Mirror is written around the e.e. cummings poem IMPRESSIONS IV from the publication ‘Tulips and Chimneys’. This poem is more commonly known as ‘the hours rise up’. Poetry is a wonderful thing and always up for interpretation in many different ways. Personally, I immediately found a connection with cummings – we share the same birthday and I feel and write on many subjects that he felt and wrote - love, passion, anger and art for example. I write songs and music instinctively and very quickly, on first reading of poems I am singing the words in my head to new melodies; words speak to me in musical terms. The song ‘Mirror’ is quite an aggressive, driving, angry and reflective song, which matches my interpretation of cummings’ poem. The poem, in my opinion, reflects upon a single day in the life of humanity, with cummings observing and angry at the fact that so many aspirations and dreams of working people are going unfulfilled and that people live their whole life wanting to be something they dream of being, yet take no action on. And then he looks at himself in the mirror as an analogy for his soul searching to the questions he must have asked himself – “am I fulfilling my dreams?”. I love the concept that he imagines ‘Scattering Poems’ all around him, both his realization of his works being released, but also the poems of the men digging in the street, who also have poems in them but keep dreams hidden. I love the line “I see the brutal faces of people contented hideous hopeless cruel happy” – a window into his mind of how he saw people. My interpretation through music therefore is a driving rocking song bordering on anger that so many people spend their days in mindless monotony, hideous, hopeless lives when they appear happy when so much more is going on in their minds – dreams, aspirations unrealized – and I too look in the mirror and ask myself “am I fulfilling my dreams”, thankfully I can answer yes!
The song ‘Mirror’ was written almost instantly as the words of cummings sang to me. I recorded a demo of the song with basic guitars, drums and vocals. James then did an amazing job replacing my tracks with his vision of the song. Only the original drums and the lead vocal remained. All the other instrumentation and backing vocals you hear are from James’ magic fingers and voice.
Both James and I share the same love for guitars and ‘Britpop’ music which is the inspiration for the sound of the song. True ‘Britpop’ tracks. I mixed the song at my studio and James mastered ‘Mirror’ at his studio.
I’ve chosen this as the ‘focus track’ for the EP as I think it captures everything about what creativity is about. It’s about chasing your dreams. Writing your poem, playing your song, singing your heart out when no-one is listening . . . it doesn’t matter if you are successful in the eyes of the bigger world. Just creating your own piece of creativity is enough, and then release that art into the world to let the gods determine its destiny, for to hold your dreams and ideas within and to suffocate them through daily chores is criminal and tantamount to murdering dreams.
Sea EP releases March 14 2025