19/01/2010

5. Kate Rusby : No Names

(The Girl Who Couldn't Fly, 2005)

I came across this on a Word magazine compilation from 2005, although I didn't actually listen to it properly until about three years later.  It probably came up when I was randomly playing tracks from my collection I hadn't listened to.  Initially, the tune just captured me - simple, unadorned and direct, sung with purity and possessing a freshness because the lack of a fake American rawk accent.

After a few listens the fullness of the track sunk in.  It's a goodbye song.  The end of a relationship.  "We were drifting, year after year", she sings.  "When we tried our best to fly, my dear ... let me go, now - let me go."  The straightforward melody just highlights the sadness of the situation.  The accompaniment is sparse - a couple of acoustic guitars.

Kate is joined on vocals by Roddy Woomble of Idlewild, who also sings on a couple of the other tracks on the album.  I did buy the album but I'm ashamed to say I haven't listened to it as much as I should.  However, it does have Little Jack Frost, which I was pleasantly surprised to hear over the credits of a BBC children's animation during Christmas.

The track isn't available on Spotify but it is on Youtube.


Back to the complete Best Tracks of the Noughties

No comments:

Post a Comment