Stupid Dream is the fifth studio album by Porcupine Tree. Steven Wilson said the album deals with his own personal “insecurities and feelings” and “the usual singer-songwriter stuff”, because he believed the most relatable and affecting lyrics were from a personal point of view.

SW: “When I was writing some of the songs of the album I was very much aware of this contradiction between being an artist, being a musician, trying to be creative and write songs and, then, at the point you finish an album, the music is finished, the creative side is finished, you then have to go out and sell and market and promote. And that’s like a completely different experience. It’s not a very creative process. It’s quite – in some ways – a cynical process going on having to sell your music. But you have to do it. I mean, if a modern musician is going to survive as a musician, you have to – in a sense – ‘prostitute yourself’ to try and sell your music and your art. And I was very much aware of that contradiction. If you think about that too much, it can drive you crazy, you know. It’s an absurd thing to be doing. That kind of led me thinking about when I was a teenager, when I was just starting out and I was interested in being a musician. And I think a lot of teenage kids have this dream of being pop stars, of being a professional musician. This ‘stupid dream’ of being famous and ‘life is a ball and everything is wonderful’. And, of course, actually the reality is that being a professional musician is a very hard work. It can be very heartbreaking, there’s a lot of disappointment, there’s a lot of hard work, there’s a lot of travelling.”

The original album cover photography, taken by Robert Harding, is linked to the album’s concept as well. Steven said, “[it was] like sitting down with the record company to discuss how we’re gonna market this album. And at that point your record becomes a product. And I just had this image of these CDs just coming off this conveyor belt. And obviously it’s at complete odds with the music. But I wanted to have this kind of contradictory feel to the color. The bottom line is, the people that get into Porcupine Tree know that we’re exactly not the kind of band that ever consider our music in terms of product and shifting units. So I thought it would kind of be fun to put an image on the album which is a comment on that. What could be a more stupid dream than wanting to make music and sell it?”

Steven Wilson explained the transitional period for the band at the time, stating “…the earlier years were characterized for me by this idea of the extended composition that was largely based on jamming or textures or drones or space rock or whatever you want to call it. I felt I could draw towards learning more about song craft and the construction of songs and actually creating hooks and choruses and using vocals in a more kind of solid way. So…when I came back later on to making the longer form of composition, it wasn’t in the same way that I’d been doing in the early years. They were much more structured and they had that kind of songwriter’s discipline that I guess I explored and learned on the earlier albums like Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun. So it was certainly an important step…”

snapper signing

“Does [selling units] put pressure on you then?” SW: “It does and it doesn’t. It doesn’t put pressure on me or the band musically in any way. I think a lot of people immediately assume that it does. Unfortunately, what happened is that [Stupid Dream] was the first that had a couple of real pop songs on it. I think people put 2 and 2 together and got 5, which is understandable, but in fact the album was written and recorded before we even signed to Snapper. It was just another artistic development, not a commercial consideration. We still make the albums in a vacuum, for ourselves, and it is only at the point when we finish an album and deliver the album to the record company, that we start to consider things like ‘is there a single?’and those kind of things, things we would not have concerned ourselves with before. But I’ve always been as fascinated by the business side of the industry as I have by the musical side. It has always been of interest and I don’t mind getting involved, as long as it doesn’t affect the music.”

SW: “The longest gap between studio albums (2 and a half years) resulted in the biggest shift in the sound of Porcupine Tree. It would be only a slight exaggeration to say I was getting hate mail from some of the older fans after they heard this. I am reminded of a quote from Paul Stump’s book ‘The Music’s All That Matters’: ‘The last thing a progressive rock fan wants a band to do is progress’, although I’m not sure that Porcupine Tree should ever have been referred to as a ‘progressive’ band in the first place. I always expect with each album to lose some old fans and gain some new ones, as this is the price of not standing still, but it happened doubly so with this album. Eventually it would become our best selling and most popular album to date. The main source of the shift in sound came from a natural move into the realms of songwriting and away from the more abstract instrumentally based material of previous albums. I was particularly under the spell of Brian Wilson, but also listening to artists like Jeff Buckley, Soundgarden and (the incredibly over rated but still rather good) Radiohead. Also for the first time the album was recorded in one extended period (rather than sporadically as with previous albums) in a remote residential studio in Wales, where the band were able to experiment and collaborate on a cohesive sound for the album. Consequently the album contains our most vertically complex music, as opposed to horizontally complex (whereby the tracks comprise simple sections, but many of them strung together). Here the songs are relatively tightly structured but much more layered than anything we had attempted before. When the group signed to our new label Snapper Music, people inevitably put two and two together and assumed that the new song orientated direction was the result of pressure from the company to be more commercial (whatever that means). But in fact the album was finished long before there was any record company lined up and this was simply another natural development in the sound of the group. My favourite track on the album (and still perhaps my favourite PT track period) is ‘Stop Swimming’, which lyrically pointed towards the more personal follow up album ‘Lightbulb Sun’.”

SW: “I think there’s a paranoia within the community of the progressive music fan that the bands that started out making complex art rock will ultimately water their sound down and start making commercial pop. It’s almost an inflammatory gesture in doing that, and when we did Stupid Dream the songs got a little bit shorter and more compact. It was purely because I’d stopped listening to perhaps the music that I grew up with. I was listening to Brian Wilson, I was getting obsessed with the idea of harmony vocals. And I’m a big fan of ABBA, always have been since I was a kid, and great pop songs for me are just as much an art form as writing complex, 20-minute songs. So I guess that began to manifest itself more then, and I thought songs like ‘Piano Lessons’, ‘Shesmovedon’ from Lightbulb Sun and ‘Lazarus’ on Deadwing, I thought that in another world there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be played alongside the new Coldplay song. Except… there is a reason. Which is the perception of who you are and what kind of band you are, which can, unfortunately in the music industry, count for so much. Let’s just say that certainly with ‘Lazarus’, if that arrives as a single on the desk of the controller of Radio Two, he already has some idea of what Porcupine Tree are, and he’s already decided that he can’t possibly play this band. The hard lesson to learn is that the actual quality of the music counts for very little.”

In 2018, Steven Wilson looked back on Stupid Dream very fondly, stating: “Stupid Dream was definitely a pivotal album, both for me and the band. It was a step on in musical terms, continually adapting our sound, and it was step up in business terms, because we really started to get noticed. The next album charted for us, our first, and from then on, every album I’ve ever released, either in Porcupine Tree or solo, has charted higher and sold more than the one before, something I’m very proud of.”

“Have you gotten a feel for any level of airplay you’ve been getting over here on the radio?” SW: “It’s very difficult to me for assess because I don’t really understand how the American media… [everyone laughs]. But I’ve certainly done a lot of radio interviews here and we’ve been playlisted on some very big stations. I don’t know whether it’s a drop in the ocean or whether it’s actually going to amount to anything or not. Certainly we’ve [been] noticed in the U.S. – the record is everywhere.” “Do you think this deal with Snapper is the answer to long term stability?” SW: “Where we were at the time we signed with Snapper they were absolutely the right label. And I hope they will continue to be the right label. It’s difficult to say. Compared to the Sony’s and the Warner Bros of this world they’re still a small company. But they are much much bigger than the company we were with. And they’re the right company for us to be with at this time to take us to the next level. And I hope that they will grow with us. Certainly with Delerium we reached a point where we were too successful for the label. Because the problem was that we needed, with this album Stupid Dream, a lot of money spent up front. We needed to make a video, we needed to release three singles from the album. All the bullshit, and all the games you have to play… I mean I don’t like the fact that you have to do all that but the reality is you do have to do that if you want to get to people. And there’s no way Delerium could possibly have bankrolled that so we had to move.” “So what does it take now to survive as a professional musician in the 90’s?” SW: “Well we all have to do different things. We don’t really make much money from Porcupine Tree. All of the money we make we put back in. For example, Chris and Colin, the rhythm section, both teach their respective instruments. I do a lot of music for TV in the UK. I do music for adverts and stuff which pays very well and means I can do what the hell I like the rest of the year. Richard Barbieri, the keyboard player, has other projects, and he has his own label with his colleagues in his other project. So I think you kind of have to diversify what you do and occasionally you have to do stuff for money so that you can do the stuff you believe in without having to water it down. It would have been so easy for Porcupine Tree to have… actually some people have accused us of doing it anyway… to have sold out, and gone for whatever the kind of fashion was. It probably would have been very easy for us to try and dumb our music down a bit. But because we make our living from doing other things we can afford to be really bloody minded when it comes to doing the Porcupine Tree stuff. We keep it very pure. And the only consideration is what we want to do artistically. Which is a luxury, I know. But it’s a luxury bought by virtue of doing… occasionally… things that we would probably rather not be doing, but they don’t take up much time and they mean that we’re financially secure. So it’s not an issue.” “I didn’t know you were doing television work. Have you done any film work at all?” SW: “I haven’t done films, no. I’ve done songs for TV shows. I’ve done a lot of adverts and stuff. And before you ask I’m not about to tell you which ones. [everyone laughs]” “Just out of curiosity is that a pay the bills thing or are there certain challenges and rewards in that as well?” SW: “Some of them are good. The majority are horrible. But occasionally I’ve done some really nice – in fact, the guy that’s just directed the video for ‘Piano Lessons’ was a guy that I did a lot of ads for. He makes a lot of commercials in England. And the stuff I was doing with him would always be really really good fun. And I always thought they were great films and great ads. So he was someone I kind of wanted. I knew that I wanted him to do the video. So there are certain directors and people I’ve met which have been very useful… even moving over into the part of my life that has more integrity. I’ve brought some of these people with me. Cause these guys have integrity too. A lot of these guys are in the same position as us. They’d love to be making features, y’know. But again, they do adverts so they can pay the bills and then work on their screenplay the rest of the year.” “It sounds like there’s a networking benefit for you there as well.” SW: “There is. I mean in every field you kind of meet people who really at the end of the day… they may be really well paid people, but what they really would love to do is something they would do for next to nothing if they had the opportunity. So we’ve had some great people work with us that usually wouldn’t work for anywhere near the money that they’re getting paid by us, but they do it because they’re into the music.”

Wilson has said that Stupid Dream marked a transition away from “abstract instrumentality” into more “natural songwriting” was also due to the influence of the music he had been listening to since the release of their last album, Signify in 1996. These artists included Jeff Buckley, Soundgarden, Brian Wilson, Todd Rundgren, and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

SW: “It’s a number of things… The music has always changed. Every album Porcupine Tree has made has been very distinct from those that preceded it. The reasons for that, firstly, is a desire not to repeat myself as a songwriter. Secondly, as a fan of music I’m always listening to different things. And whatever I’m listening to at any particular time tends to inform my work. And in the two and a half years between Stupid Dream and Signify a lot has changed in my listening taste and what I consider to be the kind of material I want to work on. Also, the third element would be increased confidence in myself as a singer and a lyricist, which is something that’s come with time. Because I’ve never really considered myself to be a singer. Its something that was kind of thrust on me by default because… it was a solo project. So I was the guitar player, the bass player, and I had to be all these things. And one of the other things I had to be was a singer and a lyricist. And although that was not something that came naturally to me I think as time’s gone on I got better and better at it. So there’s three different reasons there. The second reason is probably the most significant in the sense that what I was listening to at the time when I was writing this album was a lot more vocally oriented. I would say the major influence on that would be my interest in Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys. I was listening a lot to stuff like Pet Sounds and all that kind of harmony singing. Also stuff like Todd Rundgren, Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young, anything with really good ensemble singing. I was particularly into that stuff when I was writing this album. And I kind of got interested in the idea of the pop song as a kind of experimental symphony if you like. I know that sounds pretentious, but that’s kind of what I always thought Brian Wilson was doing on stuff like Pet Sounds, what the Beatles were doing on albums like Revolver and Sgt Pepper. Y’know, creating these extraordinary kind of experimental pop symphonies almost. I think it’s a great myth that the most experimental music has come from the progressive field, and the most experimental music tends to be quite extended pieces. I think the opposite is true. I think the extraordinary pieces of pop music still are things like ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ on Revolver which is two and a half minutes long, ‘God Only Knows’ on Pet Sounds which is two and a half minutes long… they for me represent the pinnacle of popular music. And so there was a kind of shift in my thinking away from long abstract instrumentally oriented pieces to pieces that would hopefully have a much more timeless quality to them… When I’m working on an album, I’m not necessarily conscious that there has been a great change in direction. For me it’s just wherever my head’s at that particular day. And it’s only really after the album’s completed and people hear it and they say, ‘Well you’ve really changed direction’, and I’ll say ‘Have we?’. I guess we have, and I’m glad we have, but I don’t particularly feel in a way that this is any more of a change in direction than say Signify was from The Sky Moves Sideways. For me, the change in direction from the instrumentally oriented material to the song material came with [The Sky Moves Sideways] to Signify, not with Signify to Stupid Dream. I can see the roots of some of the material on Stupid Dream certainly in Signify. Pieces like ‘Every Home Is Wired’ and ‘Waiting Phase One’ is obviously a move to more song-oriented material on that album. So I see Stupid Dream as a continuation of that. The next album is already about two-thirds written, and there’s still a lot of song stuff on there. There’s even more use of layered harmonies and layered vocals. But there are also some longer pieces this time as well. I’ve written about three pieces which are about ten minutes long. I don’t know which pieces are going to end up on the album. Obviously you’re aware that the continuity is very important on all the Porcupine Tree albums. The sequencing, the continuity, and the way the tracks link together is always very important as well, and in some ways it’s a mistake to think of a Porcupine Tree album as lots of separate tracks because for me the way they all fit together is very important. I’m never a great fan of… people come up to me and they say ‘I bought this album the other day, but I’ve reprogrammed it so I listen to the tracks in a different order cause I think it sounds better.’ I wouldn’t like the idea that people would do that with a Porcupine Tree album because I put a lot of thought into the continuity and the way the album flows is very important. So, in answer to your question, it will be different again. The song-based direction will still be quite prevalent I would think. But I think on the next piece it probably will be even more experimental in terms of the instrumentation and probably some longer pieces this time again.”

The album was recorded at Foel Studio, Wales and Steven’s home studio, No Man’s Land. He stated that it was the first time that the band sat down and recorded a whole album in one extended period, rather than sporadically, as with past albums. He contends that this helped the band “experiment and collaborate on a cohesive sound for the album” and that the album contained the “…most vertically complex music, as opposed to horizontally complex (whereby the tracks comprise simple sections, but many of them strung together). Here the songs are relatively tightly structured but much more layered than anything we had attempted before.” The band also had a much larger budget than in the past; the album production cost £15,000, compared to only £2,000 for their previous album Signify. This allowed them to afford an orchestra for the album. Strings were arranged by Chris Thorpe and Wilson, performed by the East of England Orchestra, and conducted by Nicholas Kok.

SW: “I used to work like this [having the band overdub and record to demos] in the beginning but things have evolved so drastically that I can give the boys ‘carte blanche’ to do whatever they like because I know the end result will sound exactly the way I hear it myself. On the last demos, I restrict it all to guitar and voice. There virtually are no keyboards thus giving Richard a maximum of freedom. In the end it’s a nice surprise for me as well to hear the result.”

Barbieri: “Steve gives me some notions about what he would like, like a bit of mellotron here or piano there, yet he doesn’t interfere in choosing the colour of the sound. His main occupation is composing the songs. It is my task to try and find certain sounds, to reach certain atmospheres.”

SW: “Because we have recorded the entire new album on hard disc it is much easier to edit. When we have created a unique sound somewhere on the album but no one seems to remember how we can reproduce that sound, we can isolate it and by means of the edit function, we can work with it. The advantage of technology is helping us enormously in that area of recording. It might happen that a certain sound doesn’t fit a certain part of a song. By means of the Protools programme we can now edit that part of the song and move it to another section. It is a very futuristic way of making music, yet it fits the progressive attitude of Porcupine Tree perfectly.”

“Porcupine Tree are enigmatic. They have been called rock, pop, ambient, progressive and experimental. They have been compared to bands from the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s but, in truth, they are not about to label themselves, as the new album Stupid Dream is about to demonstrate to the world. Porcupine Tree are a rare phenomenon. A band who has developed, rather than been created. A band that is not about to allow its music to be classified, dissected, and filed. The gorgeous multi-layered and orchestrated mixture of rock, pop and brazen experimentation that is Stupid Dream almost defies description. Steven Wilson views the world from stage left, writing melodic songs that are both hauntingly stark and fascinatingly warm, iced with his crystal guitar work, and firmly underpinned by Colin Edwin (bass), Chris Maitland (percussion) and Richard Barbieri (keyboards). In the same way that the spirits of blues and jazz were absorbed by the early Rock ‘n’ Roll pioneers, Porcupine Tree have absorbed their influences and transformed them. The end result is a potent distillation that contains echoes of the past but lives fully in the future. Stupid Dream is an album that is so focused, so ambitious and so beautifully commercial it’s sheer risk taking genius brings tears to the eyes. Mojo Magazine said of Porcupine Tree “… their most exciting achievements are still ahead of them.” If but only a fraction of the magic of Stupid Dream is realised then Porcupine Tree’s future has already arrived…” – blurb on the back of a Kscope promotional copy of Stupid Dream

“As a keyboard player, you tend to assume more a supporting role rather than a flashy soloist. How do you view your position as a player, especially with Porcupine Tree?” Richard: “With Porcupine Tree I would say fifty per cent of my input is playing the structured parts that were there at the demo phase and re-producing this live to serve as a secure backing for the music. The other fifty per cent is my own original contribution to the recordings and to the live arrangements, which can take the form of atmospheric melodies, chord structures, solos and textural stuff. In the studio I’m more interested in the subtleties of sound and harmony and in live situations I go for more dynamics.” “How much input (and what kind) do you have in the band?” Richard: “The band members have input on most things like choice of tracks for albums, live sets, and we’ll all take part in arrangement ideas and bring our own musical personality to the project.” “On Stupid Dream, you are credited simply with “analogue keyboards.” What instruments did you use?” Richard: “I think the credit reads “Analog synthesizers, Hammond Organ, Mellotron and Piano”. The synths I used were a Prophet V and Roland System 700 Lab Series Modular synth.” “Porcupine Tree on the whole does not shy away from such techniques as sampling. Does Steven Wilson handle all that sort of thing and leave you to the more traditional keyboard roles? Do you have an interest in that technology?” Richard: “Steven tends to handle all the sampling and the digital manipulation and he is well versed in modern technology which is probably why he appreciates my input which is more primitive and analog based. I am interested in new technology but until I find my own particular way of working with it I will stick with own methods where accidents happily occur and nothing ever sounds the same twice.”

SW: “I can’t record drums at my place because it’s too small. Secondly, again for the reason that it is too small, it’s impossible for us to all to set up as a group at my studio and sort of work on the arrangements and the songs as a group. And for the first time we wanted to actually do that. Signify was slightly odd in the way it was recorded in the sense that although it is a band album, because we were never able to actually all be in the same room at the same time, because of physical limitations, with the exception of one track, ‘Intermediate Jesus’, which was done outside, I tended to demo the tracks to a fairly high level and they would just replace the parts that I’d played on synthesizers with the real thing. So there wasn’t a great deal of input from the other guys. But what I wanted this time was to make sure that there was the opportunity for the other guys to really contribute ideas to the arrangements and to the overall feel and sound of the album, which they did. To do that we had to go somewhere where we could all literally set up in a room and thrash out the tracks. So we went to Foel Studios… partly also because it’s very remote. I think when you’re a band, and you’re working on material the idea of remote locations is quite appealing because the distractions are reduced to an absolute minimum.”

“What are your thoughts on Stupid Dream and how easy/difficult was it to write in comparison with other PT releases?” SW: “At the time I felt it was the strongest thing we had done. In retrospect I think the sound was generally too smooth and some of the quirks and psychedelic aspects of the band were lost. The new album for me is a much better combination of songwriting and experiment. Stupid Dream I think will be seen as a transitional album. I’ll probably get in trouble with the rest of the band for saying that because they think I have a tendency to dismiss all of our previous records within 6 months of making them and will fully expect me to do the same with Lightbulb Sun!”

“How do you operate in the studio? Do you sometimes get impatient or irritable when you’re on the clock?” SW: “Well we’re never on the clock… Well, actually that’s not true, we were on the clock when we went to Foel Studios, but we booked a long session and we took it very relaxed. Because most of the work is done at No Man’s – I mean, Foel Studios was like a month. The rest of the ten months of work was done at No Man’s Land. And there is no clock. Originally, we told the record company we’d have it out and finished by June. We didn’t finish it until November. Because there was no rush. Because I’m a perfectionist, and the other guys are perfectionists, it’s not gonna be delivered to the record company until we’re happy with it. We can afford to do that because we record at our own pace on our own budget in our own studio. And I can’t imagine doing it any other way. The great advantage is if I want to spend two weeks working on a track and then after two weeks of having worked on it to turn around to the other guys and say I don’t think this track’s working let’s throw it out… you can do that when you’re in your own studio.”

Richard: “A much more sophisticated sound and meticulous attention to detail defines my approach on this album. Steven came up with a strong selection of songs and a long process followed during which we attempted to condense as many ideas, flavours and colours into the arrangements as possible. Orchestra, flute and saxophone added further to the eclectic mix and I also feel that we started to focus more of what each other was contributing. Nearly all my work was completed within an intense 7 day session in Wales. Before the sessions we had decided that the keyboards used would be analogue only. Much of my work was spontaneous performance recorded onto hard disk, which allowed me to adopt an approach whereby multiple takes and parts could be recorded and edited and compiled later on – a much more creative way of working than always looking for the one ‘perfect’ take. But the other side to the recording was getting the pre-written parts worked out and played as well as possible, things like the mellotron and Hammond organ parts. The latter was a rather ropey specimen and the sound at the end of the album is the Hammond about to finally die! My favourite tracks on the album are ‘Stop Swimming’ and ‘Tinto Brass’.”

When asked in November 2007 what his favourite older PT album was, Gavin Harrison responded, “Hard to say – it all sounds very different to me, quite different from what the band is today. I like Up The Downstair, as well as Stupid Dream, but as I said – meanwhile, the band is doing completely different music.”

The album was finished in late 1998, and released in March 1999. The band’s next album, Lightbulb Sun, was recorded so closely after the Stupid Dream sessions that Wilson later reflected that they sound like “two parts of a double record”. Songs from these sessions that were ultimately left off both albums were later compiled onto the b-side album Recordings in 2001. Fans often consider these three albums as a self-contained trilogy.

SW: “Why was it out of print for so long? Because it was only intended to be a limited edition. But the band had become a lot more popular since then, and we realized we had to reissue it at some point. And it’s literally just been waiting for a gap in the release schedule! There’s just been [laughs] so much product coming out of the band the last few years. DVDs, new studio albums, live records. And Recordings kept getting shunted to the back of the pile. Finally, I’m happy to say that we found a slot for it. I’m very proud of that album.”

Tracklist

“Even Less” – 7:11 “Piano Lessons” – 4:21 “Stupid Dream” – 0:28 “Pure Narcotic” – 5:02 “Slave Called Shiver” – 4:40 “Don’t Hate Me” – 8:30 “This Is No Rehearsal” – 3:26 “Baby Dream in Cellophane” – 3:15 “Stranger By The Minute” – 4:30 “A Smart Kid” – 5:22 “Tinto Brass” – 6:17 “Stop Swimming” – 6:53

Total length: 59:55

Early Tracklist I (1997)

“Even Less” – 14:32 “Piano Lessons” – 4:47 “Baby Dream in Cellophane” – 3:11 “I Fail” – 4:10 “Slave Called Shiver” – 5:34 “Don’t Hate Me” – 8:10 “Disappear” – 6:19 “Ambulance Chasers” – 6:58 “Tin to Brass” – 9:58 “Stop Swimming” – 6:52

Total length: 1:10:31

This is known from the 1997 cassette titled Demo (subtitled Demos For the Next Studio Album in 1998), which was created to lure labels prior to the full recording of Stupid Dream. Only 50 copies exist. It has been widely bootlegged as Ambulance Chasers or The Stupid Dream Demos. “Ambulance Chasing” and “Tinto Brass” listed as “Ambulance Chasers” and “Tin to Brass” respectively. For information regarding the “Disappear” demos please visit the Lightbulb Sun page.

Early Tracklist II (1998)

“Even Less (Part 1)” – 6:47 “Stranger By The Minute” – 4:31 “Slave Called Shiver” – 4:30 “Don’t Hate Me” – 8:19 “This Is No Rehearsal” – 3:53 “Baby Dream in Cellophane” – 3:23 “Even Less (Part 2)” – 7:40 “Pure Narcotic” – 5:02 “Ambulance Chasing” – 7:00 “A Smart Kid” – 5:58 “Stop Swimming” – 6:42

Total length: 63:42

This is known from the leaked work-in-progress mix of Stupid Dream. This can be heard here.

Early Tracklist III (“New Album” Promo, 1998-1999)

“Even Less” “Piano Lessons” “Stranger By The Minute” “A Smart Kid” “Pure Narcotic” “Tinto Brass” “This is No Rehearsal” “Baby Dream in Cellophane” “Don’t Hate Me” “Slave Called Shiver” “Stop Swimming”

Total length: unknown

The song lengths in this version are unknown, but they are likely the same as or similar to those on the final mix. However, I have decided not to include them here just in case they differed due to the different transitions. The Stupid Dream title track is not present here.

Despite this excerpt from the Steven Wilson Discography PDF, it is impossible that this promo CD could have existed in 1997, considering “This Is No Rehearsal” and “A Smart Kid” were written in 1998, they weren’t on a label yet in 1997 (hence the existence of the Demo cassette to lure labels in December 1997), and the Demo cassette from December 1997 was the first glimpse into any material from Stupid Dream. Unless this blurb is also wrong, it doesn’t seem they were on Kscope yet (although I have no idea what Big Brother UK is – Big Brother was Oasis’ label from 2000 onwards), so it’s very likely from 1998. Very odd, so take this with a grain of salt. Strange.

Singles

“Piano Lessons” – April 1999

CD:

“Piano Lessons” – 4:28 “Ambulance Chasing” – 6:35 “Wake As Gun” – 3:30

7″ Vinyl (limited to 1000 copies):

“Piano Lessons” – 4:22 “Oceans Have No Memory” – 3:09

“Stranger By The Minute” – October 1999

CD:

“Stranger by the Minute (Edit)” – 3:47 “Even Less (Part 2)” – 7:26 “Piano Lessons (Video)” – 3:30

7″ Vinyl (limited to 1000 copies):

“Stranger by the Minute (Edit)” – 3:45 “Hallogallo (Remix)” – 4:04

“Pure Narcotic” – November 1999

CD:

“Pure Narcotic (Edit)” – 3:39 “Tinto Brass (Live at Southampton)” – 6:44 “Door To The River” – 4:25

7″ Single (limited to 1000 copies):

“Pure Narcotic (Edit)” – 3:39 “Nine Cats (Acoustic Version)” – 4:05

The artwork for “Piano Lessons” The artwork for “Stranger By The Minute” The artwork for “Pure Narcotic”

Tours

“Stupid Dream Tour”

Length: March 24th 1999 – July 23rd 1999 (33 shows)

Average setlist (generated from 31 shows):

“Even Less” “Piano Lessons”* “Waiting (Phase One)” “Up the Downstair” “Don’t Hate Me”* “Signify” “A Smart Kid”* “Tinto Brass”* “Voyage 34: Phase I” “Slave Called Shiver”* “The Sky Moves Sideways (Phase One”

Encore:

“Nine Cats” (Acoustic version) “Dislocated Day” “Radioactive Toy”

* songs premiered during this tour

Interesting tidbits: While “Even Less” opened the shows 25 times, “Tinto Brass” was the opener 6 times.

“Fall 1999 Tour”

Length: October 18th 1999 – November 8th 1999 (18 shows)

Average setlist (generated from 14 shows):

“Russia on Ice”* “Four Chords That Made a Million”* “Don’t Hate Me” “Waiting (Phase One)” “Pure Narcotic” “Where We Would Be”* “Even Less” “Piano Lessons” “A Smart Kid” “Tinto Brass” “Slave Called Shiver” “Up the Downstair”

Encore:

“Dislocated Day” “Voyage 34 (Phase I)”

* songs premiered during this tour

Interesting tidbits: Like “Even Less” and “Dark Matter” before it, “Russia on Ice” morphed over time on this tour before the studio version was recorded, specifically in the band jam section, and the lineage of the parts that ended up on Lightbulb Sun can be traced through these shows.

Production

Steven Wilson – production, recording engineer, arranger [strings], remix and remaster [2006 version]

Chris Thorpe – arranger [strings], recording engineer

Elliot Ness – recording engineer

Dominique Brethes – mix on “Baby Dream in Cellophane” [1999 version]

Nicholas Kok – conductor [strings]

Garth Swaby – arranger [strings]

Robert Harding – artwork [1999 version]

Lasse Hoile – artwork [2006 version]

Tim Kent – band photography

Gary Woods – additional photography [1999 version]

Carl Glover – sleeve design [2006 version]

Bill Smith – photo consultant

Label: Kscope/Snapper (UK and US)

Release: 8 March 1999 (UK) and 6 April 1999 (US)

Publishing: Published by Imagem Music Publishing Ltd.

Released on CD in March 1999. Later re-released in May 2006 due to the band’s rising popularity on major record label Lava Records with a new remix and remaster by SW and artwork by Lasse Hoile. Later that year, it was released as a 2LP on the Gates of Dawn label. It was later reissued by Kscope in 2013 (LP) and 2015 (CD). For the LP editions, the Kscope version is virtually identical to the Gates of Dawn version, but has large block letters on each center label.

The 2006 CD/DVD-A cover The 2006 2LP cover

From Lasse Hoile and Carl Glover’s “Index” book:

SW: “At the time I was brooding on how absurd it was to hope to find a balance between being true to myself as an artist, and to make a living from being a musician – a ‘stupid dream’ indeed. In 1999 compact discs were still the way that nearly everyone listened to music, so i wanted the cover to be a stream of CDs rolling off a sterile production line, and this would somehow symbolise the idea of art as commerce/product. But when Carl [Glover] started to look into it, he found that it was not the way that the factories made CDs at all! Meanwhile time was running out, so we had to fake the scene, and the cover image ended up looking kind of blurry and compromised. Fortunately when the album was remixed and reissued in 2006 I was able to invite Lasse to completely reimagine the cover, albeit using the same original concept. For me his beautifully clinical images on the reissued edition are definitive.”

“For helping us to make this album our gratitude goes out to: Chris Thorpe, Dave Anderson, Rob Crossland, Peter Woodroffe, Elliot Nesse, Richard Allen, and all at Snapper.”

“Special thanks to Lasse Hoile, Darcy Proper, and Andy Leff.”

All tracks recorded at Foel Studio, Wales and No Man’s Land in January – November 1998 unless noted otherwise. Some elements retained from demos recorded at No Man’s Land in 1997 and 1998. All strings recorded at the Cedar Arts Centre, Derby in January – November 1998. Originally mixed at No Man’s Land in February 1999 by SW (except “Baby Dream in Cellophane”, which was mixed by Dominique Brethes at Wolf Studios, Brixton). New stereo and 5.1 versions mixed and mastered at No Man’s Land in September 2005 by SW. All tracks written by SW unless noted otherwise.

Song Details: Album Tracks

Please note that many of the following lyrical interpretations for the main album tracks are not my own words and are mostly lifted, with some changes, from the fantastic 2012 article series “Prog’s Only Stupid Dream” by Popmatters author Brice Ezell. This can be read here.

01. “Even Less” – 7:11

Steven Wilson – vocals, guitars, mellotron, samples

Richard Barbieri – analogue synthesizers, piano

Colin Edwin – fretless bass

Chris Maitland – drums, percussion

Terumi [guest] – voices

East of England Orchestra [guest] – orchestra

Demo: “Even Less (Demo Version)” from the Four Chords That Made a Million Limited CD Single, “Even Less” from the 1997 Demo Cassette, and “Even Less (Part 1)” and “Even Less (Part 2)” from the work-in-progress Stupid Dream mix

Stupid Dream opens with a definite bang in “Even Less,” with some of the quartet’s biggest, blasting rock music yet, yet also with the gentler, acoustic side that makes Porcupine Tree so intimate and lovely.

At the end of the track a woman can be heard repeating the pattern of numbers: “0096 2251 2110 8105”. Regarding these numbers, Wilson stated: “The counting in ‘Even Less’ is taken from a recording of a shortwave numbers station. It is understood that these stations are used by intelligence agencies to transmit coded messages to overseas operatives, although no government agency has ever acknowledged the existence of these stations or what their actual purpose might be. They are virtually impossible to decode without the key since the message and its key are generated at random.”

SW: “There’s a phenomena known as “number stations” since the last world war. If you’re tuning on short waves radio, you can find these stations. There are voices, sometimes male, sometimes female, reading numbers. And the numbers sound… random. But what they actually are, they’re used by intelligent services in different countries to transmit coded messages. So if you have the key to decode the numbers, they give you a message. Well, I don’t know the message. It’s just taken randomly from a number station. The whole concept of number stations is kind of fascinating. For all I know, this messages could be in order to assassinate, in another country, someone or kill a president … You don’t know what they say but the idea is something of deep meaning. It’s kind of spooky.”

From the PT website: “The counting is taken from a recording of a shortwave numbers station. It is understood that these stations are used by intelligence agencies to transmit coded messages to overseas operatives, although no government agency has ever acknowledged the existence of these stations or what their actual purpose might be.”

For those interested, you can find the original audio here, from the Conet Project.

As it’s known amongst fans of the band, the track is one of the band’s strongest cuts on any Porcupine Tree album, and with good reason. “Even Less” opens Stupid Dream masterfully, finding the band firmly planting their flag as true progressors and innovators in rock music.

“Even Less” was played a total of 345 times by the band in 13 years, making it the second most played Porcupine Tree song, after “Blackest Eyes” from In Absentia.

The version of “Even Less” on Stupid Dream is an edited version of the original 14-minute track, which can be found on the Recordings compilation.

Although it didn’t end up becoming it’s own single, Steven Wilson completed an “Even Less” radio edit, which can be seen on the promo CD information above.

Lyrics:

A body is washed up on a Norfolk beach

He was a friend that I could not reach

He thought I was cold but I understand

But for the grace of God goes another man And I may just waste away from doing nothing

But you’re a martyr for even less A choirboy is buried on the moors

Where we used to go dreaming when we were bored

So some kids are best left to fend for themselves

And others were born to stack shelves And I may just waste away from doing nothing

But you’re a martyr for even less

Demo Lyrics:

[see “Even Less (Full-Length Version)” at bottom of the page]

02. “Piano Lessons” – 4:21

Steven Wilson – vocals, guitars, piano, hammond organ

Richard Barbieri – analogue synthesizers, mellotron

Colin Edwin – fretless bass, double bass

Chris Maitland – drums

Demo: “Piano Lessons” from the 1997 Demo Cassette

SW: “Piano Lessons” is the most psychedelic Porcupine Tree recording since the early days. The band will be shooting a suitably bizarre promotional film to accompany this warped pop song.”

“Piano Lessons” is the purest example of Porcupine Tree’s criticism of the music industry. Given Stupid Dream‘s release during the time of boy-band pop, the argument was and is especially relevant. The genius of “Piano Lessons”, however, is that it’s not just a particularly great critique. It’s also a particularly great song.

SW: “Believe me: Porcupine Tree never is lucky. Every time something positive should happen, something happens which makes it end in minor. I’m still waiting for that film producer to call me, asking me to use our music for his new movie, or a radio producer who promises me to play our music nonstop for six weeks. The only time we were ‘lucky’ was in Rome. Radio station Radio Rock really started to ‘hype’ us. The result was that we were able to record our live album there. Because so many people came to see us. This once again proves the fact that there are loads of people out there who like this kind of music as long as they get the chance to hear it. On the other hand Stupid Dream is synonymous for the vision that the life of a musician is not at all a bed of roses. How many times have I been sitting in a van that was much too small with one or more keyboards on my lap driving to yet another tiny, smelly club? How many soundchecks have we done so far? How many times have we slept in improvised circumstances? How many times have we had food that was not at all nutritious? Maybe it’s all those circumstances of life on the road which makes your music that ‘rich’?”

The premise is simple enough: satirically critique pop music within the structure of a pop song. Though the most psychedelic of all of the album’s tracks, “Piano Lessons” is primarily driven by an absolutely infectious chord pattern, as well as a gorgeous vocal harmony in the chorus, something that SW has become well known for. The song’s hook is one of the best the band have ever conceived, despite more popular releases being heavier offerings such as Deadwing and Fear of a Blank Planet. Many might miss the song’s pointed criticism given how catchy it is, which only adds to the tongue-in-cheek irony of it.

Wilson here uses the example of childhood piano lessons to demonstrate how over time music, as practiced by contemporary culture, strips artists of their creativity. He recalls those early years as involving “Cold ears and tiny hands / Destroying timeless tunes”, highlighting the theme of musical recycling depicted in the album’s sleeve art. This child is also presented with an ultimate catch-22: he’s told first “There’s too much out there / Too much already said / You better give up hoping / You’re better off in bed”, but then that “You don’t need much to speak of / no class, no wit, no soul / Forget your own agenda / get ready to be sold”. Whether the child chooses to join the music business or not, he won’t actually be doing anything. If he stays at home in his bed, he’s not making music. But if he does decide to succumb to the temptation of a lucrative record deal with a label, the music won’t be his own. He might as well not play at all.

The song’s psychedelic and hilarious music video, directed by Wilson’s friend Mike Bennion (who co-wrote the Deadwing script), adds to the already rich argument in the lyrical matter. The video depicts all four band members holding up obviously-labeled title cards for each part of the song (“Title”, “Chorus”, and “Verse” — the video itself even opens with “A Promotional Video”), while also containing several “subliminal” messages telling the viewer to purchase the album. “Credit me with some intelligence”, they sing in the chorus, “If not, just credit me”. Here, Wilson’s lyrics co-opt the language of finance, highlighting how fame itself has become a commodity that pop outfits strive to earn just as much as money. The last verse lyric of the song (“I remember piano lessons / Now everything seems clear / You waiting under streetlights / For dreams to disappear”) paints a dark picture of life in the music business, where music itself has become reduced to labor for corporate labels: no longer does the “class, wit, or soul” of music matter. When Wilson sings, “Even though I got it all now / My only stupid dream / Is you and me together / And how it should have been”, the album’s title takes on a resounding message. The reality of financial success for any artists who wish to perform music on their own terms is a stupid dream. Fortunately, with the increasing popularity of independent music and the proliferation of cheap technology, musicians in the second millennium have been able to subvert the major labels. In 1999, however, the picture was substantially bleaker.

Yet as disheartening as the lyrics of “Piano Lessons” are, it’s easy to not take in the message the first few listens because of how addictive it is. While this does make the track’s message a bit of brilliant irony, something of a paradox arises. If this song is a memorable one, does that mean pop music can be saved at all? If the track’s criticism of pop music at the end of the nineties is correct, then doesn’t its own structure undermine its criticism? Some may find the band’s satire here to be effective, but others might believe it undercuts what meaning it has because of how good of a pop song it is. After all, if the hoi polloi are so receptive to banal pop music, won’t the criticism be missed by most who hear it?

It’s in this exact tension that Porcupine Tree’s brilliance shines. Often, groups under the progressive rock umbrella stick to the long, complicated song structures to the point that when they do write a short song, it sounds unusual or in many cases awful. In contrast, throughout its existence Porcupine Tree has deftly balanced the accessible with the ambitious. Stupid Dream has plenty of challenging, progressive material, but those songs need not come at the expense of friendlier fare. Wilson himself has spoken highly of quality pop music, noting that “extraordinary pieces of pop music still are things like ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ on [the Beatles’] Revolver which is two and a half minutes long, ‘God Only Knows’ on [the Beach Boys’] Pet Sounds which is two and a half minutes long… they… represent the pinnacle of popular music”. As such, “Piano Lessons” isn’t critiquing pop music as a universal idea; it’s critiquing how the increasingly money-obsessed record industry has come to craft pop music. Even prog fans have to have a catchy song to listen to amidst the poly-rhythmic, tempo-bending tracks they so love.

From the PT website: “Christine Keeler was a prostitute who was involved in a notorious scandal in Britain in the sixties that resulted in the downfall of a leading politician John Profumo. As the song ‘Piano Lessons’ is partly about the apparently random nature of celebrity, SW used Keeler as a symbol of someone who found their fifteen minutes of fame through means which involved very little of what one might call conventional ‘talent’!”

“Were other lyrics changed from their original form on that and the latest album? If so is it a question of getting the music down and filling in with incomplete lyrics to see how the song ‘sounds’?” SW: “That’s exactly it. When inspiration strikes I use whatever words fit musically sometimes without too much consideration for content. Afterwards it is sometimes necessary to rewrite completely (for example the demo of ‘Piano Lessons’ used nonsense words)…”

SW: “When I was writing some of the songs of the album I was very much aware of this contradiction between being an artist, being a musician, trying to be creative and write songs and, then, at the point you finish an album, the music is finished, the creative side is finished, you then have to go out and sell and market and promote. And that’s like a completely different experience. It’s not a very creative process. It’s quite – in some ways – a cynical process going on having to sell your music. But you have to do it. I mean, if a modern musician is going to survive as a musician, you have to – in a sense – ‘prostitute yourself’ to try and sell your music and your art. And I was very much aware of that contradiction. If you think about that too much, it can drive you crazy, you know. It’s an absurd thing to be doing. That kind of led me thinking about when I was a teenager, when I was just starting out and I was interested in being a musician. And I think a lot of teenage kids have this dream of being pop stars, of being a professional musician. This ‘stupid dream’ of being famous and ‘life is a ball and everything is wonderful’. And, of course, actually the reality is that being a professional musician is very hard work. It can be very heartbreaking, there’s a lot of disappointment, there’s a lot of hard work, there’s a lot of travelling.”

Lyrics:

I remember piano lessons

The hours in freezing rooms

Cruel ears and tiny hands

Destroying timeless tunes She said there’s too much out there

Too much already said

You’d better give up hoping

You’re better off in bed You don’t need much to speak of

No class, no wit, no soul

Forget you own agenda

Get ready to be sold I feel now like Christine Keeler

Sleepwalking in the rain

I didn’t mean to lose direction

I didn’t want that kind of fame (Take your hands off my land) Credit me with some intelligence

(if not just credit me)

I come in value packs of ten

(in five varieties) And even though I got it all now

My only stupid dream

Is you and me together

And how it should have been I remember piano lessons

Now everything seems clear

You waiting under streetlights

For dreams to disappear

Demo Lyrics:

Check out the chains of silence

Beaming like Albert Speer

Crackling like fires above me

Whenever you are here Trombones in icy gardens

Look lost in vapour glow

Cycling beyond the tundra

Two swallows camped below First like Christine Keeler

Lapsed in a drowning stone

Immersed in a spectral England

Set down on weathered crown Scratching for piano lessons

Cramped tightly at a fire

Scatter the island glamour

For charge you need the wire (Take your hands off my land) Credit me with some intelligence

(if not just credit me)

I come in value packs of ten

(in five varieties) (Here’s my life, here’s the time) Check out the chains of silence

Beaming like Albert Speer

Crackling like fires above me

Whenever you are here Trombones in icy gardens

Look lost in vapour glow

Cycling beyond the tundra

Two swallows camped below

03. “Stupid Dream” – 0:28

Steven Wilson – samples

Richard Barbieri – hammond organ

The title track from the album, “Stupid Dream” is a curious little instrumental that creates a nice segue between “Piano Lessons” and “Pure Narcotic”. Parts of “Stupid Dream” can be heard in the untitled instrumental that the band would open their 2003 shows with.

Lyrics:

[Instrumental]

04. “Pure Narcotic” – 5:02

Steven Wilson – vocals, guitars, piano

Richard Barbieri – analogue synthesizers, hammond organ, mellotron, glockenspiel

Colin Edwin – fretless bass

Chris Maitland – cymbals, percussion

Demo: “Pure Narcotic” from the work-in-progress Stupid Dream mix

“Pure Narcotic” was the third and final single from Stupid Dream.

The lyrics make a reference to Radiohead’s album The Bends with the line “You keep me hating / You keep me listening to The Bends.” Like the two songs following it, “Pure Narcotic” is about unreciprocated love.

Although Porcupine Tree has since become known for its dark atmospherics, “Pure Narcotic” remains one of the band’s most genial-sounding songs. Despite the pleading and begging in the apologetic chorus, the music sounds uncharacteristically cheery. The song’s juxtaposition of melancholy lyrics with a optimistic musical mood depicts the nascent stage of unrequited love, wherein the narrator simultaneously sees that the one he pines for doesn’t share his feelings and still holds on to hope for things to go somewhere. “You keep me alone in a room full of friends”, SW sings, “You keep me hating”. For all of the negative things he sees this unnamed love doing to him, it doesn’t sound like he’s giving up.

The chorus is particularly indicative of this tension: “I’m sorry that I’m not like you / I worry that I don’t act the way you want me to”. Steven Wilson’s vocals here are especially effective; he delivers it both as an insult and as an apology. He truly is sorry that he can’t live up to his love’s expectations; what person in love wouldn’t be? But at the same time he begins to, as many do in cases of unrequited love, sense some injustice. Why can’t she love him? Or why at least can’t she see his love for her as something worth exploring? The song’s title comes from the pre-chorus line “No narcotics in my brain / Can make this go away”. This seemingly simple case of unreciprocated adoration has already begun to push the narrator into dark territory as he has started taking drugs. The track features another of Wilson’s signature layered vocal melodies to end the song.

The song has remained a fan favourite, and was often played as an acoustic number, making an appearance at the special Radio City Music Hall and Royal Albert Hall gigs as part of the acoustic set.

Lyrics:

You keep me waiting

You keep me alone in a room full of friends

You keep me hating

You keep me listening to The Bends No amount of pointless days

Can make this go away You have me on my knees

You have me listless and deranged

You have me in your pocket

You have me distant and estranged No narcotics in my brain

Can make this go away I’m sorry that, I’m sorry that I’m not like you

I worry that I don’t act the way you’d like me to You find me wanting

You find me bloodless but inspired

You find me out

You find me hallucinating fire No narcotics in my brain

Can make this go away Have we ever been here before?

Running headlong at the floor

Leave me dreaming on a railway track

Wrap me up and send me back

05. “Slave Called Shiver” – 4:40

Steven Wilson – vocals, guitars, piano

Richard Barbieri – analogue synthesizers, hammond organ, mellotron

Colin Edwin – fretless bass

Chris Maitland – drums, percussion

Demo: “Slave Called Shiver” from the 1997 Demo Cassette and the work-in-progress Stupid Dream mix

According to Wilson, “Slave Called Shiver” is about feelings of “unreturned love”. He said of them, “[‘Slave Called Shiver’]’s a very perverse love song, yeah. I mean, it’s an unrequited love song. It’s a love song with somebody who’s obsessed with someone else, but none of that affection is returned… It’s about someone who’s very much in love and obsessed with somebody else. That love is not returned and so there’s a slightly violent perverse undercurrent.”

The line “I’ll have more followers than Jesus Christ” is a reference to John Lennon’s controversial remark made in March 1966, when he said “[The Beatles are] more popular than Jesus now…” In this context, Steven is using the phrase as a tongue-in-cheek prediction that one day Porcupine Tree will be as popular as The Beatles, showcasing his frustration with the music industry around the time of Stupid Dream.

The line in the demo “she’s also inspired” seems to reference the line “you find me bloodless but inspired” from “Pure Narcotic”.

Lyrics:

I need you more than you can know

And if I hurt myself it’s just for show

I found a better way to curb the pain

You put a trigger here inside my brain Mother I need her

I’m falling apart

Mother I need her

And it’s only the start I may be nothing now but I will rise

I’ll have more followers than Jesus Christ Through all the smashing things and crashing cars

I love the ground you walk with all my heart

Demo Lyrics:

When I need to escape, I ask her to call

When I’m feeling low, she’ll walk through walls

She is descended from Three Blind Mice

She has more followers than Jesus Christ Mother I need her

To visit my mind

Mother I need her

And it’s only the start And though she’s cruel, she’s also inspired

She’ll build a bridge and take you higher She needs attention, she’s easily bored

Her song is same, her voice is a chord

She asks questions, they’re pretty deep

And when you’re exhausted, she don’t let you sleep

06. “Don’t Hate Me” – 8:30

Steven Wilson – vocals, guitars, organ, samples

Richard Barbieri – analogue synthesizers

Colin Edwin – fretless bass

Chris Maitland – drums, percussion

Theo Travis [guest] – saxophone, flute

Demo: “Don’t Hate Me” from the 1997 Demo Cassette and the work-in-progress Stupid Dream mix

SW: “[‘Slave Called Shiver’] relates very closely to ‘Don’t Hate Me’, which is a song again about someone who’s obsessed with someone from afar. ‘Don’t Hate Me’ is an even more extreme version, because here this person actually begins to follow and make phone calls and, you know, it becomes very unhealthy.”

“You’ve had Theo Travis come in who had worked with Gong just recently to play sax and flute specifically on ‘Don’t Hate Me’ and ‘Tinto Brass’. Accordingly, the jam part on ‘Don’t Hate Me’ even has a Gong like feel to it right down to what seems like you playing glissando guitar. Was that an intentional move and what other artists have you found that you honor, if that’s the intent?” SW: “It wasn’t intentional. Theo obviously has only just played with Gong. He didn’t even know Gong until fairly recently. So the fact that Theo is on it is chronologically misleading. Secondly, I’ve used glissando guitar many times before. I think what tended to give it even more of a Gong feel is the bassline which kind of… y’know… so things like that… it does rather sound like Gong… and then the sax and the flute went on at the end as well… all of those things were never intended when the glissando guitar was originally played. In answer to your question, I don’t specifically set out to pastiche, or honor, or… however you want to put it… plagiarize… give tribute to anything in particular. It’s like I said at the beginning of the interview, I have a massive massive massive musical taste. I like so many different types of things and they all go into the melting pot if you like that produces the music of Porcupine Tree. And yes, some things do tend to kind of poke through occasionally rather more overtly than other times.”

“Don’t Hate Me” features the use of saxophone, courtesy of Theo Travis. During live performances, the flute and saxophone solos are replaced by Barbieri’s keyboard and Wilson guitar solos respectively.

The song was re-recorded for Steven Wilson’s 2016 mini album 4½.

SW: “It’s funny, we listened to the old solo. It’s a fantastic solo. It’s one of the solos where you listen to it and you think that it’s almost like it had been written. It wasn’t—the original solo was improvised. The starting point was to stick to the original solo as a starting point and see where it goes. Believe me, Theo went a lot further out than that! We even got as far as trying something almost like a John Coltrane “sheets of sound” approach. But, at the end of the day, there is something so perfect about that solo that I didn’t want to stray too far away from it, and anyway I think Theo plays it in a more mature way now. The tempo is a bit slower and it feels a little more relaxed. It’s always easy working with Theo because he is always willing to try different things, but this was one aspect that I didn’t want to change from the original.”

Lyrics:

A light snow is falling on London

All sign of the living has gone

The train pulls into the stations

And no-one gets off and no-one gets on Don’t hate me

I’m not special like you

I’m tired and I’m so alone

Don’t fight me

I know you’ll never care

Can I call you on the telephone, now and then? One light burns in a window

It guides all the shadows below

Inside the ghost of a parting

And no-one is left, just the cigarette smoke Don’t hate me

I’m not special like you

I’m tired and I’m so alone

Don’t fight me

I know you’ll never care

Can I call you, on the telephone?

07. “This Is No Rehearsal” – 3:26

Steven Wilson – vocals, guitars

Richard Barbieri – analogue synthesizers, hammond organ, mellotron

Colin Edwin – fretless bass

Chris Maitland – drums

Demo: “This Is No Rehearsal” from the work-in-progress Stupid Dream mix

Despite sounding almost cheery in relation to the tracks that come before it (especially the gloom of “Don’t Hate Me”), “This Is No Rehearsal” is the most lyrically dark of the material on Stupid Dream. Though the song’s three stanzas aren’t too specific, Wilson has stated that this song is about the tragic murder of James Bulger, a two-year-old boy, by two ten-year-olds. Putting the fairly upbeat music against the extreme darkness of the subject matter may seem like a depraved bit of black humor, but in reality the song isn’t meant to comment specifically on the Bulger case, nor is it a specific indictment of Bulger’s mother (Bulger was taken while at a shopping center with his mother). Instead, it can be seen as a criticism of the cruel nature of the modern world, wherein small trips to the shopping mall can end in a tragic and brutal murder.

“This Is No Rehearsal” chronicles how even the most mundane parts of everyday life are now vulnerable to human nature’s darkest impulses through the voice of a helpless mother. “Still I remember how I dressed him this morning / And then he was gone”, she sings, “Stolen / My only one”.

But while the song’s infectious groove isn’t quite level with the dark lyrical material, it does mirror the ways in which tragic events are often handled. Here we have a snippet of a mother losing her son in a graphic murder by two young boys; yet, knowing the contemporary news media cycle, her story would be overshadowed the next day by some manufactured controversy. We’re just supposed to move on and keep a sunny disposition, lest we get caught up in the horrific events that ruin lives. This further explains why the lyrics here are so sparse; all we often hear from victims in cases like these are sound bites, fragments of much larger woes. Any of these lyrics could have easily been taken directly from a newspaper article about the Bulger case at the time.

Lyrics:

How many children did I bring into this world?

How many did I lose in the shopping arcade? This is no rehearsal play it back

and throw things at the screen

This is no rehearsal – somebody

interpret this for me And still I remember how I dressed him this morning

And then he was gone – stolen, my only one

08. “Baby Dream in Cellophane” – 3:15

Steven Wilson – vocals, guitars, bass, hammond organ

Richard Barbieri – analogue synthesizers

Demo: “Baby Dream in Cellophane” from the 1997 Demo Cassette and the work-in-progress Stupid Dream mix

While “Baby Dream in Cellophane” displays Wilson’s love for Beach Boys-styled vocal harmonies like the rest of Stupid Dream, the song also hearkens back to the band’s psychedelic beginnings with its oddball and surreal lyrics and manipulated vocals. The song shines in the chorus, wherein the moody verses blossom into a shimmering cascade of strummed chords and layered vocals. Like “Heartattack in a Layby” and “Mellotron Scratch” after it, “Baby Dream in Cellophane” beautifully captures Wilson’s skill with multi-layered vocal arrangements; he has the capability to make his single voice sound like a choir.

SW: “The baby in the song is basically singing the song: ‘I am in my pram’. And it’s quite a cynical song because he’s basically saying that the boy’s life is almost mapped out already as the child is born, it’s already predetermined by society and the baby’s kind of singing from the pram if you like, saying ‘well, actually no, I’m not going to go down this path that’s been laid out for me. I’m gonna break out’. It’s almost like a very surreal teen rebellion song. If you imagine Nirvana, if they wrote about rebellious teenagers, I write songs for rebellious babies.”

Rather cheekily, the lyric “My lips are sealed” in the second verse is not sung.

Interestingly, on the original release of Stupid Dream, “Baby Dream in Cellophane” was the only song Steven Wilson did not mix. Instead, it was mixed by Dominique Brethes.

Lyrics:

I am – in my pram

Look you – I’m so new

I am – sleeping there

Underneath the stairs If you – wanted to

You’d find – inside my mind

Things so surreal

My lips are sealed In the rain in cellophane

Pale dogs and demigods

They won’t bring me down

The cogs go round, they never stop I’ve been – in limousines

I’ve seen – inside your dreams

It’s raining there

Try not to stare

09. “Stranger By The Minute” – 4:30

Steven Wilson – vocals, guitars, bass

Richard Barbieri – analogue synthesizers, hammond organ

Chris Maitland – drums, percussion, backing vocals

Demo: “Stranger By The Minute” from the work-in-progress Stupid Dream mix

Another psychedelic cut on the album, “Stranger By The Minute” follows “Baby Dream in Cellophane”. Like the track before it, its lyrics are bizarre and whimsical, though unlike that song, it has a cheery mood to it, a mood present on no other track from Stupid Dream. One can count on one hand the amount of songs in Porcupine Tree’s discography that can be defined as even remotely “happy”, and this is one of them. “Stranger by the Minute” was chosen as the second single for Stupid Dream, and rightly so. This is one of the album’s most accessible tracks in terms of genre; save for the Dave Gilmour-esque slide guitar, this is a pretty straightforward bit of alternative rock. However, it’s never generic, as it bears many of the requisite Porcupine Tree stylistics, such as the harmonization between Wilson and drummer Chris Maitland in the chorus and its quirky lyrics. Interestingly, Wilson also plays the bass on the song, rather than Colin Edwin.

“Having seen the band play live twice now the one thing that has stuck out as being different between the textural material on the album and going to see the band live is your drummer Chris Maitland really cranks up the energy. I was wondering if there was going to be an attempt to bring that out on the studio albums?” SW: “Obviously when you go to see the band live people do their own thing. Chris is a very very very busy drummer. He’s like Keith Moon. He doesn’t like to settle into grooves. I find it really exciting to play with him on stage but I don’t particularly like that style in the studio. I prefer a more controlled… which he can do too. He can do anything. But live… he just goes mad. I’m certainly not a technically proficient musician at all. I’m a very sloppy guitar player. For Richard Barbieri it’s all about the sound. It’s not about the technique at all. I kind of prefer that. Colin, the same. It’s very kind of solid. What he plays is very simple but very effective. Chris is like the opposite. It’s as technical and as complex as it can be. Which for me is more kind of progressive. But it’s great fun to play with him live. I think he’s one of the best drummers in the world. But when I get him in the studio, because I’m producer I tend to…” “You reign him in a bit.” SW: “Yeah. A little bit.”

In the “Stranger By The Minute” single edit (and original mix), the ending features several delayed and reverbed wordless vocals not heard in the 2006 remix of Stupid Dream. It is unknown why this was not included in the remix. You can hear this strange decision here:

[upload audio when premium]

It was originally intended to include the complete version of “Even Less” on the single, but this would have meant exceeding the maximum running time allowed for a single in the UK.

Lyrics:

Ghosts in the park

Appear just after dark

Killers, children..

But no-one has a harp

They look like tourists

It makes me want to laugh Under floorboards

It’s hard to fly a kite

Underwater

My cigarette won’t light

Standing in the shade

I’m getting frostbite Strange as I seem

I’m getting stranger by the minute

Look in my dream

It’s getting stranger by the minute When I’m drowning

You drag me up to you

Rings in the water

My only residue

But you’re just fiction

And I’m a twisted boy

10. “A Smart Kid” – 5:22

Steven Wilson – vocals, guitars, piano, samples

Richard Barbieri – analogue synthesizers, hammond organ, mellotron

Colin Edwin – fretless bass

Chris Maitland – drums

East of England Orchestra [guest] – orchestra

Demo: “A Smart Kid” from the work-in-progress Stupid Dream mix

The lyrics in “A Smart Kid” explore the feelings of isolation and hopelessness through SW’s use of imagery of a lone survivor (the “smart kid”) in a post-apocalyptic world.

The line “It’s not much / But it could be worse” shows that the protagonist has already experienced the pre-apocalyptic state that incited the radioactive destruction in the first place. Notice how the details attributed to the nuclear winter-ridden planet attempt to describe it in a positive light: “Everything’s free here / There’s no crowds”. “A Smart Kid” also ties into the album’s consumerist critique: the song can be looked at as a counterfactual, a hypothetical scenario in which our response to the increasingly commodified world is to destroy it entirely. The loneliness and yearning in Wilson’s vocal here provide a resounding answer to the question of destruction: the world may be a difficult place to live in, but if we seek the power to destroy we fare no better than the destructive forces that we live with now (namely hyper-capitalism and the money-greedy music industry, amongst others). The echoey quality of the piano and guitar riffs, as well as Wilson’s vocal, reveal the extent of how alone the world is.

This loneliness does not last the entirety of the song; a moment of hope arrives halfway through. In the third verse, a spaceship arrives on the desolate planet. Finally, this lone survivor has some interaction. Unfortunately, it doesn’t last long; “There was a war, but I must have won”, he sings, not even taking a modicum of pride in his position as the last person-standing. His ambivalence is the similar one the piano instructor gave the pupil in “Piano Lessons” eight songs earlier in the album: there’s no need to be optimistic or dream. The world is what it is, and because of that it is beyond our control; it’s just a “Stupid Dream”. One must succumb to the forces or lose it all. This “Smart Kid” faces the same dilemma.

In their Stupid Dream review, Allmusic praised the songwriting and dynamics of the album, stating “Wilson as a songwriter and singer both sounds recharged and more ambitious, while the group collectively pours it on. The loud passages feel truly sky smashing, the calmer ones perfectly close, and the overall sense of build and drama — “A Smart Kid” is a fine example — spot-on.”

The track has become a fan favourite from the Porcupine Tree back-catalogue.

SW: “This is the first time where we’ve had a real budget to do an album. Signify was recorded for a total of 2,000 Pounds, which is a pretty pathetic budget. We had a lot more money for this, we spent about 15,000 Pounds on this album, which is still pretty small when you compare it to the budgets that some bands have. We can do a lot more with money than we used to be able to and one of the things we could do was we could bring in outside musicians, we hired the orchestra. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do but never been able to afford to do.”

Lyrics:

Stranded here on planet earth

It’s not much but it could be worse

Everything’s free here, there’s no crowds Winter lasted five long years

No sun will come again I fear

Chemical harvest was sown And I will wait for you

Until the sky is blue

And I will wait for you

What else can I do? A spaceship from another star

They ask me where all the people are

What can I tell them? I tell them I’m the only one

There was a war but I must have won

Please take me with you

Demo Lyrics:

Stranded here on planet earth

It’s not much but it could be worse

Everything’s free here, there’s no crowds Winter lasted five long years

No sun will come again I fear

Chemical harvest was sown [unclear] A spaceship from another star

They ask me where all the people are

What can I tell them? I tell them I’m the only one

There was a war but I must have won

Please take me with you

11. “Tinto Brass” – 6:17

Steven Wilson – guitars, keyboards, piano, samples

Richard Barbieri – analogue synthesizers, hammond organ

Colin Edwin – fretless bass

Chris Maitland – drums, percussion

Theo Travis [guest] – flute

Terumi [guest] – voices

Writing Credits: Written by Porcupine Tree

Demo: “Tin to Brass” from the 1997 Demo Cassette

The only song on the album written by the band, “Tinto Brass” is a monster jam on Stupid Dream that recalls the title track of the 1993 album Up The Downstair. A pounding groove is set by the rhythm section of Chris Maitland and Colin Edwin as a guitar melody trades licks with Theo Travis’ flute, which is everywhere at once. Crank the volume, this is an intense, blistering rocker. There’s even a pulsating dance beat portion. Steven has commented that the song is named after the Italian erotica director of the same name. Regarding the spoken word intro, Steven said, “Oh, yes, it’s spoken in Japanese! It’s my girlfriend who’s Japanese and she’s got a film book. I tell you it’s so difficult to find anything on Tinto Brass in England. He’s completely unknown… And then my girlfriend… found this little biography: where he was born, the films he made. So she said, ‘well, should I translate that for you?’ (because I wanted it to be spoken in the track) and I said ‘No, it’s great’ — I thought — ‘I’ll have it in Japanese’. So she just read it in Japanese. But it’s just a list of his films and where he’s from… It’s nothing interesting”.

Interestingly, the track is titled “Tin to Brass” on the promo cassette demo tape that circulated in 1997 and was over 10 minutes in length.

Lyrics:

[Instrumental]

12. “Stop Swimming” – 6:53

Steven Wilson – vocals, guitars, piano, samples

Richard Barbieri – analogue synthesizers, hammond organ

Colin Edwin – double bass

Chris Maitland – drums

East of England Orchestra [guest] – orchestra

Demo: “Stop Swimming” from the 1997 Demo Cassette and the work-in-progress Stupid Dream mix

The calm, introspective jazz that is the musical backbone of this track is exactly what is necessary to cap the narrative that’s unfolded before it. Fittingly, the theme of alienation in the modern music industry is where everything comes back to, although this time around there’s a weakness in Wilson’s voice. The jaded child of “Piano Lessons” has grown up into a man unsure of those early convictions; it’s easy to make fun of the greedy, shallow musicians who sell out for a buck, but when drowning while swimming against the stream you set to defeat, a sense of defeat is not far off.

In a 2002 internet Q&A session, SW said, “The inspiration for ‘Stop Swimming’ was UNCOMPROMISING MUSICIAN VERSUS THE WORLD. Sometimes it’s a lonely place to be.”

SW: “I found that when I was writing the music for this album a lot of the songs were about me and my relationship with the music industry and how I felt about where I was going in the music business and all that. Things like ‘Stop Swimming’… maybe it’s time to stop swimming… and this kind of whole impulse to just give up and go with the flow can be very strong sometimes. I mean I’ve never given into it. I never will. But sometimes it can make you very depressed. Y’know, you’re doing this very amazing… I think really important work, and it’s still selling comparatively tiny amounts compared to what I could do in an afternoon if I wanted to. And there’s also this whole thing about how when you’re writing music… when you’re being artistic… there’s this kind of purity to what you do. So you try to avoid any considerations to do with being commercial, oh is this the kind of thing the record company can release as a single. I don’t care. I don’t even want to think about that. But the moment you finish the album you suddenly have to go from being an artist to a businessman. And it’s a really tough transition to make. They’re two opposite extremes. This whole kind of idea that you’re supposed to be this artist but you have to do all this other bullshit stuff. Like sitting down with the record company to discuss how we’re gonna market this album. And at that point your record becomes a product.”

From the liner notes of the live album Warszawa: “This is a very sad song, but if you’re like me, I always find the saddest music is also the most beautiful and this is one of my favorite songs that I’ve ever written.”

I should point out that “Stop Swimming” is about drowning against the tide, while the opener, “Even Less” opens the album with the lyric “a body is washed up”… this imagery comes back once again in “Buying New Soul”, which was derived from “I Fail” lyrics.

Lyrics:

This song leaks out onto the pavement

It could be a joke, it could be a statement

The more that I fake it and pretend I don’t care

The more you can read in to what isn’t there Maybe it’s time to stop swimming

Maybe it’s time to find out where I’m at

What I should do and where I should be

But no-one will give me a map I’ll leave now this can’t continue

But I forget which door I came through

And I know that the lift can be painfully slow

So I think I’ll leave by the window Heal softly [?]

Song Details: Outtakes and Non-Album Tracks

“Ambulance Chasing” – 6:32

Steven Wilson – guitars, samples

Richard Barbieri – analogue synthesizers, hammond organ, mellotron

Colin Edwin – fretless bass

Chris Maitland – drums, percussion

Theo Travis [guest] – flute, saxophone

East of England Orchestra [guest] – orchestra

Writing Credits: Written by Porcupine Tree

Release: Originally released on the Piano Lessons CD Single and later released on Recordings, and the 2006 Gates of Dawn 2LP and Kscope DVD-A versions of Stupid Dream

Demo: “Ambulance Chasers” from the 1997 Demo Cassette

This rocking instrumental was premiered during the 1997 tour, along with “Even Less” and “This Is No Rehearsal”. Propelled by a tribal tom pattern, “Ambulance Chasing” features a unique saxophone solo fed through a guitar amp with a wah-wah pedal courtesy of frequent Wilson collaborator Theo Travis. The track concludes with an intense slide guitar solo in which SW’s bottle neck sounds as if it’s shaving filings off the strings.

Here is some very rare audio from a 1997 performance of “Ambulance Chasing” with Theo Travis.

An example of the setlist from the 1998 tour:

“You’ve contributed to several Steven Wilson-related projects. Describe his concept for integrating saxophone into his work and your collaborative process.” Theo Travis: “Steven has integrated saxophone into his various projects in many, many different ways. He has used saxophone for ‘normal’-type solos such as ‘Don’t Hate Me,’ but has often experimented with some sort of sound processing to make the sax sound a little different. He has done things like put it through distortion on ‘Nailbomber’ and wah-wah on ‘Ambulance Chasing,’ transposed it down two octaves and slowed it down radically on ‘Drugged’ from the first Bass Communion album, made tracks out of multiphonics, alternative fingerings and strange sounds that a sax can generate, for instance on ‘Quantico’ from the Invisible Soundtracks CD, and probably lots of other ways that I can’t remember. It is always a pleasure recording for Steven. Apart from the fact that he makes me sound good, as his studio skills are incredible, he is very imaginative, tries all sorts of different approaches, and is always relaxed and positive. I consider him a friend and also just enjoy hanging out with him.”

By late 1997, “Ambulance Chasing” was considered as the title for the album (of course, it would later be called Stupid Dream, most likely after it was decided the track would not be on the album).

Lyrics:

[Instrumental]

“Even Less (Full-Length Version)” / “Even Less (Part 2)” – 13:55 / 7:20

Steven Wilson – vocals, guitars, mellotron

Richard Barbieri – analogue synthesizers, piano

Colin Edwin – fretless bass

Chris Maitland – drums, percussion

Theo Travis [guest] – flute

Terumi [guest] – voices

East of England Orchestra [guest] – orchestra

Release: Part 2 was released on the Stranger By The Minute CD Single while the full-length version was later released on Recordings, and the 2006 Gates of Dawn 2LP and Kscope DVD-A versions of Stupid Dream.

Demo: “Even Less (Demo Version)” from the Four Chords That Made a Million Limited CD Single, “Even Less” from the 1997 Demo Cassette and “Even Less (Part 1)” and “Even Less (Part 2)” from the work-in-progress Stupid Dream mix

Although Recordings states that Steven Wilson plays piano on the full-length version, this is incorrect because on Stupid Dream it is listed that Richard Barbieri plays it, and the first half of the Recordings version is identical. This means that SW must play on the second half, and so it is included in the personnel above.

Arguably the band’s most epic and powerful track, “Even Less” was edited to 7 minutes to open Stupid Dream. The second half of the track was included as “Even Less: Part Two” on the Stranger By The Minute CD Single. On the Recordings compilation, Wilson was able to include the full-length version of the track, which has since become a fan favourite.

“The limited edition of the first single ‘Four chords..’ Has an extended and quite different version of ‘Even Less’ on it. Do all your songs develop in such a state of flux?” SW: “In that case, yes, but I wouldn’t draw too many conclusions from one song. We are putting a demo of the track ‘Russia on Ice’ on the collector’s CD single for the next single release, and you’ll hear that this one didn’t change so much. It happens both ways. Some tracks get extended, some get shortened and some get thrown away and recycled. I’m sure that’s the case with any group.”

The track revolves around concepts of loss, organized religion, and powerlessness as the protagonist struggles to come to terms with the reality of the world around him.

After the complicated psych jam and pounding tribal drums in the full-length version found on Recordings (and the Stranger By The Minute CD single), Wilson attacks organized religion, spitting, “Fuck you and your book too / You can have it back”. In the chorus of the demo version found on the Four Chords That Made a Million Limited CD single, Wilson sings, “Jesus was crucified for doing nothing / And God is worshipped for even less”.

Although the protagonist makes it clear he would rather “waste away from doing nothing” than die in the name of religion (and become “a martyr for even less”), the chorus changes from “you’re a martyr for even less” to “I’m a martyr to even less”. This indicates that the protagonist seems to have an “a’ha!” moment, realizing the joke was actually on him, and not the “choir boy”.

Many subtle differences in the many sets of lyrics can be found below. Unlike “Dark Matter” on the Signify page, which changed far less lyrically than “Even Less” (but still significantly enough to document), random lines of “Even Less” changed show to show from 1997 to 1998, and many were incomplete – so it seems rather trivial to attempt to document the live changes. This means the below are just studio versions.

Differences between versions:

Four Chords That Made a Million CD Single – extended 16 minute demo, has additional samples in Part 2 (similar to I.E.M.’s “Deafman” and the multiple “Disappear” demos)

1997 Demo Cassette – 14:32 minute demo, same lyrics as the lyrics on the Four Chords That Made a Million CD Single version, but with shorter instrumental sections; additional movie sample; percussion begins sooner and adds an extra additional ambient overlap between part 1 and 2

– 14:32 minute demo, same lyrics as the lyrics on the Four Chords That Made a Million CD Single version, but with shorter instrumental sections; additional movie sample; percussion begins sooner and adds an extra additional ambient overlap between part 1 and 2 Work-in-progress mix – the almost complete full-length version, split into 2 parts, the lyrics are a mix between the various demos and the Stupid Dream and Recordings versions

Stupid Dream – finished mix, first 7 minutes

Recordings – finished mix, full 14 minutes

“On Stupid Dream, Even Less changed enormously, especially the lyrics. Was there a deliberate reason for changing the lyrics from the “religious” lyrics featured on tour? Did you ever record a studio version with the alternative lyrics?” SW: Yes – a demo was recorded with the original lyrics, but after playing the song live I felt they were too “preachy” and overblown so I rewrote them. I’d already explored anti organised religion themes on Signify anyway.”

Lyrics:

A body is washed up on a Norfolk beach

He was a friend that I could not reach

He thought I was cold but I understand

But for the grace of God goes another man And I may just waste away from doing nothing

But you’re a martyr for even less A choir boy is buried on the moors

Where we used to go dreaming when we were bored

Some kids are best left to fend for themselves

And others were born to stack shelves And I may just waste away from doing nothing

But you’re a martyr for even less Fuck you and your book too

You can have it back

When I’m gone these songs

Will be my tracts And I had a stupid dream that I could change things

But I’m a martyr to even less I hate the ground that I have walked upon

Nothing I have done has ever mattered long

Demo Lyrics:

Four Chords That Made a Million CD Single:

A body is washed up on a Norfolk beach

Where I used to build castles in the sticky heat

A cyclone destroys an ancient site

A killer strikes twice in one night But Jesus was crucified for doing nothing

And God is worshipped for even less A choir boy is buried on the moor

A nine-year-old is forced to be a whore

Some kids are best left to fend for themselves

And others are born to stack shelves But Jesus was crucified for doing nothing

And God is worshipped for even less Sometimes I wander and forget myself

I’m just escaping while I stack these shelves But Jesus was crucified for doing nothing

And God is worshipped for even less

1997 Demo Cassette:

A body is washed up on a Norfolk beach

Where I used to build castles in the sticky heat

A cyclone destroys an ancient site

A killer strikes twice in one night But Jesus was crucified for doing nothing

And God is worshipped for even less A choir boy is buried on the moors

Where we used to go dreaming when we were bored

Some kids are best left to fend for themselves

And others were born to stack shelves But Jesus was crucified for doing nothing

And God is worshipped for even less Sometimes I wander and forget myself

I’m just escaping while I stack these shelves But Jesus was crucified for doing nothing

And God is worshipped for even less

Work-in-progress Stupid Dream mix:

i. A body is washed up on a Norfolk beach

Where I used to build castles in the sticky heat

A cyclone destroys an ancient site

A killer strikes twice in one night And I may just waste away from doing nothing

But you are worshipped for even less A choir boy is buried on the moor

Where we used to go dreaming when we were bored

Some kids are best left to fend for themselves

And others were born to stack shelves And I may just waste away from doing nothing

But you are worshipped for even less ii. Godly saviour

Be careful

With all these facts

When I am gone

These will be my tracts And I had a stupid dream, that I could change things

But I’m a martyr to even less I hate the ground that I have walked upon

Nothing I have done has ever mattered long

“London” – 3:21 / 3:58

Steven Wilson – vocals, guitars, piano

Recording: Recorded at No Man’s Land on January 22nd 1997

Release: Released on the Porcupine Tree website on October 20th 2000 and later on SW’s SoundCloud account on December 19th 2011

An early / alternate version of “Don’t Hate Me”, although different enough to not be titled as a demo. It was later uploaded to Steven Wilson’s SoundCloud account, but has since been removed. This version has an additional chorus at the end, bumping the time up to 3:58 (with the original being 3:21).

SW: “Recorded on 22nd January 1997, this was a simple acoustic guitar / voice demo recorded live with just one piano overdub. It never went any further, but the lyrics were recycled for “Don’t Hate Me” later that year.” (This is a rough translation from the Polish blog “Steven Wilson Live”)

Lyrics:

A light snow is falling in London

All sign of the living has gone

The last train pulls into the station

And no one gets off, and no one gets on I search inside my head

Helps me remember the day

That the taxi never came

So I walk on in the rain One light burns in a window

It guides all the shadows below

Inside, the ghost of a party

No one is left, just the cigarette smoke

“I Fail” – 4:10

Steven Wilson – vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, drum programming

Recording: Recorded at No Man’s Land in late 1996

Release: Released on the 1997 promo Demo cassette.

This rare Porcupine Tree song was released on the 1997 promo cassette Demo compiled by Wilson to lure labels. Another critique of the music industry, some of “I Fail”‘s lyrics would later be used on the track “Buying New Soul” 3 years later.

SW: “A pretty good song, but I didn’t like the way I did it back in 1996, so I think I’ll save it for another version.” (This is a rough translation from the Polish blog “Steven Wilson Live”)

If it was indeed written in 1996, this means that “I Fail” was the first Stupid Dream-era track to be written (“London” and “Even Less” were recorded in January 1997).

Lyrics:

You are sure because you are pure

I stand and I wave at the dots on the shore

Trying to reach out to a few dozen more

May as well bash out my brains a bit more You know because you always know

You talk to god by fax and by telephone

Bitterness makes you a person

Lucky for you that you’re right for certain I fail I am wrong even in this song

I’ve been up all night flying kites in a vacuum

Only smashing things trying to make sense

Of the past and the present and the future and all of the rest

Written and compiled by Quinn Downton