Outlander – What's It All About?

It Only Took A Minute! Take That and A Surfeit Of Tickets

A shorter post from me today as it’s the last day of the month and we haven’t yet made use of our National Trust for Scotland membership cards, received from DD as a Christmas present. Most castles and stately homes stay closed until April but the Culloden Battlefield Visitor Centre near us is open, so we’ll head up there shortly. For those not in the know, it’s the site of the last pitched battle fought on British soil where the 1745 Jacobite Rising came to a tragic end. Lots of people from around the world come to visit now because of the popularity of the television drama Outlander and the show’s hero, Jamie Fraser, means that the stone marking where Clan Fraser fell is now surrounded by flowers and tributes. Anyway, we’re determined to visit at least one site per month this year so we’re just fitting in this first one before we get to February. I’ve shared quite a few songs from Outlander in this blog over the years but not yet set up a category for it on my sidebar. I’ll put that right forthwith.

But the dashing Jamie Fraser (played by Sam Heughan) is not who I’ve been thinking about this week. Oh no, this week has been all about those five boys from the North of England who formed the band Take That in 1990. Their 3-part Netflix documentary aired this week and I’ve already watched it twice (sneakily, once Mr WIAA has gone to bed). By coincidence this was also the week when former band member Robbie Williams found out he has now overtaken the Beatles in having achieved the most UK No. 1 albums. I don’t know how I feel about that but there is no doubt, once he broke free from the shackles of Take That, he went from strength to strength as an artist and certainly has had longevity.

Despite the fact I was in my early 30s when Take That came along, I have always been a fan and even bought their first album Take That & Party in cassette form when on honeymoon with Mr WIAA. The documentary covered every stage of their career, from the early days when they unbelievably played school assemblies, to Robbie leaving, the calling it quits, and then the journey from when they reformed in 2006 to the present day. There was a lot of never-before-seen footage and voice-overs from the various band members. All of them have had periods of depression, some whilst still in the band and others after they broke up. How indeed can you go back to a normal life after the pop stardom they achieved in the 90s? Howard for one contemplated suicide.

But on a happier note, they are now all older and wiser with families and responsibilities that make life that little bit more normal when they are not performing. The current 3-piece Take That have been going since 2014 after Jason Orange left, and that’s the longest period they’ve had the same line-up since they started. But here’s a reminder of their very first hit in the UK, a cover version of Tavares song It Only Takes A Minute. Gary felt like a failure as none of his self-penned songs had been a success but after this single they were on a roll with Gary writing all of their material from then on.

But this is not the only reason I am writing about Take That. I have a big birthday this year (although not at big as it should have been as I was born two months and one day too late to get my age-related remuneration from the state at 66, so I have to wait another three months) and for the next four years I’m going to pack in as many adventures as I can. God willing I’ll still be having adventures after that too, but looking around me you just never know so it’s all systems go. With that in mind I have already booked an Italian adventure for September which I will no doubt write about in due course, and many short breaks dotted all over the country. At the end of last year there was much hoopla surrounding the announcement that Take That would yet again be performing The Circus Live tour, based on their previous tour of the same name, in Summer 2026. I would have wanted to go last time as it looked so spectacular but I didn’t have that kind of lifestyle back in 2009 so this year we’re going. They will be 17 years older, with a fair bit of grey hair, but I hear they are all working on their fitness and unicycle skills so I am optimistic it will be just as good.

The Garden by Take That:

This was the first time I have ever tried to buy tickets from an online site where you have to be totally on the ball as soon as they go live, otherwise they can sell out before you even get to the checkout. Mr WIAA and I had done a few trial runs ahead of schedule to make sure we knew all the steps involved so at the appointed hour we dived in. I was the first to get to the checkout and amazingly got two tickets for the area right in front of the stage at Glasgow’s Hampden Park. I thought our friends might want to come with us so dived in again, madly clicking on all the boxes, and got two more tickets. I had thought they would sell out quickly so couldn’t believe I now had four tickets – then I discovered I’d booked them for the following night by mistake. No matter I thought, we’re bound to have friends or family who might want to buy them from us, so I dived in again and got another two tickets for the correct night.

As it turns out none of our friends and family do want our spare tickets and there are even ones still to be had on the booking site. Perhaps Take That’s Circus Tour is not as popular as I had thought it would be now that they, and their fans, are well into middle age. Whatever, I now have a four ticket surfeit so if any of my blogging buddies have an inkling to see what this tour is all about you know where to come. I suspect they are not every middle-aged music blogger’s cup of tea, but as long as I see Mark Owen’s lovely smile up there on stage I’ll be happy. He was always my favourite.

The lovely Mark Owen of Take That

Before I go I will mention another heartthrob from a boy band who has gone on to great things since going solo. I am taking my role seriously of updating my followers on changes at the top of the UK Singles Chart, and yesterday I found out that Harry Styles had gone straight in at No. 1 with the first single released from his new album. I don’t think it’s as strong as his previous chart singles but he does have legions of fans who will be playing it continuously I’m sure, thus it’s success. Here is Harry with Aperture.

Right, my NTS membership card is burning a hole in my pocket so I’m off to the battlefield. There will be plenty of images of Jamie Fraser in the gift shop I’m sure. Take That or Harry Styles – not so much.

Until next time…

Aperture Lyrics
(Song by Harry Styles, Kid Harpoon)

Take no prisoners for me
I’m told you’re elevating
Drinks go straight to my knees
I’m sold, I’m going on clean
I’m going on clean

I’ve no more tricks up my sleeve
Game called review the player
Time codes and Tokyo scenes
Bad boys, it’s complicated
It’s complicated

It’s best you know what you don’t
Aperture lets the light in
It’s best you know what you don’t
Aperture lets the light in

We belong together
It finally appears it’s only love
We belong together
We belong together
It finally appears it’s only love
We belong together

In no good state to receive
Go forth, ask questions later
Trap doors, you’re toying with me
Dance halls, another cadence

It’s best you know what you don’t
Aperture lets the light in

We belong together
It finally appears it’s only love
We belong together
It finally appears
We belong together
It finally appears it’s only love
We belong together

I won’t stray from it
I don’t know these spaces
Time won’t wait on me
I wanna know what safe is
I won’t stray from it
I don’t know these spaces
Time won’t wait on me
I won’t stray from it
I don’t know these spaces
Time won’t wait on me
I wanna know what safe is
I won’t stray from it
I don’t know these spaces
Time won’t wait on me

We belong together
It finally appears it’s only love
We belong together
It finally appears
We belong together
It finally appears it’s only love
We belong together

Postscript

I did make it to the battlefield yesterday and took this shot. A solitary reminder of what life was like in 1746 at the time of the famous battle.

I also discovered that the Duke of Cumberland who led the Government Forces at Culloden was aged only 24. There were Scottish Clans fighting on both sides so the history is certainly not black and white. In the aftermath of the battle however life was tough for Highlander Scots. The wearing of tartan was banned and the Clan system was decimated.

Outlander, The Association and ‘Never My Love’

A new song came into my life last week which I have just discovered is one of the most listened to of the 20th century. Why am I only finding out about it now, as for me, it ticks all the boxes?

Released in 1967
Recorded by a band of the sunshine pop persuasion
Made with members of the legendary Wrecking Crew (that group of session musicians based in Los Angeles who worked with Sonny & Cher, the Mamas & the Papas, the 5th Dimension, the Monkees, the Beach Boys and many others)

The Association were until last week unknown to me, however according to the well-known online encyclopaedia, they hit the No. 1 spot in the charts in October 1967, and had four other top ten hits in the late 1960s. Ah…, but not here in the UK, in America (as I would have called it then). That would explain it, as it seems they largely bypassed the notice of the great British public. The song I have become quite smitten by is this one, their version of Never My Love.

Never My Love by The Association:

The reason I stumbled upon this beautiful song from over 50 years ago was because it featured in the final episode of the historical television drama Outlander, which we have just finished binge watching for the second time. Overkill perhaps I know, but we needed something to fill the gaps in our viewing schedule and the storyline is about events and people from our neck of the woods. It’s also one of the reasons why we’ve been getting so many visitors to the Highlands over the last few years (pre-pandemic), as what with time-travel and romance as well as drama, the Outlander books and television series have quite the cult following.

Anyway, I won’t give too much away in terms of spoilers in case anyone hasn’t reached the final episode of season five yet, but the main character Claire returns to her own time, the late 1960s, in a surreal, dream-like set of scenes. The song Never My Love would have been chosen because it fitted the era, as well as the love story that runs through the whole plotline. Here is a clip that uses some of that footage, as well as footage from the mid 1700s, where she goes back in time and meets her handsome Highlander, Jamie Fraser.

It was a strange coincidence then that we reached the end of a series that all kicked off with the build up to the Jacobite Rising, just as we were about to mark the 275th anniversary of the Battle of Culloden, the last pitched battle held on British soil. As most people know, the Jacobite army led by Charles Edward Stewart was decisively defeated by government troops on 16th April 1746, and over 2000 Highlanders were killed or wounded.

Although 275 is not a particularly round number for anniversaries, a large event had been planned at the visitor centre for last Friday, but sadly, due to continuing pandemic-related restrictions, it all moved online. The battlefield was still open for walks however, and as we are local we decided to go up with our new camera equipment, hoping to make a little film. I’ve shared a few dashcam films around here before, but this time all credit goes to Mr WIAA who put this effort together. A few Outlander fans were there on the day looking for the Clan Fraser stone (Jamie’s clan) and as usual it had a few floral tributes in front of it.

Culloden Battlefield – Site of the last pitched battle fought on British soil

So, ‘What’s It All About?’ – I love that I’m still making lots of new discoveries from the late ’60s as I do seem to have a real affinity for the music from that time. More often than not it comes from having heard it on a film or television soundtrack, and as there is nothing like an older song to evoke the era, film-makers usually choose wisely.

As for the Outlander phenomenon, not so many visitors for us over the last year, but I am hopeful that by summer we will be able to open up again and welcome people back. My little holiday hideaway is being prepped and made appealing for bookings as we speak. I know we won’t get many from abroad this year (nor should we), but hopefully we’ll get some guests from other parts of the UK. I hate the word ‘staycation’ which keeps being bandied about – For someone like me brought up in the ’60s and ’70s we never went abroad, and all our great ‘holidays’ were in Scotland. A staycation would have happened during one of those summers when for one reason or another we had to stay at home, and just had day trips instead – Something quite different to my mind.

Anyway, whatever it’s called, all being well we will be able to travel more freely this summer and you would be made very welcome if visiting the Highlands. Hopefully the visitor centre at Culloden will be open for business again and I can thoroughly recommend it – You can even dress up in a kilt, just like the one worn by Jamie in Outlander. As for the term Outlander, it apparently means foreigner, or more specifically an English person (used to describe Claire) although I’d personally never heard it before and am more familiar with the word Sassenach which essentially means the same thing. But again, whatever it’s called, you would be made very welcome, so what are you waiting for? The midges await!

Until next time…

Never My Love Lyrics
(Song by Don Addrisi/Dick Addrisi)

You ask me
If there’ll come a time
When I grow tired of you
Never my love
Never my love

You wonder
If this heart of mine
Will lose its desire for you
Never my love
Never my love

What makes you think love will end
When you know that my whole life depends
On you?
On you

You say you fear
I’ll change my mind
I won’t require you
Never my love
Never my love

How can you think love will end
When I’ve asked you to spend
Your whole life
With me?
With me

You ask me
If there’ll come a time
When I grow tired of you
Never my love
Never my love

Never my love
Never my love

Edinburgh, Outlander and “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”

Another Edinburgh post, as I came home from last week’s trip armed with lots of great pictures that are ripe for sharing. This time we stayed in an apartment right at the top of the Grassmarket, which centuries ago was the site of one of Edinburgh’s main markets. The name apparently came from the grazing livestock, held in pens beyond its western edge.

Daniel Defoe, who visited Edinburgh in the 1720s, described the West Bow at the north-east corner of the Grassmarket (where our apartment was situated) as follows – “This street, which is called the Bow, is generally full of traders and dealers”, and you know what, it still is today, although nowadays the colourful shops are aimed primarily at the many tourists who pass through every year.

Because it was originally a gathering place for market traders and cattle drovers, the Grassmarket was always a place full of taverns, hostelries and temporary lodgings – Again nothing much has changed, bar the prices, and the fact the traders and drovers have been replaced by tourists. In 1803 William Wordsworth took rooms at the White Hart Inn, where the poet Robert Burns had stayed during his visit to Edinburgh in 1791. It was described by him as being “not noisy, and tolerably cheap”. In the film version of Greyfriars Bobby, they chose a lodging in the Grassmarket as the place where the Skye terrier’s owner dies. Yes indeed, lots of history thereabouts.

Having lived in the midst of such history for days, imagine my delight when we got home, to find that the next episode in the box-set we are currently watching on telly, was now set in the Old Town of Edinburgh circa 1766. The show Outlander is based on the historical time travel series of novels by Diana Gabaldon and is a firm favourite with most of us who live in the Highlands, as much of the drama is set here. It stars Caitriona Balfe as Claire Randall, a married World War II nurse who in 1945 finds herself transported back to the Scotland of 1743, where she meets the dashing Highland warrior Jamie Fraser (played by Sam Heughan) and becomes embroiled in the Jacobite risings. It does all sound a bit implausible, and is another of those wibbly wobbly timey wimey kind of things, but possibly because it covers all the bases for a cult drama, has kind of become one.

I will include a clip here of the opening title sequence, which definitely gives a flavour of what the show is all about. Also, it makes use of the music to the Skye Boat Song, which most of us in Scotland are very familiar with – Unlike the very twee versions I was used to hearing in my youth, performed on highly uncool shows like The White Heather Club, this version has been given a 21st century makeover by Bear McCreary. The lyrics, taken from the Robert Louis Stevenson poem Sing Me a Song of a Lad That Is Gone, were adapted to fit the storyline and are performed by Raya Yarbrough.

So here we were this week, still thinking about our trip to an Edinburgh that has changed little since the 1700s, watching a show that was set in that very place and time. It isn’t often that contemporary music is used for the show’s soundtrack, but in one of the episodes we watched this week, a particularly poignant scene was played out to Bob Dylan’s song A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall. All about a blue-eyed son, so very apt really and thankfully (for me) not performed by Bob but by the Canadian band Walk Off the Earth. In case anyone watching the show hasn’t reached season three yet, I won’t give the game away and include a clip of that particular heart-wrenching scene, but suffice to say the song was just perfect for it, and has most definitely formed an earworm this week.

A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall by Walk Off the Earth:

Walk Off the Earth had performed the song just once, for kicks, and then pretty much forgot about it until someone from Outlander contacted them about using it for the episode. Band founder Ryan Marshall said they were surprised, as it was an acoustic cover without any bells and whistles – Just one of those tearjerker songs. When the writers decided they wanted to use the song, because Bob had just won the Nobel Prize an’ all, they knew they would never get his version, but after hearing the cover they kind of fell in love with it, as have I.

So, “What’s It All About?” – Last time I wrote a post about the film Trainspotting, and here I am now writing about the cult television drama Outlander. Yes, I do like my film and telly, and having emotionally invested in some of the storylines watched on both big and small screens, it can be quite something to find yourself in the very spot where they were filmed. It seems I am not alone however, as only this week I read a story in the local paper about how the Clan Fraser marker stone on Culloden Battlefield has had to be cordoned off, and the road around it relaid due the sheer volume of Outlander fans coming to visit it. Even poor old Greyfriar’s Bobby has had all the paint rubbed off his nose (see picture above) due to the sheer number of visitors to the faithful dog’s statue on Candlemaker Row.

One more Edinburgh post before I move on to new themes, but this next one won’t be about music from film or television. No, it seems the time has come to admit to which band was the first one I ever saw perform live!

Until next time….

A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall Lyrics
(Song by Bob Dylan)

Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son?
And where have you been, my darling young one?
I’ve stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains
I’ve walked and I’ve crawled on six crooked highways
I’ve stepped in the middle of seven sad forests
I’ve been out in front of a dozen dead oceans
I’ve been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard
And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, and it’s a hard
It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall

Oh, what did you see, my blue-eyed son?
And what did you see, my darling young one?
I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it
I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it
I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin’
I saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedin’
I saw a white ladder all covered with water
I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken
I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children
And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, and it’s a hard
It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall

And what did you hear, my blue-eyed son?
And what did you hear, my darling young one?
I heard the sound of a thunder, that roared out a warnin’
I heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world
I heard one hundred drummers whose hands were a-blazin’
I heard ten thousand whisperin’ and nobody listenin’
I heard one person starve, I heard many people laughin’
Heard the song of a poet who died in the gutter
Heard the sound of a clown who cried in the alley
And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard
It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall

Oh, what did you meet, my blue-eyed son?
Who did you meet, my darling young one?
I met a young child beside a dead pony
I met a white man who walked a black dog
I met a young woman whose body was burning
I met a young girl, she gave me a rainbow
I met one man who was wounded in love
I met another man who was wounded in hatred
And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard
It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall

And what’ll you do now, my blue-eyed son?
And what’ll you do now, my darling young one?
I’m a-goin’ back out ‘fore the rain starts a-fallin’
I’ll walk to the depths of the deepest dark forest
Where the people are many and their hands are all empty
Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters
Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison
And the executioner’s face is always well hidden
Where hunger is ugly, where souls are forgotten
Where black is the color, where none is the number
And I’ll tell and speak it and think it and breathe it
And reflect from the mountain so all souls can see it
And I’ll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin’
But I’ll know my song well before I start singin’
And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, and it’s a hard
It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall

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