This song emerged somewhere between the Artful Dodger sessions and described as a Rant outtake. The lyrics are about a man who does not want to appear to be an animal but he has strong feelings for his girl.
In a clever twist of images, the guy will light up as the "Blackpool Illuminations," an annual lights festival, all over the Sackcloth and Ashes, which were an Old Testament outward sign of mourning, repentance, or abasement. Hunter re-uses the name Alice again, as in the Mott The Hoople song about a prostitute but here the reference is more fantastical as in Alice in Sunderland from the 2007 graphic novel exploring the links between Lewis Carroll and the Sunderland area, with wider themes of history, myth, and storytelling.
Both the narrator and the girl suggest they don't have to do anything but "hoping and praying" they understand each other. Alice comes to bed while "Christopher Robin" or the innocent slips out. The lovers are hit by an avalanche.
Christopher Robin is a character created by A. A. Milne, based on his son Christopher Robin Milne. The character appears in the author's popular books of poetry and Winnie-the-Pooh stories, and has subsequently appeared in various Disney adaptations of the Pooh stories.
Alice in Sunderland: An Entertainment is a 2007 graphic novel by comics writer and artist Bryan Talbot. It explores the links between Lewis Carroll and the Sunderland area, with wider themes of history, myth and storytelling.
Sackcloth and ashes were an outward sign of mourning, repentance, or abasement. It was a type of cloth made of black goat’s hair that was thick, rough, and coarse material. It was uncomfortable to wear, and later it was used as a sack. It was also used as an outward sign of mourning and submission (Genesis 37:34; 42:25; 2 Sam. 3:31; Esther 4:1 Esther 4:2; Psalms 30:11).
Alice in Sunderland
don't have to do it, what's that song where we can just be here as well?
hoping and praying
Christopher Robin
Both lovers have been hit by an avalanche.
Blackpool Illuminations is an annual lights festival, founded in 1879 and first switched on 18 September that year,[2] held each autumn in the British seaside resort of Blackpool on the Fylde Coast in Lancashire. Also known locally as The Lights or The Illuminations, they run each year for 66 days (since 2020, this has been extended to 100+ days),[3][4] from late August until early November at a time when most other English seaside resorts' seasons are coming to an end.
Avalanche
(Ian Hunter)
Here I am, trying to be a man
Hoping that you won't think I'm an animal,
I'm so scared
Cos I get these feelings, strong
How can they be so wrong?
Touch me and I'll turn the Blackpool Illuminations on
The Sackcloth and Ashes all over the bed
Alice in Sunderland takes off her coat and she says,
"It hit me, it hit me like an Avalanche
When I saw you I knew
If love's gonna bury me
I want it to be here with you".
Don't let go, torture me there real slow
Hold me until I come to my senses again
The Sackcloth and Ashes all over the bed
Alice in Sunderland takes off her dress and she says,
"It hit me, it hit me like an Avalanche
Oh, like a bolt from the blue
If love's gonna bury me
I want it to be here with you".
We don't have to do it if you really don't wanna do it
No, we don't have to do it at all
We don't have to do it if you really don't wanna do it
Well I'm hoping and praying you know what I'm saying that's all
Alice in Sunderland lies on my bed And Christopher Robin slips silently out of my head
I've been hit, I've been hit by an Avalanche
Oh, like a bolt from the blue
If love's gonna bury me
I want it to be here with you
If we're ever gonna set the world on fire
For you know it takes two
If love's gonna bury me
I want it to be here with you
I've been hit by an Avalanche
| Avalanche | 5:00 | Outtake from the Artful Dodger sessions, released on The Journey and (described as a 'Rant outtake') on Tilting The Mirror - Rarities (box set only). |
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