The Ballad of Fab Ian

from The Ballad of Fab Ian by Lach

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about

"Fabian arose in my mind, one of the teenage heartthrobs manufactured by a record company in the wake of Elvis. And I started thinking about writing a song about a reluctant rock star and I named him Fab Ian. So, I was thinking I liked the play on words but the named now sounded more British than American. Around this time Marc sent me some music he was working on and I felt it fit with the Fab Ian lyrics I was writing, but instead of American 50's Rock n Roll, it had more of a mid-60's Kinks, Small Faces type vibe and so the lyrics also became about an imagined lost Bowie persona. Like if Bowie was thinking of this Fab Ian character as his next persona but rejected it for say Ziggy Stardust, but that created an alternative universe where Fab Ian did exist; a reluctant British Bowie pop star, and the lyric bounces between the viewpoint of a fan remembering Fab Ian, and Fab Ian himself expressing his anguish and fascination with his pop stardom (as the original Fabian did). Collaborating with Marc, as always, was terrific fun and the joy is the track, don't you think?" - Lach

lyrics

The Ballad of Fab Ian

Sitting here in the house of tension
Remembering the days of Fab Ian
When his flip-sides burnt down the evening
And we sons set down our lessons
And picked up our silver keys to Eden

Lying here like a con descending
Down the years with Fab Ian
When his words punched us like headlines
And we pupils would die laughing
As we bumped all about in mod heaven

Don’t follow me
Don’t love me
Don’t buy me
I'm Fab Ian

Don’t follow me
Don’t love me
Don’t buy me
I'm Fab Ian

Watching them all tell a vision
Encounters with the late Fab Ian
When his tracks were trains of thought
He dangled hooks and we were caught
A generous generation of love’s astronauts

Don’t follow me
Don’t love me
Don’t buy me
I’m Fab Ian

credits

from The Ballad of Fab Ian, released February 12, 2022
Marc Davison - Electric Guitars, Bass
Lach - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Brass, Strings, Piano, Organ
Music by Lach & Davison
Words by Lach
Produced and Engineered by Lach at Eden B Studios, Edinburgh
Cover Artwork, Layout, and design by Lach

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about

Lach Edinburgh, UK

Lach, founder of the Antifolk movement and star of BBC Radio 4's The Lach Chronicles.

‘Beat-punk-unplugged joy!’-The Guardian UK

‘Splendid! Best of it's kind!’- Mojo

‘Incredibly bright, influential, funny, poetic.’-Suzanne Vega

‘Best punk guitarist since Johnny Ramone.’-Billy Ficca of Televis ... more

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Aug 17

The Draycote Hotel

Rugby, UK

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