Weller's eleventh studio album, Sonik Kicks, was released on 19 March 2012. The Green Songfacts reports that it was recorded in Weller’s own Black Barn Studios in Ripley, Surrey, with co-producer Simon Dine and engineer Charles Rees.
Born John William Weller in Stanley Road, Woking, he was also a central figure in the Mod revival. As the leader of the Jam, Paul Weller fronted the most popular British band of the punk era, influencing legions of English rockers that ranged from his mod-revival contemporaries to the Smiths in the '80s and Oasis in the '90s. During the final days of the Jam, he developed a fascination with Motown and soul, which led him to form the sophisti-pop group the Style Council in 1983. As the Style Council's career progressed, Weller's interest in soul developed into an infatuation with jazz-pop and house music, which eventually led to gradual erosion of his audience — by 1990, he couldn't get a record contract in the UK, where he had previously been worshipped as a demi-god. As a solo artist, Weller returned to soul music as an inspiration, cutting it with the progressive, hippie tendencies of Traffic. Weller's solo records were more organic and rootsier than the Style Council, which helped him regain his popularity within Britain. By the mid-'90s, he had released three successful albums which were both critically-acclaimed and massively popular in England, where contemporary bands like Ocean Colour Scene were citing him as an influence. Just as importantly, many observers, while occasionally criticizing the trad-rock nature of his music, acknowledged that Weller was one of the few rock veterans that had managed to stay vital within the second decade of his career.
Stanley Road
Paul Weller Lyrics
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Try an' find myself again
At least the part I left somewhere
Buried under a hedgerow near
A lazy bridge on a hot afternoon
Water glistening while it plays a tune
Cloud burst on a rainy day
Wiping all my sleep away
Uh-huh oh-yeh! uh-huh oh-yeh!
Always there to confuse and fool ya
Uh-huh oh-yeh! uh-huh oh-yeh!
Always there to confuse and fool you
And in my mind I saw the place
As each memory returned to trace
Dear reminders of who I am
The very roots upon which I stand
And there they were for all to see
My long, lost, used to be's
And all the dreams I had to dream
Were really something, not make believe
Uh-huh oh-yeh! uh-huh oh-yeh!
Always there to confuse and fool ya
Uh-huh oh-yeh! uh-huh oh-yeh!
Always there to confuse and fool you
A lazy tree by a wishing well
I wish now that I could tell
If all the dreams I used to dream
Are really something or make believe
Uh-huh oh-yeh! uh-huh oh-yeh!
Always there to confuse and fool ya
Uh-huh oh-yeh! uh-huh oh-yeh!
Always there to confuse and fool you
The lyrics to Paul Weller's song Stanley Road evoke a sense of wistful nostalgia for a place that holds a special significance in the singer's memory. The hazy mist that hangs down the street, the sky so wide and the apparently tall houses, all suggest a sense of distance or separation from this place - a tone that is heightened by the repetition of the line "And it gleamed in the distance". This distance is further underscored by the image of the rolling stock, which suggests a journey away from something important.
However, the summer nights that were once so long "always call me back to return", indicating a strong desire to go back to this special place - a place that is elusive but still "shines like the sun". The idea of the ghosts of night and dreams of day suggest that this place is not just a physical location but also an emotional or spiritual one. The repetition of the phrase "on and on" creates a sense of both continuity and infinite possibility - the singer yearns to keep returning to this place, to experience its essence again and again through time.
Overall, the lyrics to Stanley Road speak to the importance of memory, of holding onto special places and experiences, and of the powerful emotions that can be evoked by the longing to return to them.
Line by Line Meaning
A hazy mist hung down the street
There was a thick mist that covered the street
The length of it's mile,
The mist seemed to stretch for miles
As far as my eye could see
The mist extended beyond the limit of vision
The sky so wide, the houses tall
The sky was vast and the houses looked tall
Or so they seemed to be,
But they might not have been as tall as they appeared
So they seemed to me so small,
The houses appeared small in comparison to the vastness of the sky
And it gleamed in the distance
There was a shining light in the distance
And it shone like the sun,
The light was very bright
Like silver and gold, it went on and on.
The bright light seemed to continue indefinitely
The summer nights that seemed so long
The long summer nights of the past
Always call me back to return,
I feel compelled to return to those summer nights
As I re-write this song
As I write this song and reflect on those memories
The ghosts of night, the dreams of day
Memories of nighttime and daytime
Make me swirl and fall and hold me in their sway,
The memories are overwhelming and intoxicating
And it's still in the distance
The shining light is still visible in the distance
And it shines like the sun,
The light is still as bright as before
Like silver and gold, it goes on and on.
The shining light seems to continue indefinitely
The rolling stock rocked me to sleep,
The motion of trains used to lull me to sleep
Amber lights flashing 'cross the street
There were amber lights flashing by the street
And on the corner a dream to meet,
On one corner, there was the possibility of fulfilling a dream
Going on and on.
All of these experiences seemed to continue endlessly
On and on
Repetition of the idea that these experiences are endless
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: PAUL JOHN WELLER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind