Frosty

Two main versions:

* "1980 Version" (September 1980) - Stained Glass Soma Fountains (4:43)

Fades in with drum pattern and somebody (Knight?) counting down: "one, two, a-one two three four." There's a brief tape glitch three minutes in. Ka-Spel sings all the lyrics alone. Ends with a sustained chord and then some studio chatter, possibly between Knight and Iliffe:

"Let's stop! That's great. Oooh."
"Mmmm."
"Oooh."
"I just thought we'd want to, uh..."

Instruments: Single drum pattern; piano melody; warm synth chords with bassline barely audible underneath, sometimes all pitched up suddenly, lots of chorus added halfway through; one vocal track without any effects.

* "Full Band Version" (1981) - Only Dreaming (4:38), Chemical Playschool 2 (4:40), Under Triple Moons (4:24)

The Only Dreaming mix and Chemical Playschool mixes both start abruptly, though Chemical Playschool cuts off a bit (and sounds like the tape was started in the middle of a note). The Under Triple Moons mix fades in. On all mixes you can hear somebody laughing before the lyrics start, though this is only really identifiable on Only Dreaming. April Iliffe provides accent lyrics in the second half. All mixes have a long fade-out, with Only Dreaming being the longest and Under Triple Moons being the shortest.

All mixes run at slightly different speeds.

Instruments: Live drums; organ melody; warm synth bassline; acoustic guitar; two vocal tracks; tambourine; quiet high-pitched synth chords pitched up and down; Iliffe "sha-la-la" vocals during the second half, with a second track of vocals for the "ahh-ahh" part; synth bell sounds.

Sounds a lot like:

This seems like a strange subject for a song, but it's oddly similar to 1979's "Frozen Fred" by the Dutch band Nits.

What It's About:

A freakish person, constantly derided, retreats to the comfort of a little hideway (a "fridge"). He occasionally emerges to try to gain respect or to inspire awe, but he is always thwarted and sent back into hiding, despite the best intentions and actions of the narrator's friends. Since "Frosty" is hiding when Armageddon arrives, he becomes the only survivor left on Earth.

Lyrics (adapted from the Cloud-Zero archive):

He always looked behind him, scared somebody would jump him.
Put him on the ground so he'd come around to the sound of people laughing.
'Cos the whole world loved to mock him. Sun and moon both pointed at him.
Kids would twist their necks to get a better view.

Well, it really did his mind in, and we wanted to protect him,
so we placed his face in a smash-proof case and placed it...
in the fridge.

They giggled in the corners, whispered lies across the borders.
They derided him and chided him 'til he carried out their orders.
But he dashed into the limelight, played at Hamlet for a fortnight.
Waved his arms and screamed demands for some respect.

But they just could not excuse him, it was really too amusing.
So he packed his sack and scrambled back to safety...
in the fridge.

And I swear I saw his spirit in the sky with nothing near it.
High on armour-plated roller skates, white-feathered train to steer it.
Scared somebody would look up, gesticulate and throw up.
Send him flitting, fleeting, scarred behind a cloud.

But for him, there's no escaping, no hole big enough to hide in.
Best just to stay nicely out the way in safety...
in the fridge.

In the village bells were tolling, in the town the dogs were howling.
It was Armageddon, tanks crashed head-on, planet Earth was drowning.
Then the Devil sent a shower, Europe died in half an hour.
Then a demon wind just finished off the rest.

But our friend, he took a teabreak, idly munching on a fish-cake.
Quite oblivious in ignorance but cosy...
in the fridge

It's so cold there, in the fridge.
It's so icy, frosty.
It's so cold in the fridge.