Essentially a supplement to the songbook, Bringing The
News From Nowhere, this latest volume rounds up 39 of Leon’s songs since
the earlier tome. It covers his albums from Wo Sind Die Elefanten? through
to Harry’s Gone Fishing, and also captures extraneous new songs such as
those included on the children’s cassette Questions, his recent EP, The
Last Chance, and several others.
Leon introduces each section with comments on his songs. Illustrations are by Jeff Perks, who more than 20 years earlier, had illustrated the songbook, For the Good of the Nation.
There is a short section in the book called "Late Leaves", which contains three songs ("Strange The Things We Don't Remember", "The Wall That Stands Between" and "Monsters"), which were largely unknown at the time but would shortly appear on the CD which shares the book’s title (which, incidentally, is taken from the song, "Harry's Gone Fishing").
Leon introduces each section with comments on his songs. Illustrations are by Jeff Perks, who more than 20 years earlier, had illustrated the songbook, For the Good of the Nation.
There is a short section in the book called "Late Leaves", which contains three songs ("Strange The Things We Don't Remember", "The Wall That Stands Between" and "Monsters"), which were largely unknown at the time but would shortly appear on the CD which shares the book’s title (which, incidentally, is taken from the song, "Harry's Gone Fishing").
"The 125 selected songs in Bringing the News From Nowhere covered three decades to about 1989. This collection gathers up the songs written since then; not a large crop, perhaps, but the formal demands of songwriting become greater as the songs become more complex... To approach the public world through the personal - that is what I've aimed to do in these songs. I've tried to use not a literary language, not a poetic language, because song is not poetry, but the idioms and rhythms of everyday speech while looking for ways to enrich that language so that it is not one-dimensional and naturalistic. How well these songs work is a judgement only the audience can make." - LR (from the book's introduction)
Song list
New songs, at the time of publication
1. Five Purple Elephants (Previously recorded as part of a book project)
2. Monsters
3. Mystery Bus Ride, The (Previously recorded as part of a book project)
4. Strange The Things We Don't Remember
5. Vitamin Song (May have been recorded as part of a book project)
6. Wall That Stands Between, The
2. Monsters
3. Mystery Bus Ride, The (Previously recorded as part of a book project)
4. Strange The Things We Don't Remember
5. Vitamin Song (May have been recorded as part of a book project)
6. Wall That Stands Between, The
Other songs
7. Air Is The World That We All Of Us Share
8. All That Is Different Is Part of the Dance
9. Bad Driver
10. Child Killers
11. Encore
12. General Lockjaw Briefs the British Media
13. Harry's Gone Fishing
14. Heartening Tale of John Pratt, The
15. Intruders
16. It's Just the Song
17. Juggler, The
18. Just Like Animals
19. Mercenaries
20. Money Matters
21. Monologue
22. My Father’s Jewish World
23. My Heterodontosaurus
24. Neighbours' Cat, The
25. Out of the Fires and Smoke of History
26. Poet, the Wife and the Monkey, The
27. Postcards from Cuba
28. Questions
29. She Came From Out of Nowhere
30. Soldiering On
31. Song of Martin Fontasch, The
32. Song of the Old Communist
33. Sun
34. They Said...
35. They Took It Out
36. Very Busy Man, A
37. Whatever Happened to Nannerl?
38. Where's the Enemy?
39. Wo Sind die Elefanten?
8. All That Is Different Is Part of the Dance
9. Bad Driver
10. Child Killers
11. Encore
12. General Lockjaw Briefs the British Media
13. Harry's Gone Fishing
14. Heartening Tale of John Pratt, The
15. Intruders
16. It's Just the Song
17. Juggler, The
18. Just Like Animals
19. Mercenaries
20. Money Matters
21. Monologue
22. My Father’s Jewish World
23. My Heterodontosaurus
24. Neighbours' Cat, The
25. Out of the Fires and Smoke of History
26. Poet, the Wife and the Monkey, The
27. Postcards from Cuba
28. Questions
29. She Came From Out of Nowhere
30. Soldiering On
31. Song of Martin Fontasch, The
32. Song of the Old Communist
33. Sun
34. They Said...
35. They Took It Out
36. Very Busy Man, A
37. Whatever Happened to Nannerl?
38. Where's the Enemy?
39. Wo Sind die Elefanten?