I Won't Stay Long

Of course, dear reader, I lied about "Waiting On the Sun" being the only song not written by a member of Sixpence -- Sam Ashworth wasn't a member of the band when he wrote this song, although he is now ("membership" in the band being the tentative thing it is). Unlike the previous Song that Must Not Be Named, "I Won't Stay Long" blends seamlessly into the story of the album it's on, sandwiched by Slocum's "Sister, Mother" and "Love."

I saw Mr. Ashworth perform this song on an acoustic tour he did with Slocum. They played at a now long-gone "tea bar" in Seattle run by some friends of mine. Ashworth sang "still I don't know what to do" both times in the chorus, omitting the "sister, show me what to do" which provides a thematic link (songs about "Sister Wisdom") on the Sixpence record. Also, after the song, Slocum spoke -- the only time he did so during the concert. Ashworth explained that he'd written the song for a Sixpence record which ended up (as we know) being quite successful, selling over a million copies.

"So Sam made some money," Matt said, glancing upward. Which, if you consider that the entire self-titled record is pretty much about the battle between art and commerce, is a pretty funny thing for him to say.

Here is a video recording of that performance, which took place in June of 2005. Visually unappealing, but the sound quality isn't bad considering that it was just a regular digital camera.