Dylan & Caitlin

Album: Resistance Is Futile (2018)
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Songfacts®:

  • The Welsh poet Dylan Thomas first met the English author Caitlin Macnamara in 1936 in a London pub. Fellow Welsh poet Augustus John introduced them and the pair bonded immediately. Dylan Thomas and Caitlin Macnamara married on July 11, 1937 in Penzance, Cornwall, but their relationship was a tempestuous one, fueled by alcohol. However, the couple remained together until Dylan's death in 1953.

    This rousing fiddle-filled ode tells the story of Dylan and Caitlin Thomas' stormy marriage.
  • Bassist Nicky Wire told The Quietus the song originated as the meeting point between his wish to write "a bit character-based," and vocalist James Dean Bradfield's desire to pen a pop nugget like Elton John and Kiki Dee's "Don't Go Breaking My Heart." The result is this conversation piece between Dylan and Caitlin Thomas at the height of their alcohol-soaked marriage.
  • The song is a duet; James Dean Bradfield assumes the role of Dylan Thomas and Caitlin is represented by the Welsh songwriter The Anchoress.
  • Vulcan String Quartet arranged and play the strings. They also performed on the Resistance Is Futile tracks "People Give In" and "Vivian."

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