Fish: Internal Exile

Official music video. Internal Exile by Fish from the album Internal Exile.

"I was inspired to write the lyric to this song in 1988 when I was in Scotland in residential writing sessions at Dalnaglar castle on the edge of the Scottish Highlands attempting to put together an album that would never happen with my then band Marillion.It was the first time since 81 when I joined the band that I'd spent longer than a few days in Scotland and I was meeting and talking to a lot of old friends who reacquainted me with nationalist politics. At the time it was a period of turbulence and passion as Margaret Thatcher was in power and Scotland was designated as the testing ground for the newly proposed controversial Poll Tax after having fatally damaged the coalmining, shipbuilding and steel making industries in previous years. I was caught up in the fervour and on moving back to Scotland in late 1988 I found my writing strongly influenced by the situation developing around me. The song was completed in the Summer of 1989 and although recorded for my first solo album "Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors" was held back and rerecorded to become the title track of my second album released in 1991. At this same time the SNP were putting together a concerted campaign that had a conservative government, now under John Major worried about the forthcoming election in April 92. "Internal Exile" was released as a lead single on the 9th September 1991 and alienated some of my fan base and the general media who saw the song as too political and a minority construing it as "anti English" which it was never intended to be. It was and is a pro Scottish song and I stand by these lyrics to this day. The song didn't receive much airpay at the time either North or South of the Border and I was told it was unofficially banned on some stations because of the sentiments.

In 1992 the hoped for swing from the Labour vote to the SNP didn't happen the Conservatives triumphed and John Major was again Prime Minister. Nothing changed.

I don't expect it to get much airplay these days either but as a song that illustrated my personal feelings then and my opinion now, neither of which have changed over the last 13 years and more, I thought I would put this clip up on You Tube for the first time at the same time as my official statement on my stance on the independence referendum is released."

Read Fish's statement here: http://wp.me/p4FlUV-CK

Visit Fish's website at http://fishheads.club