All language subtitles for in-my-own-words-series-2-tom-jones

# I saw the light on the night
that I passed by her window... #

I was born with a voice.

# I saw the flickering
shadows of love on her blind... #

I don't think you can create that.

# She was my woman... #

That's what gave me the confidence.

# As she deceived me, I watched
and went out of my mind.. #

So it started there.

You know, singing in school, singing
in chapel, singing at weddings.

And getting this response.

I realised as a child
that I would need luck.

You know, I'd need to meet people
to get into show business.

You know, you had
to put in the work.

I knew it wasn't going
to be an easy ride.

# But I was lost like a slave
that no man could free... #

I'm Tom Jones. I'm a singer.

Sir Tom, Manygate Lane.

Yeah.

Yeah, we bought this house in 1966.

Yeah. This was the first house
that we actually bought.

Because we used to live...

My wife, myself and my son lived
with my mother-in-law in Wales.

This was very special, this place.

I bought my first car as well.

A red Jaguar 3.8.

So we had a new house, new car...

..new life.

Four camera set.Yeah.
Just get it all.

Focus here.
Yeah, yeah.

Hi. Here we are.
Manygate Lane.Yeah.

Just came in the front.
That's right.

How was that?Fine, because we
never used to come in that way.

It was always...
We came in from the back.

The road is out there.

You park the car
and then come in that way.

So it was nice
coming in this way today,

cos I never used to see
much of that out there.

When we bought the house in 1966,

this was a new development
at the time.

We found a nice early clip
of this time, we think.

Shall we have a look?OK.

Oh, yeah. They had this idea
about me gardening.

They wanted me to get
in the garden.

I don't know why, cos
I've never been big gardener.

But they must have thought
it would be good for the telly.

And it was brand-new, you see.

So the garden
had to be sorted out anyway.

Really, I'm glad I got married
before I made the grade,

because I would be frightened
to get married to anybody

in case they were just marrying me
for my name and not me.

And then if I should happen
to fall one day,

there would be nothing left.

But I know that my wife
married me for me because

I was nobody at the time.

Linda, my wife, was thrilled to bits
to have her own kitchen.

You know, our own bathroom.

Because in Wales at that time,

the bath was on a nail outside,
you know, on the wall.

There's a TV there.

And then there was a an L-shaped
sitting arrangement.

We had a bar in the corner over
there, you know, portable bar,

which we thought
was very posh at the time.

And there were a lot
of film stars around.

John Gregson used
to live around the corner.

Ian Hendry and Dickie Valentine
lived at the end of this street.

Diana Dors came over, you know.

Those were my neighbours.

But then Dickie Valentine's mother
lived next door

and she sometimes would
complain about...

HE CHUCKLES

..the noise that was being made
here late at night.

I think most people think that
Welsh people all work in the mines.

Well, this isn't true.

My father works in the mine.

Still does, as a matter of fact.

And a lot of Welsh boys go down
the mine when they leave school.

But I never fancied it,

because I've always wanted to be
a pop singer since I can remember.

I enjoyed my life in South Wales.

I liked going to the local club
with my father

and his brothers and my cousins
in Treforest.

I loved that. I couldn't
WAIT to be one of them.

I was too young, you know,
and I thought one day,

you know, I'll be able
to go with my cousins

and my uncles to the Wood Road Club.

It was a great
community to come from.

And how lucky we were to be born
where we were born, to those people.

You know, the salt of the earth.

Coal mining.
That's what they were.

But it was a wonderful experience

and I wouldn't change it
for the world.

All I remember, more than anything
else, is love.

There was so much love.

You don't really know how wonderful
it is until later,

when you look back at it.

I was always confident, you know,
as a child, growing up,

cos I could always sing, you know.

So, every time I sang,
people would listen,

so I thought,
"This is going to work."

You know, "This is what
I'm going to do."

All my family sang.

So, on my father's side
and my mother's side,

they were singers.
So, we would have parties

on weekends, so we would always...
And weddings.

I had a lot of cousins, you see.
They were getting married.

So, it gave me an opportunity
to get up and sing.

And I remember this old fella, um,

who was an uncle of the girl
that my cousin married.

He couldn't believe it when I sang
in the house

at the reception afterwards,
and he said,

"This boy should not be singing
for nothing", you know,

and he took his...
He had a flat cap on, you know.

Coal miner, flat cap,
threw it on the floor,

and he says, "Come on,
you know, let's..."

So, they all
started throwing coins in

while I was singing at this wedding.

But then I had to take my cousins
to the pictures

with the money that I had made.

HE CHUCKLES

When you have a voice,
or a musical talent of any kind,

and you can do it,
and get across to people,

and they respond,
it gives you confidence.

So, then, I started going around
pubs,

working men's clubs,
which was a great outlet.

There was a local group
that was playing a YMCA,

and their singer didn't show.

So, I was having a few drinks
with some friends of mine

and they came and asked me,
would I go and sing?

And I said, "My God", you know,

"Friday night is beer night."

So, we started playing these
working men's clubs

and went all over South Wales.

That was a great training ground.

# Bama, lama, bama

# Got a girl named Lucinda

# They call her the great pretender

# Got a girl named Lucinda... #

An old school chum of mine,
Gordon Jones,

said, "You must come
and see this boy",

in a group called
Tommy Scott and the Senators.

And I said, "Oh,
where are they working?"

It was miles over,
in another valley somewhere.

And we went over and sat down.

The place was heaving.

I'd seen most of the big stars
in the world,

and I waited for him,
and he came on

and, halfway through
the first number,

he was the greatest
thing I'd ever seen.

That was Tom.

I had no idea
that I would become a manager.

I had no intention.

It wasn't in my mind,
the furthest thing away in my mind.

All I knew is that I said to him,
"If you come to London,

"I think you should have to come
to London.

"London is the hub, the centre."

And he came up, and I was
doing demonstration records

of songs I was writing at the time,
took him around the studios.

Then he came up and lived
with my wife and I in Bayswater.

I got on very well with him.

He was a singer in
a vocal group called The Viscounts.

They had two or three hit records

that I'd seen on television,

so I knew he was a professional
person that could help me.

So, then he said,
"OK, and I'll become your manager."

Gordon, at this point, can we just
have a look at a monitor?

Because we've got a shot
of Tom around about that period,

which I think you might care
to look at.

Shall we just have a look at that?
Yes.

# Tell me what'd I say

# Tell me what'd I say
What'd I say

# Tell me what'd I say
What'd I say

# Tell me what'd I say
What'd I say

# Tell me what'd I say

# Tell me one more time... #

In The Beat Room,
there was an audience,

like Top Of The Pops, you know?

So, I was performing to those people
in the audience.

# One more time
Oh, one more time... #

I want to get right in their faces.
You know, I want to explode.

# What'd I say
What'd I say

# Tell me what'd I say, what'd I say
What'd I say

# Tell me what'd I say, baby
What'd I say

# Tell me what'd I say, honey
What'd I say

# Tell me what'd I say
What'd I say

# Tell me what'd I say... #

In those days, there was a variety
within the show.

I remember Julie Rogers was on
the same show.

She had a ballad called The Wedding,
and she was on

that show with John Lee Hooker
and The Kinks, you know, and myself.

# What'd I say... #

Hi there, and welcome once again

to The Beat Room
here at Shepherd's Bush.

First to view this week is this
tall, handsome lad called Tom Jones,

who now gives us his latest record
title, called Chills And Fever.

# I get, ooh, chills and fever

# Yeah, chills and fever

# Whoa! #

In the BBC, in 1964,

you went to a big TV studio,

and I remember seeing
Pan's People outside, rehearsing,

and I thought,
"Wow, this is it!"

# Lover man
Squeeze me... #

I was part of it.

# Hold me tight

# Tell me, babe,
you wanna love all night

# I get, ooh, chills and fever

# Yeah, chills and fever

# Whoa, baby!

# Chills and fever

# Chills and fever is
what you give to me... #

So, coming into Decca Studios,

that was the first
real recording studio

that I'd ever been in, because it
was all brand-new, you see.

We had come from Wales,
and going into a recording studio

was a big deal.

I auditioned for Peter Sullivan,
and he said,

"Yeah, you know, I can hear you.
And, if you fancy it,

you get a three-record deal,
three singles.

The Beatles, you know, they
auditioned for Decca first of all,

and they were refused.
They were turned down.

And then they went to EMI,
and they accepted them.

So, it was The Rolling Stones
and myself.

We were on Decca
at that particular time.

You're in London, you're on Decca.
Wow!

Your foot is firmly in the door.

Yeah.

This was it.

That's the sound booth in there.

Yeah, good. But, Tom,

I think you could improve it.
if you do the second "Lucille",

give it much more expression.

Attack it on the second phrase.

It'll give it a hell of a lot
more bite.

OK, let's do it once again.
From the top.

# Oh. #

Yes, life has changed for Tom Jones
and the Squires

since it all happened.

Tom Jones,
the miner's son from Pontypridd,

the man with the all-swinging body.

# Oh, baby, Lucille

# Baby, tell it from my heart,
yeah... #

Now, it's a life far away from

the working men's clubs
of South Wales,

a life of one-night stands
around Britain,

of weekends spent cutting
new records in hot studios,

sessions lasting hours at a time.

Tom and the Squires
were rehearsing some odd titles

at these studios in north London
when I called in.

# Oh, baby, Lucille

# Baby, tell it from my heart, yeah

# Well, ain't nothing to you,
baby... #

Right. Good, good.

We'll try that again in a few
moments.OK.

It felt great when you could...
When you packed the whole thing in.

You know,
even with a bigger orchestra,

we would try and get them
in this room, and it sounded tight,

more rock and roll.

The contract that I had with Decca
was for three singles.

You only had three tries - you know,
three strikes and you're out.

So, the first one didn't make it,

so I thought,
"We've got to get a song."

So, Gordon said, "Well, I've got
this song for Sandie Shaw",

because Sandie Shaw
had had a couple of hits,

and they were, "Boom-chick,
buh-boom-chick" -

you know, like that.

So, that sort of gave him
the idea of It's Not Unusual,

with a "boom-buh-boom". And he asked
me, would I do the demo?

Well, when I heard that demo back...

..I said, that's the song.

"No", he said,

"it's for Sandie Shaw. It's a nice,
you know, bossa nova-type thing."

I said, "Look, if I don't get this
song, I'm going back to Wales,

"cos I know this is the one."

Welshman Tom Jones.

FANS SCREAM

It was number one,
March 1st in 1965.

I was doing an Ed Sullivan Show

in April or May,
so it was unbelievable.

# It's not unusual to be loved
by anyone

# It's not unusual to have fun
with anyone

# But when I see you hanging
about with anyone

# It's not unusual to see me cry
I wanna die... #

I remember being in New York,
in a hotel,

and I had these windows open,

and the cabs used to HONK, HONK,
you know, all night.

And I thought,
"My God, I'm in New York!"

# If you should ever
want to feel... #

And, a few months before,
I was struggling.

# It's not unusual
It happens every day

# No matter what you say... #

Sunday night, live television,
to millions of people.

# Love will never do
What you want it to.. #

You know, TV, I realised,
was the big thing.

When It's Not Unusual
was my first hit record,

my father was still working
in a coal mine,

and I had, you know, a new Jaguar,

I had a new house,
and I went back to Wales,

cos I would go
back whatever chance I got.

I would drive back to Pontypridd.

So, one night, on a Sunday,
I'd been out with my father,

and then we got back to the house

and my mother was cutting sandwiches
for him.

I said, "Where are you going?"

He said, "I'm going to work.
I'm on the night shift."

I said, "You can't go to work."

And he said, "I'm a coal miner.
That's what I do."

I said, "I understand that,
but I'm making money.

"I'm making a lot of money now."

He said, "Yeah, but how long
is it going to last?"

That was a big deal for me,
you know,

to get him out of the coal mine,

because I didn't like that it
was a dangerous job, you know.

When I gave them this house
and we moved to Sunbury-on-Thames,

which is not far away,
sometimes he would get depressed.

My mother called me and she said,
"Your father won't get out of bed."

I said, "What's the matter
with him?"

She said, "Come and talk to him."

So, I came in and went up to
that bedroom there

and I said, "What's the matter?"

"I don't feel... "I'm", you know,
"I'm not contributing anything."

You know, for them to leave...

Everything they knew was
in Pontypridd.

He wanted to see his friends,
you see, and they weren't here.

Because I was successful,
I had expected people...

"Oh, yeah, come on!", you know,

and they would all be
thrilled to bits.

But were they?

When I was doing these
Ed Sullivan shows in '65,

he liked me, Ed Sullivan.

You know, he really liked
what I was doing.

So I did five or six of them.

So, they moved The Ed Sullivan Show
from New York to LA,

so I had to go to LA,
which was great.

And they said, "Elvis is here
and would love to meet you."

Elvis.

I had a ballad out then called
With These Hands.

So, when I met Elvis Presley
on the set,

he started to walk towards me,

singing With These Hands, my song.

And I thought, "My God, if the boys
back home could see me now",

with Elvis going,
"With these hands."

# I will bring to you... #

I wanted to go to Vegas.

We were in LA,
so I went to Vegas to check it out,

because I'd heard about it

and seen it in movies,
and it was small then,

you know, there wasn't that
many hotels.

So, then they offered me to play
The Flamingo,

two shows a night,
for a month straight.

That's another thing, you know,
with America -

two shows every night.

You wouldn't see much daylight

because, after you do
the second show...

It was 8:00 and 12:00 shows.

Then, you'd go to see somebody
in a lounge.

You know, all the rock and roll
singers, by this time,

were playing lounges.

Fats Domino,
you know, I used to hang out with,

and Jackie Wilson, you know,

and Jerry Lee Lewis,
with Little Richard.

So, I would hang out with these
fellas until the sun came up.

And then Elvis came to town,

and then he'd want
to stay up all night, you know.

HE CHUCKLES

# I will sing to you

# Long after the stars
have lost their glow... #

Ladies and gentlemen,
this is Tom Jones.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

When I got my own show,

it was the biggest ever TV show
from Great Britain

to be shown on national television
in America.

I mean, I could do duets with people
that I'd grown up listening to.

I mean, my idols still are '50s
rock and roll singers.

# Good golly, Miss Molly

# Sure like to ball, woohoo

# Golly, sure like to ball

# Cos you're rockin' and a rollin',
babe

# I can't hear your mama call

# Good golly, Miss Molly

# You sure like to ball

# Good golly, Miss Molly

# Honey, you sure like to ball

# When you're rockin' and rollin'

# You can't hear your mama call

# From the early early morning
Till the early early night

# Well, I saw Miss Molly rockin'
at the house of blue light

# Golly, Miss Molly

# Sure like to ball

# You're rockin' and a rollin' babe
I can't hear your mama call... #

Meeting those people
and having them on my TV show,

you know,
to sing a duet with Fats Domino,

Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley,
Jerry Lee Lewis,

Wilson Pickett, Ray Charles,
Aretha Franklin...

So, I was able to do things on TV
that you couldn't do on record.

And Little Richard was,
I mean, tremendous.

To sing with him was one of
the highlights of my life.

# You're rockin' and a rollin'

# You can't hear your mama call... #

When people say to me,
"Who would you like to sing with?"

I say, it all depends on the song,
you know?

How can we gel together
that we can complement one another?

So, there's got to be
a marriage there.

# If you ever need something

# That you never, ever, ever had
And I know you never had

# Oh, honey,
don't you just sit there crying

# Well, you sit there feeling bad
No, no, no

# You better get up, get up on the
stand and raise your hand

# I said raise

# You know I'm standing above

# I want you to give me
all your love

# Oh, I said, come on over now

# Open up your heart, yeah

# Let me try
You better be good, baby, understand

# No, no, no
Raise your hands

# Well, if you ever feel you want
me, baby

# Don't you think you should?

# I said I want you to give, give,
give it to me one time

# Don't I know, know, know you

# You better be good
Don't you understand? #

Janis Joplin.

She was this wild rock singer

and didn't do variety shows.

So, when she came on, she said,

"I'm only doing this for you."

She said, "I don't do variety shows
but I love the way you sing."

And I said, "Well, likewise."

# And let me try, try, try... #

She wanted to be as raw
as she could.

You know, she rubbed off on me.

I mean, she was so vibrant
that I went along with it.

Well...

It is what it is, I suppose.

# Sleigh bells ring

# Are you listening?

# In the lane, snow is glistening

# A beautiful sight

# We're happy tonight

# Walking in
a winter wonderland... #

This was in the '70s, and things...

I wasn't getting the hit records.

So, what do you do?

So then, it was suggested
to do some TV specials for the BBC.

OK, so, one is in Switzerland
and one is in Barbados.

So, we went to these locations
and did songs,

because Gordon Mills thought
it was a good idea.

But I wasn't particularly
comfortable with it.

But I didn't really have a choice
because, again,

the ideas were not there
and the songs.

He wasn't writing,

he wasn't getting me hit songs.

He wasn't writing them himself
and he wasn't finding them,

you know, by other people.

Other people were getting hits
all through the disco era.

You know, I didn't get
one of those songs.

So, I had to rely on TV
to keep me in the public eye.

And that's the only thing
that was available - variety.

You don't get your own way
all the time.

You know, you've got to take
the rough with the smooth.

But it again was taking me away from

what I really wanted to do
musically.

You know, it was sort of fluff,
fluffy.

As I told you,
the songs were not coming,

so my recording career took a hit.

So, I was concentrating
on live shows,

and, um, I think I might have
become larger than life.

You know, you get caught up in it.

And sometimes you should take
a step back.

He's fantastic,
his movement and singing.

Oh, yeah, I fancy him.
Yeah, I fancy him loads.

Especially when he wiggles his bum,
he shakes it about.

So through the I would say late
'70s, early '80s, I had lost my way.

For the fans, old and new,
it's a ritual.

No surprises, and they like it
that way.

They know exactly when to clap,
when to cry,

when to bring out their hankies
to mop the dampened brow,

and they know that in exchange,
a lucky few will always get a kiss.

By this time, my son and
my daughter-in-law were my managers

and made me aware, you know,
"Don't pick up the underwear.

"If they're going to throw it
at you, let it land where it may,

"but don't make a big deal
out of it

"because you're belittling yourself.

"You're cheapening your talent."

# Delilah... #

And they were right,
and I was wrong.

That's the trouble,
when they're doing a good job...

Tom Jones Enterprises.

Not a major thing, but it just...
Yes. Who's calling, please?

OK, sure. Hold on.

Hello? Sandy.

My son and my daughter-in-law
took over as managers

and then that gave it a, you know,
a kick-start again.

..not the way
we like to be represented,

because it really isn't
that kind of an act at all.

Also, the sentence that says,
"Intense, emotional,

"gyrating rhythm and blues act,"

I think we could kind of lose
the "gyrating", if you don't mind.

I always had a strong opinion
that some things were just wrong.

In an ideal world, the focus
of his image will shift

about three feet upwards,

and lasts always with his voice
and nothing else.

Like I thought at the beginning

that I needed a song
before I did It's Not Unusual,

I was waiting for the song again.

And it was Kiss,

and I felt that my voice
was still there,

strong enough to do it
if I could get the right song,

but it took The Art Of Noise
to make it new.

So I did a track, just the voice,
and then they did the arrangement.

And that's what did it. You know,
the explosion. When I heard that...

Wsshht! # You don't have to be... #

And I thought, "That's it.
This sounds like a hit to me."

# To turn me on

# I just need your body, baby

# From dusk till dawn

# You don't need experience

# To turn me out...

A new sound. You know,
that sound is different.

I hadn't recorded
with a sound like that before.

# I'll show you what it's all about

It was like starting over.

You know, I thought,
"It's like a new start,

"getting back in the charts,
getting a hit record."

I felt it.

# Ain't no particular sign

# I'm more compatible with

# I just want your extra time
and your...

Without even opening my shirt.

# ..kiss! #

Once we had a hit with Kiss, I knew
that was a new beginning.

This year, for once, the main
talking point was the music,

and this was the man
they were all talking about.

Tom Jones was, to many,
a surprise choice for Pilton,

playing his first-ever festival

at an age where his grandchildren
were among the audience.

So why did he come?

Because they asked me to come.

They called and said
that they would like me to be here.

So I said, "Fine."

I mean, that's all I need,
is an invitation.

And I'm here.

Somebody said, "Tom Jones
at Glastonbury Festival?

"They're trying
to make it respectable!"

Well, I heard that the other day.

They said, er,
"middle-aged respectability".

Middle-aged, yes, but I don't
know about respectable!

Well...

HE CHUCKLES

I suppose I am respectable.
No, I mean...

# It's not unusual
to go out at any time...

Hopefully I've become respectable.

# ..I see you out and about,
it's such a crime

# If you should
ever want to be loved...

When they asked me to close
the event, the surprise guest.

I thought, "We'll go on there
and do, like, a soulful show."

But the result was unbelievable.

# All the time...

"I'm still here." You know,
that's how you feel.

You know, "I'm still here.
I'm still doing it.

"I'm still loving it.

"And thank God the people
still love me doing it."

So you can't... You can't ask
for more than that.

CHEERING

Thank you very much!

What do you think of him, then?
Oh, I think he's brilliant!

I didn't realise
he had so much magnetism.

How was it? HTV News.
How was it up there?Wonderful.

What were the crowd like?Great.

What do you think of the whole
of the Glastonbury Festival?

I think it's wonderful.Thank you.

Mark said to me, "Well, look,
there's a lot of young groups

"out there that you could
work with if you fancy it."

I said, "Sure, why not?"

So why does
the most famous grandfather in pop

still want to make records?

Because I love singing
and I want to compete.

I don't want people to say,
"Oh, Tom Jones made

"great-sounding records
in the '60s."

I want them to say, you know,
"He makes great sounding records."

# Open up the window

# Let some air into this room

# I think I'm almost choking
from the smell of stale perfume

# And the cigarette you're smoking
'bout to scare me half to death

# Open up the window,
let me catch my breath

# Mama told me not to come...

I knew that there were
some Welsh bands coming up

which I wanted to do.

So, Stereophonics, you know,

and Catatonia with Cerys Matthews,

and the Manic Street Preachers.

So I wanted those three,
for definite.

The Cardigans were,
er...were suggested.

# Hold tight

# Wait till the party's over

# Hold tight

# We're in for nasty weather

# There has got to be a way

# Burning down the house...

It did what we wanted it to do.

To work with, you know, young people
with stuff that they wanted to do.

I asked every one of them,
"What would you like to do?

"And we'll do it."

# ..not too far
Maybe you know where you are...

It's not a gimmicky thing.

You're not doing it
just for effect. It's real.

# All wet

# Yeah, you might need a raincoat

# Shake down

# Dreams walking
in broad daylight...

And we all had a great time,
and everything was so natural.

# 365 degrees

# Burning down the house...

The singer Tom Jones has been
knighted at Buckingham Palace

for services to music.

The 65-year-old miner's son said

accepting the knighthood
was "a great and a humbling honour".

Sir Thomas Woodward,
known as Tom Jones,

for services to music.

A knighthood was something
that I'd never dreamt of.

You know, I mean, I've always been
a royalist ever since I was a child,

because I've always been
interested in British history,

and it was a special moment.

I'll never forget that,
because she was so lovely.

And then meeting her afterwards, and
then many more through the years.

And it's, um... It was tremendous.

This one tops it all. I mean,
a knighthood is...is fantastic.

It's, um... It's just different.

That's the biggest thing
that's ever happened to me.

Because when I was a kid, you know,
I wanted to make hit records.

I wanted to get...

I wanted to become a professional
singer and do television shows

and, you know, like that.

That's what you think
when you're a child.

But to be knighted?

I never... If somebody
had told me when I was a kid,

you know, "Would you ever think
about being knighted?"

I mean, please!

But let's now welcome a great legend
indeed, the wonderful Sir Tom Jones.

CHEERING

2009, you stopped dyeing your hair.

Yes.Was that just
an instant decision for you?

Er, yes.

I was doing a Later show
with Jools Holland,

and I saw the clip of it afterwards,

and I thought,
"My God, my hair, it looks dyed."

And it looked permed!

# Your captivating eyes

# The clever way they smile

# Stops him in his tracks...

And people were saying, "Tom Jones
with his dyed, permed hair."

Well, it wasn't permed, but
the dye made it look more like that.

# They've broken the mould...

"This is not working.
It looks false.

"And I don't want to be false."

# When you're standing there

# The world disappears

# It would be...

I was in Florida,
and I was about to dye my hair.

And I'm looking at it in the mirror
and I'm thinking,

"I think I'll let it go."

# You're a cut above the rest

# He'd be such a fool

# If he should ever leave you...

Nobody complained. Everybody
said, "Your hair looks great, Tom."

I said, "Thank you very much."

# The subtle way...

You can't try to be
a younger person.

And I don't, you know,
I wouldn't want to.

And I think people see that,
that I'm not...

You know, younger people have said,
"You are you. You're being you.

"You're not trying to be..."

And I think they'll see through you
in a minute if you're false.

GUITAR RIFF PLAYS

This is it.

That's that riff.

We had a lot of songs on the table

to choose from when we were
cutting this record.

The ones that stuck

were the ones that had
an emotional resonance for him.

Everything that we've chosen,

everything that's on the record
is pertinent.

The song's about something that
means something to him right now.

When I first met Ethan, I said,
"How are we going to do this?"

I told him what kind of thing
that I wanted to do.

I realised that when
I got in the studio with him,

he knew what kind of thing
he wanted.

He wanted it to be
as real as I wanted it to be.

He said, "I hear things
in your voice

that haven't been recorded yet."

And he said, "I think it should be,
you know, stripped down, musically.

"You've always had
big arrangements."

And he said, "We could go into the
studio with just a few instruments.

"I want to hear your voice."

# If I die and my soul be lost...

I thought we were rehearsing.

The microphone was there, and...

And he said, "That's what I want.
I want you naturally.

"I don't want you to perform.

"You know, like if you sing it
yourself, like you just were now."

It was a more natural
way of recording with Ethan

than when I started with Decca.

And the experience of life, you see?

Hopefully it will show
in your delivery of a song.

And I think it does.

When I listen to stuff
that I recorded years ago,

sometimes I think I didn't
really understand that song.

And it shows.

But now I understand more

about the...the content of the song.

Like the Bob Dylan song
What Good Am I?

It's, um... I was thinking
of my wife, you know,

because she got ill,
you know, with cancer.

I recorded it before she got ill,

but she was in my mind
when I was recording it

because she had started to, um...

Her health wasn't good.

And her mental, er...

She wasn't in a good place,
and this.

And I felt partly responsible
for it.

So it's like, "What good am I
if I'm like all the rest?"

You know? "If I just turn away
when I see how you're dressed?"

Because she'd lost it, you know.

So that was on my mind
when I recorded it.

And then when she passed away,

I said, "Linda, I don't think
I'll be able to carry on."

And she said, "You must carry on.

"That's what you do.
You know, you're a singer.

"You've got to carry on.
Don't let this destroy you."

# What good am I

# If I know and don't do

# If I see and don't say

# If I look straight through you

# And I turn a deaf ear

# To the thundering sky

# What good am I?

# What good am I

# While you softly weep

# And I hear in my head

# What you say in your sleep

# And I freeze in the moment

# Like the rest who don't try

# What good...

# ..am I?

# What good...

# ..am I?

# What good am I then

# To the others and me

# When I've had every chance

# But still fail to see

# If my hands tied must I

# Not wonder within

# Who tied them and why

# And where must I have been?

# What good am I

# If I say foolish things?

# And I laugh in the face

# Of what sorrow brings

# And I just turn my back

# While you silently die

# What good am I?

# What good..

..am I?

# What good...

# ..am I? #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

I think why a lot of singers

get their heads in the cloud
a little bit,

because they forget what they were

before they were pop singers.

I will never forget this.

I will always remember
as long as I live

what it's like to work hard.

When I was young,
I didn't have that much.

And, um, I think
you learn to realise

more about life when you don't
have that much when you're a child.

I think you grow up faster.

You come face-to-face
with reality much quicker.

Singing is my life, and, er, that's
what I will always do, is to sing,

because I haven't got any interest
in anything else, really.

I've never seen that clip before.

That's the first time
for me to see that.

That's great.

Any regrets along the way?
Not really.

No, no... No big ones.

I've achieved what I wanted to.

You know, I wanted to be
a professional singer,

and I've done that,
and I'm still doing it,

and I'm still loving it.

Er, so it's been...

It's been a godsend,

you know, that I've done
what I wanted to do.

It's a wonderful feeling.