Article by Ey@el and music & lyrics by E-Rocket

Original en français

While some time ago, I denied revelling in nostalgia, now at this point I got it full blast. That is because singer, songwriter, and founding member of the E-Rocket project (which became Sound Rocket after merging with another band called The Life) named after an electric rocket diagram designed by Nikola Tesla — a precursor of free energy —François Demercastel is someone I had the pleasure to know and enjoy as a friend in my younger days when we both regularly (well almost) attended an audiovisual school I shall not name. While our common taste in music (The Beatles, The Who, The Jam, to name a few) naturally drew us together, I owe him the discovery of many great bands such as The Plimsouls and Lone Justice (see Related articles). By chance (though there is no such thing as chance), we've now resumed contact through the very thing that got us together in the first place, a few decades ago and that is music.

The song below, performed by François on his own, accompanying himself on guitar, is actually an excerpt from a live podcast for a local radio in Rambouillet he recorded last year. As I said to him, soundwise, this version rather than his preferred one (which you may listen to HERE) was an obvious choice to me as it delivers the most accomplished performance yet, precisely because it has been stripped to its bare essentials—that is simple guitar-vocals powered by a catchy tune and a gimmick borrowed from The Beatles "I Feel Fine". Incidentally and funnily enough, "Gone Too Far" is replacing "Running On The Spot" by The Jam which was scheduled a long time ago (and will be published at a later date).

We could talk about the weather,         
We could talk about the war. 
All these days when nothing happens        
Seem as lonely years we've been wasted.

We could make plans for the future,         
We could act as if to be. 
You just see you won't be happy         
Staying here waiting for more. 

But we were gone too far,
Without living the place. 
We were gone too far,
Got nothing else to fight for.

We could learn about each other,         
We could watch the world around.
We cowardly stare at our feet        
That don't ever move anymore.

But we were gone too far,
Round around the block.
We were gone too far,
Saying 'twas a lack of luck
(Out of sight!)

There are countries you don't know. 
There are cities you don't know. 
There are people you don't know. 
There is something inside you that you don't show!

We could talk about the weather,         
We could talk about the war. 
All these days when nothing happens        
Seem as lonely years we've been wasted.

But we were gone too far,
Round around the block. 
We were gone too far,
Saying 'twas a lack of luck.

We were gone too far—Yeah!  
We were gone too far—Yeah!

© François Demercastel

About this song

“This song is a bit special,” says François. “I wrote it in relation to the passing of time, the loss of dreams, the compromises we make out of material need—our gradual change of attitude towards life, politics, etc. More recently, this track has taken on a whole new dimension. My best friend since teenagehood, who used to be so lively, prematurely died of disease after living a rather sad life. For years, he had been making every effort to avoid seeing anyone from his "golden era". As the song says, I wonder what we would have talked about if we had met again. In this way, it ultimately took on a less "clichéd" and more personal overtone.”

While some may wonder why he chose to sing in English, he argues that he “once tried to sing in French, but to no avail. Besides, French is somehow an arrhythmic language in the sense that its stress accents do not always follow regular patterns. Therefore you need to be extremely talented, notably like Serge Gainsbourg, to truly succeed in combining the common four-beat signature of rock music—and of virtually everything that sets the pace of our lives today—with the French language that follows a different tempo. On the other hand, I fed so much on British and American rock, after a while it became sort of a normal and natural thing for me to sing in English.”

“It's been a great delight and quite emotional for me. I won't indulge in nostalgia, I promise! I shall do my best not to remain stuck and... "upside down"” he told me. Clearly, we're unlikely to run out of things to talk about given our overflowing Pensieves and Peter Panish souls. Now, if you enjoyed this song, you guys are invited to visit his band's website or skip directly to his Soundcloud page to listen to some more tracks. Any comments are also most welcome.

Ey@el