Compact Discs (2CD) + Digital Album
Comes in a lovely gatefold jewel case, with 32-page booklet incl. extra tracks, unseen photos, all lyrics and an 18-page inside view of the band, with original artwork by Friedhelm Kötter.
Please allow 2-3 days until delivery
Includes unlimited streaming of Neronia 30th Anniversary Remaster 2CD-set
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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Streaming + Download
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Gerard had just finished reading William L Shirer’s The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich and was intrigued with his take on Hitler’s time as a young nut slumming it in pre WWI Vienna.
The book’s cover was black with a round white circle on the front with a black swastika in the middle. It was the source of great attention on the underground and tram when he got it out to read. He was eventually told that it was a criminal offence to display that image in public. Which some found provocative but what the hell!
He walked around Offenbach a lot, and Munich. He felt like a kind of Vagabond too.
But at the time he was also listening to the Church and their LP Blurred Crusade. He bought the record at a second hand joint in downtown Offenbach am Main. He loved the song Just For you, which he played on his acoustic guitar quite a bit. It reminded him of the girl from Teenage Sweethearts…
All combined he thinks to prompt him into thinking about when he first left home at 16. He was living with friends in a flat , and trying to live an unfettered life, away from mum and dad.
He found it tough but invigorating. He visited some wild places, partied with some pretty crazy people and at times saw some very sad creatures living some very sad lives.
This was literally a time of sex and drugs and rock n roll. Ian Dury was always on the play list, just behind the Sex Pistols, Ramones and his favourite Aussie band the Angels. Face to Face and No Exit will always be on his Spotify playlist.
He indulged in a lot of things, pushed many boundaries and looking back, loved it all.
He got out of that scene by the time he was 18, but some people didn’t, many died young and miserable.
So yes, the song had many influences, even Marrilion they tell me!
lyrics
VAGABOND CHILD
He had hidden so much within his heart
yes, so much behind a smiling exterior
the other kids never knew
they didn’t have to
his mummy loved him
she said so, most nights
before she put to bed.
He left her home to walk the streets
he saw the whores and all the thieves
he saw the death
in the gutters and streets
it showed him his way.
He fought with dogs an slept with rats
the only friends he had in this world
he sold his arse to pump his veins
the only way.
Memories they took him back
but he could drag himself away
he found a home,
and family and friends
they showed the way.
They don’t want me, I don’t want me
thought it would come so easily
it was never you, ‘twas me.
Hello mum, thanks for living
and giving me this chance of life
but I’ve got my own ideas
you got to let me live my life
the best way I know how.
Hello mum, thanks for giving
and I must thank my dead father, too
this troubled child
never knew what life was
until it had him down
and kicked him in the teeth.
In the parks I saw the children play
it brought a smile, but so many tears
I turned away but it wouldn’t stop
I saw your smile
and felt all my fears
oh my mama
you gave me this sweet life
you gave me a smile
but so many tears
I turned away
but that was not enough
it’s all too much for me
so many fears...
Thomas Diehl - keyboards
Gerard Hynes - vocals
Ender Kilic - bass
Mirko Rudnik - guitars
Robert Zoom - drums
Produced and engineered by Clive Nolan & Karl Groom
Additional engineering by Steve Rispin
Recorded at Thin Ice Studios, London, England. January and April 1993
Remastered by Robert Zoom at Gorilla Sounds, Frankfurt, Germany, September/Oktober 2023
Progressive rock music project by the founding members of German prog rockers Ulysses.
Their debut album
Neronia, produced by Karl Groom (Threshold) and Clive Nolan (Arena), and the subsequent European tour with Pendragon propelled them immediately into the premier league of European prog rock bands.
Freshly reunited, they are ready to resurrect the great legacy they left behind.
Stay tuned!...more
The Long Island metal band's third album etches arena-sized hooks into their jagged compositions, deftly balancing experimental and poppy inclinations. Bandcamp Album of the Day May 12, 2022
