Richey - The Wrong Beginning

[Ebolarama]

yea i agree. i think there's a huge chance that it's about Richey.
i imagine it'd be hard for anyone not to write about things like that.

[Slideling]

Originally Posted by mrvitaminpill

i think its been mentioned before. in addition, youve got all the richey saying about perfect circles...which is also referenced in the song. sadly that awful gospel chorus prevents me from listening to it!

Ditto.

It sounds cheesy to me, but it's HIS friend, so I bet what he did was earnest.

[Son of Stopped]

Originally Posted by mrvitaminpill

i think its been mentioned before. in addition, youve got all the richey saying about perfect circles...which is also referenced in the song. sadly that awful gospel chorus prevents me from listening to it!

I love the gospel chorus and it was clearly an influence on one of the best songs on SATT The Second Great Depression. I'm hearing a mash up of the two in my head as I type!

[Slideling]

Both, along with Indian Summer, tend to be of my least favourite.

[Silver10]

I've always associated them with each other. I agree too. I think my personality would be much better if I had brown eyes, instead of blue.

[nixon]

I like the live verson of TWB - i'd like to hear a studio version of that

[Deets]

I've been thinking a bit today about the lyrics and I got this idea:

The Wrong Beginning - chorus

To draw the perfect circle
And so the perfect girl
you came out of the half light
surrending your of peace mind

and

Virginia State Epileptic Colony - 2nd verse

Draw a perfect circle
sleep foetus like

I mean this Nicky said that it was James who edited Picturesque from All Is Vanity and Doors Closing Slowly, so he must have read all lyrics. so this might be another "proof"? or maybe I'm missing the point?

[countdown to retirement]

Originally Posted by Deets

I've been thinking a bit today about the lyrics and I got this idea:

The Wrong Beginning - chorus


and

Virginia State Epileptic Colony - 2nd verse

good spot.

plus, right after the 'draw a perfect circle' lines in both, you have either 'half light' or 'half circled light'.

[Slideling]

Originally Posted by Deets

I've been thinking a bit today about the lyrics and I got this idea:

The Wrong Beginning - chorus


and

Virginia State Epileptic Colony - 2nd verse


I mean this Nicky said that it was James who edited Picturesque from All Is Vanity and Doors Closing Slowly, so he must have read all lyrics. so this might be another "proof"? or maybe I'm missing the point?

But it was known beforehand Richey had an interest in the perfect circle - hence James' line, in my opinion.

[Deets]

Originally Posted by Richian

But it was known beforehand Richey had an interest in the perfect circle - hence James' line, in my opinion.

yes, like in one of his quotes

Originally Posted by Richey

The eye is the only perfect circle on the human body. When a baby is born it is perfect
but as soon as it opens its eyes it is corrupted and everything else is just a downward
spiral.

[life is so silent]

Originally Posted by Deets

I've been thinking a bit today about the lyrics and I got this idea:

The Wrong Beginning - chorus


and

Virginia State Epileptic Colony - 2nd verse


I mean this Nicky said that it was James who edited Picturesque from All Is Vanity and Doors Closing Slowly, so he must have read all lyrics. so this might be another "proof"? or maybe I'm missing the point?

What do you think about this one..?

Die in the summertime - 3rd verse

A tiny animal curled into a quarter circle

[Cassie]

It won't be odd to know that James was talking about Richey in that particular line.
I say this because they always talk about him, in one way or another.

[DoodleBug]

OK, coming very late to this party, but I haven't really listened in-depth to James' solo album until the last few months, after I got my ipod. I've heard TWB several times before, but evidently never listened to it very in-depth before. Sitting here at work just now, TWB started playing, and those first few lines really grabbed me because I AM someone who has blue eyes and have always been glad of that fact (and lucked out that my husband is also blue-eyed, so if what they taught me in 10th grade biology is true, we'll have blue-eyed kids).

Then the line about the "to draw a perfect circle" caught my attention, because I also remember them talking about Richey and his obsession with drawing a perfect circle. Listening to that line and the rest of the chorus, and then the second verse, I really got the, "Is this about Richey?" thought process going, and came here to see if anyone else had made the same connection.

I do think the song is lovely, and a lovely tribute to James' friend. And I can totally see when James sat down to write his solo record, creating this song not as a gimmick but as a way to try to reflect on what happened. I'm doing the same thing right now with a story about a death that happened over ten years ago in my circle of friends.

[Slideling]

Good luck with that!