"The original idea was taken from one of the first things we did together, demoed but never actually finished, entitled 'Dear Dead Days'. We re-worked it in rehearsals and came up with this. I start singing the original lines at the end of the song. We were struggling to kick start the song following the intro when John came up with the stabs, which I absolutely love. The lyrical idea was inspired by one of my all time favourite books 'Star Rover' by Jack London, which at that time I'd never heard of. It was the Producer Dave M Allen that gave it to me."
mightypotato is right. Here's what Mark says:
"The original idea was taken from one of the first things we did together, demoed but never actually finished, entitled 'Dear Dead Days'. We re-worked it in rehearsals and came up with this. I start singing the original lines at the end of the song. We were struggling to kick start the song following the intro when John came up with the stabs, which I absolutely love. The lyrical idea was inspired by one of my all time favourite books 'Star Rover' by Jack London, which at that time I'd never heard of. It was the Producer Dave M Allen that gave it to me."