Originally coming to fame in the mid-1960s singing orchestral pop ballads as the frontman of The Walker Brothers, Walker went on to a solo career balancing a light entertainment/MOR ballad approach with increasing artistic innovations in arrangement and writing. Despite a series of acclaimed albums, a disastrous drop in sales forced him back into straight Middle of the road recordings with little of his own artistic input. This in turn eventually led to a Walker Brothers reunion in the mid-1970s (although the latter eventually moved, by mutual consent, into more avant-garde areas).
From the mid-1980s, Walker revived his solo career while drastically reinventing his artistic and compositional methods, via a series of acclaimed and vividly avant-garde albums. These combined his iconic voice with an unsettling avant-garde approach which owed more to modernist and post-modernist classical composition than to his pop singer past. This change in approach has been compared to "Andy Williams reinventing himself as Stockhausen".
Walker has been a continuing influence on other artists, in particular The Last Shadow Puppets, Marc Almond, Goldfrapp, Douglas Pearce of the band Death in June, Billy MacKenzie of The Associates, David Sylvian, Julian Cope, Antony Hegarty, Thom Yorke, Steven Wilson, David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, Trey Spruance, Perry Blake, Radiohead, Noah Lennox, Mikael Åkerfeldt, and the Divine Comedy/Neil Hannon.
Walker continued to release solo material until his death, and was signed to 4AD Records. As a record producer or guest performer he worked with a number of artists including Pulp, Ute Lemper, Bat For Lashes and Sunn O))).
The Cockfighter
Scott Walker Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
FROM HERE TO THOSE STARS
feathers on the sides
Of my fingers
IT'S A BEAUTIFUL NIGHT
FROM HERE TO THOSE
and the feathers so
Fresh
And the nerves so
Fresh
Do you swear
The breastbone
Was bare
I saw it
And made my
Escape
Do you have
Any doubt
That he slept
In that bed
I can only repeat
I never saw
Him
Better listen
Before you fly
All over your
Man
Better listen
Before I spill
You in
if you could
Turn on your
Side
move your touch
To that hip
Easy now
easy now
it's a beautiful
Night
Garcia
A cigarette
For the
Prisoner
THAT RIBBON CRACK
LIKE THIS ONE AND
THIS ONE CRACK LIKE
THOSE OVER THERE AND
THOSE OVER THERE CRACK
LIKE THESE TWO
BRINGING THOSE STRUTTERS
BRINGING THOSE STRUTTERS
AND THAT ONE CRACKS
LIKE THESE DO AND
THESE DO JUST LIKE
THIS OVER HERE AND
THIS OVER HERE
And out on the rim
All the calcium planets
Growing in
The darkness
All over the
Body
The flapping body
clickety click
Clickety
Click
I have a greenlight
For fifty thousand
It was the month of
July
We had more in or
Going out
You were responsible
For rolling stock
I acn only repeat
I never saw him
In bed
Do you know what
Happened to most
Of the children
She opened the
Tent
To tame a morset
Of air
before the sun
came up
The Cockfighter by Scott Walker seems to be a stream-of-consciousness account of an illegal cockfight. The singer describes his surroundings as it’s a beautiful night, looking up at the stars and admiring the feathers he has on his fingers. He talks about the nervous excitement of the moment and the freshness of everything around him, but then introduces doubt by asking if the breastbone was bare. He then claims to have made his escape, suggesting that he might have been involved in something illegal.
The lyrics then become more disjointed, as if the singer is getting caught up in his own thoughts. He warns the listener to listen before they fly all over their man and then threatens to spill them in. The mention of Garcia and a cigarette could suggest that the singer is a prisoner, while the reference to calcium planets growing in the darkness could indicate a hallucinogenic drug use. The repetition of certain phrases highlights the urgency of the moment and the feelings of the singer.
The final verse is particularly enigmatic and cryptic, talking about opening a tent to tame a morset of air before the sun comes up. The song ends as abruptly as it began, with the reader left to wonder about what really happened.
Line by Line Meaning
IT'S A BEAUTIFUL NIGHT
FROM HERE TO THOSE STARS
I'm enjoying the nice weather and the clear view of the stars
feathers on the sides
Of my fingers
I have feathers on my fingers, probably from handling gamecocks
IT'S A BEAUTIFUL NIGHT
FROM HERE TO THOSE
TREMBLING STARS
The stars are so clear that they seem to be trembling
and the feathers so
Fresh
And the nerves so
Fresh
The gamecock feathers are very fresh to the touch as are my nerves
Do you swear
The breastbone
Was bare
Are you willing to attest that the gamecock's breastbone was exposed?
I saw it
And made my
Escape
Yes, I did see it and then quickly left the area
Do you have
Any doubt
That he slept
In that bed
Are you confident he slept in that bed?
I can only repeat
I never saw
Him
I can only repeat that I never saw him
Better listen
Before you fly
All over your
Man
You better be careful what you say or you might cause trouble for yourself
Better listen
Before I spill
You in
You better listen to me, or I'll expose your secrets
if you could
Turn on your
Side
If you could just turn on your side
move your touch
To that hip
Just move your touch to your hip
Easy now
easy now
it's a beautiful
Night
Take it easy, it's a nice night
Garcia
A cigarette
For the
Prisoner
Give the prisoner a cigarette, Garcia
THAT RIBBON CRACK
LIKE THIS ONE AND
THIS ONE CRACK LIKE
THOSE OVER THERE AND
THOSE OVER THERE CRACK
LIKE THESE TWO
The ribbon is cracking, just like the others and the ones over there, all together
BRINGING THOSE STRUTTERS
BRINGING THOSE STRUTTERS
Bring in the gamecocks
AND THAT ONE CRACKS
LIKE THESE DO AND
THESE DO JUST LIKE
THIS OVER HERE AND
THIS OVER HERE
This gamecock cracks just like the others
And out on the rim
All the calcium planets
Growing in
The darkness
All over the
Body
The flapping body
clickety click
Clickety
Click
Out on the edges of reality, unknown worlds are growing in the darkness, all over the fluttering body. That sound is the sound of fate clicking away
I have a greenlight
For fifty thousand
I have approval to go ahead with a $50,000 project
It was the month of
July
We had more in or
Going out
It was July, and we had more coming in or going out
You were responsible
For rolling stock
You were in charge of managing the railroad's rolling stock
I acn only repeat
I never saw him
In bed
I can only say again that I never saw him in bed
Do you know what
Happened to most
Of the children
Do you have any idea what happened to the majority of the children?
She opened the
Tent
To tame a morset
Of air
She opened the tent in order to catch a breeze
before the sun
came up
Before the sunrise
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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