During his later career Hunter has come up with startlingly well-written and insightful songs and Stranded In Reality is one of his best in the latter part of his career. The echoey, psychedelic sound collage incorporated one of Ian's unique and offbeat lyrics, during the "age of the deluded" stating that people have brain but no batteries to use.
Here the narrator is depicted on a second-hand spaceship and looking where to land. Now, that is an interesting place to start a song. In the second verse he lands in this strange land called earth. Upon landing, he experiences baptism by fire. Here he is: stranded in reality. These earthlings believe in fairy tales and their ammunition. As he grows up adolescence is no better and the narrator finds himself bat crazy. Maybe the narrator can get out but it is not likely; stranded in reality there is a loss of enthusiasm. The song is a fresh approach to the idea of being a stranger in a strange land but from the perspective of a space visitor since we are all thrown here in this world as in Jim Morrison's Riders On the Storm we are thrown in this world.
Ian Hunter On Track for Sonicbond Publishing, TheDoctorOfDigital@pm.me
Into this world we're thrown / Like a dog without a bone / An actor out on loan / Riders on the storm
said "like a dog without a bone." stranded in reality.
Stranded In Reality
(Ian Hunter)
Let me unveil a soberin' tale
I bought my spaceship second-hand
Should'a known better, the steering jammed
I'm lookin' all over for a place to land
Episode two: Earth to the rescue
Somebody pulled the emergency cord
Everybody jumped overboard and I wound up in the maternity ward
It was a baptism, baptism, baptism, baptism, baptism, baptism by fire
Stranded in reality
It's a dodgy proposition
They still believe in fairy tales
'n' lots of ammunition
Adolescence, it doesn't make any sense
Anti-social media saw their communication cords
And something in me wants to roar
Bat crazy, bat crazy, bat crazy, bat crazy, bat crazy
Stranded in reality
It's the age of the deluded
Everybody's got a brain
But the batteries ain't included
(let's go)
Let me conclude this sad interlude
The spaceship's fixed but whaddya know
PCB won't let us go and all I said was UFO
UFO, UFO, UFO, UFO, UFO
Stranded in reality
Well I ain't too optimistic
Realism's upped and left
It's all materialistic
Stranded in reality
I'm beginning to see what this is
Give the people what they want
Or it's gonna be bad for business
Stranded in reality
Why am I losing my enthusiasm
Stranded In Reality | 4:48 | Originally released on Fingers Crossed. |