Mike Vass featuring Mairi Campbell · 2016
Eyes Fixed
The first song Vass wrote seriously, sung by Mairi Campbell. Released 18 March 2016, out of The Dead Stations.
Recorded Rusty Squash Horn Studios · Mixed Gloworm, Berkeley Street
The back of the sleeve
- Music and lyrics
- Mike Vass
- Players
- Mairi Campbell, vocals · Euan Burton, bass · Scott Mackay, drums · Iain Hutchison, piano · Mike Vass, tenor guitars
- Released
- 18 March 2016
- Animation
- Gavin C Robinson
People
Mairi CampbellEuan BurtonIain HutchisonScott MackayGavin C Robinson
- Music and lyrics
- Mike Vass
- Players
- Mairi Campbell, vocals · Euan Burton, bass · Scott Mackay, drums · Iain Hutchison, piano · Mike Vass, tenor guitars
- Released
- 18 March 2016
- Animation
- Gavin C Robinson
The song
One of two songs written for The Dead Stations, and the first time Vass had written lyrics in earnest. The words are about a mind coming unstuck: “watch my mind start to go, darkened eyes, darkening soul”. He would quote that verse himself, in an essay about his illness and the Neil Gunn voyage. Gavin C Robinson made an animation for it, storyboarded frame by frame; an instrumental version followed in 2019.
The words
Eyes fixed open, to the wind Eyes wide open Watch my mind start to go Darkened eyes darkening soul Lost my grip come unstuck A sinking ship I'm out of luck Eyes fixed open, to the wind Eyes wide open Lose the place start to rock Fear shuts me in and I can't talk Grasp the thread I unfurl Into a ball I curl up and lie Eyes fixed open, to the wind Eyes wide open Their voices pierced the stifled air Feel the glow know they're there Scrambling back from the brink Save me from the quicksand, the sinkhole in my mind Head fixed open, let them in With arms wide open
Photographs
Cuttings
A line from each piece. Where the full piece is online, it is linked.
Directors Notes
…the relationship forged between animator Gavin C Robinson and musician/composer Mike Vass, who hit their collaborative hat-trick with contemplative music video Eyes Fixed.”
Skwigly
“‘Eyes Fixed’ is the latest offering from Scottish Album of the Year Award nominee, Mike Vass…
Connections
- The Dead Stations The show it came from
- Sleepless Again The other song
- In the Wake of Neil Gunn Where the lyric was quoted