After the Wilde Flowers dissolved, the Soft Machine arose with drummer/singer Robert Wyatt, organist Mike Ratledge, bassist/singer Kevin Ayers, and guitarist/singer Daevid Allen. Allen, an Aussie, was denied re-entry into England due to visa troubles, so the Soft Machine continued as a trio. After the first album and hectic touring, Kevin Ayers felt burnt out and decided to embark on a life of relative ease and comfort; this song was a sweet dedication to him.
I don't know a lot about the scene, but I've pieced together a few things:
Ayers' birthplace was Herne Bay, Kent, England. Majorca is a sunny, pleasant Spanish island which I assume Ayers vacationed at--he took up residence there for a while, too.
Lucky, Pozzo, Estragon and Vladimir are all characters from the play "Waiting for Godot," which ties in with "Waiting for something that's already there", a line from Ayers' "Why Are We Sleeping?"
Much of the rest of the song is references to Ayers-written lyrics:
"Good and bad go so well together in his tunes/He wrote a song and called it the weather or not..." are nods to the "Lullaby Letter."
The entire "Why is he sleeping/why is the trumpeter weeping" line is a nod to "Why Are We Sleeping?", while the next verse ("we've got something to tell you") is another reference to "Lullaby Letter".
After the Wilde Flowers dissolved, the Soft Machine arose with drummer/singer Robert Wyatt, organist Mike Ratledge, bassist/singer Kevin Ayers, and guitarist/singer Daevid Allen. Allen, an Aussie, was denied re-entry into England due to visa troubles, so the Soft Machine continued as a trio. After the first album and hectic touring, Kevin Ayers felt burnt out and decided to embark on a life of relative ease and comfort; this song was a sweet dedication to him.
I don't know a lot about the scene, but I've pieced together a few things:
Ayers' birthplace was Herne Bay, Kent, England. Majorca is a sunny, pleasant Spanish island which I assume Ayers vacationed at--he took up residence there for a while, too.
Lucky, Pozzo, Estragon and Vladimir are all characters from the play "Waiting for Godot," which ties in with "Waiting for something that's already there", a line from Ayers' "Why Are We Sleeping?"
Much of the rest of the song is references to Ayers-written lyrics: "Good and bad go so well together in his tunes/He wrote a song and called it the weather or not..." are nods to the "Lullaby Letter." The entire "Why is he sleeping/why is the trumpeter weeping" line is a nod to "Why Are We Sleeping?", while the next verse ("we've got something to tell you") is another reference to "Lullaby Letter".