The line 'It only takes one tree to make a thousand matches / It only takes one match to burn a thousand trees' is absolute genius. How easily rumours are spread and how easily the reputations of innocent people can be trashed forever. The imagery is spot on: lines like 'You can hear them in the school yard, scrap yard, chip shop, phone box, in the pool hall, at the shoe stall' really sets the scene of Chinese whispers and vicious gossips being passed around the town. The image of the photo of the man in question gathering dust behind the bar of the sports club having once been a local hero is almost cinematic; Kelly Jones packs enough material and intrigue for a novel or a movie into a 4 minute song. Kelly Jones is an amazing writer. I know you can't write about the goings-on in your home village forever but I wish he'd start writing like this again. He seems to have left that whole style behind.
The line 'It only takes one tree to make a thousand matches / It only takes one match to burn a thousand trees' is absolute genius. How easily rumours are spread and how easily the reputations of innocent people can be trashed forever. The imagery is spot on: lines like 'You can hear them in the school yard, scrap yard, chip shop, phone box, in the pool hall, at the shoe stall' really sets the scene of Chinese whispers and vicious gossips being passed around the town. The image of the photo of the man in question gathering dust behind the bar of the sports club having once been a local hero is almost cinematic; Kelly Jones packs enough material and intrigue for a novel or a movie into a 4 minute song. Kelly Jones is an amazing writer. I know you can't write about the goings-on in your home village forever but I wish he'd start writing like this again. He seems to have left that whole style behind.