My Ship Is On Fire (The Charlie Olley Mix)

from We Entered The Vortex Of Desire by Gentle Ihor's Devotion

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I sent Chris Olley the stems for my mix of My Ship Is On Fire for his opinion. His son, Charlie, happened to hear it and said to Chris, ‘that’s a good song, would Ihor like me to make it into a great song? I can record a drum track for it.’

When Chris told me about Charlie’s offer I jumped at the chance - Charlie is a world-class drummer. I saw him at Rockfield Studios flawlessly recording Live At Cow Palace and I knew he’d add another dimension to the song. The only brief I gave him was that the drums needed to be relentless, bullying the rest of the track into submission in the same way colonialists forced frightened natives onto a slave ship.

I was expecting a WAV of his drum recording to come back to me so that I only needed to replace the software track in my mix but Charlie decided to go one stage further and do his own mix of the song.

Now, I’d not heard any of Charlie’s music before so he largely figured in my consciousness as a drummer but when I listened to his mix for the first time I had to hastily redraw a whole new image of him that prominently featured 'skilled producer' too. He’d understood perfectly what the vision behind the song was and he pushed up the execution slider to the limit of its creative capabilities.

While I was working the song into its final shape I remember thinking it was possibly one of the best things I’d ever done; Charlie’s contribution confirms that suspicion. Thank you, Charlie.

lyrics

Trade and empire will serve our table
Robe our kings in ermine and sable
We look for new lands to strip them bare
Of all that’s precious, sacred and rare

My ship is on fire!
My ship is on fire!

Wooden bows break through pristine waters
We sail with god and the lust that brought us
Golden children sing from sun-kissed shore
They offer spices, we bring them war

My ship is on fire!
My ship is on fire!

The night is black with no guiding star
Pale maps show dragons — we’ve gone too far
Our holds are empty, just guns remain
We kill each other — it’s in our veins
We kill each other — it’s in our veins!

My ship is on fire!
My ship is on fire!

credits

from We Entered The Vortex Of Desire, track released September 2, 2022
Charlie Olley: Drums
Mixed and Mastered by Charlie Olley

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Gentle Ihor's Devotion Leeds, UK

Formed in the 1980s. Their 12 inch single 'Naked' was single of the week in Melody Maker. Signed to TUG REC in Germany. Lead singer Gentle Ihor is solo now collaborating with various musicians.

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