Encore
The closing song on Harry's Gone Fishing and therefore Leon's last word of the millennium, "Encore" was issued as he turned 65, a suitable time to retire. In context as much as in content, the song reads as a gooodbye message, as he mulls over his successes and failures in 35 years of songwriting. Poignant and yet also funny, the song would have made a fitting conclusion to his career, but thankfully it was not to be, and Leon has written and recorded plenty of fine music since.
"A farewell song?" - LR (sleevenotes to Harry's Gone Fishing, 1999)
"While writing 'Encore' with its one rhyme per verse imposition I had the feeling that this was a farewell song and that I wouldn't write any more songs. But I've had that feeling before and it's always worn off. Eventually. So far..." - (Turning Silence Into Song (songbook), p45)
"While writing 'Encore' with its one rhyme per verse imposition I had the feeling that this was a farewell song and that I wouldn't write any more songs. But I've had that feeling before and it's always worn off. Eventually. So far..." - (Turning Silence Into Song (songbook), p45)