Jim Ghedi Jim Ghedi asks 'what will become of England?' on new track
The Sheffield singer-songwriter has unearthed an archive recording from 1953 with uncanny echoes of the present.
Jim Ghedi has shared a new track with Now Then based on a recording he unearthed from 1953. The folk singer and songwriter found 'What Will Become of England?' in the archives of renowned song collector Alan Lomax, and has set it to an arrangement of guitar, fiddle and brooding electronic music.
The original tape contained a field recording of an English farmworker named Harry Cox performing the song at his home in Norfolk – originally it had eight or nine verses, but by the time of recording Cox could only remember two.
Ghedi explains:
It felt uncanny that this was recorded in 1953. Everything about it feels like it was plucked from the times we’re living in at the moment, the collective sense and existential anxiety of 'how much worse can things get?' Or 'what’s next?' I thought it could be an interesting and creative approach to try and portray this apocalyptic imagery. Almost a David Lynch-like alternative reality, while also taking inspiration from the 1984 film Threads set in Sheffield – where an apocalyptic attack destroys everything. I wanted the track to emulate the feeling of a place being destroyed and crumbling away.
