Raintown --- Deacon Blue --- 1987 (Columbia)
Does
anything look more depressing than the cover of Deacon Blue's debut album “Raintown”, with its monochrome photograph of Glasgow city on a rainy day? Looking at the cover you could be forgiven for thinking that here is an album which will be full of doomy, poe-faced and depressing songs, but it turns out not to be that way at all. While many of the songs do deal with the feeling of being trapped and going nowhere, “Raintown” is a surprisingly upbeat album, for the most part.
It starts out with an acapella intro by lead singer Ricky Ross, soon joined by piano, then some keyboard as “Born in a storm” plays out its one and a half minutes, seguing directly into the first real track, the boppy title one, showcasing further the vocal talents of Ross, who would become the easily identified sound of the band. He's joined on vocals by Lorraine McIntosh, who partners him on most Deacon Blue songs. The keyboards and piano set up a sound which recalls rainfall, fitting the lyric perfectly:
”Raintown, raintown, rain down/ On all these tired eyes and tears and frowns.” The vocal gets angrier as the song comes to a climax and ends abruptly.
“Ragman” is played at a similar pace, piano-led but with more guitar, while “He looks like Spencer Tracy now” is more introspective and restrained, with bongo-type drums and bells and keyboards; in effect, the first of three ballads on the album, with a lot of historical references in the lyric. Most of the songs on the album are written by Ricky Ross, and those that aren't are co-written by him, two with keyboard player James Prime and one with Prime and guitarist Graeme Kelling.
Things kick back up a gear then for “Loaded”, where Ross notes that
”Things are different from there.” The message in the lyric is that when you have money people treat you differently, and you see things in a different way to those who have less than you. There's also an inference that Ross' determination to hold on to his love is seen as pathetic by the rich person he's singing about
:
”I've got love that I cling on to/ And I'll stay there till the end.../I have found an answer/ Don't think you don't care/ Just you laugh cos you're loaded.”
The next song, and in fact “Loaded” before it, and the next two, were all released as singles from the album. “When will you (make my telephone ring)” is the second ballad, a very soul track, with close vocal harmonies and a laid-back beat, but yet with a desperate hope in the lyric that the girl will call, thus the title. “Chocolate girl”, another single, is a far more fun song, and poppier, and despite what could be misinterpreted in the title as a mildly racist song, nothing could be further from the truth, as borne out by the lyric: [i]”He calls her the chocolate girl/ Cos he thinks she melts/ When he touches her.” The truth though shows this up, as
”She knows she's the chocolate girl/ Cos she's broken up and swallowed /And wrapped in bits of silver.” It's quite a feminist song, for the time, revealing the shallow nature of the guy in the song, and how off-base he is about his girlfriend.
The final single, “Dignity” is the pleasant tale of a man who plans to be more than he is, and dreams of buying a dinghy called “Dignity”, but ends up (whether in reality or in his mind) actually getting a boat. He sings about how he'll
”Sail her up the west coast/ Through villages and towns/ I'll be on my holidays/ They'll be doing the rounds.” It features a great little piano run by Ross, and is a nice uplifting little song, very popular when it was released as a single; even though it only got to the number twenty slot, it's still regarded as one of the most popular Deacon Blue songs. “The very thing” is the last fast song on the album, as it closes on two slower tracks. This however is a boppy song, and starts with an optimistic line:
”One day all of us will work/ We'll stand outside this orchard/ And we'll talk.” Again some great piano work and jangly guitar as the song gets faster towards the end before fading out on the opening line, more sombre this time.
One of the standout tracks on the album, “Love's great fears” is the last ballad, and features some really nice backing vocals by Lorraine McIntosh, conjuring up images of happier days slipping away as the real world has to be faced. Useless factoid #34,901: the piano riff in this reminds me almost exactly of the chorus to Nik Kershaw's “Wouldn't it be good?” Just thought I'd mention that. There's also a really great slide guitar solo from, of all people, Chris Rea, at the end.
The final track is also slow, but smouldering with anger. “Town to be blamed” starts on keyboard and piano, slowly building up as Ross sings with passion and rage, then the drums kick in and the song gets much heavier, but retaining its slow beat. The guitar of Graeme Kelling comes to the fore here, and then halfway through the music almost fades away, and Ross sings quietly, with the instruments coming in one by one and joining the track, until it again builds up to a crescendo. One of the two songs on which James Prime collaborates with Ross, it's in fact the longest track on the album, and ends on a slow outro with Ross singing
”Work, work, work/ In the rain, rain, rain/ Then go home, home home again.”
Although Deacon Blue achieved better chart success with their second album, aptly titled “When the world knows your name”, I prefer this one. It's got a raw, honest edge that the follow-up did not. That album was more polished, commercial and mostly lighter-toned than this, a product for the charts with catchy, easily-sung songs with hooky choruses, and while I do like it, “Raintown” still stands as my favourite Deacon Blue album.
TRACKLISTING
1. Born in a storm
2. Raintown
3. Ragman
4. He looks like Spencer Tracy now
5. Loaded
6. When will you (make my telephone ring)
7. Chocolate girl
8. Dignity
9. The very thing
10. Love's great fear
11. Town to be blamed