SOME SONGS MAKE GREAT SHORT STORIES (Chapter 56)

I make no apologies for bringing back Aidan Moffat for a second successive chapter, but this is more of a horror story than anything else.

Arab Strap really did come back with a huge bang in 2021.  As Days Get Dark, the first album in sixteen years, is superb. This is one of its stand-out tracks:-

mp3: Arab Strap – Fable of the Urban Fox

They came in from the country
They were hounded from their homes
They’d always dreamed about the city
With its towers and spires and domes
So the dog fox and his vixen
Vowed to flee their savage fields
To a land of hope and glory
And a future it could yield

There’s no rest however far we roam
Somewhere on this earth, we will find home

But the city didn’t want the foxes, the city didn’t care
Their help and hope and heart and hearth they dreamed of weren’t there
So they scavenged and they foraged
Slept from shitty place to places
Among the hostile architecture
And all the hostile faces

There’s no rest however far we roam
Somewhere on this earth, we will find home

And the daily papers found their plight and presence most concerning
Their headlines screamed enough’s enough, we’re overcome with vermin
These foxes skulk around our streets
The locals live in fear
These scruffy scrounging parasites
They don’t belong ’round here

There’s no rest however far we roam
Somewhere on this earth, we will find home

One night they met a bulldog
He said, “What you doing here, then?”
They told him of the redcoats, of their fallen the hunted brethren
They said, “There is no going home now, the land we love is cruel”
The dog said, “Fuck off back to Foxland, these streets are fucking full”

There’s no rest however far we roam
Somewhere on this earth, we will find home

One cold and hungry night, they find their dinner sitting pretty
The foxes can’t believe their luck, who keeps chickens in the city?
But the chicken lover sees them prowl his pricey habitat
So he bashes both their heads in with his trusty cricket bat

There’s no rest however far we roam
Somewhere on this earth, we will find home

A few months after the album was released, a new version of the song was recorded, with a marginally edited lyric that made it radio-friendly. It’s a minute or so shorter than the original and was released as a digital single, which I would hope you will buy from here.  It’s also where you’ll have the chance to view the promo video, which itself is an excellent short film.

mp3: Arab Strap – Fable of the Urban Fox (Check/Fault Mix)

In the accompanying press release for the new version, Aidan Moffat said:-

“When I wrote the lyrics for this in 2019, I was hoping its obvious allegorical message might not be relevant by the time it came out, but sadly it seems the lack of humanity in government and influence of rightwing media continues to prevail. We had a lot of good feedback for the album version, so it was suggested we release it as a single, but we felt it was a bit too long and attempted to trim it—but one thing led to another, and pretty soon it became a proper remix with new parts and drums, much like we did with ‘(Afternoon) Soaps’ back in the old days. So it’s the same song in a new outfit—a tighter fit for a new season, suitable for all occasions.”

Did anyone mention Priti Patel and Rwanda?

JC