Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift: Sweet Home Quarantine Week 11: Element of Light

The cover of Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians 1986 LP Element of Light.

Last night’s “Sweet Home Quarantine” Stageit show with Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift focused on Robyn’s excellent 1986 album Element of Light. The intent was to play the whole album straight through, which almost happened, but of course Stageit cuts all the concerts off at exactly 50 minutes, and so Robyn had about one more verse left of “Lady Waters and the Hooded One” to get through when the show ended. Oh, well. The concert was a reminder of what a strong album Element of Light is, and how many fantastic songs are on it. Robyn’s guitar work was also front and center, and it was a great showcase for his talents as a guitarist. There are numerous songs on Element of Light that you don’t really think of as “guitar songs,” but they sure translated well to the guitar. 

Robyn opened the show with “Ghost Ship,” a song that didn’t actually make the album, but eventually surfaced as a B-side. I don’t think I’d ever heard it before. Then Emma joined Robyn for great versions of “If You Were a Priest,” “Winchester,” and “Somewhere Apart.” Robyn said that “Somewhere Apart” was influenced by John Lennon’s song “Remember.” I’ve always though that “Somewhere Apart” was one of Robyn’s most Lennonesque songs—you could probably fool someone into thinking it was a John Lennon outtake. Emma added gorgeous harmonies to “Winchester,” and after the song ended Robyn asked her, “How do you harmonize with this?” Emma laughed and responded, “I don’t know sweetheart!” It was a cute moment.

Robyn sang “Ted, Woody, and Junior” solo, and then Emma returned for “The President,” a song that Robyn reminded us was about Ronald Reagan back when we all thought that Ronald Reagan was as bad as it could get. “Raymond Chandler Evening” was a highlight, with some great harmonies from Emma, and then we were on the humorous “Bass,” and the lovely “Airscape,” probably one of Robyn’s best songs. Robyn’s guitar playing was outstanding, and Emma’s harmonies added a lovely touch. Robyn was solo on “Never Stop Bleeding,” and the evening ended with the haunting “Lady Waters and the Hooded One,” a song that fits our pandemic quite well.

Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift: Sweet Home Quarantine Week 8

Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift.

Week 8 of Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift’s “Sweet Home Quarantine” shows happened on May 6, 2020. You can watch Robyn and Emma on the Stageit website. Week 8 was another dig through the back catalogue of Robyn Hitchcock.

The show opened with “If You Were a Priest,” the opening track from Element of Light, Robyn’s 1986 album with his band the Egyptians. This was followed by “A Skull, a Suitcase, and a Long Red Bottle of Wine,” an early 1980’s outtake that first appeared on the 1986 compilation Invisible Hitchcock. It’s since been added as a bonus track to the Yep Roc reissue of Robyn’s first solo album, Black Snake Diamond Role. It doesn’t do much for me as a song.

Robyn sang a lovely version of “Mr. Kennedy,” a song from the Soft Boys reunion album, 2002’s Nextdoorland. It made me think I should revisit that album, since I haven’t listened to it in a long time. After the song, Robyn had some very humorous banter with Emma, as Robyn did a Beatle voice and was wondering how Paul and Ringo stay so thin. He said, “They probably have personal trainers.” Emma replied, “You could have a personal trainer too, but you just spend your money on cheese.” This made Robyn laugh. It always cracks me up when Emma makes Robyn laugh, because you can tell it’s genuine. For all his reputation as a “quirky surrealist” or whatever term you want to use to describe him, Robyn seems like a serious fellow, so when he laughs, I think he’s genuinely amused by something.

Concert staple “I’m Only You” was next, and as usual, featured a superb guitar solo from Robyn. In concert, this is almost always the song where Robyn shows off his guitar chops. I don’t know why he doesn’t play more guitar solos because he’s a terrific guitar player. Emma got her solo spot, singing her original song “How to be Small.” It was lovely, and hopefully she’ll record more in the future.

Robyn sang “No, I Don’t Remember Guildford,” the tune he sang over the closing credits of the 1998 concert film Storefront Hitchcock. It’s a very pretty song, with great harmonies from Emma. Robyn sang one of my favorite songs, “I Often Dream of Trains,” played on the very same Fender Telecaster that he originally recorded it on. I’ve always loved the lyrics of “I Often Dream of Trains.” The last songs of the night were “1970 in Aspic,” from Robyn’s 2017 self-titled album, and “Cynthia Mask,” from 1990’s Eye. The lyrics of “Cynthia Mask” have always intrigued me, with their references to Napoleon and Neville Chamberlain. From reading a biography, I learned that Napoleon really did eat a lot of chicken, as he apparently instructed his chefs to always have one roasting, so he could have one whenever he felt hungry. The perks of being First Consul. The night ended with a minute or so of the truly odd “Antwoman.”

Robyn Hitchcock, "Luminous Groove"

I just finished listening to all of Robyn Hitchcock's box set, "Luminous Groove" this week, and I'm blown away by it. It's a 5-CD set, so I'm not going to go over everything thoroughly right this minute. Suffice it to say, if you like Robyn, you'll love this box set. It includes Robyn's first three albums with his backing band the Egyptians, which was basically Robyn's former band the Soft Boys, minus Kimberely Rew. Rew went on to form Katrina and the Waves, and wrote "Walking on Sunshine." (Do you think people were ever confused when they found out that Kimberely and Robyn are both guys?) Anyway, the three albums are "Fegmania!" the live "Gotta Let This Hen Out!" and "Element of Light." All three albums show Robyn's signature writing style backed by a band that knew how to get the most out of his melodies. Robyn's lead electric guitar is given a very prominent role on these three discs, and it shows what a great guitar player he is. The melodies are jangly and catchy, and it was during this time period, the mid 1980's, that Robyn started to develop a cult following in the US.

Robyn is a great songwriter, but it's difficult for me to separate the wheat from the chaff. I generally like all of his songs, but it's tough to pick one over the others. It's like, "Okay, this song is good, it has a catchy melody and weird lyrics. Okay, the next song also has a catchy melody and weird lyrics. Okay, ALL of his songs have catchy melodies and weird lyrics!" That's perhaps a slight exaggeration, but Robyn's music is very consistent, and I mean that in a good way. He has a real gift for crafting memorable melodies and creating interesting images with his lyrics. I think Robyn could have had more mainstream success with his work if he had stopped writing about jam and bees and fish and wrote simpler, more mundane lyrics, because his melodies are so catchy, but I'm sure the surreal writing style makes it hard for some people to follow his music. I certainly can't claim to understand all of his lyrics. But if he simplified his writing style, he wouldn't be being true to himself and his vision. I'm glad that Robyn has followed his own path, clearly he didn't want to sell out.

In addition to the three albums, "Luminous Groove" also includes a 2-CD set of rarities, "A Bad Case of History." One disc is unreleased studio recordings, and one disc is live recordings. (Some of the live recordings come from Minneapolis's legendary concert venue First Avenue.) These two discs are excellent, they show how in sync the Egyptians were.

Some of the standouts on this set are:

Egyptian Cream
I'm Only You
My Wife and My Dead Wife
Heaven
The Cars She Used to Drive-live
Winchester
Somewhere Apart-(which could pass as a John Lennon song from Double Fantasy)
Beautiful Queen
So You Think You're In Love-live
Chimes of Freedom-live
The Wreck of the Arthur Lee-live

If you like Robyn, check out "Luminous Groove." You won't be disappointed.