Thursday 21 August 2014

The Hour Candle (A Song for My Father) (Camel, 1996)

This long track (9 minutes of good music and 14 more of gull and sea effects) comes from Camel's "Harbour of Tears" album, a concept based on Irish emigration to America. The sweet, sad, bluesy Latimer's electric guitar solo is the most magic moment of the song, but I like every bit of it (well, maybe not so the final gulls and waves...), as the main theme is simply magnificent and all the variations are worth Camel's long and glorious history.

"Harbour of Tears" is my favourite album by Camel after the '70s.


The a cappella reprise of the traditionsl Irish Air opening the album is also very good and acts as a bridge between the proper song and the sea sounds coming after a minute or so of silence. Camel succeed IMHO in describing the sadness of leaving one's home country and breaking maybe forever all family and friendship links. Heartbreaking, that's the word.

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