Genius in the Blue could figure in Peter Kaye’s Misheard Lyrics sketch, (check it out on You Tube and you’ll bellyache laugh for a good 10 minutes). Tom’s eldest son misheard a key lyric in our aforementioned song, hearing the phrase, ‘Goats on a canvas’ instead of the official line ‘Ghosts on a Canvas’, leading us to affectionately dub our first track The Goat Song.
We both have a soft spot for goats and on our way to meet Alex, the producer for this song, and the other five on our upcoming EP, we walked past some graffiti on a telecoms street cabinet that simply said GOAT. We took this as a sign that @pickyproducer was destined to work with us and that our song was on the right path, and definitely in the right hands.
A few weeks later I was in Chichester with my son, and we popped into the Pallant House Gallery to take in the work of John Craxton. It turns out he was partial to painting goats and is described in artistic circles as ‘the consummate portraitist of goats’. Impressive!
Swopping West Sussex for his beloved Greece, the first living thing Craxton painted when he reached its shores was a goat. He admired them for their toughness, and their ability to thrive in places where other creatures wouldn’t stand a chance. Naturally, I snapped some photos of these resilient ruminants and sent them to Tom, convinced this was another sign that our debut single was on the right track.
I’ve included one of Craxton’s goats here that I photographed. Seriously, you’ve got to love these goats….
Melony x
