All the classic Roxy anthems are here - 'Virginia Plain', 'Do the Strand', 'Love is the Drug', 'The Thrill of it All' - songs in which the real and the make-believe blend in a kaleidoscopic mix, shot through with cinematic allure.

Which Roxy album are you most proud of? Are there any that you feel maybe haven’t aged so well? PugwashCanary Lyrics’ collects the words written for music across seventeen albums, from the first iconic Roxy album of 1972 via the masterpiece of Avalon to 2014’s reflective Avonmore, introduced by the author, with an insightful essay by James Truman, and the cover features a previously unseen portrait of Ferry by Antony Price. Although the general tone of the book reflected Hall’s carefree and cheerful persona, it featured a not very flattering portrayal of Bryan Ferry. The man himself avoided talking about the book to the media, but confessed that he found the idea of tell-all books ‘disturbing’ and later claimed that Hall was ‘addicted to publicity’. My nephew is studying music composition at the Royal Academy of Music. What would be the best advice you could give him to promote his talent and career? LawyerJoRichard was an important influence when I was a student. He was such a cool and charismatic figure. I remember being quite in awe of him at tutorials, as he paced the room, cigar in hand, intense and eloquent. He was the most intellectual of artists and it was inspiring to be around him in the mid 6os, when he was doing such great work. His enthusiasm for American pop culture had a big impact on me at an impressionable age, and his well-known collage Just What Is It That Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing? led to my own interest in making collages of sound. To understand the meaning of the song, one should first determine the meaning of the allusions within the lyrics. Avalon is known to most as the mythical kingdom of King Arthur, but it has also had other meanings throughout history, as a mythical island paradise located in, variously: Old England, Italy, Sicily, Atlantis, etc. It has been described by several traditions as a place where apples grow, and where everything grows abundantly without effort, without the need for ploughing, planting, or weeding. It is, therefore, a kind of Garden of Eden or paradise on earth. Bossa Nova refers to a genre of Brazilian jazz music (with various other influences). The Bossa Nova took its name from the term "bossa" which refers to something artistically new, which flows from a talented artist in a seemingly effortless way. Originally "bossa" referred to free-flowing, effortless talent; later the term was adopted to describe the bossa nova music style as "the new thing." All the classic Roxy anthems are here - 'Virginia Plain', 'Do the Strand', 'Love is the Drug' - songs in which the real and the make-believe blend in a kaleidoscopic mix, shot through with cinematic allure. Bryan Ferry's evocative lyrics of aspiration and romantic longing, introduced by the author and published on the 50th anniversary of the first Roxy Music album So, not a song about a poor girl, but a song of hope and how you can rise up no matter how far down you started.

Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Roxy Music's iconic first album with this collection of Bryan Ferry's evocative lyrics of aspiration and romantic longing, introduced by the author. The song itself was based on a painting I had done a few years before while I was an art student at Newcastle University. I was interested in stream of consciousness writing, and since the songs on the first album hadn’t been very wordy, I felt it was time for a bit of verbal dexterity.

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Lyrics collects the words written for music across seventeen albums, from the first iconic Roxy album of 1972 via the masterpiece of Avalon to 2014's reflective Avonmore, introduced by the author, and with an insightful essay by James Truman.

Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.

We had just released the first Roxy Music album and the record company (Island Records) seemed as surprised as we were by its amazing instant success. In my student days I went to the pubs in the Bigg Market, the Lord Chancellor and the Royal Court. That had fairy lights over the bar and a great jukebox. Those pubs were rough – you had to watch yourself and you wouldn’t find many students there – but then we’d walk home to where we lived in Jesmond. I used to go there with the historian Jeremy Catto, who was teaching in Durham. He was one of my great mentors. Very intelligent – medieval history, not my field – but great fun.