The Saw Doctors   •   To Win Just Once [compilation]

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  • To Win Just Once
    • 2009 - Shamtown SAWDOC 016CD CD (IRL)
  • Tracklist
    1. About You Now (Cathy Dennis & Lukasz Gottwald)
    2. N17 (Live) (L. Moran & D. Carton)
    3. Last Summer In New York (L. Moran & D. Carton)
    4. She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not (L. Moran, D. Carton & A. Thistlethwaite)
    5. Green And Red Of Mayo (L. Moran, D. Carton & Jarir Al-Majar)
    6. To Win Just Once (L. Moran & D. Carton)
    7. That's What She Said Last Night (L. Moran, D. Carton & P. Stevens)
    8. Small Bit Of Love (L. Moran & D. Carton)
    9. I Useta Lover (L. Moran, D. Carton, P. Cunniffe & P. Stevens)
    10. Clare Island (L. Moran & D. Carton)
    11. Joyce Country Céilí Band (L. Moran, D. Carton & P. Doherty)
    12. Exhilarating Sadness (L. Moran & D. Carton)
    13. Why Do I Always Want You (L. Moran & D. Carton)
    14. What A Day (D. Carton)
    15. Stars Over Cloughanover (L. Moran & D. Carton)
    16. Sing A Powerful Song (L. Moran & D. Carton)
    17. World Of Good (L. Moran, D. Carton & J. Donnelly)
    18. Same Oul' Town (L. Moran, D. Carton & P. Stevens)
    19. Red Cortina (L. Moran & D. Carton)
    20. It Won't Be Tonight (L. Moran & D. Carton)
    21. Hay Wrap (L. Moran, D. Carton, P. Doherty, J. Donnelly & J. Burke)
    22. Never Mind The Strangers (L. Moran & D. Carton)

  • Compilation Credits
    • Executive Producer: Dave Robinson
    • Concept: Stan Roche
    • Photography: Steve Gullick
    • Mastered: JM Mastering
    • Designed: Loman Street Studio

About You Now — It all started on Podge and Rodge and their Rockin' Roulette, but I like the Sugababes anyway. The bottom line is that this is just a great song, one that you wish you'd written yourself.

N17 (Live) — To us, the N17 was just the road to Galway — or if you lived in Galway, the road to Tuam — but I guess we've managed to make it a small bit more familiar than the R347 to the masses. That said, given the traffic these days, you're more likely to say I wish I wasn't on the N17 at all.

Last Summer In New York — This was about a guy we know who just felt he'd spent long enough living in the one place, and it could have been any place — not just New York. Mind you, after all these years, he's still in New York.

She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not — This was a simple little pop song, and we would reserve the right to record a song like this just as much as our more normal stuff. I suppose it has its roots back in sixties pop — reminiscent of the Kinks — but it's always a good thing to be a little unpredictable.

Green And Red Of Mayo — Mayo people tell us this should have been the Red and Green of Mayo; that we got the jersey the wrong way round, but that's what happens when Galway fellas write songs about their neighbours. This began as we came in on a boat from Clare Island, looking out at Croagh Patrick — which actually was green and red as we looked at it in the Summer sunshine.

To Win Just Once — The reality is that there are more losers than winners in the world, but this is more about life than sport. Mind you. now that people think Davy was singing about Two Injured Swans, it's taken on a whole new life of its own.

That's What She Said Last Night — When we lived in a house with him, Joe Wall from the Stunning's one-size-fits-all catch phrase for a while was 'That's What She Said Last Night' — even if you just asked him to pass the sugar at the table. And that's where the title came from. The US version of the Office has spawned a tee-shirt with the slogan That's What She Said, and we fully intend to copy it for our tee-shirts when we get the chance.

Small Bit Of Love — This was our first time on Top of the Pops and our first single on Shamtown Records, which reached number 23 in the UK charts. We were on the show the same night as Donna Summer, Jimmy Nail and the Beautiful South!

I Useta Lover — This is an old Blaze X song; we started writing verses for it after The Saw Doctors started, but we quickly realised that we already had the perfect chorus from Davy's previous band.

Clare Island — We launched the second album. All The Way From Tuam, on Clare Island but we first went there to a festival with the Máimín Cajun Band in 1990 around the time of Féile. The song itself is about the idea of a dirty weekend in a beautiful place — and what's wrong with that?

Joyce Country Céilí Band — Pearse told us about these young ones who used to play together in Burke's Bar in Clonbur, and he told them they should call themselves the Joyce Country Céilí Band. They didn't, but we got a song out of it; a song that's sort of like a tribute to the kind of band we'd have detested as kids.

Exhilarating Sadness — This is one of my favourites from all our songs. I just like the whole idea of it. It's nicely vague — and that's the way to keep it.

Why Do I Always Want You — This song just works for us every time. It's not one of our better known ones, but every night we play it, it just goes down a storm — and you can't ask more than that from any song. There's also the Buddy Holly reference, and he'd be a big influence of ours.

What A Day — Another Blaze X song and one of Davy's — it's actually the oldest song we do.

Stars Over Cloughanover — I can walk home from Campbell's pub in Cloughanover and I was making the journey one night — probably a bit later than I should have been — when I looked up at the stars. I'd been listening to an astronomer on the radio earlier that day as well, and the whole combination probably made me a bit philosophical.

Sing A Powerful Song — We played this again recently, and it seems to be back in fashion. Maybe it's more relevant now than it was through the good times. We don 7 do it much live because you miss Pearse's whistle; it's not the same without the whistle.

World Of Good — It's just a straightforward song about breaking up; wishing the other person nothing but the best for whatever lies ahead.

Same Oul' Town — I think this is my favourite song of all. and it seems to mean something to people everywhere, even if they live in Sydney or New York. The name of the town is just a signpost, but it's the sentiment that stays the same.

Red Cortina — You can change the make of the car and the number plate if you like, but this is just a song about falling in love for the first time. It should happen to everyone, even if it seems to take over the whole of your world at the time.

It Won't Be Tonight — This was the first song myself and Davy wrote together. He'd just bought a Yamaha amp off a guy called John Brennan and I started messing around with it. We got that tremelo effect off that amp, and it's been part of our sound ever since.

Hay Wrap — I was always a fan of rap and never saw why it should be confined to urban centres! This was rap in the meadows and I always say the lyrics for this weren't invented; they were just collected. Mind you. I had to answer to the IFA about asking to go up on top of the trailer; I now include a health and safety warning on the farmers' behalf when we play it live.

Never Mind The Strangers — This was the last track at the end of the second album. All The Way From Tuam. It just sort of fades off into the distance — which suits the last track on an album, I suppose. The song was used in a Harp Lager commercial in the US a few years back and they name-checked the band in the middle of it. We may have done better than Harp out of it.

Leo Moran was in conversation with Dave O'Connell, Editor of the Connacht Tribune.