Strange Ones

Album: I Should Coco (1995)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Vocalist Gaz Coombes wrote this song with drummer Danny Goffey and bassist Mick Quinn. It's about the strange people on Cowley Road, Oxford, a place where the band once lived. Coombes told Q magazine:

    "I remember writing it in a little cottage down in the village in Wheatley on two acoustics, me and Mick and I think Danny was, and I remember the time change and how cool we thought it was. It was such a buzz, and the lyrics were great.

    I think of Oxford and Cowley Road when I hear those lyrics, going out and scoring a getting some hash and hanging out with either posh students already dodgy dealers, going to the pub and smoking weed and doing too much speed."
  • Supergrass recorded the bell chimes that end the song at Carfax Tower in the center of Oxford.
  • "I'd Like to Know" is another I Should Coco track about the strange people who live on Cowley Road. In fact, Supergrass were inspired to write "I'd Like To Know" after listening to "Strange Ones" played backwards on a cassette. The band took the sound and penned new lyrics to accompany it.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Jim McCarty of The Yardbirds

Jim McCarty of The YardbirdsSongwriter Interviews

The Yardbirds drummer explains how they created their sound and talks about working with their famous guitarists.

Van Dyke Parks

Van Dyke ParksSongwriter Interviews

U2, Carly Simon, Joanna Newsom, Brian Wilson and Fiona Apple have all gone to Van Dyke Parks to make their songs exceptional.

Dennis DeYoung

Dennis DeYoungSongwriter Interviews

Dennis DeYoung explains why "Mr. Roboto" is the defining Styx song, and what the "gathering of angels" represents in "Come Sail Away."

Paul Stanley of Kiss, Soul Station

Paul Stanley of Kiss, Soul StationSongwriter Interviews

Paul Stanley on his soul music project, the Kiss songs with the biggest soul influence, and the non-make-up era of the band.

Gilby Clarke

Gilby ClarkeSongwriter Interviews

The Guns N' Roses rhythm guitarist in the early '90s, Gilby talks about the band's implosion and the side projects it spawned.

Band Names

Band NamesFact or Fiction

Was "Pearl" Eddie Vedder's grandmother, and did she really make a hallucinogenic jam? Did Journey have a contest to name the group? And what does KISS stand for anyway?