I  Can't Cry Hard Enough
"I was always a big fan of Lone Justice, and the much under-rated songwriter Marvin Etzioni. I was originally drawn to this song when I first heard it on the Victoria William's album Swing he Statue. I saw Marvin playing in a little bar in Austin in 1995 when he had just released a solo album called The Mandolin  Man, I was relieved to see that his considerable talent did not tretch as far as being able to tune his mandolin! We always planned to record the song for this album (it is part of our live set) but never intended to open the album with it. However, once recorded, it just seemed the obvious choice. Also, those opening lines... seem to set the tone for what's to come"

Both Sides Of The Faith
"Dylan's Time Out Of Mind, Daniel Lanois' ambient production..this is our take on it. Well, we tried to go for that on this song, which is essentially a blues thing. The wonderful swampy organ and guitar, courtesy of David Wrench and Phil Abram, plus the fact everything was done in one take, in the end, brought it closer to J.J. Cale. Also, over two minutes of instrumental! For once the band got me to shut up. Lyrically, it began life in Paris in Aug 97 (I was there the weekend of Princess Diana's death) and covers the theme of love across sectarian  divides.... black and white, Protestant and Catholic, Muslim and Jew, etc etc"

Rush of Happiness
"Our mid 30's, for me and for many, a time for divorce and estrangement from our  families. A common theme throughout this album is the pursuit if happiness by  discarding and moving on. A telephone call to my 11-year-old son resulted in him playing me his saxophone down the line, which set this song in motion. There are three verses, written directly for three of the members of my family. Harry Napier's cello part had me in tears the minute I heard it as did my sons saxaphone part at the very, very end. Also, this is my homage to that great  Liverpool songwriter.......Ken Dodd"

Tim  Hardin '65
"Originally this started out as a list of great moments in rock 'n' roll history that I wished I'd been present at. However, that would have been a very long song. Also given my newfound obsession with Tim Hardin, I wanted to keep it short and similar in arrangement to Black Sheep Boy (one of my favourite tracks  by him). I think Tim would have liked the interwoven cello and pedal steel solo.  I started performing this song last year, whilst on tour with Jackie Leven, who told me that he used to hang out with Hardin in London in the early 70's, and that his girlfriend at the time left him for the doomed American troubador after  she found out exactly why Long Tall Timmy got his nickname!"

Heartless Thing
"This  may be written in the third person but I am very much the subject of this song. Selfish and self-centred, so I'm told"

Reason to Live
"That  distorted vocal thing has been done to great effect by Sparklehorse, and also recently, The Waterboys. We used a 1950 radio broadcast mic and I just sucked on it. A bit of a tirade this one, and also as bitter as anything I've ever written but still tinged with regret. Where would the songwriter be without  regret?"

The  Family Way
"I loved Mercury Rev's use/mixture of piano and organ on Deserters Song, and we tried to  get some of that on the middle 8 of this. The song came from hearing a radio documentary on the side effects of taking Prozac, and the dire consequences it had in particular for one man and his family"

Happy  Infidels
"a song  about
infidelity, of course, but are infidels ever really happy?"

I  Cant Reach Him
"A lack  of any real communication has existed for years between certain members of my
family and myself. I started to try and put this situation into a song but by the time I got to the second verse I'd run out of things to say. Which in  itself says it all. As a father now myself, it is one of my greatest fears that  history doesn't repeat itself"

Shake  This Town
"An  anti- Another Day In Paradise. In these enlightened times it is obscene that so many people are homeless, but the break up of the family unit means that there is nowhere for many to go. I am fortunate to have never been in that position and it may seem pompous to write a song from that perspective but...it is something I see everyday, which is more than can be said for multi-millionaire  rock stars living in tax exile in Switzerland"