Story Line
The life of Walter Sands is contradictory; on one level his story is relentlessly successful, but on another, completely pointless. Leon uses the character to illustrate the empty way in which some see life as a contest, with an endless succession of goals to be strived for; and yet set against this is a placid game of children in a circle, with no end, no beginning, and no winners or losers. Interwoven in the tale of Walter Sands is the motif of a butterfly, which surfaces at key moments, and provides a delicate thread running through a song, which is one of Leon's most perfectly poised.
The final refrain contains the same lines as the opening one, but sequence in reversed order. Leon later remarked that "Story Line" was one of his personal favourites, "which has a neat circular shape that reflects the meaning of the song".
The final refrain contains the same lines as the opening one, but sequence in reversed order. Leon later remarked that "Story Line" was one of his personal favourites, "which has a neat circular shape that reflects the meaning of the song".
"A circular song recounting the success story of a kind of Thatcherite hero." - LR (sleevenotes to Guess What They're Selling at the Happiness Counter, 1992)
“This song derives in part from my feelings about the American dream and the values of that decade. Walter sands is, you might say, a Thatcherite hero, a winner who sees life as a race or a battle to be won; life as a straight line from birth to death and even beyond. Against this is a circular pattern of the seasons and the circle games played by small children. And the song itself has a circular shape, ending with the same stanza as at the beginning only backwards. Reconciling the demands of content and form, the content exploding outwards, the form reining it in, is, for me, a constant problem. In this song, there is, I think, a good balance. - LR (sleevenotes to The World Turned Upside Down (CD box set), p37)
“This song derives in part from my feelings about the American dream and the values of that decade. Walter sands is, you might say, a Thatcherite hero, a winner who sees life as a race or a battle to be won; life as a straight line from birth to death and even beyond. Against this is a circular pattern of the seasons and the circle games played by small children. And the song itself has a circular shape, ending with the same stanza as at the beginning only backwards. Reconciling the demands of content and form, the content exploding outwards, the form reining it in, is, for me, a constant problem. In this song, there is, I think, a good balance. - LR (sleevenotes to The World Turned Upside Down (CD box set), p37)
Recordings
Version 1 (1983)