Club Q Update #29 - The Price Of Pearls

Here’s another home demo for you.

I was given a well thumbed book by my Dad that had belonged to my late godfather called ‘Forty Fathoms Deep’ by Australian author Ion L. Idriess. It’s a story following the pearl divers in north-western Australia, and the hazardous conditions they endured both at sea and back on land. What a cut-throat business to be in!

I loved the book, and thought it’d be an interesting thing to write a song about. Musically, I tried to combine a sea-shanty feel with a stomping blues riff. This tune is at least six or seven years old. In the end I think it felt more like a writing exercise than a complete song, so I shelved it.

The sea constantly comes up as subject matter for me. Roll Away, Island Bound, Three Miles From Avalon, The Raging Sea (another home demo I shared on Club Q). It’s my Isle of Man roots showing. It was everyday life - I could see both the East and West coasts of the Island from the upstairs windows in my childhood home. My dad had a boat in Port St Mary harbour. Some of my happiest memories involve the sea. It’s such a powerful draw to me, that it becomes my metaphor for most everything.

Anyways - throw on an eyepatch, grab the nearest parrot, pour yourself a tankard of rum - and I hope you enjoy the tune!

Davy