published on
Elstree
Words and Music by Trevor Horn & Geoff Downes
Arranged and Performed by Richard Arnold
April 2014
Lyrics:
I had a dream on a back lot. I saw my life like a long shot.
I smile at faces in a picture parade of all the stills from the films that you made
that we would see in the Essoldo after drinking coffee on the Giocondo
CHORUS
Elstree, Remember me. I had a part in a B movie. I played a man from history.
Elstree, I look at me. Now I work for the BBC. Life is not what it used to be.
I took no dives in the fight scene. I had a stuntman keep my suit clean.
There's no technology to fake up a song. They stop the orchestra if you get it wrong.
CHORUS
Elstree, Remember me. I had a part in a B movie. I played a man from history.
Elstree, I look at me. Now I work for the BBC. Life is not what it used to be.
They made a field into a war zone. I beat the enemy on my own.
All the bullets just went over my head. There's no reality and no one dead in...
CHORUS
Elstree, Remember me. I had a part in a B movie. I played a man from history.
Elstree
Etc.
Copyright (c) – 1979, Island Records Ltd.
Notes on the Song:
UPDATE 5/24/14: I uploaded a new version. I wasn't happy with the vocals, so I remixed them and applied different filters. I'm *still* not particularly happy with them now, but they are better than before, and I'm not as embarrassed by them. :)
"Elstree" is a song by The Buggles from their 1979 album "The Age of Plastic." It relates the story of a man looking back sadly on his former career as a B-movie actor at the Elstree Studios in London. Two words from the lyrics that are perhaps unknown to American audiences are "Essoldo" (a chain of movie houses in England) and "Giocondo" (which I believe is a reference to the "Giaconda Dining Room" restaurant in the London theatre district).
Notes on the Recording:
For the most part, my arrangement closely emulates the original recording, using synth sources to recreate strings, piano, oboe and percussion. Likewise, I heavily compressed the vocals in the verses. I added a few flourishes of my own to fill in some gaps, such as a countermelody in the second instrumental break and the addition of sound clips from movies recorded in whole or in part at the Elstree Studios. The sound clips are from the following movies: "Murder in Soho" (1939), "The Yangtse Incident" (1957), "Hell is a City" (1960), "Get Carter" (1971), and even a brief clip from "Star Wars" (1980).*
[*All sound clips are the rights of their respective owners. Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.]
All instruments, including percussion, were manually recorded by me using a Korg M3 Workstation and a Novation MiniNova Analog Synthesizer. There were no drum machines, automated sequencers, Apple Loops, nor any outside recordings apart from the movie sound clips. Vocals received an assist from a TC Helicon VoiceLive Touch. All parts were recorded direct to Logic Pro 9 for the Mac.
This Recording Copyright (c) - 2014, Arnold's Logic. All Rights Reserved.
- Genre
- Buggles