"Small Hours" is an eight-and-a-half-minute rumination on life and love centered on the phrase "Keep on loving till your love is gone, keep on loving till your love is strong, all the way." It features keyboard work from Steve Winwood using a Moog, Martyn's Echoplex-treated guitar, and subtle background percussion.
Island Records founder Chris Blackwell recorded the song outdoors at his Theale, Berkshire, farm in the early hours. Listeners might pick out the sounds of geese in the background of the recording, as well as a passing train at the two-and-a-half-minute mark.
The song was later adapted and re-recorded by Martyn as "Anna" for the 1978 Australian feature film In Search of Anna. This version of "Anna" also appears on Martyn's live album Live At The Bottom Line, New York, 1983.
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