Album sleeve artwork for his four Marillion albums and most of his solo albums has been done by Mark Wilkinson.
Fish is not to be confused with Phish, Chris Squire (“The Fish”), Barry Melton ("the Fish" of Country Joe & the Fish), Grossa or Bradley Fish.
He has worked with many other artists, including Tony Banks (Genesis) and Arjen Anthony Lucassen’s (Ayreon) as the Highlander in Into the Electric Castle.
2. Fish is a Chinese experimental electronic musician.
3. fish is the name of a Soundcloud account used by electronic musician Gupi.
The Gathering
Fish Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To fight for freedom of nationhood, to defend us from invading hordes,
The general pointed with steely glare, delivered the rallying call,
We signed off our lives with the stroke of a pen, joined our pals in the line
We took the King's shilling with pride.
From the towns and the cities we came, from the fields and the countryside, the mines and the factories
Volunteers on the square, labourers and unemployed, clerks and delivery boys
casting any doubts
Victory will soon be assured,
we know God's on our side at the heart of the gathering
Farewell to our homes and our families,
Farewell to the lives we once knew
Farewell to our youth and our innocence
We marched off with the band to the promise of a brave new world
And I'll write you a letter each passing day and I'll cherish your every reply
I'll tie them with ribbons and Flanders lace; hold them close to my heart in a sweet embrace
Tell the children that I shall return laden with medals and dripping with garlands
We'll sit by the banks of the Tyne and I'll regale you with stories of honour and glory
We'll make up for all the lost time, jig to the fiddles, and weave the White Willow
In the evening like ferns we'll entwine,
our bodies surrender we give to the gathering.
I'll long for my home and my family
I will long for my life I once knew
I'll long for my youth and my innocence
I'll long for a brave new world.
In the holds of the ships out of training camps
From the railheads to trudge open roads
Shouldered rifles on heavy souls
Our fears will add to our load
Farewell to our homes and our families,
Farewell to the lives we once knew
Farewell to our youth and our innocence
We marched off with the band to the promise of a brave new world
Joining the gathering, pals in battalions to fight for a brave new world
Pals in battalions, we took the King's shilling and paid for a brave new world
The Gathering by Fish is a poignant anti-war song that tackles the issue of people going to war in the name of patriotism, but ultimately losing everything they hold dear. The lyrics describe how soldiers sign up to fight for their country and for the freedom of their nationhood, but in reality, they leave behind their youth and their innocence. The general's steely glare and the skirling pipes charge the air, raising the cheering crowd, casting any doubts that victory will soon be assured. The soldiers march off with the band to the promise of a brave new world, leaving behind their homes and families, and the lives they once knew. They take with them the hope that they'll make a difference and return home to regale their loved ones with stories of victory and glory.
However, as they leave their homes and families, they soon realise that the promise of a brave new world is an illusion. They march with heavy souls, shouldering rifles, and adding their fears to the load of other soldiers. The hope that was once there begins to fade, and they soon long to return home to the life they once knew. The soldiers write letters to their loved ones, cherish every reply, and tie them with ribbons and Flanders lace, holding them close to their hearts in a sweet embrace. They long to return home and be with their families, sit by the banks of the Tyne, dance to the fiddles, and weave the White Willow. The soldiers long for the chance to make up for all the lost time and gather with their loved ones. But the reality is they are just one body among thousands, surrendering themselves to the gathering.
Line by Line Meaning
The newspaper headlines were big and bold; our country was going to war,
The news of our country going to war was spread through big and bold newspaper headlines.
To fight for freedom of nationhood, to defend us from invading hordes,
We were going to war to fight for our nation's freedom and to protect ourselves from invading hordes.
The general pointed with steely glare, delivered the rallying call,
The general gave a powerful speech, pointing with a determined glare to rally us for the cause.
We signed off our lives with the stroke of a pen, joined our pals in the line
We accepted the risk of losing our lives in the war by signing up with our friends to join the battle.
We took the King's shilling with pride.
We took the payment for enlisting with pride as we were ready to fight for our country.
From the towns and the cities we came, from the fields and the countryside, the mines and the factories
People from all walks of life volunteered for the war effort, coming from towns, cities, fields, countryside, mines, and factories.
Volunteers on the square, labourers and unemployed, clerks and delivery boys
All kinds of people volunteered, including those in the public square, laborers, unemployed people, clerks, and delivery boys.
Skirling pipes charge the air, raising the cheering crowd,
The sound of bagpipes playing excited the crowd, raising cheers and anticipation for victory.
casting any doubts / Victory will soon be assured, / we know God's on our side at the heart of the gathering
The spirit of the gathering dispelled any doubts, as we were confident that God was on our side and victory was close at hand.
Farewell to our homes and our families, / Farewell to the lives we once knew / Farewell to our youth and our innocence / We marched off with the band to the promise of a brave new world
We bid farewell to everything we knew and marched off with the band to fight for a new and better world.
And I'll write you a letter each passing day and I'll cherish your every reply / I'll tie them with ribbons and Flanders lace; hold them close to my heart in a sweet embrace
I'll write to my loved ones every day and cherish every letter they send, holding them close to my heart.
Tell the children that I shall return laden with medals and dripping with garlands / We'll sit by the banks of the Tyne and I'll regale you with stories of honour and glory / We'll make up for all the lost time, jig to the fiddles, and weave the White Willow / In the evening like ferns we'll entwine, / our bodies surrender we give to the gathering.
I will come back to my family with medals and wreaths, and we will sit by the river Tyne where I will tell them stories of honor and glory. We will make up for lost time, dance to the fiddle and weave the White Willow. In the evening, we will entwine like ferns and surrender ourselves to the gathering.
I'll long for my home and my family / I will long for my life I once knew / I'll long for my youth and my innocence / I'll long for a brave new world.
I will miss my home, family, old life, youth, and innocence; longing for the hope and promise of a new and better world.
In the holds of the ships out of training camps / From the railheads to trudge open roads / Shouldered rifles on heavy souls / Our fears will add to our load
We boarded ships from training camps and trudged along open roads with our rifles weighed heavy on our souls. The fear we felt added to the burden we carried.
Joining the gathering, pals in battalions to fight for a brave new world / Pals in battalions, we took the King's shilling and paid for a brave new world
We joined the gathering, fighting alongside our pals in battalions for a new and better world. We paid for this new world by accepting the payment we received when taking the King's shilling.
Contributed by Ella S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.