Random Track Sharing: The Dear Hunter - Camera

An unreleased of sorts demo, this song is tremendous. It was on the Ms.Leading demo which includes a number of pre-Act II finished demos in-effect.

I heard this along with the whole Ms.Leading demo around the time I got into The Dear Hunter in late 2006. And among the many impressive tracks on that demo, this has always stood to me and many others as the standout track. Or at least the song I and many fans would love to have Casey release (and maybe re-record) on a new record, and maybe mostly, play live.

This was on my mind today as on the fans forum, another collection of demos, a bit more raw, and many that did not make it onto Ms.Leading, were shared recently. There is an earlier version of "Camera" on there, that after hearing today, it made me remember how much I love this song. The melody, the soothing, dreamy flow to it. The little bah bah, bah bah bah bah-bah-bah-bah-bah, sort of in a 60's pop way (The Beach Boys), which is present on many of Casey's songs.

I wonder if Casey would consider at least playing this track live sometime, as time goes by, it seems like it may become like Dream Theater's "Space Dye-Vest" (or "Raise the Knife"..and now in some ways, "Don't Look Past Me"), where it's that song that he never wants to play, but the fans keep asking for it, it may just happen eventually.

Then again, Marillion fans want "Grendel" and very likely never will get Hogarth to sing that live, even at a fan convention. So, who knows. But Camera is such a great piece, it probably could be even better live.