Best tunes of 1993: #1 James “Sometimes (Lester Piggott)”

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“There’s a storm outside, and the gap between crack and thunder
Crack and thunder, is closing in, is closing in”

Monday, September 22nd, 2008. My wife Victoria and I took the afternoon off work and drove down to Montreal together from Ottawa to see one of our favourite bands live in concert*. The venue was an old movie theatre turned club in the quartier des spectacles called Club Soda. I remember us being quite excited, in particular because we had thought we’d never see James live after they had broken up in 2001. Also, because after reuniting in 2007, they released a new album called “Hey ma” the following year, which turned out to be my favourite by the group since 1993’s “Laid”.

The show in question lives on in our collective memory as our favourite ever concert, even after seeing them again a decade later at our local music festival. The set that night was varied, performing many of our favourite tracks. The band was big and bold, and all seven members were palpably amazed at the reception they received in a town they were told wouldn’t come see them. In fact, near the end of their show, their performance of the very song we are talking about today, “Sometimes (Lester Piggott)”, went on for well over seven minutes because the crowd refused to let drop the singalong refrain started up by frontman Tim Booth. It was an incredible moment, perhaps as much for the band, as it was for those of us in the audience.

“Sometimes, when I look deep in your eyes
I swear I can see your soul”

“Sometimes (Lester Piggott)” was the first single released off of “Laid”, what is surely James’s biggest album. Much like the title track, which was also released as a single, “Sometimes” climbed into the top thirty of the UK singles charts, and is still obviously one of the band’s best loved songs. It certainly is one of my own personal faves.

It is a driving and racing number**, acoustic guitar strumming at a frantic pace and a drum beat that leaves you just as breathless, and with the typical big James sound reflecting in a steamed up mirror the raging storm portrayed in the lyrics. And it’s these words that elevate an already fantastic song into the pantheon of greatness of greatness. Booth creates for us an image of a tempest, a storm in a seaside town, expounding the naturalistic themes of man vs nature, perhaps an extended metaphor for the random and daunting elements of life. In it the protagonist laughs in the face of death and that passion in how Booth sings it and the images he creates has us all enthralled.

“He says listen, takes my head and puts my ear to his
And I swear I can hear the sea”

This is a song I could listen to over and over again and in it, find more beauty than the million times before. It is art and I just can’t get enough of it. This and all the memories over the years of listening to it and singing along with it is why it tops my best tunes chart for 1993.

*It would turn out to be the first and last time we would ever drive to Montreal and back on the same day to see a concert. Obviously, it was worth it but on the drive home, we were both exhausted and had to keep spelling each other behind the wheel lest one fall asleep.

**In fact, the high speed pace of the rhythm is the reason behind the name in parentheses in the title, being that of a well-known horse racing jockey.

For the rest of the Best tunes of 1993 list, click here.