About the band: Porcupine Tree were a British progressive rock band formed by musician Steven Wilson in 1987. Originally their sound was more like psychedelic rock, but after 2000, it turned more to heavy prog. After ten well received and highly influential studio albums, the band split up in 2010, allowing frontman Steven Wilson to develop his solo career. Both the band and Steven Wilson solo are among my all-time favourites. Porcupine Tree currently have four songs in my list of about 200 best pop/rock songs of all time.
About the song: My ashes is the second song from the 2007 album Fear of a blank planet, one of my five favourite albums of all time. After the turbulent title track, this track creates a quieter and almost resigned atmosphere - one of those gorgeous Wilson ballads. This is the only song on the concept album where the perspective is not just from the child's side, but shared with the parent. The lyrics are at times stunningly brilliant ("And my ashes fade among the things unseen - And a dream plays in reverse on piano keys"), the melody is beautiful and the instrumentation suitable restrained. Run time 5:07.
