Idlewild (feat. Josephine Oniyama)

On a Saturday in October of last year, preparing for our weekly pizza and movie night after a massive bike ride, and when I was close to finishing a particularly trying five-month volunteer election campaign role, I heard the alternative/soft rock song “Idlewild” play on Apple Music.

This piece of music has stuck with me since the autumn, and it’s the kind of song that makes me excited to be blogging about music. It’s not exactly what I’d call moody or haunting, but it has a slight combination of those qualities that makes it quite mesmerizing and very compelling. The video for “Idlewild,” a stunning piece of cinematography, takes this feeling a little further with its film noir quality and the mystique of the characters.

“Idlewild” is by the Scottish rock band Travis, which formed in Glasgow in 1990 and is still active. The band took its name from the Harry Dean Stanton (1926-2017) character in the Wim Wenders (b. 1945) film Paris, Texas (1984).

The song and video are filled with magic and brilliance. The male figure, played by the band’s lead singer Fran Healy, has a bit of a gumshoe affect to him, like a Humphrey Bogart (1899-1957) character, and I observe a wry kind of smile. The woman, played by featured English singer-songwriter Josephine Oniyama (b. 1963), who comes up behind the man on a walk through darkened city streets during a snowfall, adds mystery to the story, as do the faceless characters that follow them. Who is she? She appears to care for him. Are they lovers? Are they breaking up? Later I wonder, has she come to save him?

“Once upon a row of houses
Tight skirts and baggy trousers
Grey men in cheap disguises
High hopes and higher rises
Here lived a girl who was on a mission
Here lived a boy who was under suspicion
Tried hard to stay beside her
Until the devil put his seed inside her

How?
You know how
Sleep too long and the sand runs out
So close to midnight
Time to fly
Do or die
Stung in the headlights

Here we lie
High and dry
The world will never see you ’till you open your eyes
Say goodnight
Kill the light
The world will never hear you tonight
Idlewild

For two years he tried to reach her
Worshiped the ground beneath her
She, she was always running
He, he saw the end was coming
But now the story takes a turn
She wakes up and her sheets are burning
Head down against the fire
Now, now, now the table turns

She won’t learn
Sleep too long and your bed starts burning
So close to midnight
Idlewild, you don’t know
You never need to

Here we lie
High and dry
The world will never see you ’till you open your eyes
Say goodnight
Kill the light
The world will never hear you tonight
Idlewild
Idlewild

I thought that we were good together
I thought that we could weather the weather
Whether or not that wise is the word for us
That high hopes are only there because, because
Because I thought the only thing between us
Was something shallow, not a river so deep, we see it’s
Dredge up the wreckage our parents left us
Lay it on the banks to rot and fester
Now a skeleton hanging like a death star
And grim and green in dark Manchester
I don’t want to hear it now

Here we lie
High and dry
The world will never see you ’till you open your eyes
Say goodnight, kill the light
The world will never hear you tonight
Idlewild
Idlewild
Kill the light
Idlewild
Kill the light”

“Idlewild,” by Fran Healy and Josephine Oniyama.
Lyrics retrieved from SongMeanings.com.

The vocals add to the richness of images, textures, sounds, and drama; in a kind of reversal of stereotypical gender roles, Healy’s singing is on the soft side for a man, juxtaposed with Oniyama’s slightly husky voice. The rhythm of Healy’s spoken-sung verses is captivating, contrasted by Oniyama’s deep, soulfully sung chorus. Their writing and delivery of the lines are masterful, particularly Healy’s use of poetic rhythm and repetition in the verses: “I thought that we were good together / I thought that we could weather the weather / Whether or not that wise is the word for us / That high hopes are only there because, because / Because I thought the only thing between us / Was something shallow, not a river so deep, we see it’s / Dredge up the wreckage our parents left us…” Ohhh.. isn’t that just brilliant?!

The last verse tells of a deeper divide between them than the man may have believed; in the end, even as they embrace passionately, it is unclear whether they will be together or if she is rescuing him with the balloon that will float him to freedom and contentment. A cliffhanger, if you will.

In addition to appearing on this song and releasing three of her own albums and several singles, Oniyama has backed up numerous musicians, including Michael Kiwanuka (b. 1987; please click the link to check out some songs I’ve posted by him after you’re finished here).

“Idlewild” is the second-last track on Travis’s eighth studio album, Everything at Once (2016).

Now you know a little about why this is my Song of the Day for Today. Thanks for joining me here. Please enjoy the official music video from the Travis YouTube channel:

With warm wishes,

Steve