Image: Cover artwork from Inspired by Sark (J. Norwich), reproduced from a photographed copy for purposes of commentary
Black Women
An unrecorded song preserved through the memoir.
Black Women was written during Michael Doyle’s years on Sark, while he was living in a small art studio rented from the elderly artist Molly Harradine. The studio, filled with paintings, easels and the accumulated work of Molly and her late husband, provided the inspiration for the song.
The lyric drew upon the colour, character and slightly eccentric atmosphere of the artistic world surrounding him. One verse invoked the Queen of Sheba, while another reflected the primitive artwork that filled the studio walls. The song also carried traces of the humour and musical influences of the period.
Black Women was never professionally recorded or released, and no surviving performance is currently available. It is included in the Music Archive because both the song and the circumstances surrounding its creation form part of the story told in Sane Inside Insanity.
Archive Status
Unrecorded • Unreleased • Referenced in the memoir