Conductor 71

So, here's another. It's only about 45 seconds long. As far as I can tell i think this will be a chorus. I need someone to help with where this could go, so Log, learn the chords on your ukelele, Greg, put a relative major somewhere, Zoobs, put down your krautrock manual and help me!

You must tell me if you think this track is too dreary for WA. It might well be, I just thought I'd check. Lyrically, it is important to note the two perspectives. Firstly, of a young radio operator who has been searching the airwaves for any signs of life after a WW2 bombing mission- and secondly, most importantly, a pilot, who is alone in his aircraft after the crew have jettisoned. He has no parachute, can't see anything for the fog surrounding his aircraft, and has no systems working. He is ready to die.

Some of you will have realised that this is essentially the first 10 minutes of the film a Matter of Life and Death. The lyrics concern a small portion of the amazing dialogue between the two main characters in that section. It's an incredible piece of cinema, especially for 1946. He actually does say "you are life and i'm leaving you", with an incredible jollity. It's wonderful.

The next bit is best, and is hopefully where the lyrics will go. In the film, when people die, they are collected by envoys from heaven called 'conductors'. Our pilot's assigned conductor is an incredibly camp French Duke (played by a cornishman) called number 71. In the fog, our pilot was lost, and conductor 71 failed to do his duty. At some point later on, the conductor freezes time(in film terms everyone freezes, but the bushes carry on moving in the background) and tells our pilot of his mistake- but the pilot argues that he has fallen in love (with the radio operator) in the extra time that he was granted, and that was not his fault- so he is taken to heaven to fight for his right to live in a celestial court with a huge cast of wonderfully mismatched characters.

The title comes from the fact that the scenes on the earth are filmed in glorious technicolour, whilst heaven is in monochrome. It offers a wonderful contrast between the green landscapes of the planet with the almost sterilized hospital look of heaven.

Anyway, please do let me know what you think because of all the songs that I've had a part in posting on here, this is the one that I'm least sure about...

If it's going to go somewhere I need help.


Anyway, it's a great film. The lyrics are:


Are you receiving this transmission? Are you falling out into the night into a better place?

Mayday! Mayday! I can't read you, I am bailing out and they'll never find a trace of this plane and it's crew. You are life and I'm leaving you, oh, it's sure been nice to spend some time with a girl like you on the end of the line.



Monochrome for Heaven