In 2008, Paul Draper sent out an e-mail to the people on his mailing list for the 10th anniversary of the release of Six. He gave song by song commentary for each track. Here is what he said about this track.
"The title 'Witness To A Murder (Pt II)' refers to the possible murder of Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones in the swimming pool at Cotchford Farm, and a supposed witness to that murder detailed in the book 'Paint It Black' by Geoffrey Giuliano which is on the front cover artwork of 'Six'.
For the backing track the idea was to do something so off the wall, so fucking wacky that when people listened to it they think: "FOR FUCKS SAKE, WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?" That was the brief. So Chad and I had a brainstorming session. What was the maddest, craziest, fucked up thing we could think of. Something you would never expect to appear on a rock record in 1998. The conclusion we came to on a piece of paper was as follows...
An 18th century baroque harpsichord movement featuring one male and one female opera singer singing how miserable they were in Italian with Dr Who playing a dead Brian Jones in a swimming pool in East Sussex."
"The lyrics Chad wrote relate to the book and the circumstances that led to Brian leaving the Stones and a possible motive for his murder, although there could be some personal experience in there too in a couple of lines, you'd have to ask Chad. If you've got the time or inclination to read the book and re-listen to the lyrics afterwards, it'll all make sense. Of course there's the obvious references to the pool in 'chlorine' and 'disinfected womb'.
Lyrically it's narrated from the perspective of Brian Jones as he lays dead in the swimming pool at Cotchford farm. We needed someone to play Brian who could pull it off. Tom was my first and only thought. So we set about contacting his agent. The lyrical idea could have come about after the incident with the girl in Denver, leading to the idea that there was a consciousness still left after Brian died. You'd have to ask Chad. Chad's lyrics spoken by Tom are that consciousness reflecting on the events leading up to his death or possible murder spoken from the pool itself. This may explain Brian becoming philosophical about events, possibly in the knowledge that there is something after death after all."
In 2008, Paul Draper sent out an e-mail to the people on his mailing list for the 10th anniversary of the release of Six. He gave song by song commentary for each track. Here is what he said about this track.
"The title 'Witness To A Murder (Pt II)' refers to the possible murder of Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones in the swimming pool at Cotchford Farm, and a supposed witness to that murder detailed in the book 'Paint It Black' by Geoffrey Giuliano which is on the front cover artwork of 'Six'.
For the backing track the idea was to do something so off the wall, so fucking wacky that when people listened to it they think: "FOR FUCKS SAKE, WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?" That was the brief. So Chad and I had a brainstorming session. What was the maddest, craziest, fucked up thing we could think of. Something you would never expect to appear on a rock record in 1998. The conclusion we came to on a piece of paper was as follows...
An 18th century baroque harpsichord movement featuring one male and one female opera singer singing how miserable they were in Italian with Dr Who playing a dead Brian Jones in a swimming pool in East Sussex."
"The lyrics Chad wrote relate to the book and the circumstances that led to Brian leaving the Stones and a possible motive for his murder, although there could be some personal experience in there too in a couple of lines, you'd have to ask Chad. If you've got the time or inclination to read the book and re-listen to the lyrics afterwards, it'll all make sense. Of course there's the obvious references to the pool in 'chlorine' and 'disinfected womb'.
Lyrically it's narrated from the perspective of Brian Jones as he lays dead in the swimming pool at Cotchford farm. We needed someone to play Brian who could pull it off. Tom was my first and only thought. So we set about contacting his agent. The lyrical idea could have come about after the incident with the girl in Denver, leading to the idea that there was a consciousness still left after Brian died. You'd have to ask Chad. Chad's lyrics spoken by Tom are that consciousness reflecting on the events leading up to his death or possible murder spoken from the pool itself. This may explain Brian becoming philosophical about events, possibly in the knowledge that there is something after death after all."