Here is the second in my series of seasonal EPs. The title, Pett Levels, is the beach where I grew up on the coast road between Hastings and Rye. It goes on for miles and miles with a big view-destroying dam wall. To your right, France; to your left, a marsh where a flamingo started to live when I was ten-ish. Not a common sight. It was when I found out that flamingos are fed raspberry jam to retain their colour (could be true, could be false) that I grew up.
Summer Single is the kind of song that should just come out on a single, and this is the nearest we could get. Your New Clothes nearly made Why We Fight but the L. A. Rebellion finished the album for us. One Shot is a new song I made here in S.F. with Scott Mathews, and When the Sun Comes Out is a version of the song from Groom played by Greg Leisz and myself. The last song is a preview of a great album to come. Enjoy and see you late summer/early fall. And by the way, this EP is subtitled Brian Wilson Not Included. And my best wishes to you all, all ways, Wes. X
All tracks written by John Wesley Harding (TOWNSONGS ASCAP) except The End of Something written by David Lewis and JWH (TOWNSONGS ASCAP) and Summer Single written by JWH and Steve Barton (TOWNSONGS ASCAP/Sleepless Music BMI).
Summer Single: produced by Andy Paley
Your New Clothes: produced by Steve Berlin
One Shot: produced by Scott Mathews
When the Sun Comes Out: produced by Steve Berlin
The End of Something: performed by JWH and David Lewis, produced by Scott Mathews and JWH.
Pett Levels: The Summer EP
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Summer Single
I’ve been married to my work
It’s been bringing me down
Had a dream about this town
And it was sinking
There goes another lost parade
Laughing, waving past the grandstand
Could it be you who understands
What I’m thinking
The sun has got his shades on and he tips his hat to you
And he says:
Play that Summer Single one more time
Summer Single, Summer Single
It’s the one you’ve been waiting for all year
It’s here, it’s the summer single
Winter came too quickly
Spring can never stay
Fall fell down, got in the way
And we were waiting
Weather won’t be hurried
Whether you want it to or not
And a headache’s all we got
Anticipating
Nothing lasts forever, there’s a tunnel at the end of the light
We might as well
Play that Summer Single one more time
Summer Single, Summer Single
It’s the one you’ve been waiting for all year
It’s here, it’s the summer single
I tried to paint your pictures
Yeah, but all my paintings melt
Now I know how cold we must have felt
Play that Summer Single one more time
Summer Single, Summer Single
It’s the one you’ve been waiting for all year
It’s here, it’s the summer single -
Your New Clothes
You could say that this town’s seen better days
There’s rats everywhere and some of them don’t have Mercedes
The hometown crowd wants to see you pass by
So please save our lives or catch our eyes
And a B2 bombed us with a million roses
And nobody said a single thing about
Your New Clothes
No ifs and buts, no one’s got the guts no more
This is no picture show and it’s no fairy story
Some claim they cannot afford the price
To see true prophets predict the dice
Or read the future with the mythic tarot
And who amongst them could foretell the force of
Your new clothes
I dig ‘em, they’re so hip I’m turning green
They’re a fashion statement but no one knows what they mean
I wanna know so bad but I’m afraid
To find of what fine stuffs they’re made
Even fashion experts they can’t claim to know
What satisfies them most about
Your new clothes
We’re cold and naked in case you hadn’t guessed
And the emperor is the only one who is dressed
If that seems neat, that’s cos it is
Things don’t bang, they don’t even fizz
They just go off right in your hand
There’s a little boy in the furthest stand
Who says “Am I the only one who knows?”
We don’t hear, we’re so in love with
Your new clothes -
One Shot
We’re firing blanks at one another
Shooting rounds into the sun
Using cartridge after cartridge
No safety trigger to turn on And we can’t see where we’re aiming
And who we’re aiming at
We might be hitting one another
Or ourselves or our lovers
Or the empty space above
Everyone’s got a gun, Everyone’s got a gun
Everyone’s got a gun, Everyone’s got one
Everyone’s got a gun, Everyone’s got a gun
But you only got one shot
She’s standing naked looking at him
Shoot an apple off her head
It’s only his strange strange way
Of trying to get her into bed
He says we tried to play a game but
Clearly you had all the cards
I thought we had an understanding
We’d do nothing underhand, overhard
Or overplanned
Everyone’s got a gun, Everyone’s got a gun
Everyone’s got a gun, Everyone’s got one
Everyone’s got a gun, Everyone’s got a gun
But you only got one shot
So use it well, my little baby
Use it well, my little one
Cos the first day that you know it
You’ll look back and you’ll be gone
So I’ll be polishing the barrel
Just to hand it down to you
I wouldn’t say you had to use it
But it’ll be there if you choose it
Life’s short and so confused
Everyone’s got a gun, Everyone’s got a gun
Everyone’s got a gun, Everyone’s got one
Everyone’s got a gun, Everyone’s got a gun
But you only got one shot -
When the Sun Comes Out
It’s been raining for a million years
And the weather just won’t turn
Try to build a fire round your place
And the damned logs refuse to burn
The braindead have been sitting on their sunbeds
Where’s heaven for its own sake
Lying dead or half-forgotten
At the bottom of a bottomless lake
But when the sun comes out
The world’s gonna go crazy
Everybody’s gonna move their arms about
Cos what they believed is turned inside-out
When the sun comes out
It’s been raining since I don’t know when
We’re all in for a big surprise
Go to the woods in your dreams tonight
And when you awake you won’t believe your eyes
It’s all the rage, it’ll make the front page
Gotta get the gutter press going down the drain
Butter melts if you leave it near the window
And it’s time to try and use a deckchair again
But when the sun comes out....
When the sun comes out
His pa will be so disappointed
To find out his son was double-jointed
Some will flounder
Some will be anointed
The son couldn’t wait to do a turn-about
It’s been raining but it’s gonna stop
Cats and dogs will shake themselves
Time to work, time to pick those hops
I gotta go and mend the greenhouse shelves
This was meant, well, it’s all heaven-sent
Go out naked and have no fear
One boy spent a little life in torment
But now he’s grinning from ear to ear
Now he’s grinning from here to here.. -
The End of Something
These streets are full of nothing
And all the faces look the same
I'm locked inside the feeling
That there's no‑one left to blame
Please do it for me I did it for you
Let's get ready for another stage
Is this the end of something
Or the start of a brand new age?
In this soulless city
Where the dirty water flows
We search for diamonds shining out
From the bed of the rivers below
You'll find it out so don't hold it in
You know that it will carry you far
Is this the end of something
Or the dawn of a rising star?
Now your eyes are keeping secrets
You don't look me straight in the face
I'm getting to thinking I've fallen behind
That I'm finishing last in this race
Will you wait for me like I waited for you?
Can we swallow our foolish pride
Is this the end of something
Or the rise of a new‑born tide?
They're promising the earth now
With a smile at the start of the day
We journeyed down the road a while
Thinking of some things to say
It's an open book worth a long hard look
At the sights that that we locked inside
Is this the end of something
Or the start of another life?
I can’t predict the future
But it won’t be like the past
The road it stretches on for miles
And the sky is overcast
There’s an open gate and an empty slate
Where we can write everything anew
Is this the end of something
Or the birth of me and you?
