Martin's notes: I was living in a small flat on Dartmouth Park Road in Kentish town. I had made new friends and was trying to listen to as many new sounds and ideas as I could. I wanted to write a song that would last
forever. I did about six demos for it, under different names: ‘Amsterdam’, ‘Belvidere Field’, ‘Hornsong’ and ‘Ingestre Works’. The first had my girlfriend playing flute on it; some of them were merely the dub
bassline played over and over. We moved into a flat in Muswell Hill with Tim and his girlfriend and spent nights smoking Nepalese Temple Balls and playing ‘Road Rash’. I wrote the lyrics there; I was trying to make sense of my life, I had decided that I was not going to shroud the lyrics in metaphors that only I understood anymore. I think Charles Bukowski may have been a big influence here. We recorded it at Protocol Studios with our engineer Andy Wilkinson, whom we had met whilst recording with Ed. He became our regular engineer, keyboard player on tour and best friend. He was assisted by Giles Hall, Dot Cotton haircut, a bottle of white wine welded to one hand and a cigarette in the other. No more producers.
Lyrics: I must be losing my mind. I keep on trying to find a way out but it's OK you don't lock the door anymore. I, you know I never go out and you know that I start to forget things but it's OK, they weren't essential anyway. I, when I start to look back I feel like I've spent my whole life just kicking round and not getting in the way. And now, and maybe now I should change because I'm starting to lose all my faith while those around me are beaten down each day.
