I recorded this with Kev Reverb at his studio on Conduit Street, Leicester. Analogue recording was just disappearing and digital taking over. However, Kev was still using analogue and that suited me fine. I’d met and got to know Dan Britton during this time and Dan made a major contribution to this album.

1. I Am Just a Country Boy
I was concerned about the traffic noises on this track as they could be a bit distracting if you were listening and driving so we toned them down a bit to accommodate my neuroses. Anyway it’s a song I still love to play to this day and it potentially has a go out all the major contributors to our general unease. The frightening thing is you can feel how much worse things have got for the majority of people in the U.K.with our society’s preoccupation with capitalism and the right wing moves against the poor.

2. The Ballad of the Pendle Witches
Another historical song but one which again contributed significantly to my understanding of the abuse and cruelty metered out to the poor and needy by the monarchy and their lackeys.

3. Nikki’s Song
This is a song for my daughter Nikki trying to analyse the parent/child relationship.

4. The Slice of the Moon
A song to acknowledge the difficulties there are in steering a healthy and successful course through this life. It features Carl Peberdy on sitar and table and his playing is superb. Thanks Carl.

5. It Ain't in Me
A reflection on some of my relationships.

6. The Ballad of Lindsay Martin
A song about the Irish potato famine and England’s sorry response to it and to the starving people.

7. Don’t it Make You Sorry
This is a song inspired by the dreadful poll tax but is a swing at the awful Margaret Thatcher and her cronies who began the huge attacks on the poor and on the services we had won after World War II.

8. Song for Anahareo
Grey Owl [the film] was released about this time and Anahareo was Grey Owl’s wife and it was she who brought about the change in attitude in Grey Owl in terms of him ceasing to hunt and kill the beaver. I felt that needed saying.

9. Lindsay I Remember You
A song about a girl I knew at school who was bullied and ridiculed simply because she was different and somewhat eccentric. This song also appears on John Montague’s Sunflower album.

10. I Wish I Had the Love
Again Carl plays stunning tabla and sitar on this track. It’s fantastic. It’s about recognizing the times I’ve gone wrong in my life and owning up to it.

11. Rozaleen
Another song about the Irish potato famine. In fact I’d been over to Ireland to look at one of their museums to gather some information on the famine. Hence the two songs. In fact I did a third but did not release it until Pond-Sitting for Beryl some years later. It's called 1845.

12. At the Break of Dawn
The title track. An unaccompanied song about Grey Owl seeing the light but I have tried to generalize it to explore this need to destroy that seems to be such a part of the human condition.