Heron began by playing in R&B and pop bands in Edinburgh, including The Saracens. In late 1965 he successfully auditioned to join a new trio, The Incredible String Band, with Robin Williamson and Clive Palmer.
While with ISB, Heron released a solo recording, Smiling Men with Bad Reputations, released in 1971. This took eclecticism to a new extreme, blending rock, folk and world music into an atmospheric whole. Contributing musicians included Pete Townshend, Keith Moon, Duncan Browne and Ronnie Lane (as "Tommy & The Bijoux"!), John Cale, Richard Thompson, Dave Mattacks, Simon Nicol, Dave Pegg, Dudu Pukwana, Elton John, and Steve Winwood.
After the ISB broke up in 1974, Heron formed his own band, Mike Heron's Reputation, with three other members of the final "electric" ISB line-up - Graham Forbes, John Gilston, and Malcolm Le Maistre. Later known simply as Heron, the band recorded and toured until 1977.
In 1977/78, while still living in the Glen Row cottage near Innerleithen which had been the Incredible String Band's home and headquarters, Heron recorded songs which were eventually issued as The Glen Row Tapes. In 1979, he released a solo album on Casablanca Records, but then withdrew from performance for several years. In the 1990s he re-emerged with a new group, Mike Heron's Incredible Acoustic Band, and released the album Where The Mystics Swim.
In 1997 he reunited with Williamson for some concerts, and from 1999 to 2006 performed occasionally with a reformed version of the Incredible String Band.
He has also recorded a song with his daughter Georgia Seddon, based on a poem by John Burnside, for the Ballads of the Book album released in March 2007.
Website: www.mikeheron.co.uk
Jane
Mike Heron Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Are trembling with emotion
Of grief or fear or joy
Jane looks down at her brown shoes
She knows that the shine upon them
Should please someone like you
To run on sands so white
To buy her boat trips if you could
And watch her drink tea
Jane can't tell me if her heart
Is racing with emotion
Of grief or fear or joy
The song "Jane" by Mike Heron depicts a sense of vulnerability within an individual in the character of Jane, who can't articulate the emotions she's experiencing. The first stanza of the song represents the ambiguity that Jane feels and her inability to communicate her feelings. Whether it's grief, fear or joy, Jane is uncertain of her own emotions, which is represented by her trembling hands. Jane looks down at her shoes, a sign of her introverted nature, which indicates that she's not very forthcoming about her emotions. Although her shoes gleam with a shine, she knows that people like the person listening to this song would appreciate it, but it doesn't change her inner emotions.
The second stanza of the song further represents the character of Jane, who doesn't know if her heart is racing with grief, fear or joy. Jane's introverted nature is symbolized with her representation as someone who is easily pushed around by others. She's a person who can't speak up about what she wants and needs, so people like the listener in the song take advantage of her. The lyrics, "Someone like you would like to take Jane off, to run on sands so white, to buy her boat trips if you could, and watch her drink tea," proves that Jane is a people-pleaser who doesn't necessarily stand up for herself.
Line by Line Meaning
Jane can't tell me if her hands
Jane is not able to communicate to me whether her hands are shaking due to emotions of sadness, fear or happiness.
Are trembling with emotion
Her hands are shaking due to heightened emotions.
Of grief or fear or joy
The emotions causing Jane's hands to tremble could be any of grief, fear, or joy.
Jane looks down at her brown shoes
Jane casts her gaze downwards towards her brown shoes.
She knows that the shine upon them
She is aware that the shine on her brown shoes is important.
Should please someone like you
The shine on her shoes is something that someone like you would find pleasing.
Someone like you would like to take Jane off
A person similar to you would desire to take Jane away.
To run on sands so white
To run on white sand beaches.
To buy her boat trips if you could
If you had the ability, you would purchase boat trips for Jane.
And watch her drink tea
You would enjoy watching Jane drink tea.
Jane can't tell me if her heart
Jane is not able to relay if she is having intense feelings within her heart.
Is racing with emotion
If her heart is racing, it is due to heightened emotions.
Of grief or fear or joy
The emotions causing her heart to race could be of grief, fear, or joy.
Contributed by Skyler O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
gajaga789
Its amazing how underrated and unknown this album is. So many stars and some of their best work on here. This album deserves to be heard by so many. Only in the 70s would an album like this not be revered because there are so many other landmark albums at the time. Talent on top of talent in the 60s and 70s that a lot of truly remarkable albums never got the credit they deserved.
Paul Peers
Nice to see the word underrated used about an album that actually is underrated.
Patrick
@Paul Peers It's still not strictly accurate though, in that by most people this album is simply not rated at all but unknown. I guess part of the reason is that it was a big departure both for Heron - known for the psych-folk of ISB - and for his guest stars.
Paul Peers
@Patrick Funny how being well known almost invariably means you are rubbish, but being unknown doesn't necessarily mean you are great - only usually .............. There's no question of where our pal's heart lay on this album, compared to Myrrh, which sounds like an ISB album without the MH songs. I love this album, but I have to say : - Of the post ISB solo albums, I only really like the first MH, but I like all the RW, in their many different styles.
Patrick
@Paul Peers I'm new to this one, although I've liked ISB for a long time. People don't like it in general when Folkies go electric, do they? It does seem like a sort of betrayal. And although it's interesting to spot the big-name cameos, I have to say my first impression is that Heron didn't really have the voice for this. If you'd never heard ISB you might think he simply couldn't sing.
I think RW chose the better path, more inclined towards traditional music (although there's plenty of his solo stuff I don't know).
Let's face it, there's little correlation between fame - especially short-term fame - and quality. The only test, as far as it goes, is longevity. And it's easy to forget that ISB were massive in their time - trouble is, they were too much of their time, very vulnerable to changes in fashion.
Graveyard Poet
Happy Birthday Mike Heron! (December 27)
I share my birthday with him and love this record. I've got the original 1971 pressing on the Elektra label. Brilliant production by Joe Boyd and engineering by John Wood (Witchseason).
I especially love "Feast of Stephen"--not only my favorite Mike Heron song but one of my favorite songs of all time. John Cale is at his absolute best on this track--genius instrumental arrangement.
Joel Malone
I'm so happy to finally have found a copy of this rather of this legendary album (by that I mean the way legends like producer/manager Joe Boyd made it sound like so much more. In that which I wrote, as well as sung I had an intense cry because thits music is so beautiful. I feel the same way about John Martyn, Lennon, Peter Hammill, and even Bowie.
Woody 54
Enjoying this! brings back fond memories of those halcyon days of youth. Remarkably the auditory memory is still strong. Given the musical luminaries involved a terrific little known album. Great Mike is still extant!
montgomerybrains
I still don't have a copy on vinyl. MY BAD. This is one of my favorite albums of all time.
Kingkilla974
What a great album!