Paul Armfield is a folk musician who has been an independent bookseller for more than 30 years. Both of those creative passions meet on Between the Covers, an album full of original and recycled songs about books.
Yet this isn’t simply a love letter to the written word. Armfield’s originals show a deep knowledge of how creatives and readers think. “Bookmarks” is about the stories that shape us, “the ones where we find ourselves,” as Armfield sang.
“They exist deep in our psyche, these books open doors for us when we are younger,” said Armfield, describing seeing picture books at an exhibition that he remembered from his childhood. “The books that as a young teen opened my heart were the books that I shouldn’t be reading.”
Later in life, Armfield feels as though we are more likely to be drawn to art that affirms our beliefs.
“There are poems that appeal to you at certain points in your life that either come as a salve to a wound or an inspiration,” said Armfield. “Something that makes you feel that your experience is shared and you’re not alone.”
These days, Armfield is not bothered by seeing one of his albums for resale. Earlier on, it stung. “Paperback” takes the point of view of the creatives who put out their work only to see it receive minimum interest.
“There are other books we still enjoy that we are keen to get rid of. These are the books that if you go to a second hand shop that you’ll see in abundance. These are the books we devour but don’t treasure culturally,” said Armfield.“How it must feel to go into a charity shop and just see your life story thrown away for pennies.”
Armfield doesn’t have the sort of views you’d expect from a songwriter and physical seller of books. For one, he loves audio books and discounts the notion of physical ownership.
“I’ve read more books this year as an audio book than I’ve read in many, many years. It’s fantastic. I love it. It’s a revelation I’m not precious about books or music,” said Armfield. “This is the worst thing to say as a musician who also sells books, but I wrestle with the idea that we need the physical format. In a society that is concerned with waste, they are two items that we don’t need to have physical copies of.”
One of his more interesting takes is that creatives shouldn’t expect to make much money on their art and should have a day job. Money, he says, should not be at the center of it.
“I just wonder if that’s the best motivation to make the best art. People who are creative would be doing that whether they were being paid or not,” said Armfield. “The artist who is created the product is quite often at the bottom of the food chain. The publisher is getting paid first. For the majority of the people creating, they’re not making as much money as the industry that sells the product.”
“The Books Beside My Bed,” at first, seems like only the confessions of a book hoarder. Deeper down, it’s a tale of time management and unrealized goals. “Each book a good intention,” he sings.
“The books and the records on our shelves, I’m not sure they reveal much about us as people other than the people we want to be. If you want to know what a person’s really like, you look at their browsing history.
The song ends with Armfield fantasizing about have infinite time to read, even after death. It’s something he said he resonated with his audiences who can relate and tease each other over it.
There’s something comforting in hearing that a career bibliophile falls behind in his readings and even falls asleep trying to enjoy art. It makes it just a little easier to admit that I’ll often pass out listening to an album while searching for a song to play on air.
Armfield didn’t view his songs in terms beyond books, but they certainly have more applications. All of us have those to do lists, those moments that have shaped us, and those times we’ve put ourselves out there. One thing he agrees the songs show is how precious time is.
“I love the idea of waking up and reading for an hour in the morning, but I wake up in the morning and think of all the things I have to do that day and I go out and do them,” said Armfield. “I think of reading as a luxury. If I have one day a year to just sit and read I consider myself lucky.”
Above is the full episode as aired on WUSB’s Country Pocket, including both my interview with Paul Armfield and the songs we discussed, starting with Bookmarks, which for Paul involves both the gingerbread man and King’s horror. The interview begins with the second video in the playlist. You can hear the show live every Monday at 4pm on WUSB 90.1 FM or check the blog to watch it as a YouTube playlist. Visit http://www.WUSB.fm and https://paularmfield.com for more.
Country Pocket 