Burning Daylight is a collection of songs of love, loss, and time running out. These songs were written between 2018 and 2020.

Thanks to all my friends and family for contributing to the performances on this album, the recording of which kept me sane during the 2020 and 2021 lockdowns.

Thanks to...
... Liz McIntosh for the cover painting, her vocals on False Hope, and for putting up with my many hours locked away recording.

...Nick Blair for his help and production advice and for playing Hammond organ on What Are You Waiting For.

...my fellow bandmate in Unarmed Weasel, Mike Scotter, for his lead guitar on Cocoon and What Are You Waiting For.

...Shirley Reay for her singing on False Hope, Cocoon and What Are You Waiting For

...Paul Cann for his sax part  and backing vocals on All Fingers And Thumbs

...Gill Cann for her singing on All Fingers and Thumbs

All songs written, recorded and produced by Alistair McIntosh.

©️  Alistair McIntosh 2021

Burning Daylight

Hot on the heels of his 2021 album, Burning Daylight, Alistair McIntosh releases his Electrified EP Volume 1. The EP features four formerly acoustic songs re-recorded over the last year and given full 'plugged-in' arrangements.

The lead track, Voice of An Angel, is a raucous rock'n'roll tribute to the late great Eva Cassidy. It tells the true story of the effect her beautiful voice had on Alistair when he overheard her singing Songbird in HMV Records in Ealing, London in 1999. The acoustic version appeared on The Slow Reveal in 2028.

Theory of Everything turns the acoustic original into a space rock epic. It revisits possibly the only love song to have ever married together cosmology and quantum mechanics as a tribute to a significant other. Soaring cellos combine with insistent guitars and rich harmonies to take you to a parallel universe. The acoustic version appeared on Box of Goats' 2006 album 'The Universal Theory Of Everything'.

I Know I Said I Love You (But I Lied) has been, as an acoustic song, both a live favourite and, by far, Alistair's most listened to track on Soundcloud (possibly due to mistaken identity!). But, here, this souped-up electrified version gets a full country blues-rock retuning so that it barrels along like a bus with no brakes. This is in no small part thanks to the superb lead guitar playing of Mr Mike Scotter, Alistair's compadre in their band Unarmed Weasel. Listen to Charm Offensive for the original acoustic version.

And finally, Sunlight, the last track on Electrified, is no less than the third studio version of the song Alistair has released but is the definitive one by being the closest to his original vision for the track. Written after a couple of visits to Uganda a decade or so ago, Sunlight extols the virtues of education and independence from international aid but in a sunny, danceable, pop rock package. A more laid-back version appears on the Unfinished Business release.

If this leaves you begging for more, and even if it doesn't, Electrified Volume 2 will be along in due course.

Electrified EP Volume 1

Electrified Volume 2 features another four songs, following on from volume 1,  which had previously only ever been recorded acoustically but which now have full band arrangements.

Beautiful Somewhere is a slice of pop featuring lyrics by Tom Gibson, an Iowa-based singer songwriter with whom I have collaborated on 9 songs. This is how the song was always meant to sound when I wrote the melody in 2008. Michael Scotter, my collaborator in Unarmed Weasel, plays lead guitar on the outro.

Where's The Love , a slow soul / blues track, is an appeal for kindness in this cruel, judgemental world.  I wrote this in 2007 and it's even more relevant in its message now than it was then. Nick Clarry helps out with backing vocals.

Metaphor is another track I wrote with Tom Gibson. Some of the lyrics are mine and more of them are his,  although I can't remember whose are whose as we wrote it about 15 years ago. It's a sparse pop /soul song about letting go of a former love.

Bogeyman is a bit of a departure for me in that it's a straight out of the gate, kick-ass slice of hard rock. It wasn't when I wrote it in 2006 on an acoustic guitar but I always wanted to beef it up. The song is about a young woman's revenge - let's leave it at that: listen and decide for yourself.

Electrified EP Volume 2

There are hundreds of thousands of independent songwriters struggling to be heard. Each pours their heart and soul into their music, investing much time and money into their creation which, most probably, very few people will ever listen to. I chose White Elephant as the title of this album to recognise that after four years of work, it may fall on deaf ears. First and foremost I created it for myself. But if you have listened of it, thank you.

Thanks to Nick Clarry for cowriting Rescue Me and Set This Poor Heart Free, singing and playing bass and organ on Rescue Me and for his backing vocals on Halcyon Days. Oh, and for all his feedback on the endless mixes of most of the songs. Thanks too to Paul Cann for playing sax on Rescue Me.

Otherwise I wrote, sang and played guitar and bass on the other songs.

White Elephant

Alistair McIntosh:  vocals, electric guitar, bass, and drum programming.

Hostage To Fortune

Alistair McIntosh: vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, bass, drums and strings

Sunflowers

Alistair McIntosh: vocals, electric rhythm and acoustic guitars, bass, drums and brass programming.
Mike Scotter: lead guitar
Shirley Reay: backing vocals

Cocoon

Quit The Game

Alistair McIntosh:  vocals, electric guitar, bass, and drum programming.
Paul Cann: saxophone and backing vocals
Gill Cann: backing vocals

All Fingers And Thumbs

Fifteen years after I wrote part 1, Parking Lot in LA, and 12 years after part 3, Be Careful What You Wish For, this completes the three versions of the story of the day I met my wife for the first time. And she sings on it.

Alistair McIntosh:  vocals, electric guitar, bass, and drum programming.
Liz McIntosh: backing vocals
Shirley Reay: backing vocals

False Hope (LA Trilogy Part 2)

Alistair McIntosh:  vocals, acoustic, guitar, bass, and drum programming.
Nick Blair: Hammond organ
Mike Scotter: lead acoustic guitar
Shirey Reay: backing vocals

What Are You Waiting For

When I wrote Angel With A Gun in 2005 the melody I heard in my head for it was played on a piano. As I didn't play the piano I had to settle for playing it on the guitar.

In 2021 I was working on some fuller arrangements of some of my old acoustic songs and Nick agreed to create a piano part for this song. I didn't hear from him for ages and assumed he had given up on it but he then started sending me sample arrangements during the summer and I realised he had put a lot of effort into it. Nick sent me this arrangement of the song only a week before he died. There was his piano part, no vocals, and he "hoped I didn't mind that he had added some guitar to it"!  I'm so glad he did.

I'm sure Nick didn't intend this to be his final attempt at the piano arrangement but I hope you will agree that he created a beautiful setting for the song (which is about a young person needing to be tougher in order to fulfil their potential).

Credits

Nick Blair - piano, rhythm and lead acoustic guitar, production
Alistair McIntosh - vocals and bass guitar

Thanks to songwriter and composer Sally Whitham-Shaw (sallywhithamshaw.co.uk) for her advice and guidance.

Angel With A Gun (and a piano)

I wrote this one with Tom Gibson from Florida via Songstuff.com. I wrote the music and Tom wrote most of the lyrics.

Metaphor 

Trust me 
I know where the bodies are buried 
You don’t have to worry 
I buried them good and deep 
Accosted 
By the skeletons in my closet 
Took them out and made a deposit 
Now I'm not losing any sleep 
Who am I 
Trying to kid
If I think that I have rid
Your tattoo from my soul
You had me from hello

Please believe me
It’s only a metaphor
For my secrets and regrets
So I don’t have to remember
Things that I’m tryin’ to forget
It’s only a metaphor
I’ve loved you since the day we met
I’m fooling  myself if I think I’m over you yet

Wrung out
Hung on the street and strung out
Like a dog off the scent with its tongue out
This is no way to be
Homeless
Like a vein that’s doped with loneliness
Home to home I will roam unless
Someone comes and buries me

I’m floundering in
This rising tide
Flooding in over my sides
If I don’t let you go
I will capsize

Please believe me
It’s only a metaphor
Promises and regrets
So I don’t have to remember
Things that I’m tryin’ to forget
It’s only a metaphor
I’ve loved you since the day we met
I’m kidding myself if I think I’m over you yet

copyright Gibson/McIntosh 2008

Metaphor

I wrote Sunlight in 2008 after I visited Uganda. Nick came up with a different arrangement in 2013 on which he played rhythm and lead guitar, piano and bass to give the song a laidback style. He intended there to be a saxophone but the track remained unfinished as an instrumental, and without the original bridge. I have other versions of the song on Soundcloud.

After Nick died in October 2021, I decided to finish what he had started and this is the result. It shows what a versatile musician Nick was. He probably did all this in an afternoon!

Lynne, Nick's wife, sings backing vocals and Paul 'Dr Sax' Cann plays that elusive saxophone.

Credits

Nick Blair - Rhythm guitar, opening lead guitar solo, piano, bass, drum programming, production.
Lynne - Blair - Backing vocals
Paul 'Dr Sax' Cann - saxophone
Alistair McIntosh - Vocals, backing vocals, middle lead guitar solo and fills, production.

Sunlight (Sunny side up mix)

Sunlight, the last track on Electrified, is no less than the third studio version of the song Alistair has released but is the definitive one by being the closest to his original vision for the track. Written after a couple of visits to Uganda a decade or so ago, Sunlight extols the virtues of education and independence from international aid but in a sunny, danceable, pop rock package. A more laid-back version appears here.

Sunlight (Electrified)

Voice of An Angel is a raucous rock'n'roll tribute to the late great Eva Cassidy. It tells the true story of the effect her beautiful voice had on Alistair when he overheard her singing Songbird in HMV Records in Ealing, London in 1999. The acoustic version appeared on The Slow Reveal in 2018.

Voice Of An Angel (Electrified)

I Know I Said I Love You (But I Lied) has been, as an acoustic song, both a live favourite and, by far, Alistair's most listened to track on Soundcloud possibly due to mistaken identity!). But, here, this souped-up electrified version gets a full country blues-rock retuning so that it barrels along like a bus with no brakes. This is in no small part thanks to the superb lead guitar playing of Mr Mike Scotter, Alistair's compadre in their band Unarmed Weasel. Listen to Charm Offensive for the original acoustic version.

I Know I Said I Love You (But I Lied) (Electrified)- feat. Mike Scotter

Theory of Everything turns the acoustic original into a space rock epic. It revisits possibly the only love song to have ever married together cosmology and quantum mechanics as a tribute to a significant other. Soaring cellos combine with insistent guitars and rich harmonies to take you to a parallel universe. The acoustic version appeared on Box of Goats' 2006 album 'The Universal Theory of Everything'.

Theory Of Everything (Electrified)

Where's The Love , a slow soul / blues track, is an appeal for kindness in this cruel, judgemental world. I wrote this in 2007 and it's even more relevant in its message now than it was then. Nick Clarry helps out with backing vocals.

Where's The Love (Electrified) - feat. Nick Clarry

This one seems very relevant now that the billionaires are taking over the world. It's inspired by a famous quote by the author, Joseph Heller who, at a party, was informed by his pal Kurt Vonnegut that their host, a hedge fund manager, had made more money in a single day than Heller had earned from his wildly popular novel Catch-22 over its whole history.

Heller responds,“Yes, but I have something he will never have — ENOUGH.”

Enough

How much did you pay for that smile
That Prada suit, those Manolo Blahnik shoes?
Twenty five staterooms in your pile
All full of things you never even use
You make ten thousand times more a year
Than I ever could in my entire career

The one who dies with the most toys wins
Your philosophy in life
You're off the grid before the race begins
To grab your trophy wife
But you're not even happy now
You've got all this stuff
But I've got the one thing you'll never have
I've got enough
I've got enough

You built a rocketship to the stars
To get one over on the other billionaires
You would buy real estate on Mars
But no-one can see how rich you are up there
Philanthropy is for the soft
But you only need so much money and the rest's for showing off

The one who dies with the most toys wins
Your philosophy in life
You're off the grid before the race begins
To grab your trophy wife
But you're not even happy now
You've got all this stuff
But I've got the one thing you'll never have
I've got enough
I've got enough

Enough

Bogeyman is a bit of a departure for me in that it's a straight out of the gate, kick-ass slice of hard rock. It wasn't when I wrote it in 2006 on an acoustic guitar but I always wanted to beef it up. The song is about a young woman's revenge - let's leave it at that: listen and decide for yourself.

Bogeyman (Electrified)

Beautiful Somewhere is a slice of pop featuring lyrics by Tom Gibson, an Iowa-based singer songwriter with whom I have collaborated on 9 songs. This is how the song was always meant to sound when I wrote the melody in 2008. Michael Scotter, my collaborator in Unarmed Weasel, plays lead guitar on the outro.

Beautiful Somewhere (Electrified)- feat. Mike Scotter

Metaphor is another track I wrote with Tom Gibson. Some of the lyrics are mine and more of them are his, although I can't remember whose are whose as we wrote it about 15 years ago. It's a sparse pop /soul song about letting go of a former love.

Metaphor (Electrified)

There is no such music festival as 'Flaxtonbury' but every year around 4 July on a farm near the village of Flaxton, Yorkshire, UK there would be a huge party thrown by Dennis, a local farmer. The barn would be thrown open to bands and dancing, there would be about 150 -200 people, a hogroast, much alcohol and a bucking bronco ride. It became known locally as Flaxtonbury after its more famous predecessor, Glastonbury.

Box of Goats played at this event three years in a row and it was fantastic fun. The barn was really just a large storage building that acted like a large amplifier so there is a real boomy quality to these recordings. We generally played well when we played Flaxtonbury. Sadly the party along with the band is now defunct after Dennis died in 2009.

There are better renditions of Closure than this one but I include it for the spoken intro as much as the song. 

Closure (Live At Flaxtonbury)

I have always loved Neil Young's song, Powderfinger. Like many people, I have wondered about the context of the lyrics, just why that white boat came up the river, what happened to the guy telling the story, and what happened next. But Neil is never going to tell us. So I decided to write a new take on the story. You don't need to have heard Neil's original song to understand the lyrics to this one.

If you know Powderfinger, and are wondering what makes this a sequel, it's because it takes the story beyond "Remember me to my love, I know I'll miss her", though there would be scope for another instalment beyond that...at least!

I Blame Myself (A Sequel to Neil Young's Powderfinger)

Beautiful Everywhere is a mainly instrumental remix, and a new arrangement of, my song Beautiful Somewhere, which can be found on my Electrified Volume 2 EP.

Beautiful Everywhere

The city referred to in the lyrics of this song is Sheffield, England, where I spent four happy years as a student in the early 1980s. There are a couple of (now disappeared) places referred to in the song which need an explanation. 'The Hole In the Road' was a subterranean junction of subways in the middle of a roundabout in the city centre which was open to the sky. Since the trams came to Sheffield it was filled in. And 'The Wapentake' was an underground bar where we went to listen to rock and heavy metal played very loudly. That's gone too. As has the Limit Club, but it's obvious what that is. The City Hall is still there though.

The song isn't really about Sheffield. It's about nostalgia for places in which we were once happy but which turns out to be for the people we knew there rather than the bricks and mortar.

The March Of Progress

Run Free is a love letter to my beloved late dog, Kizzy. If you have ever loved and lost a dog you will understand the intense pain of their passing and why someone might just write a song about her.

Kizzy was a rescue dog, a beautiful liver-spotted Pointer Collie cross. In the novel Roots by Alex Haley, the character Kizzy's Swahili name, in English, translates as 'run free', hence the song title.

Run Free

This is the first song I wrote for this album. It evokes the nostalgia of my childhood. My elder sisters were into the Beatles and we all loved The Monkees via their TV show and chart hits. I was only about 8 or 9 years old but the images and the sounds have stayed with me.

Nick Clarry sings backing vocals.

Halcyon Days

This is the second of two songs I wrote with Nick Clarry. He gave me some lyrics and I wrote music to them which is the opposite way round to how I normally write.

There's a bit of a theme going on with Nick's lyrics in this song and the other song I wrote with him, Rescue Me. He's either doing the rescuing or being rescued. 

Set This Poor Heart Free (Clarry)
  
I’m tired of looking out of dirty windows
And waiting for the sun to appear 
I’m tired of living life in the shadows
Only stepping out when the coast is clear
When rain clouds are gathering 
She comes to me in a dream
Her eyes are the colour of ebony 
And she sees right through me

One day I will turn the tables 
on my captivity
I’ll find a way into the prison 
Set this poor heart free
Set this poor heart free

I’m tired of listening to conversations
And spending my days talking to myself
I’m tired of waiting for some inspiration
And wishing I could be somewhere else
When the dark night closes in
She comes to me in a dream
Her eyes are the colour of ebony
And she sees right through me

One day I will turn the tables 
on my captivity
I’ll find a way into the prison 
and set this poor heart free

One day I will turn the tables 
on my captivity
I’ll find a way into the prison 
and set this poor heart free
Set this poor heart free
Set this poor heart free



Copyright
Nicholas Clarry 
Revised September 2007


Set This Poor Heart Free



Baby, I Was Wrong


Baby, I was wrong
I was too proud to admit it
I thought I would look strong
If I denied I did it
Baby, I was wrong
In my moment of weakness
I waited much too long
To beg for your forgiveness
You say that I live in my own little world
Care about the swine rather than the pearls
Never giving you the attention you so deserve
You wait on me like you were a galley slave
Work yourself into an early grave
But it's cause you love me, don't you, you fell for my charm and cool reserve
Baby I was wrong

Baby, I was wrong
My cheeks are flushed with shame
I thought I would look strong
But I'm the one to blame
Baby, I was wrong
I'm sorry that I hurt you
I waited much too long
To say I'll never desert you
There I go again with my arrogant complacency
Marks out of ten, what would you give me
For the quality of my hand-wringing remorse
You're a better person than I will ever be
Don't think of yourself you just think of me 
And for all of my faults I don't know how you have stayed the course
Baby I was wrong
Baby I was wrong
But in one thing I was right
I picked you from the throng
To be my guiding light


Baby I Was Wrong

If you've witnessed a loved one's decline in old age, which challenges the notion that any quality of life is worth living, you will understand Invisible Man.

Invisible Man

Sorry I didn’t turn up for our meeting
It must have completely slipped my mind
I was lost in thoughts I keep repeating
You know how we all lose track of time?
I didn’t even know it was your birthday
I wrote it down but forgot it just the same
How could I recall it was today
When I can’t even remember my own name

Is it time to turn my face to the wall?
It’d be a way to escape it all                                                
I could get out from under this cloud without a helping hand
I can feel myself melting away
There’s a little less of me every day
Am I becoming an invisible man?

Did I ever tell you I used to be a teacher?
Kids looked up to me, I had respect
Did I ever tell you I used to be a teacher?
I may have done but perhaps I forget
I lived to be the centre of attention
Surrounded by all my dearest friends
Not just existing like this in suspension
Now I’ve no Christmas cards to send

Is it time to turn my face to the wall?
It’d be a way to escape it all                                                
I could get out from under this cloud without a helping hand
I can feel myself melting away
There’s a little less of me every day
Am I becoming an invisible man?

Some think that you can live for too long
But that’s easy to say when you’re young
Cause that’s not when you have to be strong
To suffer on through days that should be done

So I won’t turn my face to the wall
Why would I give up on this all
When I can get out from under this cloud with your helping hand?
Though I feel myself falling apart
While you’re holding me in your heart
I’ll never be an invisible man
I’ll never be an invisible man
I’ll never be an invisible man

Copyright Alistair McIntosh 2024

Invisible Man

The song with the same name as the album  emulates the idea of pouring your heart into something that ultimately is redundant. The song is the lament of a guy who lavishes attention on his lover but gets nothing back from her. 

White Elephant

I bought you a big diamond ring but you don’t wear it anymore
I gave you a black party dress but you returned it to the store
Is it a sign of your guilt your  love’s begun to pale
And will this house of pleasure we built soon be up for sale, oh oh oh oh
Now you’re not even listening, you seem so far away

I call your name, still waiting for an answer
I’ve never felt so irrelevant                                            
You’re not the same, it’s the end for this romance, yeah
My love’s become a white elephant, a white elephant

You ignore me all the time when we’re out in company
I can’t get a word in edgeways cause you talk all over me
I think you wanted all the drama of some big love affair 
An illusion where we lived but there was no one ever there    
Now you’re not even listening, you seem so far away

I call your name, still waiting for an answer
I’ve never felt so irrelevant                                            
You’re not the same, it’s the end for this romance, yeah
My love’s become a white elephant, a white elephant


I get nothing 
From your lavish habits
My largesse has cost me dear               
But I’ve seen my chance 
And I’m going to grab it                             
You won’t even know I’m out of here
                       
You call my name, still waiting for my answer
You’ve never felt so irrelevant                                                      
You’re to blame, for the end of this romance, yeah
Your love’s become a white elephant, a white elephant

Copyright Alistair McIntosh – 8 October 2024


Nick Clarry - lead vocals, bass and organ
Alistair McIntosh - guitars and backing vocals.
Paul 'Dr Sax' Cann - Saxophone

Rescue Me (music by Alistair McIntosh, Lyrics by Nick Clarry)                                               
                                                      

When I tried it wasn’t hard enough
Now the nights are closing in
When I cried you just called my bluff 
My tears don’t mean anything


I’m falling off a mountainside
Into the blue blue sea
I’m drifting on the ocean tide
Ooh baby won’t you rescue me
Won’t you rescue me 


I can’t give you gold or diamonds
Show you places you’ve never been
I can’t promise you far horizons
I only have you in my dreams


I’m falling off a mountainside
Into the blue blue sea
I’m drifting on the ocean tide
Ooh baby won’t you rescue me
Won’t you rescue me 



I don’t understand how this all came to pass
When I look into my soul I see an empty glass
I don’t understand though I pretend that I do
But if you’d only come back we’ll make everything brand new


I’m falling off a mountainside
Into the blue blue sea
I’m drifting on the ocean tide
Ooh baby won’t you rescue me
Won’t you rescue me 
Won’t you rescue me
Please rescue me

Lyrics copyright Nick Clarry 2023




Rescue Me

Desert Lakes at Dusk is an instrumental companion piece to Desert Lakes At Dawn. Both tracks were inspired by a visit to Lake Powell, Arizona in 1982. 

This recording, which was made in September 1983,  is taken from the original analogue tape. It's the only track on which  I have ever played the piano - because I can't really play the piano -  but in this case I was sitting on the piano stool playing my guitar and then playing the piano figure with my right hand. You can hear the piano stool creaking in places!

Desert Lakes At Dusk

A version of Sunlight performed live by Unarmed Weasel(me, and Mike Scotter on guitar)at Farlington Village Hall,UK on 24 November 2018

Unarmed Weasel - Sunlight (Live)- Farlington - 24 Nov 2018

Thanks for listening to my stuff! 

11 April 2025  - I released my new album 'White Elephant'.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
In June 2024, I released a couple of tracks. I Blame Myself is a trailer for my next album, currently in production, and Beautiful Everywhere is a remix of my song Beautiful Somewhere which you can find on my Electrified Volume 2 EP.

In September 2022 I released an EP, 'Electrified Volume 1', which showcases 4 of my songs, which had only ever previously been recorded acoustically, with full band arrangements.


I followed this up with Electrified Volume 2 in June 2023.

*********************************************************************

I was honoured in March 2022 to present a new release, Unfinished Business - A Tribute To Nick Blair, in  memory of my late friend and musical collaborator.

In 2021 I released a new album, Burning daylight, recorded during the dark days of 2020, with a little help from my friends.

****************************************************************
I am a singer-songwriter based near York in the UK. I have been singing, playing and writing since the early 80s. I have written about 200 songs although probably half of them are fit for public consumption. I wrote quite a bit in the 80s and the best of that period is presented as the Hidden Talent,  Rose Tinted Spectacle and Dark Horse albums. Most of the tracks on these albums were re-recorded in 2003 and 2016 respectively but Dark Horse uses the original tapes.

 I wrote very little in the 90s as life got in the way but hit a purple patch of writing between 2002 and 2011 which represents much  of my material on Soundcloud. I'm still writing new songs but am concentrating more on recording some of the older ones.

Between 2005 and 2008 I was in a band called Box of Goats which gigged around the York area playing pubs and festivals (such as the Galtres Festival in 2007 and 2008). The Box of Goats album, which has full band production, is  ' The Universal Theory of Everything'. 

These days I'm in a guitar duo with Mike Scotter called Unarmed Weasel. We play live occasionally.

I plan to continue writing and releasing my songs.

Alistair McIntosh

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