This song, originally titled \u2018Four Pails of Water and a Bagful of Salts\u2019, has generated a lot of interest and affection. Most often referenced from the version recorded by Peter Hammill on his 1986 album \u2018Skin\u2019, and quite often included in his live performances, the song was originally written for the musical \u2018The Ascent of Wilberforce III\u2019 by myself (lyrics) and Maxwell Hutchinson (music). The stage musical – (script and recordings available in the Archive section of this site) – was first produced at the Traverse Theatre Edinburgh in 1981. The show was a high-altitude romp about a League of Nations expedition to the unclimbed Hymalayan peak of Wilbercorce III, an international expedition intended to be conducted entirely in Esperanto.<\/p>\n
Maxwell\u2019s lovely tune was originally conceived as being very much faster; far too fast to set words to properly. He was persuaded to play it at considerably less than half-speed, and the beauty of the melody was revealed. It was an obvious choice for the crucial crisis-of-faith song for expedition leader Lord Melior, as he starts to question his life-long atheism. This would be the only song in the show without jokes or a comic sub-text.<\/p>\n
I have been very touched by people\u2019s reactions to the song, and on my 2021 album \u2018Old Man in a Hurry\u2019, I decided to record it as originally written, despite the continued popularity of Peter\u2019s iconic version (for which I remain very grateful). This new recording was made possible by the involvement of keyboard player Robert Pettigrew who arranged and accompanied the 1981 stage show.<\/p>\n
As a gesture to all those who have told me what the song means to them, I am including here a full .mp3 version of the track from \u2018Old Man in a Hurry\u2019, available to you as a free gift for the New Year 2025.<\/p>\n
The phrase ‘four pails of water and a bagful of salts’ comes from ‘The Land of Mist’, the 1926 novel by Conan Doyle.<\/p>\n
\nFOUR PAILS<\/h4>\n
Four pails of water, and a bagful of salts
\nFour pails of water, and a bagful of salts
\nThat is all we are
\nThat is all a man comprises
\nChemicals alone
\nWith no spirit, soul or ghost.
\nNothing so bizarre!
\nAnd no amount of faith disguises
\nWhat is true is what we fear the most.<\/h4>\nNothing can survive, save the things
\nMen leave behind them
\nAny other case would be really too absurd!
\nIf thoughts remained alive
\nSurely modern science could find them?
\nBut no; the soul is nothing but a word.<\/h4>\nAll the wonders Man achieves
\nEmerge from cerebral tissue.
\nChemical reactions\u2019 ebb and surge
\nForm that thing that is you.
\nIt\u2019s a sad philosophy
\nBut better sad than wrong.
\nFace the truth instead
\nWhen you\u2019re dead, you\u2019re dead
\nWhen you\u2019re gone, you\u2019re gone.
\nNow she\u2019s gone, she\u2019s gone.<\/h4>\nFour pails of water, and a bagful of salts
\nThat is all she was
\nEverything she represented
\nAnd that sounds as mad
\nAs saying she will never die.
\nFools will clutch at straws
\nBut truth must not be circumvented.
\n\u2018As the tree falls, so must that tree lie.\u2019
\nNow that sounds so odd
\nBut once I would have preached it brightly
\nNow questions appear
\nI rationally can\u2019t ignore.
\nNothingness or God
\nWhich of them seems more unlikely?
\nOnce I could have answered clearly
\nNow I only think I\u2019m nearly sure.<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/p>\n
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