Glad I put off commenting on this initially as I wasn’t sure about the change in style...but when I came back for another listen, I liked it much more than I first thought I did. I could always understand (I think) the idea of not letting the emotion and sentiment behind the song drag it towards the gloomier side of things and think it worked very well towards that goal.
I thought the sax was a little “Benny Hill” if I’m honest...I shut my eyes and could see half a dozen beauties in high heels and lingerie, running around a football pitch at video cassette recorder fast-forward speed, being chased by Bob Todd in a vicars outfit with one side of his dog collar standing to attention.
So I loved that element, obviously 😀
Lyrics are very tidily put together...and convey how you feel about the loss without ever veering off into slush...which might well happen to lesser talented lyricists. I thought it was really honest and quite clever to point out in the lyric how the words have all been said before...but that’s not to diminish their power and feeling. Quite the reverse, really. Vocals are bang on the money once again.
Lovely tribute.