To paraphrase a time-honoured saying, some artists are born inspired. Some achieve inspiration, or strive successfully to find it. And some have inspiration thrust upon them. With Big Big Train, on their new album, Common Ground, it was a clear case of the latter. That much is obvious from the opening bars of the first track, The Strangest Times.
There’s little room for ambiguity or metaphor in its lyrics – they pretty much spell out how many of us were feeling in March 2020. ‘These are the strangest times…’ David Longdon sings over a propulsive piano-driven rock backing. ‘This world’s gone mad – we find ourselves in lockdown, trying to get the lowdown, from the PM’s 5pm address. Who could have guessed – these days are going to test us.’
