We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.
/

about

Previously released as a digital download, this album version features new strings and backing vocals from Jackie Oates, adding to the original ensemble of Jon Nice, Lukas Drinkwater and myself. I don’t write songs terribly often, but this one leapt out in one piece and fast became my favourite. It’s of an actual Soho morning, too…

lyrics

It’s of a Soho morning in shades of dirty grey
At 6am, well I stumbled once more into the day
The street’s in need of hosing down to wash away the gloom
And I was 19 years of age, the time has gone so soon
‘Twas there I spied a maiden with glitter in her hair
And it fell in shards of crimson and it lit the morning air
She’s teetered on her platform heels and scaffolded my mind
Me, without a hard hat on, just begging to be fined

Chorus
And I would recommend
And I’d write it in a song
A night that ends on Greek Street
To anybody young

Well, she took her name from winter, no robin went without
And she fluttered on the petrol breeze as neon picked her out
The soul of Cambridge Circus, a phoenix from the frost
Before I knew what had begun I had already lost
So we took a bus to Lewisham where her mother had a place
And against the kitchen sideboard, well I kissed her on the face
And on a Swedish packing bed I kissed her naked breast
And it wasn’t ‘til the midnight moon we stopped to take a rest

Chorus

It’s strange what I remember - it’s strange what I recall
I don’t remember conversations - I don’t remember words at all
I remember trips to Brighton, wrapped warm against the cold
I remember thinking time had stopped and we weren’t growing old
And that’s the wonder of the transient; a sense of life alive
And the magic of the twilight sky and fingers intertwined
And fingers then unravelled, and distance in the sheets
And distance in the way she gazed way back on down the street

Chorus

So we lingered in the summer months, my winter maid and me
And in the Soho evenings I loved her tenderly
But by the time the autumn came, her eye began to roam
And I wandered back to Lewisham all longing and alone
So she took her Swedish packing bed for some other blade to game
And I tried my best to blame her but the blame it never came
For she was but 18 years of age and barely in her bloom
That one sweet misty morning on old Greek Street in the gloom

credits

from Before I Knew What Had Begun I Had Already Lost, released May 5, 2023
Written by Jon Wilks
Produced by Jon Wilks
Mastered by Nick Cooke

Jon Wilks - acoustic guitar, slide guitar, vocals
Jackie Oates - viola, backing vocals
Lukas Drinkwater - double bass
Jon Nice - piano

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Jon Wilks image

Jon Wilks Whitchurch, UK

'The sort of performer folk circles mean when they talk of the living tradition' - Mike Davies, Folking.com

“One of the best of the New Wave of Folk Blokes. As a guitar player and arranger of traditional songs, Jon Wilks already deserves speaking of in the same breath as your Simpsons and your Morays.” – Ian A. Anderson, fRoots Mag ... more

shows

contact / help

Contact Jon Wilks

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like Jon Wilks, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Saxophonist Isaiah Collier chats about his new LP and the influence of Pharoah Sanders.
listen now