Sometime Later

a beautiful song.

'Touch my hand It's only me, listen I'm here.'
Can't get any better than that!

Twas wonderful hearing it the movie 'my life without me' Tis a beautiful movie, also.

i agree about both, the song and my life without me. more people should know about this movie. i cry every time i hear this song and watch the movie.

I have been fortunate in that I've stumbled onto a few beautiful songs, powerful songs, that make me feel the strongest emotions that I'm capable of. But none, never, have moved me to tears upon the first time hearing it. This song will stay with me for the entirety of my time on this earth. Profoundly, elegantly moved. Thank you Alpha.

This single samples Lee Hazlewood's My Autumn's Done Come. If I had to choose between this one and Somewhere Not Here, this is definitely the song to play when October begins, with doors locked, phone cut and curtains drawn, even more at night, alone - the third and last part drives me to tears. There is something in Martin Barnard's voice that fits very well with the melody and its cascade of strings (the boy looked handsome in the video IMO) : this song induces me to count the hours, give up all the scheduled plans because my mission did not work out, and not supporting the weight on my shoulders anymore - but not taking my life, not at all, neither with a compass nor a razor blade : the last week of October would look fantastic, even incredible.

Wonderful and sad, especially after recovering from a breakup with the boy/girl you loved so much but had to split from a few months before. Fresh like mint sweets and soft like sheets. But not so hopeless : tomorrow will be better.

First of all, divide the songs into 3 parts

• Touch my hand (...) a lonely bird, alone.
• Judgement day (...) a lonely bird, alone [This is my favourite part, however absent from the music video - what a shame]
• Colour me (...) you said to me, sometime later. [Includes the climax]

This song was used in a commercial for Ford Ka - I've watched it a few hours ago and it fits the song. If there was an element to describe the whole song, it would be the wind : taking away all that's been promised, but not fully realised. My point of view would be personal, based on memories of a boyfriend, my favorite ever, from my late teenage years, however 14 years older. But first, here's my interpretation.

ACT I The narrator (could be a girl here) reminds the beautiful days she had with her boyfriend of more than one year. They apparently started their love relationship in summer and the sea ("sold the sea, a lot how it feels to me"), was their love was in the air for both of them, and despite their 14-year old age gap, they were deeply in love ("yeah, as I said") - the problem was that, after more than 18 months together, he had to go back to the capital where he usually lives, while she remained in her city : after his birthday, she took the decision of leaving him, promising he'll give more news whenever he could. The chorus "one day, she woke" could be modified into "he woke".

ACT II Now it's autumn (I misunderstand "old dummy day" as "autumny day"), more than one year after the couple's breakup, and the narrator either has a new boyfriend (and this one is more unfaithful) or is single. The wind has taken the proof of their love (of the man she loved most), and during the hard recovering, she may have experienced cigarettes and alcohol (but no sex) but quit both very quickly, because he wouldn't have liked her doing that anyway ("today a renegade"). Birds fly in the sky, she is alone in her bedroom and doesn't want to get up ("you don't force on my head, kill our nightmare").

ACT III The narrator remembers she wore her favourite colors (purple and lavender IMHO) and some make up to please her ex-boyfriend. She must have found a match (here, his lookalike) but refrains from doing so because she refuses to replay what's been done a few years before. There, comes the climax, the part in which my tears are forced away from my heart : in her bedroom, with her favourite colors, one night (she prefers nighttime to daytime), she feels like the wind has brought back news of her boyfriend, but feels like she wouldn't assume their relationship the same way they did before. Her wounds rip, she remembers him a lot and feels too excited despite being sleepy ("hold the sun down, hold the moon down, leave me to rest"). She collected their love letters and would feel his touch again, and then, imagines her ex-boyfriend would reassure her if he faced her in tears right now. But she remains hopeful she will see him again, sometime later.

Check out the songwriters' first names...

Corin (composer/musician) Andy (composer/musician) Lee (sampled composer) Martin (singer/lyricist)

That makes "calm", as to describe the rhythm of the song. And if you check the interpretation I made for my coworker, one of the narrator's sisters is named Cam (same as above, minus the L) - coincidentally. And coincidentally too, my favourite ex-boyfriend has the same initials (and nearly same name) as Martin Barnard.

SECOND VERSION My coworker (let's call him Jules) has a different approach, though, dividing the song into the same 3 parts but associating it with water/ice, wind/air currents and fire, respectively. Jules' interpretation of the song is somewhat reminiscing of the video. His point of view is more adult, more personal, with darker tones : it's based on his (now defunct) sister who married a foreign guy, but he was prevented to pay visit to her - and what my coworker feared most happened after she divorced and left without a trace.

So Jules asked me to put his interpretation up, and it's a different one from mine. Here, no post-breakup recovering, it deals with either suicide or a brutal death, and in Jules' case : remembrances of his sister until she got married and unhappiness of having lost her. Here, taste has an importance too : the taste of defeat, better than the one of a great victory, and for Jules, 4 define the defeat : fresh mint, mangoes, crème brûlée and American cigarettes (Philip Morris brands such as Chesterfield or Marlboro would be the narrator's favourite - the full flavored ones, not the gold ones).

INTRODUCTION The narrator (let's call him Erik) has had no news of his sister (Caroline) for a few months. Last time he saw her (March-April), she told nothing to her brother and other sister (Cam) and wanted to be alone, and about 3 months later (so in June), she leaves without a trace. Erik and Cam were prevented by their brother-in-law (Matthieu) to visit Caroline, because she would only visit them once a year and vice versa.

ACT I The narrator recalls his adolescence. It turns out that the 3 siblings had big fun during summer holiday, about 10 years before the main event takes place ("Touch my hand, listen to me"). Cam, Erik and Caroline enjoyed drinking with ice cubes in their glasses and bathing with their friends ("I'm laughing"), but none one of them could imagine that the latter would marry a foreigner and the 2 former would be frustrated to see her less than before. Erik would be his sisters' advisor and guide until each of them gets married. He sucks Polo Mints to sweeten his breath and all 3 them drink mango juice. Apparently, 4 years before the main events, Caroline has divorced Matthieu, and has gone homeless or placed in an institute ("I know, is over this way"). The siblings wants their sister to overcome the divorce and want her back in their country. And one day, apparently early October, Erik and Cam are both told that their sister had died from intoxication in the flames of her institute - none of them witnessed the sad event, so they don't know : either she took her life by throwing a flaming match in a gas jerrycan or a fire destroyed her habitation and she died while sleeping. (Some can misunderstand the line as "one day, she woke alone and burnt alone")

ACT II Judgement day : probably the anniversary of Caroline's wedding, and here comes the main event. The narrator, now an engaged/married man in his mid-thirties, looks more the sort of a (not so) clumsy and shy guy - have a look at singer/lyricist Martin Barnard in the video, and then you'll understand. He wears glasses to hide his tears, or because his vision doesn't like heavy lights (as does Bono, the U2 singer - IMHO Mr. Barnard jokingly appears as a younger lookalike of him, more with blond hair though), or because he has stage fright - and so does Erik. It's 10am, windy outside ("old dummy day") and the narrator doesn't go to his former summer holiday destination anymore, he hates what the surroundings have become now that his sister is deceased ("I hate the world/word it's sad to see", the main highlight from Martin's relaxing and hypnotic voice), this feels like some weight on his shoulders, but does not feel suicidal at all, since he can count on his fiancée/wife. The wind has taken his sister, and he fears like he could be the next one ("kill our nightmare"). The taste of crème brûlée would fill most of this part, since Erik eats well but is a light sleeper.

INSTRUMENTAL INTERLUDE Here comes the perfect match, just before the climax, the strings intensify. In the video, the "perfect match" would be in Martin Barnard's appearance : a dark coat and light-tinted glasses, that looks so 1997, so English, so elegant, in one word : irresistible. But have a look at the matches disposed on a table and cigarette butts in ashtrays. Back to the interpretation : same day as Part II, it's the early evening taking place, 10pm, his fiancée/wife is probably downstairs but Erik wants to be alone for a while after coming home late, upstairs in his desk. Curtains closed (unless it's a rainy night) but the window remains open, phone off, door locked - please, no one to disturb him (hey hey, that's my ideal arrangement to listen to this song).

ACT III The narrator remembers his sister's favourite colors (no other mention here), and is about to strike a match to put some light on his poem (Erik is a poet) - fortunately, he didn't engage/marry a foreign girl ("could make the same mistake") and he is alone, sitting at his desk, about to write a poem, but the problem is that he smokes too much while doing so (he's been a cancer stick addict since he is 13 - sorry, he doesn't vape). He knows that smoking is bad, he fears he has throat cancer and his fiancée/wife is about to stick patches on his arm, but not now - the narrator takes a pack of Chesterfields and a box of matches from his coat pockets cause he needs one (I could almost feel a straining in Martin's voice from now on), getting ready for the climax. After sparking the gasper (the one that will last until the end of this act), Erik lets himself go into a reverie, French inhaling, making fun of his oh-so-hated former brother-in-law ("something tells me that you have something on all of us now"), and taking one puff and another with closed eyes and slow moves with his right hand, as if his sister was watching over him. Then, a fire breaks into Erik's lungs and causes his heart to beat faster and his eyes to outpour condolences ("Hold the sun down, hold the moon down"), the proof that a man can cry because of what could be his deepest puff, and a deep cut into his mind too. The narrator holds hands to the ceiling and tired of retaining the smoke, he forcefully exhales the aching ("only relief is to slip through the nets") - an allusion to his sister's sudden passing in a fire. Then, despite his blurry eyes and some cough, he sees the glowing tip is close to the filter ("hold a minute, stop a minute and go, oh"), at least he notices the ashtray and disposes the ciggy in the middle, with too little left to be burnt. Erik feels half relieved, still conscious, still strong and hearing a final signal ("breath, breath"). Finally he can put a Polo Mint in his mouth (and the fresh mint taste returns as it did at the beginning), unlock the door of the desk and put the phone on as before, and he may call his fiancée/wife to come upstairs for some more relief after the smoke clears - but I don't think he would be able to complete the poem about his late sister.

Jules says it's not clearly autobiographical, there is a part of fiction in his interpretation too.

Just listen to this song on sloppy and rainy nights, with ayurvedic incense and mint sweets close to you, in October, it's just overwhelming and seducing when sadness and nostalgia are taking over you - Bristolian trip hop hasn't faded 22 years later. And I sang it yesterday late in the afternoon, doing a "perfect match" with Martin Barnard (although not equaling the lower notes, mine sound deeper), but not copying the singer/lyricist millimeter by millimeter - when singing at the climax, tears came to me later than while listening. Crying would come just a little while after the end. And again ! Tomorrow will be better.