Prefab Sprout – I Trawl the Megahertz
Hi folks, long time no see. This week I want to write about a track that is quite unlike anything I’ve heard in ages. But first want to tell a story.
The year is 1999. The frontman of the band Prefab Sprout, Paddy McAloon, is housebound after an eye operation has left him blind. Frustrated at his inability to write songs as he usually would, and unable to read, he passes his time listening to radio shows; late night phone-ins, chat shows, military stations…he eavesdrops on many corners of the airwaves. He begins to find solace in the radio programmes he listens to, and records sections he finds particularly entrancing; in his own words, the various clips begin to “cross-pollinate” into something larger, a tapestry of stories and ideas and voices, all amalgamating into one.
This is the story of the track “I Trawl the Megahertz” (the “megahertz” in question being the radio frequencies McAloon was listening to). The track opens with an orchestral swell, and thenis fleshed out by, at various points, a saxophone, percussion, and then; a voice. This voice, instantly personable, begins to tell a story; “I’m telling myself the story of my life…” What follows is nothing short of poetry. Abstract phrases flow past the listener like so much cool water, all delivered with the same detached monologue. Certain lines are particularly poignant:
“I said ‘your daddy loves you. Your daddy loves you very much. He just doesn’t want to live with us anymore.’”
“The plane comes down behind enemy lines, and you don’t speak the language.”
“Twelve days in Paris, and I’m waiting for life to start.”
Possibly the most beautiful of these is the last stanza:
“So, I rake the sky. I listen hard. I trawl the megahertz, but the net isn’t fine enough, and I miss you. A swan sailing between two continents. A ghost immune to radar.
Still, my eyes are fixed upon the place I last saw you, your signal urgent but breaking. Before you became cotton in a blizzard. A plane coming down behind enemy lines.”
It genuinely reads like poetry, but add to that the captivating performance of the lyrics, and the ebbs and flows of the instrumentation behind, it becomes masterful spoken word. Add to that the backstory of the track? It becomes nothing short of an essential part of modern music history. A must-listen.
Thanks for sticking around, this is a bit of a new format. I’m going to attempt to recommend a track or album (or general bit of music culture) roughly once a week. However, I am very busy at the moment, so whether that actually happens, we’ll see; hope you enjoy, and give “I Trawl the Megahertz” a listen x
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