As a teenager, he lived with his parents in a fourteen-room Georgian guest-house, Wellington House, in Lydden near Canterbury. Here he was taught the drums by visiting American jazz drummer George Niedorf.
In 1962, Wyatt and Niedorf moved to Majorca where they stayed with the poet Robert Graves. The following year, Wyatt returned to England and joined the Daevid Allen Trio with Daevid Allen and Hugh Hopper. Allen subsequently left for France, and Wyatt and Hopper formed the Wilde Flowers with Richard Sinclair, Kevin Ayers and Brian Hopper. Wyatt was initially the drummer in the Wilde Flowers, but following the departure of Ayers, he became lead singer.
In 1966, the Wilde Flowers disintegrated, and Wyatt and Mike Ratledge formed the Soft Machine with Ayers and Allen. Here Wyatt both drummed and sang, an unusual combination for a stage rock band.
In 1970, after chaotic touring, three albums and increasing internal conflicts in Soft Machine, Wyatt released his first solo album, The End of an Ear, which combined his vocal and multi-instrumental talents with tape effects.
A year later, Wyatt left Soft Machine and formed his own band Matching Mole (a pun on "machine molle", the French for Soft Machine), a largely instrumental outfit. After two albums and a split, Matching Mole were about to embark on a third record when, on 1 June 1973, during a drunken party, Wyatt fell from a third floor window. He was subsequently paralysed from the waist down (paraplegia) and confined to a wheelchair.
The injury led Wyatt to abandon the Matching Mole project, and his drumming. He promptly embarked on a solo-career, and with a collective of session musicians (including Mike Oldfield, the poet Ivor Cutler and Henry Cow guitarist Fred Frith), he released his acclaimed solo album Rock Bottom. Later that same year he put out a single, a cover version of "I'm a Believer", which hit number 29 in the UK chart. There were strong arguments with the producer of Top of the Pops surrounding his performance of "I'm a Believer," on the grounds that his wheelchair-bound appearance 'was not suitable for family viewing', the producer wanting Wyatt to appear on a normal chair. Wyatt won the day and 'lost his rag but not the wheel chair', but gave a performance that could be described as disgruntled.
Wyatt's next album, Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard, was more jazz-led, with free jazz influences and nods to African music. These solo recordings were all produced by Nick Mason of Pink Floyd.
Throughout the rest of the 1970s, Wyatt guested with various acts, working with the likes of Henry Cow (documented on their Henry Cow Concerts album), Hatfield and the North, Carla Bley and Michael Mantler. His solo work during the early 1980s was increasingly politicised, and Wyatt became an outspoken member and supporter of the British Communist Party. In 1983, his interpretation of Elvis Costello's anti-Falklands War song "Shipbuilding", the last in a series of political cover-versions (collected as Nothing Can Stop Us), reached number 35 in the UK singles chart. In the late 1980s, after collaborations with other ex-Canterbury acts such as News from Babel, he and his wife Alfreda Benge spent a sabbatical in Spain, before returning in 1991 with a comeback album Dondestan, considered by many to be his best work since Rock Bottom. His 1997 album Shleep was also highly acclaimed.
An uncredited Wyatt contributed the haunting "Masters of the Field", as well as "The Highest Gander", "La Forêt Rouge" and "Hors Champ" to the soundtrack of the acclaimed 2001 film Winged Migration. He can be seen in the DVD's Special Features section, and is praised by the film's composer Bruno Coulais as being a big influence in his younger days.
In 2001, Wyatt was curator of the Meltdown festival, and in 2003 he put out his album Cuckooland.
In 2004, Wyatt collaborated with Björk on the song "Submarine" which was released on her fifth album Medúlla.
In October 2007 he released Comicopera, a 16-track album, his first for the Domino label.
It was produced by Wyatt himself, and recorded at his home in Louth as well as Phil Manzanera's Gallery Studio.
Comicopera is divided into three acts - 'Lost in Noise', 'The Here and The Now', and 'Away with the Fairies'. Featured musicians include previous collaborators Brian Eno, Paul Weller and Phil Manzanera. Wyatt said he was keen to capture the sound of a group of musicians playing in the room together, but more importantly to have friends playing together.
"Music isn't just an abstract pleasure, it is a company, when you play a record. Why I like Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus, the big bands - is because every character in the band is identifiable as that person - there's this group of humans in a room".
"He lives in Louth, Lincolnshire and he has equipment in his bedroom where he records himself and his albums. We brought a G4 and Pro Tools and recorded it in like one afternoon. He's such an extraordinary singer. Before he left, he insisted to give us a scale of his voice, where he sings all the tones – and he has the most amazing range, like 5 or 6 octaves. What's really interesting about his range is that each octave is of a totally different character. We actually ended up using that later for 'Oceania', we used what he calls the 'Wyattron'." — Björk, XFM 25 August 2004
A.W.O.L.
Robert Wyatt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Her feet rarely touching the ground
Haunted by waltzes with Harry
Harry's hat hanging here in the hall
Memories fading for patty now
There's nothing and no one to trust
Just the tick and the tock
As the world that she does turns to dust
Patty stays up in her attic now
In silence except for the sound
Of the tick and the tock
Of the damnable clock
While the world that she knows disappears
Drinking in riddles
Waving to trains
Waving to trains that no longer run
Thinking in riddles
And waving to trains
Waving to trains that no longer run
The song "A.W.O.L." by Robert Wyatt tells the story of Patty, a woman who now lives in the attic and rarely comes down to the ground. She is haunted by memories of waltzes with Harry, whose hat hangs in the hall. Patty's memories are fading, and she has nobody she can trust. She listens to the sound of the clock's tick and tock as the world she knows slowly disappears. She drinks in riddles and waves to trains that no longer run. The lyrics paint a picture of a woman who is isolated and lost in her own thoughts, struggling to hold on to any memories of her past.
The song is a commentary on loneliness, isolation, and the fragility of memory. The imagery of Patty's solitary existence in the attic, haunted by memories of a past that is slipping away, is a powerful metaphor for the universal struggle to find meaning and connection in life. The ticking of the clock represents the relentless march of time, a symbol of the inevitability of change and the impermanence of all things.
Line by Line Meaning
Patty lives up in the attic now
Patty lives in the attic of the house she never leaves.
Her feet rarely touching the ground
Patty spends most of her time in the attic and doesn't touch the ground often.
Haunted by waltzes with Harry
Patty is haunted by memories of waltzing with a man named Harry.
Harry's hat hanging here in the hall
Harry's hat remains in the house, reminding Patty of him.
Memories fading for patty now
Patty's memories of the past are slowly disappearing.
There's nothing and no one to trust
Patty doesn't trust anything or anyone.
Just the tick and the tock
The sound of the clock is the only constant thing in Patty's life.
Of the damnable clock
The clock's ticking makes Patty feel trapped and cursed.
As the world that she does turns to dust
Patty feels like the world she knows is disappearing and falling apart.
Patty stays up in her attic now
Patty spends most of her time in the attic.
In silence except for the sound
The only sound Patty hears is the ticking of the clock.
While the world that she knows disappears
Patty feels like everything she knows is disappearing.
Drinking in riddles
Patty spends her time puzzling over things that don't make sense.
Waving to trains
Patty is waving at imaginary trains that don't exist.
Waving to trains that no longer run
Patty continues to wave at something that has long since passed her by.
Thinking in riddles
Patty thinks in puzzles and things that don't make sense.
And waving to trains
Patty is still waving at imaginary trains.
Waving to trains that no longer run
Patty continues to wave at something that has long since passed her by.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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