A January To Cheer
single
A January To Cheer
4Castle has been circling political anxiety for a while, but here they come right at it: three verses mapping a single figure’s occupation of every room in the house, each chorus tightening the screws until the final one swaps ‘some day’ for ‘that day’ and the whole song pivots on a single word. The arrangement earns that pivot, building from a spare clean guitar figure and warm bass through widening harmony stacks, and the bridge, ‘But every house has windows / And every lock can turn,’ lands with the quiet confidence of a line that knows it doesn’t need to shout. The spoken interlude, a mumbled ‘I think I’m really, if you think about it… the best ever,’ is the kind of move that could tip into satire but instead reads as documentary, all the more unsettling for how casually it drops in. A highlight.
Lyrics
There's a mad man in the people's house There's a mad man in the people's house He has the key. He's past the gate He only sleeps by mistake Cannot keep the mad man in the house
There's a mad man in a broken pool There's a mad man in a broken pool He doesn't swim. He won't be told The deep end's dry. The tiles are cold Cannot keep the mad man in the house
And when his rage comes thundering through the halls And the minders on the hill have gone to ground And the shouting is the only thing we hear Some day there'll be a January to cheer
There's a mad man in the cabinet room There's a mad man in the cabinet room He wants a yes. He wants it now One by one they learn to bow Cannot keep the mad man in the house
And when his rage comes thundering through the halls And the minders on the hill have gone to ground And the shouting is the only thing we hear Some day there'll be a January to cheer
We watched the doors swing open We watched the guards step aside We watched the decent people Find somewhere safe to hide But every house has windows And every lock can turn
And when his rage comes thundering through the halls And the minders on the hill have gone to ground And the shouting is the only thing we hear Some day there'll be a January to cheer
I think I’m really, if you think about it… The best ever I mean the best that ever lived Maybe even better than that I really do…
And when his rage goes quiet in the halls And the minders on the hill have stood their ground And the traffic is the only thing we hear That day will be a January to cheer
That day will be a January to cheer