2 Jun 2008
Oh, I turned my back on Nazareth
Floreat Inertia is pleasant enough, and the band still do it live, but I never quite got this one, I’m afraid. That said, “the low drone of the treadmill is the sound of my hopes being shattered” is a magnificent line. Thanks to Patrick and gnick
See lyrics to Floreat Inertia
6 Letters Sent:
fnc
I always thought he used to cudgel Gordon Giltrap, as in hit him with a stick, but I suppose cajole makes more sense.
May 22nd, 2009
Gareth
I think this is one of the classics. I asked Geoff for the bands permission to use a bunch of HMHB lines in a book I wrote – a disproportionate few were from this song and – oh ultimate accolade – he agreed and added ‘ good choices ‘. Sad perhaps, but it made me happy.
Don’t know what you think of Mr Giltrap but, at least to me, cudgel has a ring of truth
May 23rd, 2009
richard
This took me a minute to get my head around it but this has to be one of my favorite biscuit tracks now.
Also, the John Peel version was a delight. Peel says it’s probably the only song ever to mention Gordon Giltrap. He’s probably right, too.
Sep 6th, 2009
NIck Ink
I like the morose melodies of this and Malayan Jelutong (they’re inseparable in my mind) but I still don’t really feel I understand the song. Is there more to ‘I turned my back on Nazareth’ than meets the ear? I was rather hopeful that Gordon Giltrap would turn out to have been in the band Nazareth, but sadly it appears not to be the case.
Nov 15th, 2009
Chigley Skin
One of my all-time favourites from Nigel and the boys, and as with a few other songs from this era (notably Yipps and 4AD3DCD), I feel the Peel sessions recording is far superior to the album version.
Lyrically, I’ve always taken it to be about long-term unemployment (hence the cracking Yosser Hughes reference), and the way the mundanity of everyday life can grind you down. Granted, I can’t explain how Gordon Giltrap and Nazareth fit into that subject matter, but they’re balanced out by so many other brilliant lines that I’ve never tried to read too much into them.
Jul 29th, 2011
clifton perkins
To my uninformed ears it sounded like
“I used to catch old Gordon Giltrap”
which makes a lot more sense really.
Maybe it started out that way and mutated,
as things do. Anyway, one of my
absolute favourite HMHB songs. They
rise above pleasant and amusing and
do something quite powerful in this song.
Would not have been out of place on
Hatful of Hollow perhaps.
Jan 7th, 2012
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