Cars Not Leaving

Album: Love In Arms (2012)
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Songfacts®:

  • This is the third single from London-based gothic disco-pop singer Gabriel Bruce's debut album, Love In Arms.
  • Bruce tells NME the story behind the song: "It's kind of about the first time I ever said 'I love you' to someone who wasn't my mother. I think I had broken up with her, and then I thought it was a terrible idea, and I told her I loved her and she didn't really care, so I walked away. And then I took a photograph of her because I had my camera on me, and I was fifteen, and I thought that was a good idea. I found the picture a couple years ago in a box, and I was sort of thinking about that, and I was thinking about that feeling of being in love for the first time."
  • In a last minute burst of inspiration, Bruce added a sax solo in the last half hour of recording time.
  • It appears the cars did leave for the music video, which takes place on a huge boat.

    Directed by Tom Beard, the clip was shot on the MS Stubnitz, which is a German transport ship that has been converted into a venue for cultural pursuits like shooting music videos. The ship was moored in Canary Wharf in London when they shot the video. Appearing in the clip is Fred Macpherson from the UK band Spector.
  • A record deal doesn't ensure instant fame and fortune, Bruce learned when the spoils of his Mercury-released album didn't enable him to quit his day job at a toy store. "The reaction has been pretty good, but I'm still working in the toy shop," he said in 2013.

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