
I could see through your twisted smile
So unsure always confused
Pale blue eyes gazing down from your ivory tower
Through the haze all broken and bruised

Then out of the blue love came rushing in
Out of the sky came the sun
Out of left field came a lucky day
Out of the blue no more pain

I don’t mind if it’s only a passing craze
Throwaway lines often ring true
If I were you I would stay for a little while
If you were me would you walk out in style?

5. If It Takes All Night

(Ferry)

Oh here it comes that old ennui
I hope it won’t stay long
Well it’s every man to his own thing
And every singer to his song

If you’re feeling low and all upset
Nothing’s going right
You just make a wish like in a fairy tale
And I’ll bewitch you if it takes all night

There are many things that I could say
To try and comfort you
But I know the words you’d like to hear
Are simply “I love you”

Sometimes I’m up sometimes I’m down
A topsy-turvy life
But I’m only searching for the truth
And I’ll find it if it takes all night

Well I myself
My main concern
Is what I can afford
So if music be my mistress
Then at least she’s Madame Claude, d’accord

Ah, more champagne!
To lose this pain
Would be very nice
So I’ll help myself to one more drink
And I’ll find myself
If it takes all night

6. Bitter Sweet

(Ferry/MacKay)

Well this is such a sad affair
I’ve opened up my heart
So many times
But now it’s closed

Oh my dear every salted tear
It wrings bitter-sweet applause

But when the show’s in full swing
Every once in a while
High stepping chorus lines
Mean I’m forgetting
Mein lullaby Liebchen

How rich in contrast love can be
Sometimes I’m quite amused
To see it twist and turn
To taste both sweet and dry

These vintage years
Lovers you consume, my friend
As others their wine

Nein, Das is nicht
Das Ende der Welt
Gestrandet an Leben und Kunst
Und das Spiel geht weiter
Wie Man weiss
Noch viele Schonste, Wiedersehn

And now, as you turn to leave
You try to force a smile
As if to compensate
Then you break down and cry

7. Tryptich

(Ferry)

Here the soil is barren
Here nothing grows
But crosses
They know not what they do
You, your forgiveness
Falls as dew

Nailed upon a wooden frame
Twisted yet unbroken
Open mouthed a silent choir
Understood, unspoken
Never was there heard a sound
Until the heavens opened

Now the tide is turning
To other worldly yearning
Though the sun’s eclipse seems final
Surely he will rise again

8. Casanova

(Ferry)

You, the hero
So many times you’ve loved, and didn’t linger
Now my finger points at you, another loser
You, an island on your own
Complete in every detail
Monumental a precious jewel
Or just a fool

Innovator, it’s in your mind
And blood I watch it simmer
I see you’re courting more despair
No hope? not a glimmer
Now you’re nothing but second hand in glove
With second rate
Now you’re flirting with heroin
-Or is it cocaine?

Casanova, is that your name
Or do you live there?
I know my place is here with you tonight
But not together

9. A Really Good Time

(Ferry)

You’ve heard enough of the blues and stuff
You’re pretty swell now ’cause you’re pretty tough
But I don’t have to tell you
How hard it can be to get by

You’re never bothered about anyone else
You’re well educated with no common sense
But love, that’s one thing
You really need to get by

All your troubles come from yourself
Nobody hurts you they don’t care
Just as long as you show them
A really good time

All the things you used to do
A trip to the movies, a drink or two
They don’t satisfy you, they don’t tell you anything new

You know I don’t talk much except to myself
Cause I’ve not much to say and there’s nobody else
Who’s ready and willing and able to know me, I guess

Listen to me I’m not finished yet
There’s something to tell you that I can’t forget
Just have a really good, really good, really, really good, really good time

There’s a girl I used to know her face is her fortune she’s got a heart of gold
She never goes out much, but boy when she does then you know

She’s got no money, well maybe a dime
But she knows what she’s worth
And that’s reason why
She’s gonna make it, she’s got what it takes
You’ll appreciate that she’s probably late
But I know and you know, we all know
She’ll have a really good time

10. Prairie Rose

(Ferry/Manzanera)

(Texas) Oh that’s where I belong it seems to me
(Texas) Lonesome star shine on the big country
(Texas) With your open skies and you for company
(Texas) Oh prairie rose, how happy I should be

Hey, hey, You can take it from me
Hey, hey, I’ll be coming, you’ll see
Hey, hey, Oh what a state to be in
Hey, hey, You’re tantalizing me