FOX'S PROPHECY

Thought to be written by DW Nash in about 1871, the Fox's Prophecy is a lengthy poem telling the tale of an English huntsman who encounters an aged fox without his hounds nearby. The wizened old creature begins his weavery with the hunt itself and how it could eventually become a distant memory if resources are not managed carefully, and proceeds from there to recount the many ways in which Ol' Blighty will experience a precipitous slide from prominence. Here guitar master/vocalist Paul Brett sets this literary oracle to his voice and guitars for more than a quarter hour, and manages to skillfully toe the line between mere recitation and a prog folk epic. He does so by dint of his virtuosity and by varying tempos throughout and holding to his successful Olde Englische template of "Songs from the Compleat Angler", a much older text to which he paid homage in 2009.

While the prescience of the poem can hardly be argued, the causes of impending Imperial collapse that it advances are more open to debate, and wouldn't pass muster today from a political perspective. Among them are the abandonment of state religion in favor of money and the female eschewance of femininity. From some of Brett's own compositions I suspect that he was a more conservative sort, but no matter. HIs interpretation is at times masterful, particularly when he rocks harder, assuredly never abandoning his folky earnestness in the process. While not in the league of "Thick as a Brick", it's a worthy point of comparison, which is remarkable given that Brett is responsible for every sound you hear.

I won't give you any spoilers should you want to curl up with this text and listen along, but suffice to say that the old coot of a fox's prophecy has still not fully unfolded, but exactly where we are in the story is open to discussion, as it must have been 150 years ago.