Painting Box

Painting Box

Released February, 2022

‘Painting Box’ is a song from Scottish Psychedelic Folk band, the Incredible String Band.
It was originally released on their '5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion' album in 1967. Alfonso first heard the song when his older brother Nel was playing it on his record player in a small bedroom that the four brothers shared in a tiny village called Casas Ibanez, in the middle of La Mancha, Spain. Nel and Rodri, Alfonso’s older brothers both played guitar and ordered records from across the globe from a monthly catalogue.

Additionally both Alfonso and Victoria’s parents liked to paint pictures so they both grew up with the scent and sight of paint in their homes and Victoria is an ex- Art and Theater student from Manchester Metropolitan University, UK so the metaphor of love and playing round in the paint is just perfect for The Blue Dolphins. The sentiment is equally existential as it is playful.

The band would like to thank Edoardo Tancredi for his drums, Alfonso for doing a terrific job on production and capturing the spirit of the song. We would also like to thank Michael Gunner Murray for the single Artwork and most importantly Mike Heron of The Incredible String Band for writing the song. Well we’ve all been through the ringer in the last few years and with all the bad news about it, it would be easy to forget that clear blue skies and care free times ever existed. They do! And here’s our soundtrack for yours.

PAINTING BOX LYRIC
Mike Heron

When the morning of your eyes
comes waking through my shadows
Leaving just a trace of twilight sleep
I whisper to the baby raindrops
playing on my window
And tell them gently
this is not the time
that they should weep

For somewhere in my mind there is a painting box
I have every color there, it's true
Just lately when I look inside my painting box
I seem to pick the colors of you

My Friday evening's footsteps
plodding dully through this black town
Are far away now from the world that I'm in
My eyes are listening to some sounds
that I think just might be springtime
With daffodils between my toes
I'm laughing at their whim

And somewhere in my mind there is a painting box
I have every color there, it's true
Just lately when I look inside my painting box
I seem to pick the colors of you

Oh, somewhere in my mind there is a painting box
I have every color there, it's true
Just lately when I look inside my painting box
I seem to pick the colors of you

The purple sail above me
catches all the strength of summer
Fishes stop and ask me where I am bound
I smile and shake my head
and say my little ship is sinking
But I kind of like the sea that I'm on
and I don't mind if I do drown

And somewhere in my mind
there is a painting box
I have every color there, it's true
Just lately when I look inside my painting box
I seem to pick the colors of you

The Blue Dolphins are: Victoria C. Scott & Alfonso G. Rodenas
Credits: Released March 24, 2023
Victoria C. Scott: Vocals and Percussion.
Alfonso G. Rodenas: Vocals, Bass & Guitars.
Edoardo Tancredi: Drums.