Release: 2009-11-01

After laying bare the richly scandalous, hot-blooded current of the feminine mystique with the primal carnality of Screwing Lies (2001) and wilful sensuality of Passion Play (2003), Katy Carr returns to innocence with the unabashedly romantic Coquette. A concept album set in war-torn Britain in the 1930s and 40s, it’s a tender character-driven exploration of the emotional mêlée of the era, when the barbs of grief and wrenching loss collided with the striking up of feverish romantic encounters, when intense anxiety cloaked the country like an inescapable blackout. Here, a cheeky naiveté mingles with eroticism; spectral voices call out to one another, crossing planes of existence with gilded letters of passionate sorrow; a clifftop suicide is narrowly avoided through the power of song; and the spirit of one courageous woman finds itself embodied in another.

It is said that the only cure for coquetry is the finding of true love. But what happens when that love is taken away, sent to war or simply devoured by the force of its own demons? What happens when the one who was all is suddenly nothing but a collection of memories? Although much derided and often misrepresented in literature, the role of the coquette was an important one in the war years, performing for the troops, and for inspiration Katy needed look no further than the grande dames of frontline entertainment and Hollywood legends of the time. In her own words “the beautiful feminine energy” of Gracie Fields, Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers and others infuses Coquette with a purity of virtue and inner strength. Of course, none of these women were themselves infallible, as the stridently percussive ‘Berliner Ring’ attests. A tribute to Marlene Dietrich, it recounts from an outsider’s perspective her desperation to break out of the confining borders of the East German capital and make her fortune in the wider world. The gentler ‘White Cliffs’ borrows the famous titular lyric from the Vera Lynn classic ‘We’ll Meet Again’ for the climax of a tale in which a hysterical woman intends to hurl herself into the sea in memory of her lost pilot lover, only to rescind at the pivotal moment.

Herself a qualified pilot with a lifelong fascination with all manner of aerial things, Katy Carr weaves her fascinating storysongs from a unique perspective. Born to a Polish mother and English father, early dalliances with her Catholic ancestry were replaced by an obsession with the wonders of flight. An RAF scholarship followed and Katy was soon soaring through the skies and gaining a whole new outlook on the immensity (and, conversely, the triviality) of things. References to flying and celestial matters are rife throughout her compositions and the songs on Coquette explore these themes in the context of war. The string-laden ‘Butterfly’, a woman’s sighing lament for a lover who perished in the wreckage of a Spitfire, conveys a bittersweet longing, a desire to experience the ultimate freedom that can never be fulfilled. Part of the beauty of the song is that we’re kept guessing about whether the story is being recounted several decades in the future, which is where the album begins. The inextricably linked ‘Star Song’ and ‘Sparkle’ finds Katy in the guise of an elderly woman reminiscing on the purest love of her life. And the parallels between the past and present don’t end there.

Tapping into the inherent duality of her English–Polish heritage and the stories of her maternal grandmother, Katy embodies both the liberator and the liberated. In researching the album, she met with a group of Polish war veterans at the Imperial War Museum in London, listening intently to their experiences of the tumult of combat and the anguish of personal sacrifice. The devastating ‘Army’ pays tribute to the men who fell and the families they left behind, inspired by the final scene of ‘Zulu’ where, in the face of certain death at the hands of a misunderstood enemy, Michael Caine experiences a profound compunction for his actions and at having deserted the woman he loves. The chanted reprise is a killer. Later, somewhere in the muddy churned up fields of occupied France, a weeping man is roused into song by a haunting chorus of accordions; he drains his hipflask and staggers to his feet to cry out to his vanished belle ‘Violetta’, gone to the ether. A stunningly theatrical performance sung entirely in French, it’s a sensual adieu to a greatly treasured flower. Sticking with the floral theme, ‘Orchidophile’ brings a different slant to proceedings as a woman sings of a man lost to a war not in the skies or in the trenches but deep within his own tortured mind.

But Coquette is not wholly elegiac. After all, it wouldn’t be a Katy Carr album without a sexual element and the jazzy, sultry ‘Erotic Days’ delivers in spades. “It’s about smelling each other’s fluids,” she explains, revealing that the inspiration for the song came from her discovery of ancient Japanese artworks depicting the female ejaculation. The kind of song that only the most daring frontline coquette might have attempted to thrill her troops, it’s an affectionate glimpse into a more innocent past when the act of intercourse still maintained some degree of mystery. More innocent still is ‘Come By The River’, a sweetly sung ode to true love, while the darker ‘Belladonna’ delves beneath the glitzy extravagance of the showbiz lifestyle. A heartfelt tribute to the bewitching likes of Edith Piaf and Billie Holiday, it takes its name from the Latin name for deadly nightshade, the hallucinogenic extract of which was often used to dilate the pupils of the women before they went on stage.

Ending as it began in the present, the album concludes with ‘Katharine McDowall’, a tribute to a woman from Dumfries who led an extraordinary life. A cowboy in her thirties, she eschewed her aristocratic heritage to live a near hermit-like existence in the Rocky Mountains for nigh on a decade, and later was a regular fixture at events like the Wicker Man Festival, even when confined to a wheelchair in her last years, where Katy first encountered her. A family member commented upon a startling resemblance between Katy and photos of the young Katharine and from that the song was born. To end an album chiefly focused on loss with a song about spiritual rebirth seems only right somehow.

The depth of thought and attention to exquisite detail that has gone into the making of Coquette shines through in every composition. An anachronistic gem, Katy Carr has created a fearlessly dramatic suite of songs with a very British feel that could only have come from such a unique artist.

By Alan Peddar Editor of Wears the Trousers Magazine

‘Carr is a fine example of that much-maligned beast we call Authenticity’ London Music Award nomination (2012)

‘This album is a scrapbook of characters, places and stories from deep inside Carr’s imagination and it has been a mesmerising experience to glimpse into her world. I can’t fault this album. Quite simply it is a masterpiece.’ ***** The Music Critic

‘Quite simply a masterpiece’ ***** MUSIC CRITIC

‘Exquisite, original and lovely.’ **** PSYCHOLOGIES

‘Coquette is an original and fascinating work,’ **** DAILY EXPRESS

Carr’s ‘bald subject matter distances her from the kooky crowd.’**** Q MAGAZINE

‘This is Carr’s most fully-formed music yet.’ **** MOJO

Star Song

As I look into the sky see a bright and shining star

it reminds me of our love stay forever more…..

Sparkle

Sparkle all night long because you are now coming into my life

Sparkle all night long because you have come into my life

Live for me Die for me Live for me Die ….

Live for me live for me Tell me you’ll die for me All of the stars are ours

Live for me Die for me Live for me Die for me

Berliner Ring

She’s a Berlin girl and I knew her before I knew she had the roots to power she’s a Berlin girl and the lights went down and I knew her well knew her well. She was singing [Berliner er er !] where am I going to night? She was singing [Berliner er er !] where am I going to night? The Berliner ring Berliner ring Berliner ring Berliner ring
she drank and she sang she had fire in her eyes you couldn’t put her light out for anything she’s a Berlin girl and you’re never gonna fight
with the Berlin girl cause you know she’s right
She said LA LA LA Get ya booties on I’m gonna drag your dragon out of the closet I’ve got motion I’ve got devotion I’ve got a little bit of love here kickin inside, Oh the suffering inside! she was singing ging ging ging ging
I saw her laughing in the distance I saw her smiling in the light I saw her smoking a cigar I saw her laughing in the light
Singing [Berliner er er !] – where I going tonight? She was singing [Berliner er er !] where I going tonight?
She was singing [Berliner er er !] where I going tonight?
She was singing [Berliner er er !] where I going tonight?
CHORUS
The Berliner ring Berliner ring
The Berliner ring Berliner ring
Berliner ring
Where I going tonight?

Erotic Days

For the scent of yr love is killing me I know that this is true I know that this is love
For the scent of yr love is killing me I know that this is true I know that this is love
Cause when we come in time, we know its perfect rhyme, we move so easily
And since we cut the thread, we’ve opened up in bed to share this ecstasy
CHORUS
Scented love, Scented love, Scented love
Scented love is pure
INSTRUMENTAL
VERSE 2
He screams he makes me wet We laugh we both are red As lovers we lie blissfully
This scented love is where I wanna be is where a girl drowns in ecstasy
CHORUS
Scented love, Scented love, Scented love
Scented love is pure
MIDDLE 8
La la la la la …… HA HA!
For the scent of his love, for the caress of his kiss
for the touch of his lips is killing me….
For the scent of his love, for the caress of his kiss
for the touch of his lips is killing me….
CHORUS
this scented love is where I wanna be
is where a girl drowns in ecstasy x 3

Violetta

VERSE 1
Violetta Violetta Je rencontre tous les jours
Sombre jours sombre jours quand tu tu quitte ton amour
Le ciel a fait un brouillait jusqu’alors je reveille Stupefait du desastre
Laisse moi Laisse moi
INTRO RIFF 4 x pretty phrase
VERSE 2
Violetta Violetta Je rencontre la premiere fois
je puis toucher ta main et embrace ta tendre frame
Rien Dit et Rien vu la Princess de France Sud
Elle pensait Elle priat deux beaux yeux deux beaux yeux
INTRO RIFF 4 x pretty phrase
VERSE 3
Violetta Violetta Je rencontre tous les jours
Sombre jours sombre jours quand tu quitte ton amour
Je ne suis ni dieu ni demon tu m’a nomme par mon nom prends mon coeur sans inquietude
Je suis la Solitude
Violetta mon our Violetta mon our Violetta mon amour
in – Il a dit Il a dit Il a dit

Butterfly

VERSE 1
Got to fly away with you but it don’t hang true
This emotion I’m feeling is all very new
Got to fly away with you but it don’t hang true
This emotion I’m feeling is all very new
VERSE 2
The Road is dark and it’s raining time
I have spied on the love I have met tonight
[Copy previous chords now keyboard adds low octaves]
This butterfly in the pouring rain
will lead me to you
BRIDGE 1
VERSE 3
Got to fly away with you but it don’t hang true
This emotion I’m feeling is all very new
Got to fly away with you but it don’t hang true
This emotion is killing me
MIDDLE 8
Flying away with you is just a fantasy
Flying away with you is just a fantasy
BRIDGE 3 -INSTRUMENTAL RIFF WITH STRINGS [verse chords]
OUTRO
I wanna fly away I wanna fly away wanna fly away with you [X 4]

Orchidophile

INTRO with main keyboard phrase
VERSE 1
They remind me they remind me of a love I once knew
Those orchids in the hallway they remind me of you
And the scent I remember a love I once knew
it was long ago in summer that love was so new
VERSE 2
How I’ve found him How I’ve found him
Where the orchids they grow
And they know the story I told long ago
& I tell them the truth every day that I met you
They remind me they remind me of a love I once knew
And an Orchidophile is the only way I’ll stay
They remind me they remind me of a love I once knew
BRIDGE AND OUTRO
And we’ll go Dancing we’ll go Dancing we’ll go Dancing the whole day
We will find a way we will find another way back home
In the jungle In the jungle In the jungle we’ll find our way
We will find a way we will find another way back home
home… where the orchids grow

Kommander's Car

CHORUS
Drive! Drive! We’ve got to drive – We’ve got to drive away – hey hey!
We’ve got to drive away hey hey! We’ve got to drive away hey hey!
Drive! Drive! We’ve got to drive – We’ve got to drive away – hey hey!
We’ve got to drive away hey hey! We’ve got to drive away hey hey!
VERSE 1
50 m is all that lies between us Come to me baby Come to me and save me
CHORUS
Drive! Drive! We’ve got to drive – We’ve got to drive away – hey hey!
We’ve got to drive away hey hey! We’ve got to drive away hey hey!
Drive! Drive! We’ve got to drive – We’ve got to drive away – hey hey!
We’ve got to drive away hey hey! We’ve got to drive away hey hey!
VERSE 2
Take my hand love Out of this darkness This polish bird must FLY
and he won’t be back no more
yes he won’t be back no more x 3
Eighty metres Osiemdziesiat metrow Fifty metres Piedziesiat metrow
Eighteen metres Ociemnascie metrow Fifteen metres Pietnascie metrow
Out in the Kommanders Car! Out in the Kommanders Car!
Drive! Drive! We’ve got to drive – We’ve got to drive away – hey hey!
We’ve got to drive away hey hey! We’ve got to drive away hey hey!
Drive! Drive! We’ve got to drive – We’ve got to drive away – hey hey!
We’ve got to drive away hey hey! We’ve got to drive away hey hey!
VERSE 3 [CHORUS CHORDS]
Kazik! Zrob cos Kazik! Zrob cos Kazik! Odzknolem sie
Faktycznie przeciez oni na mnie licza
VERSE 4
My heart it beats and my palms are wet This Polish bird has Flown
Drive! Drive! We’ve got to drive – We’ve got to drive away – hey hey!
We’ve got to drive away hey hey! We’ve got to drive away hey hey!
Drive! Drive! We’ve got to drive – We’ve got to drive away – hey hey!
We’ve got to drive away hey hey! We’ve got to drive away hey hey!

Belladonna

BELLADONNA
CHORUS
Belladonna sings – I belong to the girl with the black rings
Gonna set my soul on fire hmmmm…
VERSE 1
I knew the loser I knew he’d use her I knew the abuser
I didn’t know what was happening to me
CHORUS
Belladonna sings
I belong to the girl with the black rings
Gonna set my soul on fire hmmmm
VERSE 2
In this world I can only see love coming suddenly
Can’t you see in a world of motion this is the latest degree?
CHORUS Belladonna sings [- sings]
I belong to the girl with the black wings
Gonna set my soul on fire fire!
MIDDLE 8
La La La La ….
INSTRUMENTAL with classical piano break ….
CHORUS
Belladonna sings [- sings]
I belong to the girl with the black wings
Gonna set my soul on fire fire!
hmmmmmmm

Army

My army’s a mess and I don’t have the best
to alleviate my hurting to alleviate my distress
So my love you must see why I have to leave
I have to save this god damn country from its own sad reprieve
All I know is I hope you’ll be waiting on my return
And I hope that I’ll see your pretty face again
But my army’s a mess and I don’t have the best
to alleviate my hurting to alleviate my distress
My Army My Army My Army My Army My Army
Oh lover look at what your man has to live with
A life that’s prayed for peace and happiness on this planet
So I will carry your picture and I will carry your heart
All the way to the front all the time that we’re apart
I a true man and I truly believe they’ll be no more war
And fighting in this world
But my army’s a mess and I don’t have the best
to alleviate my hurting to alleviate my distress
Army Army Army

The White Cliffs

INTRO – She is walking in the sunset and her father says….
CHORUS
“Don’t go chasing the white cliffs you might slip into the sea
I’m telling you the one you love is miles away somewhere in Spain”
INSTRUMENTAL
VERSE 1
With this red wine I will celebrate his last flight I will telegraph his only son
I will send him my love through the circle of time As he flies back into my open arms
CHORUS
“Don’t go chasing the white cliffs you might slip into the sea
I’m telling you the one you love is miles away somewhere in Spain”
VERSE 2
Do you remember when I was wearing my wedding dress I fear I must wear it no more
Now my face is white like the cliffs where he died I’m ready to jump into the sea my love
BRIDGE 1
But the fire is burning strong and I know I’ll keep singing this song
For a thousand years ain’t far away from the silence of the sea.
INSTRUMENTAL
BRIDGE 2
But I’m not filling his gap l l l let me go I’m not filling his gap
BRIDGE 3
Cause we’ll meet again don’t know where don’t know when
but I know we’ll meet again some sunny some sunny some sunny day
La la la la la

Sleepyhead

VERSE 1
Sleepyhead you’re in my bed
You’re taking me higher, higher, higher
Sleepyhead you feel like lead
Will you come and fly with me?
Will you come and fly with me?
VERSE 2
Sleepyhead you’re in my bed
You’re taking me higher, higher, higher
In my dreams I’m soaring
Will you come and fly with me?
Will you come and fly with me?
VERSE 3
Sleepyhead you’re in my bed
You’re taking me higher, higher, higher
In my Dreams I’m floating
Will you come and fly with me?
Will you come and fly with me?
Oh Tuck me in
higher, higher, higher
taking me higher, higher, higher
Sleepyhead you’re in my bed [taking me higher, higher, higher]
Sleepyhead you feel like lead [you feel like lead]
Sleepyhead you’re in my bed [you’re in my bed]
Sleepyhead you feel like lead [you feel like lead]
Sleepyhead you’re in my bed [you’re in my bed]
Sleepyhead you feel like lead [you feel like lead]

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