Caught in the Carousel

Composition Breakdown: Phil Wilson’s "God Bless Jim Kennedy"

By Alex Green

Phil Wilson

The title track of Phil Wilson’s new album is a real heartbreaker. Written about the singer’s grandfather who died at seventeen, “God Bless Jim Kennedy” is a song that gently juxtaposes the death of a young man with the generations of family he spawned. A rousing pop number that gives thanks to a grandfather he never knew, Wilson’s composition is a catchy call and response that resoundingly proves why he’s in the Master Class of songwriting. Employing the storytelling prowess of Ray Davies and the winning pop hooks of his old band The June Brides, “God Bless Jim Kennedy” is as memorable as it is heartbreaking.

Caught In The Carousel: Let's talk about the occasion for the song—where did the idea come from?

Phil Wilson: We were getting close to having enough songs recorded for an album when it occurred to me that I really needed to think about a potential title. I got to thinking about some of the themes of the album, which seemed to me to revolve around aging, family and the need for some sort of meaning behind it all. And that took me right back to my grandfather, Jim Kennedy. Jim died at 17 of leukemia before he even saw my mother. And my grandmother giving birth to a bastard was a huge scandal at that time, with my grandfather's family, who were very religious, refusing to have anything to do with my grandmother or her newborn baby. His early death and the reaction of his family and the town seemed to me to sum up the "mystery" (or meaninglessness, if you prefer) of religion and people's attitudes to it. For Heaven's sake, it was simply two inexperienced teenagers falling in love and making a mistake. That the town and Jim's family could believe that his leukemia was punishment from God for his sin seemed ludicrous to me. Or the alternative idea that God loved Jim so much he couldn't wait to get him into Heaven, on his knees praising away! Further, it seems to me that the fact that my mother and two more generations of people sprang from this "sin" is a wonderful thing. The idea of "God Bless Jim Kennedy" as a title came to me almost straight away after going through those thoughts—with the subtext being let's hope God is blessing Jim somewhere, 'cos he sure as hell didn't when he was on this earth! Having created the album title, I then thought that it would be pretty damned neat to have a song on there with the same title...

CITC: How long did you have the idea for before you wrote the song?

PW: It was almost immediate. Once I had that title, the bulk of the tune and most of the lyrics were knocked into shape within an hour or so. It then took probably another week of refining it to finish the song...

CITC: In terms of process for you, did this song come together quicker than most? It seems when they come fast like that, one can only say, "Well that was meant to be"!

PW: Indeed! Some songs you can labour over for months trying to find the right words. But that one was almost immediate. I guess it was easier because I only had to tell a little story, and a story I knew well. It's very different from most of my songs, which tend to be a little bit more abstract. I did view writing it as an experiment to see if I could write something specific, controlled and true. I surprised myself by pulling it off—at least I think I did, anyway! It's definitely a process I've never used before, but one which I may well try again.

Phil Wilson

CITC: The subject matter is sad in many ways and happy in others—from a sonic perspective, how did you finally decide on the pace of it?

PW: The story is, in some ways sad—you can't get over the sadness of a boy dying at 17. But there is also joy at the fact that my mum survived the trauma of her early years and is now a grandmother with 12 children and grandchildren. So I wanted the feeling of the tune to be upbeat, even with an underlying sadness beneath it. I guess several of my songs combine slightly melancholic words with tunes that are much more uplifting. I've always liked the idea of drawing people in with an upbeat, dance-able tune and then depressing the heck out of them when they finally understand the words!

CITC: You do it masterfully, but was it hard to compress such a compelling story into a pop song?

PW: I'm not actually sure I have managed it, to be honest with you! I maybe got parts of it - enough for it to make sense, I hope. The hardest thing was trying to respect the memory of my grandmother and grandfather. In my head, I had to imagine them hearing the words. And I then re-wrote any lyrics if I thought there was anything that might offend or embarrass them! Think they're OK now :-)

It's hard to tell a true story in song—the temptation is always there to embellish or alter the facts to fit the rhyme and swing of the song! But because it was such a family story, I had to stick the actual facts. Which made it harder...

CITC: I love the background vocals—they sound so sunny but utter lines like “dark divisive ways." Did you know from the start that the song would have background vocals?

PW: The backing vocals were actually a very last minute addition. We had the song all recorded and ready to mix. I think we were actually trying a mix when the idea for the backing vocals came to me. The band were pretty un-enthusiastic about doing them at first! But I persuaded the chaps to have a go. We were all dead chuffed when we heard them mixed in with the song. I now think it would sound strange and a little bit empty without them...

Phil Wilson

CITC: Have you played this song live yet?

PW: We've only ever played it live once—at our last concert in London in September. Sadly, Jon our trumpet player couldn't make the concert because his stepfather was in hospital so we missed having the trumpet riff on the song. And that was the only the second time ever that the band had all played the song together! But it still worked really well, and will definitely be a regular in future sets.

CITC: Would you mind getting a little technical with us? In terms of chord progressions and the general arrangement, how did you arrive at your decisions?

PW: I am not a technical songwriter, at all. I don't think to myself "Well, that starts with an E minor, what would be a good chord to go to next?" I tend to just play the bare bones of a song and almost go to a random chord to see if I can make a melody work over the change. And then keep repeating that process until I have something that works! It's a hit and miss, but fairly natural, way of working for me! That's how "God Bless Jim" came together - just adding and removing things until it makes a song I can live with. Arrangement-wise it tends to be a very similar process—just asking, "does it work?" and changing things until it does. I tend to then stop as soon as I have a workable song/arrangement. It probably means that there's a lot more work that could be done to my songs—not making them just workable but actually great! But I'm too lazy/impatient for that approach.

CITC: Where did the idea for the trumpet riff come from?

PW: I had the idea for the staccato intro to the song from the very beginning. When I recorded a demo it sounded a little weak without a riff or something over the top of it. The guitar riff, which was eventually replaced by a trumpet, was almost the first thing that occurred to me to try and put over the top of the intro. It worked, so it stayed in the song!

CITC: In terms of the writer’s perspective here, who does this song remind you of? I was thinking about Ray Davies a lot...

PW: I often think about writing as well as Ray Davies, but that's a dream! I think you are right, though, in that there probably are elements of his work that have somehow filtered through me and into the song. Reminds me a bit of Lee Hazelwood, too - from the point of view of trying to tell a story (and a little of the sound as well).

CITC: Let's talk for a second about what you said earlier—this song does move away from abstraction and tells a very specific, linear story. How did you like writing from that perspective?

PW: I found it emotionally quite tricky—there were sensitivities to be avoided. But from a writing perspective, it flowed pretty easily. It can take me years to go from initial idea to finished song. "Jim" only took a few days.

CITC: I was thinking, and I know it seems obvious, but without Jim Kennedy we wouldn’t have you and without you we wouldn’t have “God Bless Jim Kennedy.” There's a lot to be thankful for here! Makes you see that even in a short life, one person can have a massive impact on the future.

PW: Indeed! There are several layers to it, too. You can think about the lives/consequences that flowed from that one act of love. And you can think about religion and ask why would God take the life of that 17 year old? And there's the sad outcome for my grandmother—lost her boyfriend, gave birth to a bastard and was shunned by the town and her beloved's relatives. Life can be a bitch...but it can be wonderful, too! And we have to try and concentrate on the wonderful, or we'd go mad.

Phil Wilson