Safe As Houses - Colosseum
Jon Hiseman's wife Barbara Thompson (see last two posts) was often the stand-in for Colosseum saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith when he was ill as well as joining them on tours, and played on three tracks on the band's 1970 album "Daughter of Time". In 2004, when Heckstall-Smith died, Barbara officially joined the band for the first time.
In 1996, Thompson was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, and the remainder of her life was a battle with the condition as she vowed that she wouldn't perform if the affliction affected her to the degree where she couldn't play at her best, and she was able to do so until 2015. In 2014 she appeared on the Colosseum album, the ironically titled "Time On Our Side", as a full band member for the first time. The first track, "Safe As Houses" is credited to Thompson and husband Jon Hiseman, and is the only Colosseum song written by the couple together.
Hiseman died in 2018, and Barbara Thompson died a month ago (see last two posts). The lyrics, sung by a bittersweet Chris Farlowe, are very current, and there's an equally bittersweet solo from Barbara herself.
They go to war with smiling faces
Smiling faces fresh from mum
Ask no questions, get told no lies
Learn to kill so no one dies
The daily targets are heaven sent
Nothing's wrong, nothing's meant to hurt so much
And all to keep us safe
As safe as houses
And then they're in, embedded deep
Embedded in the broken streets
Radio calls to keep the faith
To keep from fear that ever creeps
The lottery tumbles, the die is cast
Friends will fall while you will last another day
And all to keep us safe
As safe as houses
For those who survive
The adventure of their lives
For those that pay the cost
It's just paradise lost
They're keeping us safe
Keeping the faith
Keeping us safe
Safe as houses
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