The Incredible String Band was formed in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK by folk musicians Robin Williamson, Mike Heron, and Clive Palmer (1943 - 2014). They recorded their eponymous debut album in 1966, a lighthearted affair which revealed only the merest hint of the psychedelic adventures to come. After that, the band broke up. Palmer decamped for the Trail to Afghanistan and Williamson visited Morocco from where he returned laden with exotic instruments like the famous gimbri, which was, much later, eaten by rats. In 1967 Heron and Williamson recorded 'The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion', an audaciously eclectic mix of bookish folk music, hippy love songs and Eastern modalities. They soon became the-name-to-drop-in-interviews for luminaries such as Paul McCartney and Bob Dylan, and in their annum mirabilis of 1968 they practically defined the hippy counterculture in the extraordinary albums 'The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter' and 'Wee Tam and the Big Huge'. By then the group consisted of Williamson, Heron, Rose Simpson and Licorice McKechnie - the same line up played at Woodstock in 1969 at the wrong time, having refused to play in the pouring rain the previous day (seen by manager Joe Boyd as a great missed opportunity).
In 1970 Robin Williamson attempted to fuse the music with his theatrical fantasies in a quixotic multi-media spectacular at London's Roundhouse called 'U'. It was "a surreal parable in dance and song" and highlighted the fact that they were never destined to make much money out of things. After that they lasted another four years. By 1974 tension between Williamson and Heron, who was pushing the band into prog-rock territory, had become unbearable and they split up.
Williamson soon formed "Robin Williamson and His Merry Band" which toured and released three albums of eclectic music with a Celtic emphasis. Within a few years, he went on to a solo career, moving increasingly into traditional Celtic styles. He also produced several recordings of humorous stories. Heron formed the rock group "Heron" and later released occasional solo albums. Responding to a comment by Joe Boyd in 1997 that they hadn't spoken since the breakup in 1974, the pair got back together for two concerts. This was followed by a full reunion of the original three members plus Williamson's wife Bina and Lawson Dando in 1999. By 2001 both Robin and Bina Williamson had left. Heron, Palmer and Lawson, and new member Fluff toured regularly around the United Kingdom and internationally until an end to the tour was announced in 2006.
The music of the ISB ranges from quite conventional folk songs to innovative “art song” and hybrid forms that were a precursor to World Music. In 1967-8 they were sometimes described as part of pop music's "avant-garde", which had emerged in the wake of the more adventurous work of The Beatles, with whom they were often compared. Although they lacked the Beatles' broad pop appeal, the ISB showed a similar interest in extending the boundaries of their music. Both Mike Heron and Robin Williamson would break apart a traditional song structure, inserting seemingly unrelated sections in a way that has been described as "always surprising, laughably inventive, lyrically prodigious". While at times this resulted in a lack of conventional unity, it also opened up the song musically and thematically to allow greater depth and exploration. This aspect of their music, combined with Williamson’s soaring melismatic vocal ornamentation (perhaps influenced by Islamic chanters heard during his visit to Morocco, as well as by the Scots-Irish traditional singing with which he had grown up) made for music that still sounds fresh forty years later.
Born in your Town
The Incredible String Band Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
oh certainly I have good luck coming
sadly sadly have I mourned making heavy my burden
such toils to entwine me
no more to endure them
A lover is to me she is my companion
six strings at my hand to the morning I tuned them
black coffee to waken me
no more to be dreaming
The wings of the albatross long since I saw him
the hair of the goats as they walk to the island
in the hands of the watchers a page is turned over
and the echoes flow on rippling on
on the face of the river
What would I wish for if wishing were having
in the streets of your town I see nothing worth stealing
for autumn speaks leaves to the lost deeps forever
and the clouds echo on echoing on
on the face of the river
The Incredible String Band's "Born In Your Town" is a beautiful introspective song that speaks to the loneliness and isolation one feels while being away from home. The song opens with the singer, who was born in the very town he sings of, expressing gratitude towards his fate. He believes that he has good luck coming, despite the fact that he deeply mourns and suffers under the burden that life has imposed upon him.
The singer then goes on to talk about his lover who is his companion in life. He finds solace in his warm room and coffee, which helps him to wake up and face the day without having to dream anymore. The transition between the first verse and the second verse shows that the singer is looking for relief from his troubles.
The middle section of the song talks about the beauties of nature, the albatross and the hair of goats, which the singer had seen before. He refers to a page being turned over in the hands of the watchers, which could mean that he is moving on and leaving the past behind. Finally, he talks about the autumn leaves that speak to the lost deeps forever, and the clouds that continue to echo on the face of the river, which could be interpreted as the cycles of nature that symbolize the passing of time.
Overall, "Born In Your Town" is a beautifully written song which speaks to the universal human experience of longing for home and connection, and finding solace in nature when they are not present. The lyrics and the melody come together to create a profound and moving musical experience that is sure to leave the listener feeling contemplative and wistful.
Line by Line Meaning
Born in your town on this young morning
I feel fortunate to be born in this town and start my day afresh
oh certainly I have good luck coming
I believe I have good luck on my side today
sadly sadly have I mourned making heavy my burden
I've been sad and weighed down by my struggles for a long time
such toils to entwine me
I've been tangled up in these struggles for a while
no more to endure them
But now, I can finally leave them behind
A lover is to me she is my companion
My lover is my partner and closest companion in life
six strings at my hand to the morning I tuned them
I'm tuning my guitar in the morning and ready to play some music
oh warm room I have and a warm place for sleeping
It's great to have a cozy and warm room to sleep in
black coffee to waken me
And some black coffee to wake me up and energize me
no more to be dreaming
Ready to seize the day and not just dream about it
The wings of the albatross long since I saw him
It's been a while since I've seen an albatross in flight
the hair of the goats as they walk to the island
I see the goats with their hair as they head toward the island
in the hands of the watchers a page is turned over
The observers or guards on duty are flipping a page
and the echoes flow on rippling on
The echoes continue to pulsate like ripples in water
on the face of the river
Across the whole span of the river
What would I wish for if wishing were having
If I could have anything I wished for, what would it be?
in the streets of your town I see nothing worth stealing
I don't see anything of value in this town that I'd want to steal
for autumn speaks leaves to the lost deeps forever
Autumn symbolizes the leaves that fall and never return to the lost depths
and the clouds echo on echoing on
The clouds continue to reverberate and echo each other
on the face of the river
Across the whole span of the river
Contributed by Ryan N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.