"Brooksy Can't See Me..."

I get asked the question so many times…

"What does it mean at the end of "Goodbye Henry" when RAYE says “Brooksy can’t see me?”

We were in the studio recording the album and there were a few songs that we recorded live to tape (just like they did in the good old days). For those of you who don’t know what this means, it means that we’re all playing at the same time and due to “tape” being older technology there are often limits to how many things can be recorded at once so sometimes things are grouped together so there are enough channels to record everything at the same time which means you have to get it right or everyone has to do the whole recording again. No pressure. 😅

Anyway; let me set the scene. I’m locked away in the drum booth( because I’m just so noisy lol) and everyone else was either in the live room, other booths or the control room.

We were making our way through the song and as we got past each section we all were so excited about how well it was going. Everyone was nailing their parts and we sounded like a band in the late 60’s / early 70’s “cutting a record” live, in the moment with all of the joy and excitement that comes with that. Then… Just before we could all exhale and relax knowing that we nailed the perfect take, the moment every drummer loses sleep over happened.

RAYE sang,

drop it right here

and then dropped her hand (in the same way she does at a show to cue the ends of songs) to cue us all to play the last chord and swell but there was one major problem.

I couldn’t see her!

RAYE dropped her hand and everyone played the last chord but because I couldn’t see her, I missed it and came in late.

At the time I felt terrible, I thought that the perfect take had been ruined and that somehow we’d have to create that same magic again for another take.

What I didn’t know though was that, that spontaneous moment during a live recording and RAYE singing

“Brooksy can’t see me”

actually perfectly sealed the authentic live, imperfectly perfect vibe we were trying to capture. Real musicians playing together and creating moments and feelings that will live far longer than we will.

So now when I listen to “Goodbye Henry” I don’t hear a mistake, i hear a moment in time and something that has become a part of the song to the point where a few times a week, I get a message asking me what “Brooksy Can’t See Me” means, to which I normally reply - “the answer is in the question” lol - It’s not hidden code, I didn’t temporarily lose my sight.

The way we were set up just didn’t allow for me to see that last cue, but somehow it added to the magic of the song and the live performance element too.

So there you have it. No more wondering or speculation. Now you know what that last line is all about!

I would love to hear your thoughts from the first time you heard "Goodbye Henry" and what you thought was going on so please do leave a comment and please feel free to share it too.

Nice one guys!

Matt - Brooksy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Usg9ztc4e0E