WHIRLPOOLS END.

ok, the facts as i know them.

the track is from the album “stanley road”

stanley road was the third solo album by paul weller, released in 1995.

the video was uploaded to you tube on july 27 2007, by someone calling themeselves ‘highvibration’, as “9-11 inspired music video set to Paul Weller song.
War peace and the struggle between the two.”

please take a second or two to read the actual lyrics….

The sun came out & hung above
Over our heads but far enough to see
A bomb exploding in another town
Children choking on a poison cloud
While on the streets, where lovers once walked,
Side by side in idle talk
Bullets fall like unholy rain
People change as the panic sets in -
A frightened baby by her dead mother’s side
In a brutal world where there’s nowhere
To run, hide or cry -Now nothing feels the same way -
Feels like it’s changing again -
Upon a street with no name
It’s hard to find it again -

I ran as fast as my feet could fly
Down country lanes where I took my time-
Time like a hound snapping at my heels
I got past thinking so I could feel -
Feels like a film playing in my head
And I kept rolling down green surrey hills -
In spring-

Now nothing feels the same way
Feels like I’m changing again
Upon a street with no name
It’s hard to find me again -
The sun came out & hung above, over our heads
But far enough to see

as you can see, the words and images are wonderfully matched.

——————–

i left this comment on the video’s youtube page;

“saw him in nottingham last night…..the crowd were in awe at this, and it provoked a lot of conversation…..good work to both of you! amazing.”

amazingly enough, i got a personal reply!

“Thank you for your comment re Whirlpools End video. 
So glad you saw it, the first half is kinda horrific and can turn some people off (war is horrific), but the second part is redemptive, at least that was the intent. Ending with the girl holding the Lennon pic with the words REMEMBER LOVE is the message. How I wish I could experience watching this with thousands of others..it is an experience. Weller..what can I say?..we are lucky to have him. peace”

i sent her the following;

“hello carla and thanks for the reply.
glad you’ve contacted me, as i have to ask, did wellers people contact you in regards it’s usage?
ok, who’s gonna say no to the man?
i’ll be totally honest, the reception on sunday was mixed….no wonder he left it for his encore, but the majority of us sat/stood in silent awe.
thats around 9000 folks absolutely enraptured with what you had done! it’s a song i’ve known for years, but never thought of it in that context. personally i was very moved.
i did something similar last year with a pink floyd trackhttp://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=vGoQq6UPbDUbut i doubt that’ll ever be seen in such circumstances!” 

i also asked if it was ok to post it here and on the forums…

“Yes Weller’s people contacted me (that was surreal), and of course I gave them it. The young girl in the vid is my daughter, she was a good sport.
Yes use my vid anyway you like.
War is hell (like you Mother video shows), so if the reaction was mixed maybe it was because some don’t like seeing it, or this was a concert and the “fun” was popped? I’m not sure, but I can understand why the reaction would be mixed. It was not pointing fingers at any one group (but the US and our response to 9-11). This will be a satin on our country.
Anyway please use my message as you like.

How I wish we could claim Weller as one of our own! But hey, we love Brits!!!”

i have just sent this;

“thanks for that.
the only negative thing i personally heard, was the guy behind saying he hadn’t gone to be preached to. his friends pointed out that he wasn’t preaching, just airing his views. something he’s not been shy to do in the past.
i turned round and added that at least it showed he still had that fire in his belly, and he has the courage of his convictions to stand in front of his fans and state what he feels. he got up and left.
the fact that at the point where kennedy, ghandi, king and lennon start talking, paul and the band left the stage, only to return and do a rousing version of all you need is love, kind of proves where his head is in all of this.
at that point i don’t think many, if any, were aware of the pre existance of your video. we simply assumed it was something created specifically for the tour.
and what better way to educate the masses than to use pop culture?does your daughter know she is being watched all over europe by wellers devoted fan base? quite a claim to fame!

for now, again, many thanks. my friend who was also at the gig and myself spent most of our work shift discussing it. and thanks to my new phone i got to show it to a few, non weller fans. they were as moved as the rest of us.

it’s something that you really ought to be very proud of.”

a reply.

Thank you so much for the info.
Strange…if the fans know Weller, they know he has a social message in much of his music. Whirlpools End was written for the Bosnia War. Weller does not preach, he exposes us to another view point, another way to look at the world, much like Lennon could do also.
Yes my daughter knows about this! She was 16 at the time I made it, she is now 21 years old. She spent last year in Germany (for her study abroad) and loved it. Europe is much different then US. So many Americans live in their “bubble” we can’t see out side of our shores. I love my country (esp now that Bush will soon be gone) and look forward to our new President. Barack Obama, he will stand out in our history books to be sure.

so, thats where we are at now.

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