Palaces of Gold
One of Leon's definitive songs, "Palaces of Gold" has at its focal point a grim lyric referencing children being buried alive by slagheaps. Apparently the starting point of the song, this line was written in reaction to the Aberfan disaster of 1966, in which a school full of children and teachers was engulfed by the collapse of a spoil tip, killing 144 and devastating the village.
Leon's mention of invisible fingers moulding palaces for the rich is probably a reference to the concept of the invisible hand, thought up by Adam Smith to assert that selfish behaviour, in economic terms, nevertheless benefits the whole of society (which needless to say, is an idea which the political right supports fervently), through imagined processes such as the 'trickle-down' effect.
Note though that the invisible hand never results in palaces trickling down for the poor. Leon expresses a simple notion: if the rich had to endure the same standards as the poor, then they would take active measures to escape from ordinary life, which the poor simply cannot do. And as the song points out, such a terrible fate as Aberfan could never have befallen children "democratically born" to parents with enough money to see that they were not forced to attend schools "with a view onto slagheaps" in the first place.
Musically, "Palaces of Gold" is in A major and centres on a guitarist's game in which the D chord is shifted along the fretboard (although Leon uses a capo to raise the key to B). Unsurprisingly the song has appealed particularly to guitarists and has attracted covers from Martin Simpson and Martin Carthy among others. The first recording known is Leon's own, taped live in 1968 and then remade in the 1970s as the title track to one of his LPs. Footage of Leon playing the song in the mid-1970s was featured in episode 11 of Tony Palmer's All You Need Is Love, broadcast on TV and since released on DVD. The song was later remade again (twice) for release on CD and captured in yet another live version on Leon's own DVD.
Leon's mention of invisible fingers moulding palaces for the rich is probably a reference to the concept of the invisible hand, thought up by Adam Smith to assert that selfish behaviour, in economic terms, nevertheless benefits the whole of society (which needless to say, is an idea which the political right supports fervently), through imagined processes such as the 'trickle-down' effect.
Note though that the invisible hand never results in palaces trickling down for the poor. Leon expresses a simple notion: if the rich had to endure the same standards as the poor, then they would take active measures to escape from ordinary life, which the poor simply cannot do. And as the song points out, such a terrible fate as Aberfan could never have befallen children "democratically born" to parents with enough money to see that they were not forced to attend schools "with a view onto slagheaps" in the first place.
Musically, "Palaces of Gold" is in A major and centres on a guitarist's game in which the D chord is shifted along the fretboard (although Leon uses a capo to raise the key to B). Unsurprisingly the song has appealed particularly to guitarists and has attracted covers from Martin Simpson and Martin Carthy among others. The first recording known is Leon's own, taped live in 1968 and then remade in the 1970s as the title track to one of his LPs. Footage of Leon playing the song in the mid-1970s was featured in episode 11 of Tony Palmer's All You Need Is Love, broadcast on TV and since released on DVD. The song was later remade again (twice) for release on CD and captured in yet another live version on Leon's own DVD.
"I like playing fantasy games inventing the newspaper headlines I'd most like to see. 'Lord Robens Buried by Slag Heap' would be rather pleasing" - LR (Look Here (songbook), 1968)
[Note: Life peer, Lord Robens, was chairman of the National Coal Board in 1966 and showed a degree of indifference to the disaster. He proceeded to tell lies about it to the press before raiding the public disaster funds to cover the Coal Board's own clean-up costs. He eventually retired to Laleham Abbey in Surrey with his wife, well away from any slagheaps.]
“This warning against getting yourself born in the wrong place was written after the Aberfan disaster in October 1966, when a slagheap avalanched down onto the pit village, burying a school and houses and killing 116 children and 28 adults.” - LR (sleevenotes to The World Turned Upside Down (CD box set), p12)
[Note: Life peer, Lord Robens, was chairman of the National Coal Board in 1966 and showed a degree of indifference to the disaster. He proceeded to tell lies about it to the press before raiding the public disaster funds to cover the Coal Board's own clean-up costs. He eventually retired to Laleham Abbey in Surrey with his wife, well away from any slagheaps.]
“This warning against getting yourself born in the wrong place was written after the Aberfan disaster in October 1966, when a slagheap avalanched down onto the pit village, burying a school and houses and killing 116 children and 28 adults.” - LR (sleevenotes to The World Turned Upside Down (CD box set), p12)
Recordings
Version 1 (1968) Live recording
Version 2 (1975)
Version 3 (1975 ?) Footage of a live solo performance (incomplete), taped circa 1975 and released in 2008
Version 4 (1990)
Version 5 (2010)
Version 6 (2011) Live performance, released in 2014
Version 2 (1975)
Version 3 (1975 ?) Footage of a live solo performance (incomplete), taped circa 1975 and released in 2008
- All You Need Is Love (DVD)
Version 4 (1990)
Version 5 (2010)
Version 6 (2011) Live performance, released in 2014