I do get asked about the length of my songs quite often, and I understand why - you don't find too many songwriters that breach the 7, 8 minute mark, and I think I have 15 or 20 that go over 20 minutes. It's because I am a storyteller, if that doesn't sound pretentious, and the songs need to be as long as the story lasts. Elton famously cut off the last verse of 'Daniel', for instance, to make radio play length. It's still a great song - what a melody line - but it always reminds me of that Tony Hancock episode, 'Lady Don't Fall Backwards', where the last page of the book is missing and you don't find out whodunnit. Anyway, I used to be asked "Which is your longest song?" (when I had bands, I would come in with a new song and they wouldn't say, "What are the chords" or "What key is it in?", their first question would be, "How long is it...?". I did see their point - me, I had the lyrics to tell, but playing a bass riff over and over for 24 minutes? Even my drummers breathed a sigh of relief when drum machines came in!). Well, this is probably - probably - my longest song, on the basis that it IS a song. If you've looked at the time, you will see this video clocks in at 23 minutes. Average by my standards! But if you look in the title bar, just after it says, 'In Search Of Hell's Grand Reward'... it adds '(part 1)'. You're ahead of me, aren't you? I'll put you out of your ponder - there are 9 parts. It is a double-CD (I am recording from the album, onto camera). The full song lasts 2 and a half hours. And that's just the chorus... - nah, I'm joking about that part. It doesn't have a chorus. I should write one... So, this is likely my longest song. I had to record it in parts because, in those days of yore, and you're, on a Tascam 8-track analogue home studio, a 45-minute metal C90 ran at double speed and thus, cut out after 23 minutes. Just after this, digital came in and I was away (my 31-minute rewrite of Bob Dylan's 'Tangled Up In Blue' was the first I did on digital). Anyway revisited, I thought I would put it up. It's not all the same music - some of the parts I overdubbed extra instruments on - so, Part 2, I think, has piano, I know Part 3 has a nice taut electric guitar figure running through it. I would love to transcribe the lyrics and put them out as a book, just so it is in its original story format, but the other night it took me an hour to transcribe the lyrics to the 4-minute 'Getting To Babylon' to include them in the "Bitter Realities" songbook, so - don't hold your breath. Oh, the reason I say 'ISoHGR' is 'probably' my longest song is, last year's 'Maybe Tomorrow' has, I think, 10,000 words, but it only exists as the lyric book - I have music for it, in my head, but that work needs to be recorded all in one go, and due to my disablity, I can't do that. And 'Prairie Winds' is probably getting close - I have been recording it in chunks, and there are 17 now (none of them good technically - since I have no means of holding the lyrics up, and am cutting them live, it is write, turn camera on, hit E-minor, and hope to remember what one has just written). The lyrics that make up the second half of the "Prairie Winds" lyric book clock in at 6,5000 words, but I have written 3 more 'stages' to it since then. US election coming up - try to keep a social commentary songwriter still with that on the horizon! On a trivia note, the CD sleeve notes state that I recorded 'ISoHGR' between 29.12.98-02.01.99 (CD 1, parts 1-5); and between 09-11.01.1999 (CD2, parts 6-9). THAT must have been a wonderfully happy Xmas I was having that year.... ! Light and peace, Paul M 06.11.2022 'In Search Of Hell's Grand Reward' © Paul Murphy / 1998, renewed 2022 - - - Whilst here, if I may be so bold... Many of my song lyrics and poems and prose-pieces, should you care to investigate them further, are presented in 12 books of such (details below), available from Amazon. There is a 10-page free contents preview of each title available. If you do go to Amazon and purchase any of my lyric/poetry, or indeed my comedy or my children's titles, thank you with my extreme gratitude for that, because all royalties go into trust for my beautiful young children, Dylan and Emily Jade. Books by Paul Murphy: Comedy: The Private Diary of Emily Jade Murphy (Aged 0) Don't Look Sideways Jottings 1001 Ways To Cook An Aardvark Extremely Unlikely History of the World - Part One Eric Wobble Finds A Time Machine The Fabbles: The So-Low Years A Christmas Carol (No, Not That One, A Different One) Lyrics/Poetry: Songs Without Music Journeys... Poems, Lyrics & Reflections Stories That Rhyme Poems For My Children Maybe Tomorrow Poems From An Empty Wishing Well Tombstones One More Rainbow, Before The Lights Go Out Maybe Tomorrow... Maybe Next Year (A Love Story) Love, Prairie Winds Bitter Realities Songs For Charlotte ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwR6bqBEI-4

This is a brand new song, composed as per the intro to take 1 (clip 797). Take 4 here, with an extended coda with new words. It doesn't come out too well, but it's a nice, dirty little riff running through this... fun to play. Makes it easy to get into character! The lyric - well, I wrote it thinking about my son. And love. And a nest of vipers. You can see it in my eyes at some points - where the lyric is direct to an event, I can't hide its effect recalling it has on me. It works outside of my situation, I made it an open-plain lyric. It's about standing up to/repaying in spades any bully. It's basically telling them, Your time will come... Light and peace, Paul M 14.11.2022 'We're Gonna Give Them Hell' © Paul Murphy / 2022. - : : - A quick PS - please excuse me if I am slightly tardy replying to any of your comments, or acknowledging any likes or shares of this video - hectic 2 weeks ahead (which I am sure will be told in a song at some point...!). Bless you all, P. - : : - : : - : : - : : Whilst here, if I may be so bold... Many of my song lyrics and poems and prose-pieces, should you care to investigate them further, are presented in 12 books of such (details below), available from Amazon. There is a 10-page free contents preview of each title available. If you do go to Amazon and purchase any of my lyric/poetry, or indeed my comedy or my children's titles, thank you with my extreme gratitude for that, because all royalties go into trust for my beautiful young children, Dylan and Emily Jade. Books by Paul Murphy: Comedy: The Private Diary of Emily Jade Murphy (Aged 0) The Continuing Private Diary of Emily Jade Murphy (Aged 6 Months, & Counting) Don't Look Sideways - The Life & Times of Bob Wordsworth Jottings 1001 Ways To Cook An Aardvark Extremely Unlikely History of the World - Part One Extremely Unlikely History of the World - Part Two Extremely Unlikely History of the United Kingdom Eric Wobble Finds A Time Machine The Fabbles: The So-Low Years A Christmas Carol (No, Not That One, A Different One) Lyrics/Poetry: Songs Without Music Journeys... Poems, Lyrics & Reflections Stories That Rhyme Poems For My Children Maybe Tomorrow Poems From An Empty Wishing Well Tombstones One More Rainbow, Before The Lights Go Out Maybe Tomorrow... Maybe Next Year (A Love Story) Love, Prairie Winds Bitter Realities Songs For Charlotte Children's Titles: Emily's Magic Unicorn Emily and Bill... And The Stormy Day Emily and Bill... Meet Dylan Emily and Bill... Meet Pirate Pete Emily and Bill... Meet Betty the Yeti Emily and Bill... Meet Santa (and Rudolph!) Emily's Magic Dragon The Emily and Bill Anthology What Did You See At The Zoo Today? The Amazing Smeller-Man (by Dylan Murphy and Paul Murphy) - - - ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL3DvjGCHlA