Riding The Whale

The Story Behind …Riding The Whale

This is a song of nostalgia, looking back to childhood when you didn’t have to worry about pension plans or mortgages, the biggest worry was losing sight of your parents at the beach. As a little kid, Jim and his 4 siblings would jump on Wally (their Dad)’s back for ‘whale rides’ when at the swimming pool or the beach. This song conjures up that magical time when your imagination is king, you really are riding a whale out on the ocean, you can taste the salty air and hear the seagulls.
Riding The Whale features on our album, Temperature’s Rising and includes some live sound of kids playing in the water recorded at Cuckmere Haven and of seagulls recorded at Seaford beach.
Its undulating folk jig rhythm on the guitar gives a nautical feel with the clarinet echoing a whale song and the comfort of a distant fog horn.
This particular performance was recorded  live in Dome B at The Observatory Science Centre, Herstmonceux, East Sussex in April 2019. We were supporting Dandelion Charm’s Stephanie single release.
You can see another more recent live version of this song performed at St Edith Folk Club in October 2022. HERE
©Milton Hide 2019