She Walks Beautiful

Lyrics: where would we be without them? Thank-you for asking and this is still my favourite track on the (much under-rated) album 'My Paper Made Men' and was, as far as I know, never a single but in these downloading days who knows what might happen.

She Walks Beautiful
She walks alone
And when she loves her love is her own
She don't need a man
She won't stand by what she can't stand

Like whited walls
You all stand in line
And watch her pass you by
She knows her sins
With humility and reaches for the light.

With aching knees and back
The weight is hard to bear
But she carries it with a smile.

She walks beautiful
She walks beautiful
She walks beautiful
By herself
She walks beautiful
She walks beautiful
She walks beautiful
By herself

She walks alone
She's not invited to parties
So she throws her own
All alone to feel the highs
She bears the lows.

She doesn't call out like the others
In the night
In despair and loneliness.

She walks beautiful
She walks beautiful
She walks beautiful
By herself
She walks beautiful
She walks beautiful
She walks beautiful
By herself
Adieh, adieh, adieh. Aow!

She walks beautiful
She walks beautiful
She walks beautiful
By herself.

Adieh, adieh, adieh. Aow!

This really should have been a single. It would make a rather interesting BBC Radio 1 'live lounge' cover. The thing is I'm not sure who I'd wish to hear attempting a makeover - it could go either way.

For thoughts on the album 'My Paper Made Men' see here:

http://rpgreenhalgh.blogspot.com/2009/03/its-been-long-time-coming-amy-studt.html

A single that never was - Nice Boys

I don't know exactly what happened to this except to say that it never saw the light of day as a fully fledged single release.

It appears on the album 'My Paper Made Men', which I recommend without reservation, but the release was abandoned perhaps because it was seen as too close to her earlier material as evidenced on her 2003 album 'False Smiles'. Whatever the reason, why would I turn down the chance when offered a promo copy - including the 'radio edit' and six remixes - for a song? We might not share the same taste in music but neither are we stupid!
I have to say that pulling its release as a single was almost certainly a good decision - there is nothing really wrong with it but neither is it, when compared with other tracks on the album, anything remarkable and if there is a 'filler track' then this is it.

Lucky Ones - lyrics - Amy Studt

The Lucky Ones

One last chance to say the word we never said
One last dance with you might help me to forget.
There’ll be no mourners slowly trudging through the rain
But we won’t be alone and never will again.

We are the lucky ones in the final days of the dying sun,
Move across the shifting sands
‘cos there’s nothing left to lose.
We are the lucky ones with no regrets
when tomorrow comes.
And I could let it all slip away if I could share this last dance with you.

One last requiem of love straight from my heart
As the seams begin to stretch and pull apart.
Bathe in the memories of all that you have ever seen;
So strange when you face the end
You’re more alive than you’ve ever been.
Isn’t it wonderful, isn’t it beautiful.

We are the lucky ones
And we don’t know if tomorrow will ever come
We are the lucky ones,
No, no, no, no.

'The Lucky Ones' is a fine track, and on many albums it would be the finest, but for all its merit it is not even in the running. That honour, and have no doubt about it, goes to a song that is almost too good to be true.

Perfect pop, with a lyric and song structure that defies categorisation quite magnificently: 'She Walks Beautiful' is that song.

It's been a long time coming... Amy Studt update

I have lost track of the number of people that have ended up here because they were seeking information on Amy Studt and her second album. In that regard she is second only to those seeking the same sort of information on Fefe Dobson!
I have written twice before on this subject:

Whatever happened to Amy Studt?
Amy Studt - album update
She Walks Beautiful - lyrics

I had almost given up hope but, an age after its download-only release...

... My Paper Made Men is finally released on CD!

Was it worth the wait? Yes, absolutely! It has a bonus track, Lucky Ones, but that is not the point at all. What struck me first, and I have the legal download version too, is just how vastly superior it sounds when played on a half-decent hi-fi system. For whatever reason, it is much more noticeable than other such comparisons I have made.
It is a much more intense, dark and thoughtful than her previous album and it really shows to full advantage here. I thought it good as a download but now it is something quite special and that, while it is just my opinion, seems to be shared by many writers whose reviews have come to my attention. It certainly isn't party music, or perhaps even music for sharing with friends, but then neither was the much under-rated False Smiles (I remember reading a review that dismissed it in two words "Avril-lite") and I still like and play that too.
I'm pretty tolerant but one thing that irks me is people who feign the like, or dislike, of this-or-that in an attempt to align themselves with a current trend. I'm going to play both albums, back-to-back, this evening and there is a category of music that, while the actual selection is unique to each of us, everyone should have. Guilt-free music is vital at those times when nothing else matters much.
It is to be hoped that a live tour will follow but I currently have no information on this. If you know anything, be it gospel or mere rumour, or just want to ask a question however trivial then please feel free to add a comment (it can be anonymous) or e-mail me.

Note to 19 Recordings:
We have My Paper Made Men on CD and that is great; now how about a vinyl edition?

My Paper Made Men

It looks as though this is currently download only (and by that I mean legal download), which is a shame. I know that it will sound very little the worse for it and, for those listening on portable players it is the most convenient. I, being slightly old-fashioned, hope that a physical format will follow. If that is CD then I'll be fine with that, but if it were to be on 12" then I certainly wouldn't be one to complain!


The image is rubbish. Why can't downloads at the very least include decent art work, which one can print oneself if so minded and for that matter lyrics, when appropriate, too? This would add little to the download size and, to me at least, make the whole package much more appealing.
When it comes to lyrics (with the usual disclaimers, on my part, regarding accuracy and security) to both 'False Smiles', 'My Paper Made Men' and many other odds and ends then you might try this unofficial site.

Is this just me being strange?
If it is then I don't really care; so please feel quite free to comment!

For those who asked, as this seems to be the most enquired about track, here is the lyric to 'She Walks Beautiful' taken from the site mentioned above. It has a few bits that are missing or doubtful but thats always a problem when working them out fom the recording and even then those printed (if they are) don't always agree with those printed in the album. If you think you know what they are then this site allows you to add suggestions or corrections:

She Walks Beautiful

She walks alone and when she loves, her love is so wrong
She don't need a man
She won't stand by what she can't stand
Like why did (walls?) you all stand in line
Now when she pass you by
She knows her sins with humility
And reaches for the light

With aching knees and back the way is hard to bear
but she carries it with a smile
She walks beautiful, she walks beautiful
she walks beautiful by herself
She walks beautiful, she walks beautiful
she walks beautiful by herself

She walks alone
she's not invited to parties
so she's (...?)
All alone
to feel the high she bears the lows

She doesn't call out like the others in the night
in despair of loneliness
She walks beautiful, she walks beautiful
she walks beautiful by herself
She walks beautiful, she walks beautiful
she walks beautiful by herself

Ayaheaheah Ayaheaheah Ayaheaheah Ahohohoh (x4)

She walks beautiful, she walks beautiful
she walks beautiful by herself

Ayaheaheah Ayaheaheah Ayaheaheah Ahohohoh (x3)

She walks beautiful, she walks beautiful
she walks beautiful by herself
She walks beautiful, she walks beautiful
she walks beautiful by herself
She walks beautiful, she walks beautiful
she walks beautiful by herself
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

While writing this I'm listening to False Smiles - Amy Studt. If it is not fashionable then it bothers me no more and no less than if it were the hottest album right now.

Music matters - but not that much...

I would say sorry for the grandiloquent title to this post except that, in truth, I'm not.
It has been a Bank Holiday (3-day) weekend here in the UK and I have spent quite a bit of time catching up on the music - listening to it and reading about it - that has been gathering in various piles for some weeks now.
Much, indeed most, of what I have read and heard has cheered me up. I read a review of 'My Paper Made Men' and it was slated. It should have been so too - not because it is bad but simply because why was NME magazine reviewing it anyway? This goes against my policy of not buying and reviewing things I know I won't like. I am however quite prepared to experiment by acquiring new things so it annoys me that NME often seems to believe that no-one over the age of 18 is actually able to buy or read it. It fortunately contains much more worthwhile content - if it did not I would hardly pay good money for it as it would then fail my own criterion.

Music, like any other aspect of culture, thrives on diversity but also requires respect and tolerance of other's tastes in equal measure. The tragic tale of the murder of Sophie Lancaster shows what happens when it doesn't.
If you have ever been out wearing a t-shirt by one of your favourite bands - but are thinking "this only happens to other people" - or anything else like that you should think about it again.

That is my rant and it is not only stroppy teenagers who can throw their iPod out of the pram!