This song, originally titled ‘Four Pails of Water and a Bagful of Salts’, has generated a lot of interest and affection. Most often referenced from the version recorded by Peter Hammill on his 1986 album ‘Skin’, and quite often included in his live performances, the song was originally written for the musical ‘The Ascent of Wilberforce III’ by myself (lyrics) and Maxwell Hutchinson (music). The stage musical – (script and recordings available in the Archive section of this site) – was first produced at the Traverse Theatre Edinburgh in 1981. The show was a high-altitude romp about a League of Nations expedition to the unclimbed Hymalayan peak of Wilbercorce III, an international expedition intended to be conducted entirely in Esperanto.
Maxwell’s lovely tune was originally conceived as being very much faster; far too fast to set words to properly. He was persuaded to play it at considerably less than half-speed, and the beauty of the melody was revealed. It was an obvious choice for the crucial crisis-of-faith song for expedition leader Lord Melior, as he starts to question his life-long atheism. This would be the only song in the show without jokes or a comic sub-text.
I have been very touched by people’s reactions to the song, and on my 2021 album ‘Old Man in a Hurry’, I decided to record it as originally written, despite the continued popularity of Peter’s iconic version (for which I remain very grateful). This new recording was made possible by the involvement of keyboard player Robert Pettigrew who arranged and accompanied the 1981 stage show.
As a gesture to all those who have told me what the song means to them, I am including here a full .mp3 version of the track from ‘Old Man in a Hurry’, available to you as a free gift for the New Year 2025.
https://www.judge-smith.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/3.-Four-Pails.mp3
The phrase ‘four pails of water and a bagful of salts’ comes from ‘The Land of Mist’, the 1926 novel by Conan Doyle.
FOUR PAILS
Four pails of water, and a bagful of salts
Four pails of water, and a bagful of salts
That is all we are
That is all a man comprises
Chemicals alone
With no spirit, soul or ghost.
Nothing so bizarre!
And no amount of faith disguises
What is true is what we fear the most.Nothing can survive, save the things
Men leave behind them
Any other case would be really too absurd!
If thoughts remained alive
Surely modern science could find them?
But no; the soul is nothing but a word.All the wonders Man achieves
Emerge from cerebral tissue.
Chemical reactions’ ebb and surge
Form that thing that is you.
It’s a sad philosophy
But better sad than wrong.
Face the truth instead
When you’re dead, you’re dead
When you’re gone, you’re gone.
Now she’s gone, she’s gone.Four pails of water, and a bagful of salts
That is all she was
Everything she represented
And that sounds as mad
As saying she will never die.
Fools will clutch at straws
But truth must not be circumvented.
‘As the tree falls, so must that tree lie.’
Now that sounds so odd
But once I would have preached it brightly
Now questions appear
I rationally can’t ignore.
Nothingness or God
Which of them seems more unlikely?
Once I could have answered clearly
Now I only think I’m nearly sure.
