Mike Barnard leaves the band soon after the release of the Mini Album and Mark Spalding switches from bass to guitar while Barry Henderson becomes the new bass player. Following performances in both the UK and Europe, another demo tape called "24 Hours" is recorded in 1987, which in 1988 is combined with the Mini Album to form the band's only CD release under the French MSI label.
Unfortuantly this release got a pressing mistake. The song The Student Price Part 1, closing song of the Mini Album, is replaced by another version of Behold The Knight (also from the Mini Album). The last recordings released by Comedy of Erros sees the light in 1989 with therelease of the three track cassette Hold On. By this time the band had made a musical change from progressive rock towards hardrock and Joe Cairney has left the band and is replaced by John Cowden.
After an hiatus of nearly 23 years Disobey is released in 2011. During all those years Jim Johnson kept writing music and finally found the time to record those songs with some old and new members of Comedy Of Errors. The current line-up of the band is Joe Cairney (vocals), Jim Johnson (keyboards), Mark Spalding (guitar), Bruce Levick (drums) and John Fitzgerald (bass). Former bass player Hew Montgomery is best known for Abel Ganz.
The new album "Disobey" can be ordered from the band website and samples can be heard at
http://comedyoferrors.org/category/music-cat/
As of February 2013, the recording of the follow up to Disobey, entitled Fanfare and Fantasy is now complete. Final mixing is underway at Aubitt Studios in Southampton and the album is scheduled for release in spring 2013.
The Answer
Comedy of Errors Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Like some mother battery hen?
You sell your soul for someone else's goal
But don't follow me, the answer lies with you
You cartonly learn what you already know
Come to me Ailsa, my darlin'
So you can be my guiding light
You are my heart and my soul
Pray for me darlin'
My heart was so broken when you went away
The only thing keeping me going
Is that we'll meet again
You can muse on a love that you'll never have
And you can dance upon the fires of hell
You can speak of the chances you never had
So are you brave enough to tell?
A lager philosophy, a bar room sage
But with unconscious desires to fail
You can say what you like but this is just a dream
Can you feel a presence touch your heart
Sense a feeling so sublime?
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns
Reached only by the mind
I live there, I die there, for there I exist
Leaving nine to five behind
For it's this that's real and this is not a dream
So don't follow me
The Answer lies with you
The Answer lies with you
The Answer lies with you
The lyrics of Comedy of Errors's song The Answer can be interpreted as a commentary on the societal expectations that individuals face in the modern world. The opening lines of the song challenge individuals who live their lives in conformity to societal norms, comparing them to battery hens who sell their souls to achieve someone else's goal. In contrast, the singer encourages the listener to seek the answer within themselves, rejecting the notion that someone else can provide the solution to their problems.
The song appears to address a specific person, Ailsa, urging her not to leave and to remain the singer's guiding light. He expresses his heartbreak at her absence and admits that the only thing keeping him going is the belief that they will meet again. The subsequent lines of the song suggest the singer's desire to be with Ailsa, even if they can only dream of a love that they will never have.
The closing lines of the song suggest that the answer lies within the individual, and that the singer has found their answer by leaving behind the banality of a nine-to-five job and seeking transcendence. The song suggests that through self-discovery and introspection, the listener can find their own answer, one that is authentic and unique to them.
Line by Line Meaning
Are you quite content to live your life
Are you truly happy with your present lifestyle?
Like some mother battery hen?
Like a caged animal with no freedom to move or do anything of their will?
You sell your soul for someone else's goal
You compromise your values and beliefs to fulfill someone else's wishes?
But don't follow me, the answer lies with you
Don't look up to me for answers, the solution to your problems is within you.
You cartonly learn what you already know
You can only comprehend and absorb things that are already familiar to you.
Come to me Ailsa, my darlin'
Addressing Ailsa to come close for a tender conversation or gesture.
So you can be my guiding light
So that the person can steer the way and direct the singer's path.
Don't ever leave me 'cause
Requesting the addressee never to forsake or abandon the artist.
You are my heart and my soul
The person is the artist's emotional support and the reason for his existence.
Pray for me darlin'
Pleading the person to offer their blessings or wishes.
My heart was so broken when you went away
The singer's heart was shattered when the person left his life.
The only thing keeping me going
The only reason the artist is holding on to life or moving forward.
Is that we'll meet again
The belief that the person and the singer will reunite someday.
You can muse on a love that you'll never have
One can think or fantasize about a love that will never be accomplished.
And you can dance upon the fires of hell
You can do what gives you temporary pleasure despite the consequences that may follow.
You can speak of the chances you never had
Expressing the missed opportunities or prospects that never came to be.
So are you brave enough to tell?
Asking one's courage to articulate the truth or their deep desires.
A lager philosophy, a bar room sage
A person trying to sound intelligent or philosophical, but making no sense.
But with unconscious desires to fail
The person deep down wants to be unsuccessful despite their pretense at wisdom.
You can say what you like but this is just a dream
The world's actuality may not match the perception or conception of the artist.
Can you feel a presence touch your heart
Do you sense an intimate or powerful energy engulfing your emotions?
Sense a feeling so sublime?
Experience an overpowering or profound emotion?
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns
Alluding to a spiritual or mystical power that resides in the splendor of sunsets.
Reached only by the mind
Can only be accessed through imagination and intellect.
I live there, I die there, for there I exist
The singer's thoughts exist in the realm of the mysterious force, and it's the reason he belongs there.
Leaving nine to five behind
Abandoning the monotonous, routine life that society expects everyone to lead.
For it's this that's real and this is not a dream
What exists in the realm of the spiritual force is real, and not just a figment of imagination.
So don't follow me
Follow no one but yourself.
The Answer lies with you
The solution to everything you seek is within you.
The Answer lies with you
Reinforcing the fact that the answer lies within yourself.
The Answer lies with you
Encouraging the addressee to take charge of their life and trust their intuition.
Contributed by Natalie I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.