Western Line (2015) – Aly Cook

One of the rare treats of this blog is when a music artist pops in to say hello. It happened in the comments section of my article on Australian country music artist Kasey Chambers’ song (Am I) Not Pretty Enough.

A fellow blogger asked if I had heard of New Zealander country artist – Aly Cook, whom I hadn’t. When I looked up Aly’s music I found today’s featured song – Western Line and it immediately grabbed me.

Lo and behold, soon afterwards Aly Cook herself came in to say ‘Hi’ and linked her new album – Caught in the Middle. You can hear Aly’s own version of Kasey Chambers’ breakthrough song through the previous link on her website.

My first impression of Western Line was how much I enjoyed the no-nonsense old-school country sound. The instrumentation is clean and crisp. There are lots of references to Sydney, where I was born, and the Blue Mountains, where I grew up. In the song, Aly tells her friend she visited in Double Bay about her train trip to the Blue Mountains, around 80 km west of Sydney.

The music video “features an old-world train ride inside a beautiful vintage train.” It’s just so much fun and feels as real and authentic as you’re ever likely to see in a music video. I’m also a sucker for the romance surrounding trains. Such was my fascination that after buying my first camera as a young adult, I spent hours taking scenic photos of train tracks fading into the distance across the landscape.

Western Line is a homely song that I enjoy coming back to. It feels like being reconnected to my home country, but especially to western Sydney, where my family lived. I never grow tired of hearing it, and I like to show it to my children from time to time, as I did yesterday morning, to give them a taste of the sounds and scenery that are part of their Australian heritage.

Another aspect of the song I enjoy is the deep bass backing vocals in the chorus echoing the words “Western Line“. It reminds me of my father talking about his fondness for the baritone singing of Ian “Pee Wee” Wilson in the Australian rock and roll group The Delltones.

For more information about this song, I point you to the extensive description provided with the video below.

(Western Line) The 6th single to lift from the album Horseshoe Rodeo Hotel which has already produced 3 x number one radio singles on the Australian Top 40 Country Tracks Chart.

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Excerpt from Aly Cook’s official website:

Aly Cook is a New Zealand based Multi award-winning recording artist with a deep passion for all things musical. She is a consummate songwriter and performer, who has taken her music to the world, delighting audiences wherever she roams and carving a career as a respected live performer. With a power house vocal and a maturity to bring out the best in her voice Aly’s style site across Country Blues and Roots.

Only one change here in Town Hall
Quickly make my way to platform two
Through mountains in my sight
Yes I’ll be home tonight
On the train that always brings me back to you

On the Western Line
Taking it easy
On the Western Line
Take me back to you
On the Western Line
Travelling such a long way
Cause I am leaving Sydney this cloudy day

A thousand faces fill the view at Central
Commuting all about their busy lives
Can’t imagine what it’s like to live so close and survive
That is why I stay the Western Line

On the Western Line
Taking it easy
On the Western Line
Take me back to you
On the Western Line
Travelling such a long way
Cause I am leaving Sydney on a cloudy day

Passing Redfern station see the writing high up on the wall
Spray that up there must have climbed
Like spiders ’round ten feet tall
This old town is full of city slickers rich and poor
And you see them all when you roll this way

On the Western Line
I’m taking it kind of easy
On the Western Line
Send me back to you
On the Western Line
Travelling such a long way
Cause I am leaving Sydney on a cloudy day

On the Western Line
On the Western Line
On the Western Line
Travelling such a long way
Cause I am leaving Sydney on a cloudy day

References:
1. Aly Cook (Official Web Site)