Notes on Caravan Songs by Darren Hayman

"Caravan Songs" is a 4 song seven inch EP and features four songs;

1.Caravan Song

2. Future Song

3. Welcome to Cresswell Towers

4. Loft Song

'Caravan Song', 'Future Song', and 'Loft Song' were all written and recorded in my Wife's Uncle's caravan at Cresswell Towers Caravan Park in the North East of England during August 2004. Also recorded and written at the same time was Victim Song which features as an extra on this website. I recorded the initial tracks with my ukelele, my baritone ukelele, and a minidisk machine. I then overdubbed some over instruments at my flat in East London. 'Welcome to Cresswell Towers' was written in the same caravan during August 2003.

2004 was a tough year for me. Most of my time was spent dealing with a lengthy contractual dispute with my former record company that effectively prevented me releasing any records. Although it didn't stop me making music and writing songs I found myself losing focus and not really knowing which direction to take my music.

Me, my wife and my dog go up to Cresswell Towers once a year. My wife's uncle has a caravan there, and we always have a great time there. The main thing that makes it so enjoyable is that there is nothing, literally nothing, to do. You can take a walk along the beach, you can play bingo, and that's it. I decided as an experiment I would try and write four songs or so in a week. Writing songs about my immediate surroundings, I hoped the songs would have a sparse folksy feel, possibly similar to early Hefner b-sides. The change of scenery and the enforced nature of the project worked well and I think the resulting recordings have a charm much in keeping with the subject matter of the songs. When I got the songs home I decided to add some minimal backing, to finish them off.

Caravan Song is about two people staying in the same caravan park. They don't know it but they're perfect for each other, yet they never meet.

Future Song, is inspired by those article you see about life in the future which always seem to feature monorails, even though we have monorails already. Its largely about my inability to come to terms with the modern world, and my dream that one day I'll wake up and it'll be 1973.

Welcome to Cresswell Towers was written a year earlier though Hefner rarity obsessive may be curious to know that parts of it are taken from a very old Hefner instrumental called Goodbye Kitten.

Loft Song has a few things in common with the night I first got my wife to be to climb into my loft with me.