Fay began w… Read Full Bio ↴Bill Fay is a singer-songwriter and pianist from London.
Fay began writing songs in the early 1960s while attending university and in 1966 cut a demo using a mobile studio belonging to a man named John Boden. Impressed by the demo, ex-Them drummer Terry Noon helped Bill to sign a recording contract with Decca. In 1967 the label released the single "Some Good Advice"/"Screams in the Ears", produced by early Donovan co-manager Peter Eden. The single "introduced [Fay's] characteristic downbeat melodies and scrambled impressionistic lyrics", according to allmusic reviewer Richie Unterberger. The self-titled Bill Fay was released in 1970 and was followed by Time Of The Last Persecution in 1971. Neither records sold well and Decca decided to end Bill’s contract shortly after the release of Time Of The Last Persecution.
Bill had returned to the studio in the late 70s, but these sessions weren't released until January 2005 through Durtro/Jnana records as Tomorrow Tomorrow and Tomorrow under the moniker of the Bill Fay Group. In 2004 Wooden Hill records released From the Bottom of an Old Grandfather Clock, a collection of demos recorded between 1966 and 1970, plus one song recorded in 2000.
Bill has since contributed "It's the Small Things Now" to the Not Alone charity compilation and "Pear Tree Tomorrow" to Bill Fay Group guitarist Gary Smith's Supertexture project.
American band Wilco have played Fay's song "Be Not So Fearful" in live performances and the band's singer Jeff Tweedy can be heard singing it in the documentary "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart: A Film About Wilco". Fay joined the band onstage for the rendition of the song at a show at the Shepherds Bush Empire in London in 2007. A cover version of Fay's "Pictures of Adolf Again" by producer and musician Jim O'Rourke and Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche can be heard in the movie from Koji Wakamatsu "United Red Army". The track "Time of the Last Persecution" became a live standard of British Apocalyptic Folk group Current 93.
A double album entitled Still Some Light was released on the Coptic Cat label in 2010. The first CD, ‘PIANO, GUITAR, BASS & DRUMS 1970–71’, consists of studio recordings sourced from archival 7 ½" tapes and cassette from 1970 and 1971, with Ray Russell on guitar, Alan Rushton on drums and Daryl Runswick on bass. The 1970 tracks are prior to the recording of Time Of The Last Persecution, and contain alternative versions of songs on that album, two tracks from Bill's first album Bill Fay as well as previously unreleased songs. There are also previously unreleased songs from 1971. The second CD, Still Some Light, is a home-recorded studio album from 2009.
NPR’s show 'All Songs Considered' premiered Bill Fay’s new single, The Neverending Happening on June 26, 2012.
Bill Fay's new album Life Is People was released on August 21, 2012 on Dead Oceans. It featured guitarist Matt Deighton (Oasis, Paul Weller, Mother Earth), drummer Tim Weller (Will Young, Noel Gallagher, Goldfrapp), and keyboardist Mikey Rowe (High Flying Birds, Stevie Nicks, etc). In addition, Bill is reunited on several tracks with Ray Russell and drummer Alan Rushton, who played on Time Of The Last Persecution.
Gentle Willie
Bill Fay Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He sailed on the sea
And Willie said a sailor's life
Is the life for me
But they sent him into battle
For to lay down his life
And Willie said a sailor's life is not for me
He learnt how to fly
And Willie said how happy
He was flying in the sky
But they sent him into battle
For to lay down his life
And Willie said the air force is no life for me
Now Willie got to thinking
People were plotting for his life
So he bought himself a watchtower
And locked himself inside
But the tower looked o'er a battlefield
Where men laid down their lives
And Willie had to laugh but then he cried
The song Gentle Willie by Bill Fay is a poignant and heart-wrenching exploration of the tragic experience of a man named Willie who finds himself caught up in the horror and brutality of war. It starts with Willie as a sailor, eager to see the world and experience the freedom and adventure of life at sea. However, he is quickly conscripted and sent off to fight in a battle that will claim his life. Willie realizes that the life of a sailor is not worth sacrificing everything for.
In an effort to find a new way of living, Willie joins the air force and learns to fly, but soon finds himself yet again on the front line, where he is expected to lay down his life. Even when he believes he has found a safe haven in a watchtower, he cannot escape the reality of the battlefield, and he laughs and cries in equal measure. It is a devastatingly powerful and emotional look at the impact that war can have on an individual, and how it strips them of their dreams and hope for a better future.
Line by Line Meaning
Willie was a sailor
Willie used to be a sailor
He sailed on the sea
He worked on ships and sailed across the ocean
And Willie said a sailor's life Is the life for me
Willie enjoyed life on the sea and wanted to become a sailor
But they sent him into battle For to lay down his life
However, he was forced to go to war and risk his life in battle
And Willie said a sailor's life is not for me
After experiencing the horrors of war, Willie no longer wanted to be a sailor
So Willie joined the air force
Instead, Willie decided to join the air force
He learnt how to fly
He learned how to operate airplanes
And Willie said how happy He was flying in the sky
Willie found joy in flying airplanes
But they sent him into battle For to lay down his life
Just like before, Willie was sent to war and faced the possibility of dying
And Willie said the air force is no life for me
After being exposed to the dangers of war once again, Willie decided he did not want to stay in the air force
Now Willie got to thinking
Later on, Willie started to contemplate and reflect on his experiences
People were plotting for his life
Willie feared for his safety and thought that others were planning to harm him
So he bought himself a watchtower And locked himself inside
To keep himself safe, Willie purchased and moved into a watchtower and locked himself inside
But the tower looked o'er a battlefield Where men laid down their lives
Despite being isolated in his tower, Willie could still see the devastating effects of war from a distance
And Willie had to laugh but then he cried
Upon realizing the futility of trying to escape from war, Willie first laughed ironically and then felt overcome with sadness
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@listening2all
Willie was a sailor
He sailed on the sea
And Willie said a sailor’s life
Is the life for me
But they sent him into battle
For to lay down his life
And Willie said a sailor’s life is not for me
So Willie joined the air force
He learnt how to fly
And Willie said how happy
He was flying in the sky
But they sent him into battle
For to lay down his life
And Willie said the air force is no life for me
Now Willie got to thinking
People were plotting for his life
So he bought himself a watchtower
And locked himself inside
But the tower looked o’er a battlefield
Where men laid down their lives
And Willie had to laugh but then he cried
@napndash
Who says this is just ok? This is quite simply one of the finest compositions of its century.
@ecopin
Este caramelo, que yo no conocía, cada me suena mejor
@senseblossomxxx5260
Love this!!!!
@joaneskins6510
Sheeran and Drake have billions of views and listens. Yet this is real music. So sad.
@GREVILLERECORDS11
please buy his third album TOMMORROW TOMMORRW TOMMORROW..its perhaps my favourite ever album...time of the last persecution is incredible but tomorrow tomorrow is even better
@ecopin
@Confite Si, 37 está muy bien. Lo malo es que luego suelen bajar, pero a lo mejor tienes suerte y se te mantiene la frecuencia, o a lo mejor hasta sube. Ahora tienes que ir a por el 2º
@listening2all
Willie was a sailor
He sailed on the sea
And Willie said a sailor’s life
Is the life for me
But they sent him into battle
For to lay down his life
And Willie said a sailor’s life is not for me
So Willie joined the air force
He learnt how to fly
And Willie said how happy
He was flying in the sky
But they sent him into battle
For to lay down his life
And Willie said the air force is no life for me
Now Willie got to thinking
People were plotting for his life
So he bought himself a watchtower
And locked himself inside
But the tower looked o’er a battlefield
Where men laid down their lives
And Willie had to laugh but then he cried
@ecopin
@candylandjoe haha. I say that this is ok, because i don't speak English, but if you want, i say that this is the most wonderful of the world.:D
@ecopin
It's ok
@laurentDuplouy
@candylandjoe it's perhaps a bit exaggerated (a little) ;-)