Bastard is one of the seminal tracks from Schizophrenic and one of the most regularly played live songs during the 1979-1980 touring days with Mick Ronson. There is a live reprise in 1989. Ian has said live and in interviews that this is a love song, not like the usual love songs, and his point is that this one is more realistic of actual relationships. Ian was traveling from Woodstock to his house in Katonah with Mick and Suzi Ronson from the first line about "Vestal Virginia"which led to the development of the entire song. John Cale's "eerie, ominous" sound that Ian thought ideal for the tune. Despite Cale's nervousness since he likes to perform live Ian thought he "captured the mood and enhanced the track."
With songwriting at times it is the first line that starts the process. The line came on a journey from Woodstock to Hunter's house in Katonah with Mick and Suzi Ronson. With a strong first line the rest comes easier. The macho-funk in the song is reminiscent of The Rolling Stones Black and Blue era.
To open the track there is a clever word-play of "Vestal Virginia" as a take-off on the Vestal Virgins of ancient Rome. Vesta's acolytes vowed to serve her for at least thirty years, to study and practise her rites in service of the Roman State, and to maintain their chastity throughout. This Virginia is graphically different. A similar reference of course is included in Procol Harum's classic 1967 hit A Whiter Shade of Pale, as "One of sixteen vestal virgins."
Also recorded at the Park West, Chicago IL 22nd June 1979 on Collateral Damage.
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One of sixteen vestal virgins."
Bastard
(Ian Hunter)
Vestal Virginia - ain't got a bad thought in ya - you're a bastard
Mean as a killer - instinct that's within ya - you're a bastard.
Laughs like a drain and it messes up my brain
Cos you know I like the pain of never knowing
Space cow I'll chew the bad blood running through ya
Kiss you as you hit the floor 'cos you don't even know that you're a bastard
There's a crisis in the kitchen but that don't stop you bitchin' - you're a bastard
You got that Yellowjacket touch, with the stings that hurt so much - you're such a bastard
Flirting in the shadows, aiming all those little arrows, you're as shallow as the gallows you got me in to. (yeah)
Voodoo dolls gonna line the room, handcuffs glinting in the gloom,
one day you'll find that hidden door, inside everyone screams that you're a bastard.
(you're such a)
You twist me til I'm lame, then you spin the coin again - you're such a bastard
You're so naturally perverse, you ain't even gotta rehearse -you're such a bastard
Fly like a witch, without running in some pitch
Why don't you break the switch that takes me over
My prison is your brain, your prisoner's insane
Forgot all the keys, you can break the chains but you don't even take the blame you bastard.
(Bastard, bastard) I'm enjoying that lately, you know just the beginnings
(bastard)
The agony and the ecstacy meeting at the middle of my mouth
The agony and the ecstacy can't spit it out.
Sometimes on a rainy day I draw you.
Hope for....love.
Ian Hunter LP/CD: "You're Never Alone With a Schizophrenic"
Sleeve and track listing
CHRX 1214 / 50999 698134 2 9.
Sleeve variations
The US CD sleeve
The original UK sleeve
Review
Ian came back after a two-year absence in 1979 with this album. Mick Ronson was back on guitar, and Bruce Springsteen's E-Street Band were the backing musicians (they had just worked on Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell album).
This is a brilliant album, and the yardstick by which all his other work is judged. From the opening beat of Just Another Night to the closing strains of The Outsider there isn't a bad track on here. Mixing full-tilt rockers (Cleveland Rocks, Life After Death) with sensitive ballads (Ships) the album is well-paced and leaves the listener wanting more.
This was issued on CD on Chrysalis in the UK in 1994, and on Razor & Tie in the USA in 1995. The UK release was a limited-edition "25th Anniversary" edition, in a long (blue) box, with a blue jewel-case and booklet (which was about Chrysalis generally, not Ian). Sound quality is very good. No bonus tracks.
1999 saw this CD reissued in the UK, this time on the EMI label as part of their "Classic Rock" series. It boasted new sleeve notes, and improved (remastered) sound quality.
2009 saw a 2-CD issue with a wealth of bonus tracks and a second disc of previously-unreleased live material. As a live document the second disc works very well, despite being recorded at a variety of venues.
Of the bonus material on the first disc perhaps the most Interesting is the early version of Just Another Night which features radically different lyrics, showing how such a classic song can develop from the initial germ of an idea to the finished product.
| Bastard | 6:37 | Originally issued on You're Never Alone With a Schizophrenic, and also on the compilations The Collection, From The Knees Of My Heart, The Journey, Once Bitten Twice Shy, Shades of Ian Hunter and The Singles Collection 1975-83. |
| Bastard (live 22nd June 1979) | 6:19 | This live version (recorded at Park West, Chicago IL) can be found on Collateral Damage. Not on the box set. |
| Bastard (live 7th July 1979) | 6:40 | This live version (recorded at Berkeley Community Theater, Berkeley CA) is on the 30th Anniversary issue of You're Never Alone With a Schizophrenic. Not on the box set. |
| Bastard (live 5-11th November 1979) | 8:19 | This live version (recorded at The Roxy, Los Angeles CA) can be found on Welcome to the Club, and on the compilation From The Knees Of My Heart. |
| Bastard (live 5-11th November 1979, edit) | (6:10) | An edited version of this live track (recorded at The Roxy, Los Angeles CA) was a single b-side and is also on the CD issue of Welcome to the Club. |
| Bastard (live 22nd November 1979) | 7:48 | This live version (recorded Hammermith Odeon, London England) was originally issued on If You Wait Long Enough For Anything, You Can Get It On Sale (box set only). |
| Bastard (live 19th April 1980) | 7:41 | This live version (recorded Rockpalast TV Show, Grugahalle, Essen Germany) was originally issued on Live At Rockpalast (not on the box set) |
| Bastard (live 15th February 1989) | 8:38 | This live version (recorded The Dominion, London England) can be found on BBC Live in Concert. |
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