THE STORY BEHIND "COSMIC BABY": SOME MEMORIES FROM RAY AND SCOTT SPENCE
As the Stiltskin/“She” thing went over, in the middle of a complex personal/artistic period, at the height of tiredness, Ray Wilson needed to get back to his beloved acoustic guitar. So the starting point for the next album happened at the beginning of 2007, when “Bless Me”, a leftover from the “She” sessions, indicated the road: a crossroad between what’s done in the last Stiltskin's album, and the folk/acoustic atmospheres from “Change”. Ray worked mostly alone on what it will become “Propaganda Man”, his new album for 2008 (and the first "solo" record in 4 years). More than a year writing and composing on his guitar, with a help from some close friends (Scott Spence among all).
One of the rarely played live but most beautiful track from that album was surely “Cosmic Baby”. Scott Spence, who co-wrote the song (and plays on the studio version too), remembers today:
"It's a song I have a lot of memories of. I had written the music a few years earlier, but I could never arrive at lyrics or vocal melodies that I was happy with. I had kind of forgotten about it then one day Ray played me a recording with his vocal and lyrics. It was a "Wow!" moment, so dark and brooding. It was just one of those moments of magic. 'You better not...' repeating: quietly powerful, and with a sentiment that I really relate to. Ali and my guitars, the little music box part I did, Ray's vocal building throughout the song then ending suddenly on "I don't wanna wait around too long", all contribute to what I think is a beautifully menacing song. To me, it's a great example of the magic that can be achieved when a group of creative people work together."
As you may have noticed, if you leaf through the “Propaganda Man” CD booklet, there are some words under every song lyrics: they're like “keys” or “interpretations” that indicate you the mood for that specific track. “Fear” was the world used as label for “Cosmic Baby”. Ray explains why:
"It is simply a song about falling in love with a crazy girl. She is wild and makes all these demands on the guy. Telling him to stay on his toes, as she can change at any time. She is very insecure and it makes him very insecure too.”
We made a 2021 video for “Cosmic Baby”, using a “Propaganda Man Tour” exclusive footage filmed by the great Volker Warncke mixed with some nice “cosmic” interferences, you can watch now here in HD. A nice video with some scenes from that long 2008/2009 tour with also the great Steve Wilson in the band. A way to discover (or rediscover) this beautiful mysterious gem. Track you can listen for free in our “Jukebox” section at raywilson.net/backstage where you can also download the full “Propaganda Man” album.
“You better not no better not…”
“Cosmic Baby” album version performed by:
Ray Wilson: vocals, guitar and production
Ali Ferguson: lead guitar and backing vocals
Lawrie Macmillan: bass and backing vocals
Ashley MacMillan: drums and percussions
Scott Spence: additional guitars
Post and video production by Blu Kaos
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