Podcasts about Secret Path

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 23, 2024 125:06

This week on the pod we wrap up Gord's discography with the Bob Rock collaboration, Lustre Parfait.Transcript:[0:00] Long Slice Brewery presents a live event celebration of Gord Downie, July 19th, at the Rec Room in Toronto. Join the hosts of the podcast, Discovering Downie, as they record their finale with special guest, Patrick Downie. A silent auction with items from the hip and many others will take place, along with live entertainment from the almost hip. All proceeds will benefit the Gord Downie Fund for Brain Cancer Research. For more information and tickets, please visit discoveringdowney.com. Clutched clipboard and staring out past the end of her first day into tonight and all the way across oceans of August to September. It makes for a beautifully vacant gaze.[1:08] Music.[1:42] Hey, it's J.D. here and welcome to Discovering Downey, an 11-part project with a focus on the music and poetry of Mr. Gord Downey. The enigmatic frontman of the Tragically Hip, Gord gave to the world an extensive solo discography on top of the vocal acrobatics in the hip that awed us for years. Gord released five albums while he was alive and three more posthumously.[2:09] Now listen, you might think you're the biggest fan of the Tragically Hip out there. However, why is it that so few of us have experience with this solo catalog? Have you really listened to those solo records? My friends Craig, Justin, and Kirk, giant fans of the hip in their own right, fell into that camp. So I invited them to Discover Downey with me, JD, as their host. Every week, we get together and listen to one of Gord's records, working in chronological order. We discuss and dissect the album, the production, the lyrics, and we break it down song by fucking song. This week, we wrap up Gord's discography with an album attributed to both Bob Rock and Gord, Luster Parfait. Craig, how goes it this week? week things are okay a bit of a break tomorrow going off on a little family trip for a couple days meeting my parents and sisters uh you've never met your parents before this is big news dude yeah yeah i think they're gonna like you man congratulations and then yeah and then shortly after that head off to toronto for for an event with you guys whoop whoop yeah How are you doing, Kirk?[3:30] You know, guys, I'm doing pretty good. It was 107 out here in Boise, Idaho, where I'm on show site. As we mentioned, I was in Europe last week, so I'm not quite sure time zone, temperate zone, what zone I'm in. I just – somebody point me in the right direction and I go. So I'm doing good, though. We had such a great time. But more importantly, I'm just really excited about next week and just hanging with you, you lads and checking out all the stuff that we have planned and, and, you know, especially that the event. So I'm that energy will get me through whatever jet lag, whatever heat stroke, whatever heck I encounter over the next seven days. So, and what about that new item? The hip gave us today to go towards our silent auction. Someone's going to get some major bragging rights. Man, we can't say what it is, but-[4:27] We might be fighting internally for this. We'll be revealing what it is, I guess, Friday. And some other great prize stuff, too. JD, you just told me and Kirk about this ridiculous prize that we got. Craig's got it memorized. Yeah. Two tickets to the Toronto Raptors. $500 in arena gift cards. and two customized or personalized jerseys and a shoot around. Man. Are you ready for this? Come on. That's great. Jadon. Yeah. You're in, you're not in Kansas. Tornado Alley. Tornado Alley. But there's twisters about. Yeah, we just had a...[5:51] And then 20 minutes later, there's a video on Facebook of a frigging tornado a half a mile up the street. What the hell? So we're fine. Yeah, that is freaky. If you look out your window and you see somebody riding a bike in the air, you're in big trouble. With a dog in the basket. That's right. Cow. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, but dude, I'm, I'm good. Otherwise without the weather or with the weather, I'm good. And I'm psyched for next week, man. Ooh. Yeah. Let's go. Justin. I tasted the podcast. Pilsner officially tasted it now. I had four of them at home. I gave two of them to my father-in-law and I drank two of them and they were very crisp. Delicious. Yeah. So it's going to be a lot of fun. Yeah. Awesome.[6:47] When word broke that we'd be getting a third posthumous record from Gord, there was a hush and a wait and see approach. You see, Gord had partnered with Bob Rock back in the 2010s, shortly after Rock had produced probably two of the most divisive records in the Hips catalog. I enjoy both these records a lot, but your mileage may vary. In any case, it was an uneasy feeling for fans. What would this album be? As it turns out, it's a whole lot of everything. There are songs that are reminiscent of the hip, like North Shore. There are horns on the title track, which we got to sample about six months before Lester Parfait dropped. And it relieved us.[7:41] There's even something resembling rack time? Suffice to say, as we've gotten used to saying around these parts, this album is altogether, folks, unlike anything Gord has produced before. It's been said that Bob Rock has a tendency to overstuff the records he produces. It's as though he's just been given access to a 48-track board and he feels compelled to use every last fucking track. rack. On this record, however, his hand seems firmly on the rudder. The songs come across as overly polished, of course, but never too indulgent. If there's one complaint I have, it's that there's too many goddamn songs. On a record as varied as Luster Parfait, you're almost overstimulated by the end. You've been through so many different styles and sounds. If I had it my way, this would be a tight 10-song record, and with the right tracks removed, I dare say this is a collection of songs I would put head-to-head against virtually any other record in Gord's oeuvre.[8:59] Yeah, I think it's that good. There are highs and there are lows on this record, as there have been on each of the albums, but on Luster Parfait, the highs seem higher to me. Have we ever heard Gord sing like he does on The Moment is a Wild Place? Or something more? Have we ever heard a chorus as striking as Is There Nowhere? By the way, big hat tip to Shea Dorval for providing those gorgeous backing vocals. At the end of the day, has Bob Rock redeemed himself with this effort to the haters out there? I would offer a resounding yes. Yes, this is a record that should be listened to loud and on a good pair of headphones. There is so much going on, but it all seems to have a purpose. That's what I think of Lester Parfait.[9:52] Tell me what your experience with the record is, Kirk. Yeah. So the first real listen I had to this album, because I'd been pretty busy with travel and whatnot, we were on our family vacation in Madrid. And beautiful little up on the top of the hotel looking over the city and just enjoying the wonderful atmosphere. And, um, I was actually listening to that kind of rough cut of our, um, rough cut of our interview with, uh, Niles and Kevin. And he had referenced like that. He thought that, you know, the, the, the moment is a wild places is, was his favorite song. And I'm just like, I can't hold off anymore. I need to jump in. So that was my first experience was listening to it, um, on, on the roof in Spain. And since then, it's just been a pretty incredible journey. I spent a lot of time like listening to Bob Rock interviews and, you know, just really understanding where it's coming from. And as you mentioned, JD, like, you know, I understand the divisiveness and whatnot, but oh my gosh, I, I was already in love when I listened to it the first couple of times at this point, you know, I'm, I'm firm in my, my commitment to, to in Gord, we trust, you know, And to see that...[11:17] That friendship. I mean, he, he, he makes the statement. We were like two teenagers that were in the studio, just making music together. And, um, you know, to hear how the whole process went and I know we'll get into it and everybody, you know, obviously we'll provide their input. Um, I fell in love with it even more, you know, and, and the variety on this, this album i mean guys we got reggae we got we got west coast punk we got 70s glam we got 80s synth pop we've got you know it it just every even within certain songs you'll have a jump from one friggin genre to another and then you you know you start looking at all the studios they recorded in, the process that it took, the number of years, the people that are involved.[12:13] And especially after we've discussed with the last three albums, like it was just fun to, I felt like, I felt like I got a warm hug from Gord. I really did. Just like, I just was all that, that we went through. It was like, Hey, this is just when it's fun. And this is, this This is for you, music lovers. That's what I felt. That's what I felt. I love that. I haven't watched much with Bob Rock, but I did read that one of the reasons why it took until 2023 to rear its head was because it was too painful for him to, like, he was really emotional following the death of Gordani in 2017. Absolutely. Because they had gotten lungs. Yeah. They had become such close friends and, you know, they reference, you know.[13:09] Uh, Gord flew out to talk about world container and they'd figured that out in 15 minutes. And then they spent the rest, the rest of the conversation talking about being dads, being Canadians, being hockey lovers. And, and then that just continued. And I think those guys, you know, with the level that they were at, I think they kind of found it was a peer to peer relationship.[13:32] And I really felt like they found refuge in each other. And then I think they sought it out because it was a long relationship. I mean, was it 06 when World Container was being made or coming out? Up until the very end. And that's when they first met is when he came out, or at least per what I had listened to. You know, they flew out to Maui, to his studio in Maui, Gord did, and then, you know, like I said, Discuss World Container. And then they didn't really do much as it was described until after the second album, We Are The Same, that they did. And then that's when the, you know, that relationship in the music for Luster Parfait started. So yeah, I mean, I recommend everyone to check into this. And Bob rock doesn't seem like, you know, like you.[14:25] You just, he didn't, didn't do a lot of, I mean, of course he gets on the documentaries, he gets a lot of airtime and whatnot, but beyond that, you know, there's not a ton, I guess, but the stuff specific to this is well worth, you can just hear the genuineness all these years after, like last year was a lot of the interviews that were going on and he's still breaking up. Like you're still oh yeah um and he's just he's like you go bob rock and you like you think the guy's flying you know coming in on the learjet all the time and he's like most of these interviews he's like just got done feeding his horses craig what was your first experience like i was also traveling uh down to seattle for a ball game and i was on on the amtrak train taking my notes and i I actually wrote, I'm going to read this and don't get mad at me. But I said, hate to be negative on this last album, but there's a lot to pick apart.[15:25] Two days ago, we were supposed to record this episode, and we had to postpone. And that evening, at 10.30 at night, I texted you guys a photo. A package arrived, and the CD was dropped off by Amazon. So I got the CD, and I started looking at the lyrics. And then the next day, I popped it in the car. And it's been in there for a couple days now, and I've been listening to it quite a lot. And my opinion has totally changed. Changed it's like some of this and i think it's what you said jd it's it's a very long album and so some of my favorite songs come at the end and what i what i've been doing is hitting shuffle and that's when it really started to um pick up for me is when i started listening on shuffle before getting the cd that i liked hearing just random songs come on and then and i thought it it was a problem with the sequencing at first but then i realized it's probably more because when the album came out i did listen a couple times when it first came out but i think i only got through the first four songs and so now i'm getting to know and love these later songs and then when i got the cd it just all kind of started working for me and i'm like wow some of the things that i was going to be nitpicking on today's episode i think i've I've grown to appreciate Justin, my man. Yeah.[16:51] Talk to me about your relationship with this release and has it changed since your first listen? So I pre-ordered this last year and yeah, this, this CD was in heavy rotation for me until, um, until you asked us to be part of the podcast. So I've been cold Turkey since January or whenever it was and waiting for for this week to get back into it. Yeah. I love this album, and I wish that Gord had done a Broadway show.[17:27] Um, could you imagine after hearing how strong his vocal is? Um, and especially during this time period. And it's funny, Craig, that you mentioned that you did not like this album. And then today you changed your mind. I took a break from this cause I've been over listening and I went back to the grand bounce and I love that freaking album as of today. And everybody knows I did not love that album when we were doing the podcast. Yay![18:00] Yeah. I love this news. It grew on me big time today. And Justin, one of the interviews that I watched, they actually said that the lyrics were almost like a screenplay on Luster Parfait and that there is a movie inside this album. It's just no one has brought it forth. So I like that. Broadway play. Movie i think i saw some of the same interviews you did um the one with uh terry mulligan was i actually listened to it a few times um to pick that apart but um yeah it would be it would be fantastic if that film was to get made or some sort of video component to this um but you know this was at gourd's you got to remember this the vocals recorded a decade ago and this was at gourd's busiest period and i would say his strongest period um vocally um and seems that way but you know bob also said in the in the interviews that he intentionally um potted gourd's mic up so that it was more on the forefront you know with the hip gourd's voice was an instrument um with this album it is the show and that absolutely rings true and you know jd the the songs that you mentioned just...[19:24] Kick my ass every time i hear it and i've heard them i've heard them 50 times at this point you know without exaggerating um yeah it's it's a very cool album a very confusing album uh stylistically um and it's very long but i can palette that um and i had the same issues craig um with stopping and starting and you hear you've you know you've heard the first six songs on this album probably twice as many times as the final seven or eight um and it's just it takes a commitment to get through it um and every song is long in addition to them there being so many of them um you know there's several songs that are five or six minutes um yeah seven and a half right it's for the moment is a wild place and i'm really interested in in your guys's uh mvp, yeah tracks for this like more than any other album we've done yeah because i think it's going to be all over the place i i've got mine and i i think this was like the easiest choice i've had to make and this is the first time i don't i quite literally don't have an mvp i'm i'm pulling the trigger when we talk every other album first three listens i had it down i mean i'm usually the first one to chime up i i can't i i just haven't been able to pick one it's strange that that it's It's opposite.[20:48] Should we try and untangle this web that Justin just spoke of, this mystery of a record, and go track by track? We start with, Greyboy says.[20:59] Music.[24:42] I mean, from the first note, it's like, what the hell are we listening to? And in the best way, you know, I just had no idea that this is where we were going. You know, and I love World Container and I love We Are The Same. And we all know everything else that Bob Rock has done. And this is not any of those things. It's bizarrely different. Um, and who the hell is gray boy, right? Like I've spent a year now trying to figure that out. And I thought I'd read something that it was a DJ. Um, yeah, I read that too. I'm not sure if it's true or not, but there's a DJ out of San Diego, uh, named gray boy. Um, sort of like an acid jazz DJ I read and it could be him he's referencing, but I'm not sure if that's no idea. Yeah. Um, but yeah, it's just a, a total, it's a mind fuck right from the beginning. And, and I was really like, okay, I'm turning this up. Um, you know, I remember listening to it in my car, um, the first time that I, that I put it on. However, I wanted to ask, um, JD and Craig, if, if you guys had any of this, um, on air in Canada, did, were any of these songs played on terrestrial radio? Yeah.[26:05] I don't recall hearing it on the radio i don't listen to a lot of uh local radio i'm usually, you know serious yeah xm listener but um but no i didn't hear it i did see the video though and so this song is a song i heard right away when it came out because of the the video which uh if you've seen it it has um some of the guys from offspring dexter nude and yeah and And when I look at the track listing, they don't actually, they don't play on the track. So they were just kind of there for the video and having fun filming the video. And Bob Rock's got James Hetfield's ESP that he's playing in it. And so it's a pretty cool video.[26:49] Did you guys recognize the drummer? I did, yeah. So Abe- Abe Laborio Jr. That's Paul McCartney's drummer. Yeah, really quick connection. When I was in my original band back in the 90s, we had a drummer who filled in for us fairly often when we were down a drummer. And he was roommates at Berklee with Abe. Really? And I didn't meet Abe, But one time he was in town for either sting or McCartney and our singer slash, you know, front front man got to jam with Abe and he came back and told me that he has never felt anything like it being in the room with him. He said when the, when the kick drum hit one, it was unlike anything he's ever experienced as a musician. So it was just that tight. And you can hear that tightness in his playing. Yeah. I mean, you don't get picked up as Paul McCartney's drummer, unless you know what the F you're doing. 20 years.[28:17] Video and, and, And he even plays and he's like, he's a beast of a man, right? He's, he's, he's, he's a big guy, but he's just sweet. I've had opportunity. There's a show called ma'am national associate music merchants. If you're a musician, you should know about it. It's every year in Anaheim. So it's pretty close. So I've been going for years and years and he's there quite a bit. And so, you know, had few little interactions and he's just, yeah, he's a, he's a sweetheart just, and, and an incredible musician. Oh, wow. Incredible musician. Well, they did it weird, right? Because they released Lester Parfait, and then they released a three-song EP, or maybe that was the time they released Lester Parfait. And then they released a six-song EP. And it had The Moment is a Wild Place, Camaro, Lester Parfait, Grey Boy Says, I think. So they did that But I'm not sure about, I'm not sure whether Lester Parfait Was considered the lead single or not Hold on I have it open here So that's why I asked you guys If you'd heard it on the air because Again the station that I talk about all the time Here WBQX played Lester Parfait Over and over last year Wow And I think that I heard Grey Boy Says as well On the radio.[29:45] Damn So we were talking earlier about sequencing. I believe it was Craig that was talking about it. So we'll start with him here because when I first heard the next track, which is the Raven and the Red-Tailed Hawk, I remember thinking, what the fuck kind of sequencing is this? We go from, you know, this crazy rock song to like a kid's song. And then all of a sudden that chorus hits and you're just like, wow. I would love to be next to a fucking stack listening to that, feeling my pant legs whistle in the wind. Fucking right. That would be just fantastic. Craig, what do you think of The Raven and the Red-Tailed Hawk? I really love this song. I think there's a lot of things that really stuck out. The lyrics were great. The chorus, like you mentioned, is powerful. There's the nod to the east wind, I think, in the lyrics of the chorus.[30:47] And it's just a strongly written song. There's a very unique melody. And there's a really cool descending tremolo guitar that I thought was effective. And some nice piano. piano there's a really wild synth solo which was really cool followed by an acoustic guitar solo which you know to to the opposite of what i said last song i loved i thought bob rock killed that solo an acoustic guitar solo is very hard to pull yes agreed to make it sound you have to be spot on and not only does the tone of the guitar have to be good but you have to have the feel.[31:28] And because you hear every slide you hear every nuance you're every bend you hear every chord configuration if you're if you're throwing that in so i agree 100 craig yeah you have to be kyle gas and when you're playing a playing an acoustic soloing you don't have that sustain when you're bending a note so it's just a so someone who tries to play you know just take electric solo and played on acoustic it's not going to sound the same so i thought he did a great job of crafting a solo that worked um there was some really cool like compositional tricks with you know like you know leading tones passing tones and just lots of lots of things to love in this um and also one quick thing at the end the vocal jumps up an octave going into that last chorus just a great great trick yeah and yeah the lyrics i just you know pulled out the lyric booklet two days ago and really wild stuff what do you think justin yeah it's the same exactly the same it's a kid's song and then it's not right um and it's the the storytelling and the.[32:40] You know i can see that helmet the imagery that he tells the story um and one of these interviews um um, that Gord had done, um, which nobody knew it at the time, but it was during these sessions.[32:58] Um, he had mentioned that Bob had asked him to speak more clearly. Don't be so vague with your lyrics. Tell, tell a story that people can understand without having to pull out an encyclopedia and boy, you got it right in this one. Um, you know, this is, it's very cut and dried. Um, it's, it's nothing to figure out. I, I just love how, how clear and concise it is. And some days I just can't do it, you know? Um.[33:28] I think we've all had that. Fuck yeah. Kirk, what do you think? Well, being the elder of the group and someone who really grew up in the 80s, I heard this song. I was joking before when we first started talking on, you can't see me, folks, but I'm doing the 80s dance. When I heard that song the first time, I got that new wave post. I just felt like a kid again in high school. And when you'd hear those, we were in the heart of new wave. It was like true post-punk, like Sex Pistols, late 70s, early 80s, punk, post-punk, where it's now you're getting the precursors to, you know, what becomes Green Day and Blink-182 and everything. But there's, I mean, fuck, there's five keyboards parts on this song, five separate keyboard, you know, credits listed and you can hear it. Um, so, you know, I would say, I know I'd mentioned at the beginning, like I couldn't pick an MVP. This was one that just always stood out. I wouldn't again say MVP, but loved it. It made me feel good every time I listened to it. And then Kirk's going to roll into his second criticism of the entire, uh, series. And I believe it was, is it Tim? I was just going to say, who are you, Tim?[34:47] Like i don't necessarily have an issue with fade outs but i struggled with the fade out on this one i really did i i was like i don't come on just like end it it's a long fade out too it's a long very long fade out very long fade out so um so you know i uh i i again if you guys know i really don't care but odds it's it's all good matthew good he was also strippers union so you know yeah he did the drums on that he was also like the house drummer for the kids in the hall so oh yeah yeah so like how cool is that that you got you go from paul mccartney's drummer to you know brian adams matthew good all the stuff that that pat did so um yeah uh great song uh just uh really helping the love affair uh with the album and uh you know outside of the i could have done without the fade out um friggin loved.[35:56] It friggin loved it it's a 20 second fade out though like it's it's long it's much sort of it's much i'm usually okay with it but this was you know the one thing though the reason why i brought it up is because i kept having to look at my phone going did my phone die um because i'm like the song was the next song wasn't coming he's got late and i couldn't tell if it was going out or if it was the intro but it's yeah it's a 20 second long outro insane justin how about you buddy yeah i i knew somebody was going to mention the fade out. I didn't hate it because the song is kind of long and it's like, alright, it kind of feels appropriate.[36:38] But yeah, no, I just love the song and I don't know, how many times are you going to say the sonic sounds like nothing else you know and i i understand you know he really wasn't necessarily involved in much of the the writing of the parts, um but i don't know it's just so freaking cool yeah it is it's very cool, so luster parfait what do you think of that track that's the one song that my daughter has grabbed a hold of because of the hey hey hey um you know i don't i don't know what the song is about but i picture it as gourd's love letter to music um and you know performing live we gather in the dark um you know we can only connect um that's that may be the only way that some people connect that's how we all connected right is through music and specifically gourd's music um i just this this uh this song you can't help but feel good listening to um it's such a fun freaking song and there's horns and there's that little you know half step.[37:58] Kind of thing in the chorus and it's it's really really interesting and it's very fun and it's funny almost um just the the energy that that gourd has and that the entire i want to say band but you know the people playing in the song it just sounds like every i can picture every single person in there playing with a smile on their face you know and and just enjoying the shit out of this whole process it's a luster parfait baby would you dig into the yeah because it starts off with horns and you we haven't had horns per se um on i mean i guess is this what it sounded with davis manning like i i i'll put my cards out there and i haven't heard a lot of it so i don't really know what the hip sounded like with him, but like you've got a full on sack. So what's that, Justin? Not like this. Davis Manning did not sound like this.[39:02] Ah no he sounded like uh and i he sounded like an 80s you know bar band saxophonist that's because that's exactly what it was who can it be now i'm in at work right but the horns just hit you right up front um and uh the the sax solo like in the middle and then And, you know, a really cool, as we talked about, you know, it's got a hard ending, which is great. But in the end, that little vamp with the B3 and the piano, like Justin said, the music all around, you just, you can't listen to it and not smile and not feel like that was the energy when it was being recorded.[39:51] So the one note that I wrote here too that I think is really cool. Um and it kind of speaks to what you guys were saying is like a like a a letter to music but he described the bridge bob did uh as being essentially the sensational alex harvey band and if you don't know anything about the sensational alex harvey band just look it up just youtube it and i'll leave that there um you know i guess i'll call it like the canadian david Bowie during the Ziggy Stardust years is, is probably a good way to describe it. So, um, but how cool is that? That like throwing that right in, right in after you get these two rockers and now he's going glam and, um, yeah, this just brilliant, uh, brilliant, brilliant, uh, title track song.[40:47] I really liked the, speaking of the bridge, the sort of chromatics and the bridge. And then at the very end, it blends into the final chorus.[40:59] So, you know, luster parfait, hey, hey, which I thought was very cool. Um yeah and speaking of the lyrics at the at the start it says isn't it funny how little we can do how much we are like a scene from the deluge and i looked up a scene from the deluge because it was capitalized and i found a painting called scene from a deluge from 1806, and it's a pretty wild painting i'll just read the description really quickly the man perched on a rock hangs from a from a tree that is beginning to break he tries to pull up his wife and two children all while supporting on his back an old man who carries a purse in his hand the sky is streaked with lightning like justin right now and a cadaver floats in the agitated water it's a pretty i'll just hold my screen it's pretty wild um anyways uh pretty wild so i'm not sure what he's getting at but uh but yeah definitely what's the lyric yeah it's the it's the intro isn't it funny how little we can do how much we are like a scene from the deluge, which as you describe it, it was pretty, uh, pretty stark. Yeah. Like, yeah.[42:26] Yeah. Like he's hanging on to like his wife and two kids with one arm, like by her one arm. So I guess there's not too much he can do.[42:35] Other quick notes. I just want to mention the horns. So the horns, the saxophone is played by Tom Keenleyside, who is a local Vancouver-based saxophone flautist. And he has been all over. He has played with so many different artists. and actually the very first cassette i ever bought back in grade seven i think i just finished grade seven and i was in the kitchen i can still i remember exactly where i was and on the radio came, rag doll by aerosmith 1987 and i was drawn in by the horns because i i'm i started playing saxophone in grade six so i was drawn in by that and steve tyler's voice and that song grabbed me right away I took my money from my piggy bank and I bought a Walkman and a cassette tape you know the next day and that's really where my journey with rock music started and so Bob Rock was the engineer on that album Permanent Vacation and Tom Cunley side played the saxophone so I thought there's a cool kind of full circle for for me personally um you know seeing that he was the one And because as soon as I heard horns, I knew it was him. Listen, I don't know where you would put a showcase track on a record from a sequencing standpoint.[44:02] Music.[50:44] The vocals uh that are going on in this um you got and then going back to bob and all the guitars like you've got acoustic guitars you got two lead guitars you've got what sounds almost like what i know as like a slack hawaiian slack guitar it sounds like a pedal steel but there's nothing in the liner the the the pedal steel song is not this song um it's got that kind of a you know of acoustic and slide in the beginning and and then you've got this the chorus that just uh you know it's uh it it it's like a dump truck of love coming down with this massive gourd here i am and and you understand why many people call it their favorite and uh a song that is seven minutes in 26 seconds and sounds like it's maybe a couple minutes so when you know that a song that's that long can just like you get lost in and you don't even think that it's that long you know you know it's it's obviously very very well written craig what were your thoughts i thought the.[52:02] Yeah the chorus was was what made it and the moment is a wild place reminded me of you know like a theme throughout his work about living in the moment where whether it's the dance and its disappearance or never ending ending present and i'm sure there are many others i know we've discussed them on this podcast so that was really really a great tie-in um the hawaiian guitar i loved as well at the start and you know you have to think that it is bob rock playing that so it you know he lives in maui much of you know much of the year from what i've heard and And, you know, he's soaking up all that Island music and, and yeah, my only other real note was, um, like a couple of quick things. Sean Nelson is the drummer on this track and the last one who I had to look up and he's actually, um.[52:54] Not someone who's played on a ton of high profile albums or anything. He's a drum instructor out of, I believe, San Francisco, I read. And, you know, very cool that he had that opportunity to work on this album. And one last thing, the piano flourishes at the end, reminded me of Dr. P from the country of miracles, which was very cool. Nice callback. Wow. Yeah. That's a great. Yeah. Justin, how about you? The moment is a wild place. Well, you know, I keep referencing my love of Prague and this sounds like a pink board. I can see that.[53:38] I love that it's long. I love that it's got, they use all 88 keys. You know, from low to high, it's It's really just a beautiful song, and the lyrics remind me of Secret Path. Heal. I don't know. There's definitely some tie-ins in my brain to Channing and his story. I don't believe that. Wow. Because this was probably written before secret path was even in chords around the same time around the same time it was birthed.[54:24] Yeah. But you know, I just, yeah, I think this is one of the songs that Bob said that Gordon heard completed before he passed.[54:36] Oh, that's nice to hear. Yeah. Uh, and, but Jesus Christ, the range that this guy has, right? Like, uh, I don't know. It, it, I fall apart whenever I hear the song. It's it's in in the best of ways you hear this song and it's almost like has he not been trying all these years you know because he's like he's got this in his fucking back pocket holy shit you have this in your back pocket and you're 50 years old time gourd god the other thing that i think is is uh something i just want to comment on really quickly is somebody who deals with mental wellness and is uh working on his mental health i look at this song almost the same way i look at the darkest one in that it's got this sort of clever twist right it's like the wild are strong, and the strong are the darkest ones and you're the darkest one so it's like starts out as almost this great compliment but it turns into something else and in this song it's like hey everybody you got to be in the moment you got to be in the moment but sometimes the moment is a wild fucking place that you don't want to be in so i'm going to put a bow in this jd and you guys.[56:04] So yeah i had mentioned earlier i was you know on the rooftop in madrid and i'm listening to the I'm listening to the Kevin Drew Niles interview, and you'd put this song in, sorry, Inside Baseball.[56:23] This song comes on, and it turns midnight in Madrid, and frigging fireworks start going off everywhere around the city. And I don't know if it was the transition from June to July. I don't know if it was the Spain had just won their Euro cup game earlier in the day, or if it was just, you know.[56:52] Tuesday in Spain at midnight, we like to put off fireworks, but I'm, I'm, you know, up there. Like I said, I've had a few glasses. I'm feeling wonderful. I'm jet lagged. I'm listening to that brilliant, brilliant, brilliant interview. The song comes on and fireworks start shooting off quite literally in the middle of it. So the moment is a wild place. Yeah, sure fucking is. Boy. Well, let's move to track five and something more. Craig, how do you feel something more lives up to its role as a follow-up song for The Moment is a Wild Place? This is a tour de force song and a showcase piece. Is this the right sequencing order? I'm just curious what you think. Yeah, that's a good question. I'll need to think about that some more, but I do think the song was quite good. It reminded me, vocally reminded me of like earlier Gord.[57:58] And it's the first song on Lester Parfait that did sound like a previous version of Gord. The horns are great, which is what makes it sound so it doesn't just sound like a copy of something that he did earlier. There were some great dissonant guitar shots that were very cool and a little horn part. And of course, we have to shout out the drummer on this song because it is none other than Johnny Faye, who makes an appearance a number of times on this album. And you can tell. He just has such a great... He's playing on an album with Pat Stewart, with Abe, and he fits right in there because he's just such a musical player.[58:46] He has such a great tone to his drums always, and it was just a treat to hear him again. He's also listed as backing vocals. I think that's on a later track. I think track number 11, I think, for some reason. Oh, okay. All right. Right. But speaking of vocals, I have in my notes that Johnny Faye said this was Gord's best vocal ever recorded, hip or otherwise. I've never heard – I've been listening to him since 1989, and I've never heard anything like this. Right, right. There's a lot of strong, strong Gord vocals. And he's also got a very powerful voice. We know that because watching a special video of his later performances where he's more guttural and screaming but holding the microphone down at his belly button. And you can still hear just how powerful his voice is. That's really wild that Johnny Faye would say that. This is the first one that, at least for the album version.[59:58] This song is actually towards the end. So kind of wild. Or at least from a lyrical standpoint, it goes something more in the field, and then there goes the sun. So it's one of the last three songs on the album. you've got an error your album's on that skirt my album is a wild place i'm not i'm not even lying guys i'm not lying look at it right there it's third from the end odd odd that that you know as we talk about the sequencing that's the listed you know outside of the comment from johnny i just you know gothic synths driving drums bright horns really amazing solo um uh just I like it actually in the spot that we're talking about it from a sequencing standpoint, as opposed to towards the end. Because it is one of those that, I guess they're all in the MVP category opportunity, but this to me might have been in the upper quarter of MVP opportunities.[1:01:04] What do you think, Justin? um i spent a fair amount of time on the lyrics on this one and trying to there's a lot of stuff that's in quotes um and i tried to figure out what he was referencing by a lot of stuff and the only thing this is the silliest thing that i think could have come out of this was the cool hand of a girl all i found for that was a mexican restaurant in toronto jd have you been there it's It's called The Cool Hand of a Girl.[1:01:39] Hand of a Girl. That's the only thing that I found on the internet with those words in hand. No, I've not heard of that restaurant. No. And I did some research on the restaurant, and it's been open since before this was recorded. So was he talking about a Mexican restaurant? It's an MO, man.[1:01:59] Yeah um i i did love the uh the line i legalize criminality and criminalize dissent i love that because i american who is fucking terrified right now and um that's where i live is where criminality is legal and dissent is criminal uh quite fucking literally, um i don't know the um you know you guys had referenced that this is this is sort of old gourd and the thing that really stuck out for me because i felt the same way it was yeah he said fuck you in this song and this album to that point feels too clean to have those lyrics, to have him say that. And the way that he says it is really live-gored, you know, the ranting voice, almost. He drags the F out in that word.[1:03:09] I like this song. It's not my favorite. I don't know why it's not my favorite i don't know why it's not not my favorite but um yeah this song is is fine and it the the as far as the sequencing goes you know the moment is a wild place is such a deep valley um that this just gets us right back up in the air and and we're on to our next stop and And, um, I, I liked the energy of it, um, to follow, um, yeah, in a wild place. But, um, other than that, I don't know. I think it's got another showcase vocal, uh, toward the end, the latter third of the song when he goes up high. Yeah, for sure. I don't know if you guys, uh, like, I'm not going to try and sing it, but do you know the part I'm talking about where he goes up very high? Yeah. Again, that's not something we've heard from him before. Him going into a place like that.[1:04:15] I could see the classic Gord sweat in this song. He worked hard in this one. And you know what? Moving on to Camaro, I sort of get a sweaty kind of vibe from this one, too. What do you think about this one, Justin? My first thought was, is Gord a secret car guy? like that would be amazing for you oh, No, I mean, this, this is, uh, this is, you know, you're in high school and this is the first car you can afford. Um, this is not a nice Camaro, by the way, the, I had, this is a, this is a 72 that nobody wanted and I found it for 400 bucks in the classifieds and let's go, you know, um, uh, I don't know. It's got no floor on the passenger side but everything else is cool you can see the lines on the road through the friggin' drin you can Barney Rubble it, it's a piece of shit but it's my car, it's my wheels and I love it, I actually went back and listened to other Camaro related songs.[1:05:33] Kings of Leon and Dead Milkmen Bitchin' Camaro You know, just, just, I went back to that for some reason. I don't know. It was, it was cool to just kind of revisit that. Bitching Camaro. Did you see Justin on this particular song and this actually brings up a question for me. The song is Bob said was written because that's his wife's favorite car was a Camaro and then he gave it to Gord and Gord was like, I don't want to write about a Camaro. I'm going to write about a girl named Camaro. So the lyrics are about a girl named Camaro but the title Camaro came from bob's um and this is again this is just what bob mentioned about it um his wife's favorite car so apologies yeah and isn't that crazy isn't that totally crazy and and.[1:06:36] Yeah. You know, a great song. Um, I have, uh, I have like talking heads listed as kind of a vibe in, in, in a lot of them actually have a real, you know, kind of eccentric talking heads, kind of odd jazzed influence horns, um, as well. So, yeah, but anyway, love that. It's a girl named Camaro. Great. I love the line of the chorus, Camaro, the name means just what you think the car can do, go. Just the way he phrases it is just very odd. Until I read it, I didn't realize what he was trying to say at the end.[1:07:16] And yeah, just very cool phrasing. it reminded me of um i couldn't get the simpsons out of my head the canyonero canyonero, but that's just where my mind went but my also my dad had he's currently rebuilding a uh a 1980 camaro in silver so i'm uh i actually just texted him to see if he could text me a picture of it but he's uh he's a car guy and yeah he's working on one as we speak so So it did bring back a memory that I had repressed from high school where I got a ride with a buddy's sister's boyfriend who had a Trans Am, you know, like a Burt Reynolds Smokey and the Bandit vintage. And we went 140 miles an hour on the way home. That's the only time I was certain that I was going to die was in the backseat of that car. And it's a Trans Am, not a Camaro, but same thing. Yeah. Yeah. Night.[1:08:15] Music.[1:12:50] The North Shore is the first track on the record to me that sounds like vintage hip. It could be at home on Day for Night, a different production version of it could have been on Fully Completely, maybe even Hen House. It's of that sort of vintage. Am I totally crazy, or am I barking up the right tree, Kurt? Yeah i mean i have i have written uh alt rock style um kind of ballad so you know that's i think that hip would fall into that that uh realm but the song sounded big to me it got big you know it starts off with that kind of acoustic piano in intro and um and and the cool thing like most scored lyrics is like is he talking about the north shore of maui is he talking about the north shore of you know lake ontario everyone because like everyone kind of has a north shore, and um i i uh i i i just appreciate again the his ability to um.[1:14:05] Keep you guessing and keep us talking for many more episodes of podcasts to dissect Accord's lyrics. Yeah. And I recall seeing an interview with Bob Rock where he kind of mentioned the same thing. He talked about the North shore in Maui. There's a North shore in Vancouver where, you know, Bob Rock would, would know about the North shore that I actually spent the first four years of my life on the North shore in North Vancouver. And, um, I'm I'm thinking he's probably talking about the lake only because he mentions, I think it swallows, which there wouldn't be, I don't think in Maui on the North shore there. It's much too windy. There's little sparrows, I think, but I could be wrong.[1:14:46] But, but yeah, it's meant to be for wherever your North shore is. And it really is a great song. It could be, could have been a radio hit is that, that type of song I did. This is one of those songs that earlier on I had a critique about the chorus being too generic. So the chord structure is one we've heard a million times. But then the more I listened to it, I started thinking, well, there's a reason this chord structure has been used a million times. It's powerful. And when Gord is added to this mix, it does sound original. And it sounds great. I really love the harmonies at the end in the guitar. There's some sort of like Boston seventies via seventies, like guitar rock vibe on the, on the harmonies, which I dug or like, or like almost like a thin Lizzie or something. So yeah, solid song all around.[1:15:39] Justin, your thoughts. Yeah. I actually, um, view this as a followup to the last recluse. Um, like, yep. That's all that to me lyrically. Um, I also went back to Summer's Killing Us from In Between Evolution, because I really do love the lyrics about one more breeze and summer's complete. And then at the end, he goes back to summer lowers its flag now. And obviously the word is summer. And so that is my tie in. But, you know, the the uptempo of summer is killing us and summer exists at the fair. Right you know like this is yeah summer kicks ass and then this is the end of it like we're going back to school now and uh the leaves are falling off of the trees and you know it just um i also really loved the line we occurred to each other 48 hours a day how fucking amazing is that line um when you're in love holy hell that's that's all you think about and um.[1:16:52] Fingers and toes 40 things we share you know uh yeah or fireworks um yeah believing in the country of me and you that's what it was yeah yeah yeah i agree with the last recluse reference though and the way he sings it is actually very similar to we held hands between our bikes it's very and if you've seen the video for the last recluse as well they actually show that with you know these two kids with their yeah well um track number eight is this nowhere kirk this song like i even have i told you about my nights at the ihop i would go after work here over the last couple days and and it's the right next to the hotel and it's simple and so i wrote this on a little napkin holder and my note says it's the same phrasing as one from.[1:17:42] You too i'm sure you guys all that's right yes yeah so and then all of a sudden what's that justin reference to it too midway through the song oh yeah it it's not getting better like he's bull right he is ripping this song he's admitting yep that's a great pick up justin yeah good friend right and then you have one more coffee in the bill which is gonna come up later as one of the lyrics and the backing that the chorus just boom shade shade of all now is that someone that you guys were familiar with ahead of this because I didn't know anything about her until I did the research Justin yeah No, Craig has a story. So Che, Amy Dorval is someone I had to look up because I heard the vocals on this song and I was so blown away by the backing vocals that I had to look her up. And she's from here. She's from Vancouver.[1:18:49] And I think she may be based out of Toronto now. I'm not quite sure. She has a couple of dates coming up in Portland and Seattle, I believe, but nothing here. So I was hoping to go check her out. But yeah, it turns out she worked with Devin Townsend on a project called Casualties of Cool. And so I went onto YouTube and looked that up. And it's very, very cool. Kind of like ambient stuff with just beautiful vocals. And yeah, Devin Townsend is a local musician who, yeah, I remember playing back in 95, sharing a bill with him when he played in a band called Strapping Young Lad. And now he's like a, you know, worldwide world, you know, renowned, uh, musician. And, uh, yeah, we have a, yeah, we have a bit of a band connection with him too. That I won't get into on, on air, but yeah. I want to love you.[1:19:45] That's so cool and then just my last two things on this song um, bob wrote five songs on her solo album and i don't know that he helped with the production he may have been the producer on it but he he wrote five songs with her very in a similar style that um he did with gourd but this is the part that gutted me gourd didn't hear the vocal, It was added after he passed.[1:20:43] I mean you know there's so many haters out there you know he the guy produced the the biggest album of the 90s like the the biggest decade for music um you know i'm pretty sure sales wise yeah i'm pretty sure the 90s as far as like you know you know actual physical product i gotta say this about bob he gives two fucks yep and it's just good for good for him to work with two he just he's living in maui with his wife and his horses and spending time with his kids and you know try you know yeah oh yeah i got to deal with this bon jovi album or this you know offspring album whatever else and then i'm gonna go and wake up and pick one of my 700 guitars and he's got he's got like just he's got he's got music for days but he doesn't sing so i mean he does a little backup vocals or whatever else but i love that about because you know i'm kind of teetering on this i love the bob rock hip albums and of course i am loving this album and and i appreciate the other stuff that i mean metallica that you know that i think that especially if you're a musician like i think i know every main riff from the black album i can't play it all but i know all the riffs of you know sandman and and um and i loved watching that documentary you know almost swore out the VHS. So I'm telling you how old I am again.[1:22:08] Yeah. Another thing about that song, I love the part after the chorus. There's that melody, the da-na, da-na, just at first it kind of throws you, but it's a really great choice.[1:22:20] And I'm going to give a little critique here. This guitar solo kind of kills me. It, it, it's just so generic and kind of boring. And actually now that you bring up the videotape of the, the Metallica, I think it's called day in the life of, I used to have a video VHS copy of that too. And there's a, there's a time on that when he's giving Kirk Hammett such a hard time about the solo. I think it was the unforgiven maybe. And he's just like, no, do it again. Do it. Gotta do your homework. Gotta do your homework. You don't do your fucking homework. So I was picturing like Kirk Hammett being in there, like giving him a hard, like hard time. And, you know, he needed, he needed Bob rock and needed a Bob rock on this song. I think.[1:23:07] Well, again, I think it comes, it comes from the fact though, too, that we've been listening to, you know, these bands and, and these records that have such a feel to them, you know, a cohesive feel. Feel and this record doesn't have that same sort of cohesive feel it's it's all over the place right 14 songs 14 songs that's in in in all the things you read he he gave him 14 songs and he got 14 songs back there was no added there was no cut it was 14 14 straight across and and at no point did i see anything that said like okay this this track was written in 1985 this track was It was written in 2010. It just was part of his cadre of music that he's had lying around. And again, I'd really be interested to know if the titles are Bob's or Gord's. I'd be really interested to know. I guess ultimately it would have come down to Bob in the end. But I'm sure he would have respected it. I think Gord, in their discussions, they would have had. I'm sure. But you're right. I mean, they are co-producers.[1:24:23] Co-writers of the of the record yeah craig i'll put a bow on your statement this was sorry i'm i'm getting a little too flowery with the bob rock quotes and everything else but his statement was budget wise i was the only guitar player available, so there's your answer to the solo okay okay sorry bob i i really i should say i i'm a bob rock fan i love both of the hip albums he did and and like i already mentioned my permanent vacation story and also sonic temple was a big one for me when i was young and that was his yeah me and my buddy found that cassette tape on the side of the road by my dad's work someone had thrown it out the window or something and we found it no no case just the tape and took that home and And yeah, so I'm a big, big Bob rock fan. So sorry, Justin. Yeah. I mean, apart from the backing vocals, I don't love this song. Um, and I think it's kind of the reasons why you guys said it's just not something musically doesn't do it for me. Um, and that's no disrespect to anybody, but the, you know, the background vocals are just so freaking stellar that it's it props the song up probably higher than it should rank for me.[1:25:48] Um yeah and i really you know i didn't care for the youtube the youtube riff and and it just it's just strange right it pulls you out it almost pulls you out of the song because you're like thrust into another song but like i said i do i do appreciate that gourd references the u2 song yes and says it's not getting better that's very cool okay all right well then we know what we're doing at least yeah good on him for for recognizing that and i'm guessing it was just an accident then he he either he noticed it or someone else pointed it out and then yeah know, I'll just add a lyric in here and it's all good. I think it's better than one personally. The next song is To Catch the Truth. Kurt, we'll start with you. Yeah, man. So here we go. We got a ska song, a frigging ska song, in my opinion. No doubt, Mighty Mighty Boston's, whatever your flavor is. But.[1:26:51] I love ska. I love ska. My wife loves ska and we grew up in Orange County. I used to go see No Doubt, play at colleges and play at local bars and crap like that.[1:27:07] And Mighty Mighty Boston is probably the – not even probably, by far the loudest concert I've ever been to, leaps and bounds. But gorge's doing a ska tune um west coast punk was uh was mentioned in a couple of the reviews that i saw vancouver's scene dug in the slugs um it's just a fun great song you know the beauty of ska at least from my standpoint so um loved it absolutely loved the tune jay dog yeah i uh remember very fondly uh watching real big fish in a very small room and um river city rebels were a big ska band horn band here in burlington and i used to you know sneak into shows underage and and love it um it's a fun song it's just fun and um gourd packs a lot into this song um it's i don't really have any any critiques yay or nay other than man i remember being 15 16 years old and going to these shows and having a hell of a good time when i first heard this song the the amount of compression bothered me it's just like.[1:28:31] You know squished and also i found it strange i was thinking in the realm of like goldfinger or something like that and in what in one channel you've got the guitar the other side you've got the piano and i found the way the piano was so clean was a bit bothers bothersome at first, and i had a note i wish it was almost like rag timed up a bit like or you know a bit like maybe even a bit out of tune or just something to give it a little bit of personality that would be my one see this is the song that i felt was like the the mouth i did yeah i think it was the piano a melody but what i mean is is the actual sound yeah no but not the sound i i hear what you're saying craig it was too clean it needed to be like someone had a mic in the room of a saloon with some out of tune piano and then that would have been the that would have been the flavor that would have been the added that well because i like my note west coast punk like you don't tune up when you're playing punk songs you play what's on the friggin guitar that's exactly what So I hear that. I think that's a very fair, very fair criticism.[1:29:37] After listening to it on the CD last night, though, I found that it wouldn't have worked if it was done as a more sort of raw punk or like, if it wasn't compressed in that way, the vocals would not have popped in the same way. And so I think it was probably the right choice in hindsight. But like I said, if it could be just dirtied up a bit in some way, I think I would have enjoyed it a little bit more. I did like the beginning. It's kind of like a strange introduction. There's also those hard stops at the end. What's real? What's fake? There's not a dirty song on this record. You know, this record is not, it's not got, it is like that Camaro. Somebody's out polishing it with a shammy. It's pristine and clean. Let me howl.[1:30:29] Music.[1:36:30] This was one of my favorites. Really enjoyed this song. Really strong melodies. It's unlike any other song in style. And again, we keep coming back to this, but it does not sound like any other Gord song. Doesn't sound like any other song on this album. Very much like an 80s vibe musically. There's a, you know, because I've criticized some solos, I will say I did enjoy the clean guitar solo on this song. And then there's a sax solo that comes in over top of that and i like how that how the tempo goes into halftime and then it kicks back in at the end yeah solid song so i got i got big money from rush in the intro that's what it felt like to me okay so just think of that synth you know.[1:37:21] Big money when before it comes in so but you're right man that that breakdown with the guitar and the sax i just kept repeating that i freaking loved that like and you know you guys you know i i'm i like the dead and and one of the reasons why i think i like the tragically hit because they are jam band no matter what you say they are jam band and they're not going to go off into crazy solos well they did go off into crazy gourd vocal solos you could say right but you know rob's not ripping it for 25 minutes and and you know breaking out the wall and making sure you're you know timing your dose just right but um it it i i love that part to this is that um that that that breakdown. Cause you just, and again, and I'm also a big rush fan. So that intro, so yeah, yeah, this is one of those, like I said, I didn't have my MVP, but this was definitely like a strong, strong candidate. And then my final note on this, this was the last vocal recorded before he was diagnosed is some research that I did. So this was the last vocal was let me before, before he was diagnosed entirely for me.[1:38:41] Not necessarily the meaning, but just context. Wow. Been hitting the head with the shovel here. Who else needs to talk about Let Me Howl? I think it's just Justin, right? Who, me? Yeah. Yeah, the sax makes me feel like I'm driving a cab in Manhattan in 1986.[1:39:06] And it's raining out. you know uh it's so freaking cool and it's a long song and it does weird things i remember the first time that i heard it i thought that we were going to have a fade out on the on that half you know the the slower beat um or the half time whatever you want to call it and, and then out of nowhere this massive film and and we're back and we're faster than we were before, right like it there there's a sense of urgency at the end of the song like let me howl here like i'm i gotta get this out and um it's really really fun like again it's, you can slow dance to this song and you can boogie to this song and you can, i don't know it's it's really really fun and um it's up there for mvp for me it's not my mvp but it's top three or four. I also like how the chorus, let me howl. And on the word howl, he has this like glissando up, like a slow glissando up along with the harmony, which is what a wolf does. Like, um, he's not going clean from one note to another. He's got, he's, he's like slurring up to it. Okay. And like, like a wolf would do when they howl.[1:40:30] And also there's some very slight changes to the way he sings it, I believe, if I'm remembering, if this is the song I'm thinking of, where the chorus slightly changes like the notes he's singing different times or the harmony changes. Something changes a little bit that I thought was really cool. I didn't listen to it today, so.[1:40:52] Justin, hell breaks loose. What do you think? I immediately, before I knew it, I knew that this was Johnny Faye playing drums. Um yeah and uh it's it's a it's a really cool again and like i just referenced new york city um and it's in the first line of this song like and he paints the picture of walking into a bar and it's kirk watching a soccer game right uh fireworks on the roof elbow one of the very first dates with, with my, with my wife, we watched a world cup game in a, in a bar that was shoulder to shoulder and it was two teams I didn't give a shit about and everybody was cheering and everybody was drinking and it was, you know, and then one guy got pissed off, bigger screens, bigger feelings. Right. And it's, it's cool.

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Lustre Parfait

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Play Episode Listen Later Jul 23, 2024 125:06

This week on the pod we wrap up Gord's discography with the Bob Rock collaboration, Lustre Parfait.Transcript:[0:00] Long Slice Brewery presents a live event celebration of Gord Downie, July 19th, at the Rec Room in Toronto. Join the hosts of the podcast, Discovering Downie, as they record their finale with special guest, Patrick Downie. A silent auction with items from the hip and many others will take place, along with live entertainment from the almost hip. All proceeds will benefit the Gord Downie Fund for Brain Cancer Research. For more information and tickets, please visit discoveringdowney.com. Clutched clipboard and staring out past the end of her first day into tonight and all the way across oceans of August to September. It makes for a beautifully vacant gaze.[1:08] Music.[1:42] Hey, it's J.D. here and welcome to Discovering Downey, an 11-part project with a focus on the music and poetry of Mr. Gord Downey. The enigmatic frontman of the Tragically Hip, Gord gave to the world an extensive solo discography on top of the vocal acrobatics in the hip that awed us for years. Gord released five albums while he was alive and three more posthumously.[2:09] Now listen, you might think you're the biggest fan of the Tragically Hip out there. However, why is it that so few of us have experience with this solo catalog? Have you really listened to those solo records? My friends Craig, Justin, and Kirk, giant fans of the hip in their own right, fell into that camp. So I invited them to Discover Downey with me, JD, as their host. Every week, we get together and listen to one of Gord's records, working in chronological order. We discuss and dissect the album, the production, the lyrics, and we break it down song by fucking song. This week, we wrap up Gord's discography with an album attributed to both Bob Rock and Gord, Luster Parfait. Craig, how goes it this week? week things are okay a bit of a break tomorrow going off on a little family trip for a couple days meeting my parents and sisters uh you've never met your parents before this is big news dude yeah yeah i think they're gonna like you man congratulations and then yeah and then shortly after that head off to toronto for for an event with you guys whoop whoop yeah How are you doing, Kirk?[3:30] You know, guys, I'm doing pretty good. It was 107 out here in Boise, Idaho, where I'm on show site. As we mentioned, I was in Europe last week, so I'm not quite sure time zone, temperate zone, what zone I'm in. I just – somebody point me in the right direction and I go. So I'm doing good, though. We had such a great time. But more importantly, I'm just really excited about next week and just hanging with you, you lads and checking out all the stuff that we have planned and, and, you know, especially that the event. So I'm that energy will get me through whatever jet lag, whatever heat stroke, whatever heck I encounter over the next seven days. So, and what about that new item? The hip gave us today to go towards our silent auction. Someone's going to get some major bragging rights. Man, we can't say what it is, but-[4:27] We might be fighting internally for this. We'll be revealing what it is, I guess, Friday. And some other great prize stuff, too. JD, you just told me and Kirk about this ridiculous prize that we got. Craig's got it memorized. Yeah. Two tickets to the Toronto Raptors. $500 in arena gift cards. and two customized or personalized jerseys and a shoot around. Man. Are you ready for this? Come on. That's great. Jadon. Yeah. You're in, you're not in Kansas. Tornado Alley. Tornado Alley. But there's twisters about. Yeah, we just had a...[5:51] And then 20 minutes later, there's a video on Facebook of a frigging tornado a half a mile up the street. What the hell? So we're fine. Yeah, that is freaky. If you look out your window and you see somebody riding a bike in the air, you're in big trouble. With a dog in the basket. That's right. Cow. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, but dude, I'm, I'm good. Otherwise without the weather or with the weather, I'm good. And I'm psyched for next week, man. Ooh. Yeah. Let's go. Justin. I tasted the podcast. Pilsner officially tasted it now. I had four of them at home. I gave two of them to my father-in-law and I drank two of them and they were very crisp. Delicious. Yeah. So it's going to be a lot of fun. Yeah. Awesome.[6:47] When word broke that we'd be getting a third posthumous record from Gord, there was a hush and a wait and see approach. You see, Gord had partnered with Bob Rock back in the 2010s, shortly after Rock had produced probably two of the most divisive records in the Hips catalog. I enjoy both these records a lot, but your mileage may vary. In any case, it was an uneasy feeling for fans. What would this album be? As it turns out, it's a whole lot of everything. There are songs that are reminiscent of the hip, like North Shore. There are horns on the title track, which we got to sample about six months before Lester Parfait dropped. And it relieved us.[7:41] There's even something resembling rack time? Suffice to say, as we've gotten used to saying around these parts, this album is altogether, folks, unlike anything Gord has produced before. It's been said that Bob Rock has a tendency to overstuff the records he produces. It's as though he's just been given access to a 48-track board and he feels compelled to use every last fucking track. rack. On this record, however, his hand seems firmly on the rudder. The songs come across as overly polished, of course, but never too indulgent. If there's one complaint I have, it's that there's too many goddamn songs. On a record as varied as Luster Parfait, you're almost overstimulated by the end. You've been through so many different styles and sounds. If I had it my way, this would be a tight 10-song record, and with the right tracks removed, I dare say this is a collection of songs I would put head-to-head against virtually any other record in Gord's oeuvre.[8:59] Yeah, I think it's that good. There are highs and there are lows on this record, as there have been on each of the albums, but on Luster Parfait, the highs seem higher to me. Have we ever heard Gord sing like he does on The Moment is a Wild Place? Or something more? Have we ever heard a chorus as striking as Is There Nowhere? By the way, big hat tip to Shea Dorval for providing those gorgeous backing vocals. At the end of the day, has Bob Rock redeemed himself with this effort to the haters out there? I would offer a resounding yes. Yes, this is a record that should be listened to loud and on a good pair of headphones. There is so much going on, but it all seems to have a purpose. That's what I think of Lester Parfait.[9:52] Tell me what your experience with the record is, Kirk. Yeah. So the first real listen I had to this album, because I'd been pretty busy with travel and whatnot, we were on our family vacation in Madrid. And beautiful little up on the top of the hotel looking over the city and just enjoying the wonderful atmosphere. And, um, I was actually listening to that kind of rough cut of our, um, rough cut of our interview with, uh, Niles and Kevin. And he had referenced like that. He thought that, you know, the, the, the moment is a wild places is, was his favorite song. And I'm just like, I can't hold off anymore. I need to jump in. So that was my first experience was listening to it, um, on, on the roof in Spain. And since then, it's just been a pretty incredible journey. I spent a lot of time like listening to Bob Rock interviews and, you know, just really understanding where it's coming from. And as you mentioned, JD, like, you know, I understand the divisiveness and whatnot, but oh my gosh, I, I was already in love when I listened to it the first couple of times at this point, you know, I'm, I'm firm in my, my commitment to, to in Gord, we trust, you know, And to see that...[11:17] That friendship. I mean, he, he, he makes the statement. We were like two teenagers that were in the studio, just making music together. And, um, you know, to hear how the whole process went and I know we'll get into it and everybody, you know, obviously we'll provide their input. Um, I fell in love with it even more, you know, and, and the variety on this, this album i mean guys we got reggae we got we got west coast punk we got 70s glam we got 80s synth pop we've got you know it it just every even within certain songs you'll have a jump from one friggin genre to another and then you you know you start looking at all the studios they recorded in, the process that it took, the number of years, the people that are involved.[12:13] And especially after we've discussed with the last three albums, like it was just fun to, I felt like, I felt like I got a warm hug from Gord. I really did. Just like, I just was all that, that we went through. It was like, Hey, this is just when it's fun. And this is, this This is for you, music lovers. That's what I felt. That's what I felt. I love that. I haven't watched much with Bob Rock, but I did read that one of the reasons why it took until 2023 to rear its head was because it was too painful for him to, like, he was really emotional following the death of Gordani in 2017. Absolutely. Because they had gotten lungs. Yeah. They had become such close friends and, you know, they reference, you know.[13:09] Uh, Gord flew out to talk about world container and they'd figured that out in 15 minutes. And then they spent the rest, the rest of the conversation talking about being dads, being Canadians, being hockey lovers. And, and then that just continued. And I think those guys, you know, with the level that they were at, I think they kind of found it was a peer to peer relationship.[13:32] And I really felt like they found refuge in each other. And then I think they sought it out because it was a long relationship. I mean, was it 06 when World Container was being made or coming out? Up until the very end. And that's when they first met is when he came out, or at least per what I had listened to. You know, they flew out to Maui, to his studio in Maui, Gord did, and then, you know, like I said, Discuss World Container. And then they didn't really do much as it was described until after the second album, We Are The Same, that they did. And then that's when the, you know, that relationship in the music for Luster Parfait started. So yeah, I mean, I recommend everyone to check into this. And Bob rock doesn't seem like, you know, like you.[14:25] You just, he didn't, didn't do a lot of, I mean, of course he gets on the documentaries, he gets a lot of airtime and whatnot, but beyond that, you know, there's not a ton, I guess, but the stuff specific to this is well worth, you can just hear the genuineness all these years after, like last year was a lot of the interviews that were going on and he's still breaking up. Like you're still oh yeah um and he's just he's like you go bob rock and you like you think the guy's flying you know coming in on the learjet all the time and he's like most of these interviews he's like just got done feeding his horses craig what was your first experience like i was also traveling uh down to seattle for a ball game and i was on on the amtrak train taking my notes and i I actually wrote, I'm going to read this and don't get mad at me. But I said, hate to be negative on this last album, but there's a lot to pick apart.[15:25] Two days ago, we were supposed to record this episode, and we had to postpone. And that evening, at 10.30 at night, I texted you guys a photo. A package arrived, and the CD was dropped off by Amazon. So I got the CD, and I started looking at the lyrics. And then the next day, I popped it in the car. And it's been in there for a couple days now, and I've been listening to it quite a lot. And my opinion has totally changed. Changed it's like some of this and i think it's what you said jd it's it's a very long album and so some of my favorite songs come at the end and what i what i've been doing is hitting shuffle and that's when it really started to um pick up for me is when i started listening on shuffle before getting the cd that i liked hearing just random songs come on and then and i thought it it was a problem with the sequencing at first but then i realized it's probably more because when the album came out i did listen a couple times when it first came out but i think i only got through the first four songs and so now i'm getting to know and love these later songs and then when i got the cd it just all kind of started working for me and i'm like wow some of the things that i was going to be nitpicking on today's episode i think i've I've grown to appreciate Justin, my man. Yeah.[16:51] Talk to me about your relationship with this release and has it changed since your first listen? So I pre-ordered this last year and yeah, this, this CD was in heavy rotation for me until, um, until you asked us to be part of the podcast. So I've been cold Turkey since January or whenever it was and waiting for for this week to get back into it. Yeah. I love this album, and I wish that Gord had done a Broadway show.[17:27] Um, could you imagine after hearing how strong his vocal is? Um, and especially during this time period. And it's funny, Craig, that you mentioned that you did not like this album. And then today you changed your mind. I took a break from this cause I've been over listening and I went back to the grand bounce and I love that freaking album as of today. And everybody knows I did not love that album when we were doing the podcast. Yay![18:00] Yeah. I love this news. It grew on me big time today. And Justin, one of the interviews that I watched, they actually said that the lyrics were almost like a screenplay on Luster Parfait and that there is a movie inside this album. It's just no one has brought it forth. So I like that. Broadway play. Movie i think i saw some of the same interviews you did um the one with uh terry mulligan was i actually listened to it a few times um to pick that apart but um yeah it would be it would be fantastic if that film was to get made or some sort of video component to this um but you know this was at gourd's you got to remember this the vocals recorded a decade ago and this was at gourd's busiest period and i would say his strongest period um vocally um and seems that way but you know bob also said in the in the interviews that he intentionally um potted gourd's mic up so that it was more on the forefront you know with the hip gourd's voice was an instrument um with this album it is the show and that absolutely rings true and you know jd the the songs that you mentioned just...[19:24] Kick my ass every time i hear it and i've heard them i've heard them 50 times at this point you know without exaggerating um yeah it's it's a very cool album a very confusing album uh stylistically um and it's very long but i can palette that um and i had the same issues craig um with stopping and starting and you hear you've you know you've heard the first six songs on this album probably twice as many times as the final seven or eight um and it's just it takes a commitment to get through it um and every song is long in addition to them there being so many of them um you know there's several songs that are five or six minutes um yeah seven and a half right it's for the moment is a wild place and i'm really interested in in your guys's uh mvp, yeah tracks for this like more than any other album we've done yeah because i think it's going to be all over the place i i've got mine and i i think this was like the easiest choice i've had to make and this is the first time i don't i quite literally don't have an mvp i'm i'm pulling the trigger when we talk every other album first three listens i had it down i mean i'm usually the first one to chime up i i can't i i just haven't been able to pick one it's strange that that it's It's opposite.[20:48] Should we try and untangle this web that Justin just spoke of, this mystery of a record, and go track by track? We start with, Greyboy says.[20:59] Music.[24:42] I mean, from the first note, it's like, what the hell are we listening to? And in the best way, you know, I just had no idea that this is where we were going. You know, and I love World Container and I love We Are The Same. And we all know everything else that Bob Rock has done. And this is not any of those things. It's bizarrely different. Um, and who the hell is gray boy, right? Like I've spent a year now trying to figure that out. And I thought I'd read something that it was a DJ. Um, yeah, I read that too. I'm not sure if it's true or not, but there's a DJ out of San Diego, uh, named gray boy. Um, sort of like an acid jazz DJ I read and it could be him he's referencing, but I'm not sure if that's no idea. Yeah. Um, but yeah, it's just a, a total, it's a mind fuck right from the beginning. And, and I was really like, okay, I'm turning this up. Um, you know, I remember listening to it in my car, um, the first time that I, that I put it on. However, I wanted to ask, um, JD and Craig, if, if you guys had any of this, um, on air in Canada, did, were any of these songs played on terrestrial radio? Yeah.[26:05] I don't recall hearing it on the radio i don't listen to a lot of uh local radio i'm usually, you know serious yeah xm listener but um but no i didn't hear it i did see the video though and so this song is a song i heard right away when it came out because of the the video which uh if you've seen it it has um some of the guys from offspring dexter nude and yeah and And when I look at the track listing, they don't actually, they don't play on the track. So they were just kind of there for the video and having fun filming the video. And Bob Rock's got James Hetfield's ESP that he's playing in it. And so it's a pretty cool video.[26:49] Did you guys recognize the drummer? I did, yeah. So Abe- Abe Laborio Jr. That's Paul McCartney's drummer. Yeah, really quick connection. When I was in my original band back in the 90s, we had a drummer who filled in for us fairly often when we were down a drummer. And he was roommates at Berklee with Abe. Really? And I didn't meet Abe, But one time he was in town for either sting or McCartney and our singer slash, you know, front front man got to jam with Abe and he came back and told me that he has never felt anything like it being in the room with him. He said when the, when the kick drum hit one, it was unlike anything he's ever experienced as a musician. So it was just that tight. And you can hear that tightness in his playing. Yeah. I mean, you don't get picked up as Paul McCartney's drummer, unless you know what the F you're doing. 20 years.[28:17] Video and, and, And he even plays and he's like, he's a beast of a man, right? He's, he's, he's, he's a big guy, but he's just sweet. I've had opportunity. There's a show called ma'am national associate music merchants. If you're a musician, you should know about it. It's every year in Anaheim. So it's pretty close. So I've been going for years and years and he's there quite a bit. And so, you know, had few little interactions and he's just, yeah, he's a, he's a sweetheart just, and, and an incredible musician. Oh, wow. Incredible musician. Well, they did it weird, right? Because they released Lester Parfait, and then they released a three-song EP, or maybe that was the time they released Lester Parfait. And then they released a six-song EP. And it had The Moment is a Wild Place, Camaro, Lester Parfait, Grey Boy Says, I think. So they did that But I'm not sure about, I'm not sure whether Lester Parfait Was considered the lead single or not Hold on I have it open here So that's why I asked you guys If you'd heard it on the air because Again the station that I talk about all the time Here WBQX played Lester Parfait Over and over last year Wow And I think that I heard Grey Boy Says as well On the radio.[29:45] Damn So we were talking earlier about sequencing. I believe it was Craig that was talking about it. So we'll start with him here because when I first heard the next track, which is the Raven and the Red-Tailed Hawk, I remember thinking, what the fuck kind of sequencing is this? We go from, you know, this crazy rock song to like a kid's song. And then all of a sudden that chorus hits and you're just like, wow. I would love to be next to a fucking stack listening to that, feeling my pant legs whistle in the wind. Fucking right. That would be just fantastic. Craig, what do you think of The Raven and the Red-Tailed Hawk? I really love this song. I think there's a lot of things that really stuck out. The lyrics were great. The chorus, like you mentioned, is powerful. There's the nod to the east wind, I think, in the lyrics of the chorus.[30:47] And it's just a strongly written song. There's a very unique melody. And there's a really cool descending tremolo guitar that I thought was effective. And some nice piano. piano there's a really wild synth solo which was really cool followed by an acoustic guitar solo which you know to to the opposite of what i said last song i loved i thought bob rock killed that solo an acoustic guitar solo is very hard to pull yes agreed to make it sound you have to be spot on and not only does the tone of the guitar have to be good but you have to have the feel.[31:28] And because you hear every slide you hear every nuance you're every bend you hear every chord configuration if you're if you're throwing that in so i agree 100 craig yeah you have to be kyle gas and when you're playing a playing an acoustic soloing you don't have that sustain when you're bending a note so it's just a so someone who tries to play you know just take electric solo and played on acoustic it's not going to sound the same so i thought he did a great job of crafting a solo that worked um there was some really cool like compositional tricks with you know like you know leading tones passing tones and just lots of lots of things to love in this um and also one quick thing at the end the vocal jumps up an octave going into that last chorus just a great great trick yeah and yeah the lyrics i just you know pulled out the lyric booklet two days ago and really wild stuff what do you think justin yeah it's the same exactly the same it's a kid's song and then it's not right um and it's the the storytelling and the.[32:40] You know i can see that helmet the imagery that he tells the story um and one of these interviews um um, that Gord had done, um, which nobody knew it at the time, but it was during these sessions.[32:58] Um, he had mentioned that Bob had asked him to speak more clearly. Don't be so vague with your lyrics. Tell, tell a story that people can understand without having to pull out an encyclopedia and boy, you got it right in this one. Um, you know, this is, it's very cut and dried. Um, it's, it's nothing to figure out. I, I just love how, how clear and concise it is. And some days I just can't do it, you know? Um.[33:28] I think we've all had that. Fuck yeah. Kirk, what do you think? Well, being the elder of the group and someone who really grew up in the 80s, I heard this song. I was joking before when we first started talking on, you can't see me, folks, but I'm doing the 80s dance. When I heard that song the first time, I got that new wave post. I just felt like a kid again in high school. And when you'd hear those, we were in the heart of new wave. It was like true post-punk, like Sex Pistols, late 70s, early 80s, punk, post-punk, where it's now you're getting the precursors to, you know, what becomes Green Day and Blink-182 and everything. But there's, I mean, fuck, there's five keyboards parts on this song, five separate keyboard, you know, credits listed and you can hear it. Um, so, you know, I would say, I know I'd mentioned at the beginning, like I couldn't pick an MVP. This was one that just always stood out. I wouldn't again say MVP, but loved it. It made me feel good every time I listened to it. And then Kirk's going to roll into his second criticism of the entire, uh, series. And I believe it was, is it Tim? I was just going to say, who are you, Tim?[34:47] Like i don't necessarily have an issue with fade outs but i struggled with the fade out on this one i really did i i was like i don't come on just like end it it's a long fade out too it's a long very long fade out very long fade out so um so you know i uh i i again if you guys know i really don't care but odds it's it's all good matthew good he was also strippers union so you know yeah he did the drums on that he was also like the house drummer for the kids in the hall so oh yeah yeah so like how cool is that that you got you go from paul mccartney's drummer to you know brian adams matthew good all the stuff that that pat did so um yeah uh great song uh just uh really helping the love affair uh with the album and uh you know outside of the i could have done without the fade out um friggin loved.[35:56] It friggin loved it it's a 20 second fade out though like it's it's long it's much sort of it's much i'm usually okay with it but this was you know the one thing though the reason why i brought it up is because i kept having to look at my phone going did my phone die um because i'm like the song was the next song wasn't coming he's got late and i couldn't tell if it was going out or if it was the intro but it's yeah it's a 20 second long outro insane justin how about you buddy yeah i i knew somebody was going to mention the fade out. I didn't hate it because the song is kind of long and it's like, alright, it kind of feels appropriate.[36:38] But yeah, no, I just love the song and I don't know, how many times are you going to say the sonic sounds like nothing else you know and i i understand you know he really wasn't necessarily involved in much of the the writing of the parts, um but i don't know it's just so freaking cool yeah it is it's very cool, so luster parfait what do you think of that track that's the one song that my daughter has grabbed a hold of because of the hey hey hey um you know i don't i don't know what the song is about but i picture it as gourd's love letter to music um and you know performing live we gather in the dark um you know we can only connect um that's that may be the only way that some people connect that's how we all connected right is through music and specifically gourd's music um i just this this uh this song you can't help but feel good listening to um it's such a fun freaking song and there's horns and there's that little you know half step.[37:58] Kind of thing in the chorus and it's it's really really interesting and it's very fun and it's funny almost um just the the energy that that gourd has and that the entire i want to say band but you know the people playing in the song it just sounds like every i can picture every single person in there playing with a smile on their face you know and and just enjoying the shit out of this whole process it's a luster parfait baby would you dig into the yeah because it starts off with horns and you we haven't had horns per se um on i mean i guess is this what it sounded with davis manning like i i i'll put my cards out there and i haven't heard a lot of it so i don't really know what the hip sounded like with him, but like you've got a full on sack. So what's that, Justin? Not like this. Davis Manning did not sound like this.[39:02] Ah no he sounded like uh and i he sounded like an 80s you know bar band saxophonist that's because that's exactly what it was who can it be now i'm in at work right but the horns just hit you right up front um and uh the the sax solo like in the middle and then And, you know, a really cool, as we talked about, you know, it's got a hard ending, which is great. But in the end, that little vamp with the B3 and the piano, like Justin said, the music all around, you just, you can't listen to it and not smile and not feel like that was the energy when it was being recorded.[39:51] So the one note that I wrote here too that I think is really cool. Um and it kind of speaks to what you guys were saying is like a like a a letter to music but he described the bridge bob did uh as being essentially the sensational alex harvey band and if you don't know anything about the sensational alex harvey band just look it up just youtube it and i'll leave that there um you know i guess i'll call it like the canadian david Bowie during the Ziggy Stardust years is, is probably a good way to describe it. So, um, but how cool is that? That like throwing that right in, right in after you get these two rockers and now he's going glam and, um, yeah, this just brilliant, uh, brilliant, brilliant, uh, title track song.[40:47] I really liked the, speaking of the bridge, the sort of chromatics and the bridge. And then at the very end, it blends into the final chorus.[40:59] So, you know, luster parfait, hey, hey, which I thought was very cool. Um yeah and speaking of the lyrics at the at the start it says isn't it funny how little we can do how much we are like a scene from the deluge and i looked up a scene from the deluge because it was capitalized and i found a painting called scene from a deluge from 1806, and it's a pretty wild painting i'll just read the description really quickly the man perched on a rock hangs from a from a tree that is beginning to break he tries to pull up his wife and two children all while supporting on his back an old man who carries a purse in his hand the sky is streaked with lightning like justin right now and a cadaver floats in the agitated water it's a pretty i'll just hold my screen it's pretty wild um anyways uh pretty wild so i'm not sure what he's getting at but uh but yeah definitely what's the lyric yeah it's the it's the intro isn't it funny how little we can do how much we are like a scene from the deluge, which as you describe it, it was pretty, uh, pretty stark. Yeah. Like, yeah.[42:26] Yeah. Like he's hanging on to like his wife and two kids with one arm, like by her one arm. So I guess there's not too much he can do.[42:35] Other quick notes. I just want to mention the horns. So the horns, the saxophone is played by Tom Keenleyside, who is a local Vancouver-based saxophone flautist. And he has been all over. He has played with so many different artists. and actually the very first cassette i ever bought back in grade seven i think i just finished grade seven and i was in the kitchen i can still i remember exactly where i was and on the radio came, rag doll by aerosmith 1987 and i was drawn in by the horns because i i'm i started playing saxophone in grade six so i was drawn in by that and steve tyler's voice and that song grabbed me right away I took my money from my piggy bank and I bought a Walkman and a cassette tape you know the next day and that's really where my journey with rock music started and so Bob Rock was the engineer on that album Permanent Vacation and Tom Cunley side played the saxophone so I thought there's a cool kind of full circle for for me personally um you know seeing that he was the one And because as soon as I heard horns, I knew it was him. Listen, I don't know where you would put a showcase track on a record from a sequencing standpoint.[44:02] Music.[50:44] The vocals uh that are going on in this um you got and then going back to bob and all the guitars like you've got acoustic guitars you got two lead guitars you've got what sounds almost like what i know as like a slack hawaiian slack guitar it sounds like a pedal steel but there's nothing in the liner the the the pedal steel song is not this song um it's got that kind of a you know of acoustic and slide in the beginning and and then you've got this the chorus that just uh you know it's uh it it it's like a dump truck of love coming down with this massive gourd here i am and and you understand why many people call it their favorite and uh a song that is seven minutes in 26 seconds and sounds like it's maybe a couple minutes so when you know that a song that's that long can just like you get lost in and you don't even think that it's that long you know you know it's it's obviously very very well written craig what were your thoughts i thought the.[52:02] Yeah the chorus was was what made it and the moment is a wild place reminded me of you know like a theme throughout his work about living in the moment where whether it's the dance and its disappearance or never ending ending present and i'm sure there are many others i know we've discussed them on this podcast so that was really really a great tie-in um the hawaiian guitar i loved as well at the start and you know you have to think that it is bob rock playing that so it you know he lives in maui much of you know much of the year from what i've heard and And, you know, he's soaking up all that Island music and, and yeah, my only other real note was, um, like a couple of quick things. Sean Nelson is the drummer on this track and the last one who I had to look up and he's actually, um.[52:54] Not someone who's played on a ton of high profile albums or anything. He's a drum instructor out of, I believe, San Francisco, I read. And, you know, very cool that he had that opportunity to work on this album. And one last thing, the piano flourishes at the end, reminded me of Dr. P from the country of miracles, which was very cool. Nice callback. Wow. Yeah. That's a great. Yeah. Justin, how about you? The moment is a wild place. Well, you know, I keep referencing my love of Prague and this sounds like a pink board. I can see that.[53:38] I love that it's long. I love that it's got, they use all 88 keys. You know, from low to high, it's It's really just a beautiful song, and the lyrics remind me of Secret Path. Heal. I don't know. There's definitely some tie-ins in my brain to Channing and his story. I don't believe that. Wow. Because this was probably written before secret path was even in chords around the same time around the same time it was birthed.[54:24] Yeah. But you know, I just, yeah, I think this is one of the songs that Bob said that Gordon heard completed before he passed.[54:36] Oh, that's nice to hear. Yeah. Uh, and, but Jesus Christ, the range that this guy has, right? Like, uh, I don't know. It, it, I fall apart whenever I hear the song. It's it's in in the best of ways you hear this song and it's almost like has he not been trying all these years you know because he's like he's got this in his fucking back pocket holy shit you have this in your back pocket and you're 50 years old time gourd god the other thing that i think is is uh something i just want to comment on really quickly is somebody who deals with mental wellness and is uh working on his mental health i look at this song almost the same way i look at the darkest one in that it's got this sort of clever twist right it's like the wild are strong, and the strong are the darkest ones and you're the darkest one so it's like starts out as almost this great compliment but it turns into something else and in this song it's like hey everybody you got to be in the moment you got to be in the moment but sometimes the moment is a wild fucking place that you don't want to be in so i'm going to put a bow in this jd and you guys.[56:04] So yeah i had mentioned earlier i was you know on the rooftop in madrid and i'm listening to the I'm listening to the Kevin Drew Niles interview, and you'd put this song in, sorry, Inside Baseball.[56:23] This song comes on, and it turns midnight in Madrid, and frigging fireworks start going off everywhere around the city. And I don't know if it was the transition from June to July. I don't know if it was the Spain had just won their Euro cup game earlier in the day, or if it was just, you know.[56:52] Tuesday in Spain at midnight, we like to put off fireworks, but I'm, I'm, you know, up there. Like I said, I've had a few glasses. I'm feeling wonderful. I'm jet lagged. I'm listening to that brilliant, brilliant, brilliant interview. The song comes on and fireworks start shooting off quite literally in the middle of it. So the moment is a wild place. Yeah, sure fucking is. Boy. Well, let's move to track five and something more. Craig, how do you feel something more lives up to its role as a follow-up song for The Moment is a Wild Place? This is a tour de force song and a showcase piece. Is this the right sequencing order? I'm just curious what you think. Yeah, that's a good question. I'll need to think about that some more, but I do think the song was quite good. It reminded me, vocally reminded me of like earlier Gord.[57:58] And it's the first song on Lester Parfait that did sound like a previous version of Gord. The horns are great, which is what makes it sound so it doesn't just sound like a copy of something that he did earlier. There were some great dissonant guitar shots that were very cool and a little horn part. And of course, we have to shout out the drummer on this song because it is none other than Johnny Faye, who makes an appearance a number of times on this album. And you can tell. He just has such a great... He's playing on an album with Pat Stewart, with Abe, and he fits right in there because he's just such a musical player.[58:46] He has such a great tone to his drums always, and it was just a treat to hear him again. He's also listed as backing vocals. I think that's on a later track. I think track number 11, I think, for some reason. Oh, okay. All right. Right. But speaking of vocals, I have in my notes that Johnny Faye said this was Gord's best vocal ever recorded, hip or otherwise. I've never heard – I've been listening to him since 1989, and I've never heard anything like this. Right, right. There's a lot of strong, strong Gord vocals. And he's also got a very powerful voice. We know that because watching a special video of his later performances where he's more guttural and screaming but holding the microphone down at his belly button. And you can still hear just how powerful his voice is. That's really wild that Johnny Faye would say that. This is the first one that, at least for the album version.[59:58] This song is actually towards the end. So kind of wild. Or at least from a lyrical standpoint, it goes something more in the field, and then there goes the sun. So it's one of the last three songs on the album. you've got an error your album's on that skirt my album is a wild place i'm not i'm not even lying guys i'm not lying look at it right there it's third from the end odd odd that that you know as we talk about the sequencing that's the listed you know outside of the comment from johnny i just you know gothic synths driving drums bright horns really amazing solo um uh just I like it actually in the spot that we're talking about it from a sequencing standpoint, as opposed to towards the end. Because it is one of those that, I guess they're all in the MVP category opportunity, but this to me might have been in the upper quarter of MVP opportunities.[1:01:04] What do you think, Justin? um i spent a fair amount of time on the lyrics on this one and trying to there's a lot of stuff that's in quotes um and i tried to figure out what he was referencing by a lot of stuff and the only thing this is the silliest thing that i think could have come out of this was the cool hand of a girl all i found for that was a mexican restaurant in toronto jd have you been there it's It's called The Cool Hand of a Girl.[1:01:39] Hand of a Girl. That's the only thing that I found on the internet with those words in hand. No, I've not heard of that restaurant. No. And I did some research on the restaurant, and it's been open since before this was recorded. So was he talking about a Mexican restaurant? It's an MO, man.[1:01:59] Yeah um i i did love the uh the line i legalize criminality and criminalize dissent i love that because i american who is fucking terrified right now and um that's where i live is where criminality is legal and dissent is criminal uh quite fucking literally, um i don't know the um you know you guys had referenced that this is this is sort of old gourd and the thing that really stuck out for me because i felt the same way it was yeah he said fuck you in this song and this album to that point feels too clean to have those lyrics, to have him say that. And the way that he says it is really live-gored, you know, the ranting voice, almost. He drags the F out in that word.[1:03:09] I like this song. It's not my favorite. I don't know why it's not my favorite i don't know why it's not not my favorite but um yeah this song is is fine and it the the as far as the sequencing goes you know the moment is a wild place is such a deep valley um that this just gets us right back up in the air and and we're on to our next stop and And, um, I, I liked the energy of it, um, to follow, um, yeah, in a wild place. But, um, other than that, I don't know. I think it's got another showcase vocal, uh, toward the end, the latter third of the song when he goes up high. Yeah, for sure. I don't know if you guys, uh, like, I'm not going to try and sing it, but do you know the part I'm talking about where he goes up very high? Yeah. Again, that's not something we've heard from him before. Him going into a place like that.[1:04:15] I could see the classic Gord sweat in this song. He worked hard in this one. And you know what? Moving on to Camaro, I sort of get a sweaty kind of vibe from this one, too. What do you think about this one, Justin? My first thought was, is Gord a secret car guy? like that would be amazing for you oh, No, I mean, this, this is, uh, this is, you know, you're in high school and this is the first car you can afford. Um, this is not a nice Camaro, by the way, the, I had, this is a, this is a 72 that nobody wanted and I found it for 400 bucks in the classifieds and let's go, you know, um, uh, I don't know. It's got no floor on the passenger side but everything else is cool you can see the lines on the road through the friggin' drin you can Barney Rubble it, it's a piece of shit but it's my car, it's my wheels and I love it, I actually went back and listened to other Camaro related songs.[1:05:33] Kings of Leon and Dead Milkmen Bitchin' Camaro You know, just, just, I went back to that for some reason. I don't know. It was, it was cool to just kind of revisit that. Bitching Camaro. Did you see Justin on this particular song and this actually brings up a question for me. The song is Bob said was written because that's his wife's favorite car was a Camaro and then he gave it to Gord and Gord was like, I don't want to write about a Camaro. I'm going to write about a girl named Camaro. So the lyrics are about a girl named Camaro but the title Camaro came from bob's um and this is again this is just what bob mentioned about it um his wife's favorite car so apologies yeah and isn't that crazy isn't that totally crazy and and.[1:06:36] Yeah. You know, a great song. Um, I have, uh, I have like talking heads listed as kind of a vibe in, in, in a lot of them actually have a real, you know, kind of eccentric talking heads, kind of odd jazzed influence horns, um, as well. So, yeah, but anyway, love that. It's a girl named Camaro. Great. I love the line of the chorus, Camaro, the name means just what you think the car can do, go. Just the way he phrases it is just very odd. Until I read it, I didn't realize what he was trying to say at the end.[1:07:16] And yeah, just very cool phrasing. it reminded me of um i couldn't get the simpsons out of my head the canyonero canyonero, but that's just where my mind went but my also my dad had he's currently rebuilding a uh a 1980 camaro in silver so i'm uh i actually just texted him to see if he could text me a picture of it but he's uh he's a car guy and yeah he's working on one as we speak so So it did bring back a memory that I had repressed from high school where I got a ride with a buddy's sister's boyfriend who had a Trans Am, you know, like a Burt Reynolds Smokey and the Bandit vintage. And we went 140 miles an hour on the way home. That's the only time I was certain that I was going to die was in the backseat of that car. And it's a Trans Am, not a Camaro, but same thing. Yeah. Yeah. Night.[1:08:15] Music.[1:12:50] The North Shore is the first track on the record to me that sounds like vintage hip. It could be at home on Day for Night, a different production version of it could have been on Fully Completely, maybe even Hen House. It's of that sort of vintage. Am I totally crazy, or am I barking up the right tree, Kurt? Yeah i mean i have i have written uh alt rock style um kind of ballad so you know that's i think that hip would fall into that that uh realm but the song sounded big to me it got big you know it starts off with that kind of acoustic piano in intro and um and and the cool thing like most scored lyrics is like is he talking about the north shore of maui is he talking about the north shore of you know lake ontario everyone because like everyone kind of has a north shore, and um i i uh i i i just appreciate again the his ability to um.[1:14:05] Keep you guessing and keep us talking for many more episodes of podcasts to dissect Accord's lyrics. Yeah. And I recall seeing an interview with Bob Rock where he kind of mentioned the same thing. He talked about the North shore in Maui. There's a North shore in Vancouver where, you know, Bob Rock would, would know about the North shore that I actually spent the first four years of my life on the North shore in North Vancouver. And, um, I'm I'm thinking he's probably talking about the lake only because he mentions, I think it swallows, which there wouldn't be, I don't think in Maui on the North shore there. It's much too windy. There's little sparrows, I think, but I could be wrong.[1:14:46] But, but yeah, it's meant to be for wherever your North shore is. And it really is a great song. It could be, could have been a radio hit is that, that type of song I did. This is one of those songs that earlier on I had a critique about the chorus being too generic. So the chord structure is one we've heard a million times. But then the more I listened to it, I started thinking, well, there's a reason this chord structure has been used a million times. It's powerful. And when Gord is added to this mix, it does sound original. And it sounds great. I really love the harmonies at the end in the guitar. There's some sort of like Boston seventies via seventies, like guitar rock vibe on the, on the harmonies, which I dug or like, or like almost like a thin Lizzie or something. So yeah, solid song all around.[1:15:39] Justin, your thoughts. Yeah. I actually, um, view this as a followup to the last recluse. Um, like, yep. That's all that to me lyrically. Um, I also went back to Summer's Killing Us from In Between Evolution, because I really do love the lyrics about one more breeze and summer's complete. And then at the end, he goes back to summer lowers its flag now. And obviously the word is summer. And so that is my tie in. But, you know, the the uptempo of summer is killing us and summer exists at the fair. Right you know like this is yeah summer kicks ass and then this is the end of it like we're going back to school now and uh the leaves are falling off of the trees and you know it just um i also really loved the line we occurred to each other 48 hours a day how fucking amazing is that line um when you're in love holy hell that's that's all you think about and um.[1:16:52] Fingers and toes 40 things we share you know uh yeah or fireworks um yeah believing in the country of me and you that's what it was yeah yeah yeah i agree with the last recluse reference though and the way he sings it is actually very similar to we held hands between our bikes it's very and if you've seen the video for the last recluse as well they actually show that with you know these two kids with their yeah well um track number eight is this nowhere kirk this song like i even have i told you about my nights at the ihop i would go after work here over the last couple days and and it's the right next to the hotel and it's simple and so i wrote this on a little napkin holder and my note says it's the same phrasing as one from.[1:17:42] You too i'm sure you guys all that's right yes yeah so and then all of a sudden what's that justin reference to it too midway through the song oh yeah it it's not getting better like he's bull right he is ripping this song he's admitting yep that's a great pick up justin yeah good friend right and then you have one more coffee in the bill which is gonna come up later as one of the lyrics and the backing that the chorus just boom shade shade of all now is that someone that you guys were familiar with ahead of this because I didn't know anything about her until I did the research Justin yeah No, Craig has a story. So Che, Amy Dorval is someone I had to look up because I heard the vocals on this song and I was so blown away by the backing vocals that I had to look her up. And she's from here. She's from Vancouver.[1:18:49] And I think she may be based out of Toronto now. I'm not quite sure. She has a couple of dates coming up in Portland and Seattle, I believe, but nothing here. So I was hoping to go check her out. But yeah, it turns out she worked with Devin Townsend on a project called Casualties of Cool. And so I went onto YouTube and looked that up. And it's very, very cool. Kind of like ambient stuff with just beautiful vocals. And yeah, Devin Townsend is a local musician who, yeah, I remember playing back in 95, sharing a bill with him when he played in a band called Strapping Young Lad. And now he's like a, you know, worldwide world, you know, renowned, uh, musician. And, uh, yeah, we have a, yeah, we have a bit of a band connection with him too. That I won't get into on, on air, but yeah. I want to love you.[1:19:45] That's so cool and then just my last two things on this song um, bob wrote five songs on her solo album and i don't know that he helped with the production he may have been the producer on it but he he wrote five songs with her very in a similar style that um he did with gourd but this is the part that gutted me gourd didn't hear the vocal, It was added after he passed.[1:20:43] I mean you know there's so many haters out there you know he the guy produced the the biggest album of the 90s like the the biggest decade for music um you know i'm pretty sure sales wise yeah i'm pretty sure the 90s as far as like you know you know actual physical product i gotta say this about bob he gives two fucks yep and it's just good for good for him to work with two he just he's living in maui with his wife and his horses and spending time with his kids and you know try you know yeah oh yeah i got to deal with this bon jovi album or this you know offspring album whatever else and then i'm gonna go and wake up and pick one of my 700 guitars and he's got he's got like just he's got he's got music for days but he doesn't sing so i mean he does a little backup vocals or whatever else but i love that about because you know i'm kind of teetering on this i love the bob rock hip albums and of course i am loving this album and and i appreciate the other stuff that i mean metallica that you know that i think that especially if you're a musician like i think i know every main riff from the black album i can't play it all but i know all the riffs of you know sandman and and um and i loved watching that documentary you know almost swore out the VHS. So I'm telling you how old I am again.[1:22:08] Yeah. Another thing about that song, I love the part after the chorus. There's that melody, the da-na, da-na, just at first it kind of throws you, but it's a really great choice.[1:22:20] And I'm going to give a little critique here. This guitar solo kind of kills me. It, it, it's just so generic and kind of boring. And actually now that you bring up the videotape of the, the Metallica, I think it's called day in the life of, I used to have a video VHS copy of that too. And there's a, there's a time on that when he's giving Kirk Hammett such a hard time about the solo. I think it was the unforgiven maybe. And he's just like, no, do it again. Do it. Gotta do your homework. Gotta do your homework. You don't do your fucking homework. So I was picturing like Kirk Hammett being in there, like giving him a hard, like hard time. And, you know, he needed, he needed Bob rock and needed a Bob rock on this song. I think.[1:23:07] Well, again, I think it comes, it comes from the fact though, too, that we've been listening to, you know, these bands and, and these records that have such a feel to them, you know, a cohesive feel. Feel and this record doesn't have that same sort of cohesive feel it's it's all over the place right 14 songs 14 songs that's in in in all the things you read he he gave him 14 songs and he got 14 songs back there was no added there was no cut it was 14 14 straight across and and at no point did i see anything that said like okay this this track was written in 1985 this track was It was written in 2010. It just was part of his cadre of music that he's had lying around. And again, I'd really be interested to know if the titles are Bob's or Gord's. I'd be really interested to know. I guess ultimately it would have come down to Bob in the end. But I'm sure he would have respected it. I think Gord, in their discussions, they would have had. I'm sure. But you're right. I mean, they are co-producers.[1:24:23] Co-writers of the of the record yeah craig i'll put a bow on your statement this was sorry i'm i'm getting a little too flowery with the bob rock quotes and everything else but his statement was budget wise i was the only guitar player available, so there's your answer to the solo okay okay sorry bob i i really i should say i i'm a bob rock fan i love both of the hip albums he did and and like i already mentioned my permanent vacation story and also sonic temple was a big one for me when i was young and that was his yeah me and my buddy found that cassette tape on the side of the road by my dad's work someone had thrown it out the window or something and we found it no no case just the tape and took that home and And yeah, so I'm a big, big Bob rock fan. So sorry, Justin. Yeah. I mean, apart from the backing vocals, I don't love this song. Um, and I think it's kind of the reasons why you guys said it's just not something musically doesn't do it for me. Um, and that's no disrespect to anybody, but the, you know, the background vocals are just so freaking stellar that it's it props the song up probably higher than it should rank for me.[1:25:48] Um yeah and i really you know i didn't care for the youtube the youtube riff and and it just it's just strange right it pulls you out it almost pulls you out of the song because you're like thrust into another song but like i said i do i do appreciate that gourd references the u2 song yes and says it's not getting better that's very cool okay all right well then we know what we're doing at least yeah good on him for for recognizing that and i'm guessing it was just an accident then he he either he noticed it or someone else pointed it out and then yeah know, I'll just add a lyric in here and it's all good. I think it's better than one personally. The next song is To Catch the Truth. Kurt, we'll start with you. Yeah, man. So here we go. We got a ska song, a frigging ska song, in my opinion. No doubt, Mighty Mighty Boston's, whatever your flavor is. But.[1:26:51] I love ska. I love ska. My wife loves ska and we grew up in Orange County. I used to go see No Doubt, play at colleges and play at local bars and crap like that.[1:27:07] And Mighty Mighty Boston is probably the – not even probably, by far the loudest concert I've ever been to, leaps and bounds. But gorge's doing a ska tune um west coast punk was uh was mentioned in a couple of the reviews that i saw vancouver's scene dug in the slugs um it's just a fun great song you know the beauty of ska at least from my standpoint so um loved it absolutely loved the tune jay dog yeah i uh remember very fondly uh watching real big fish in a very small room and um river city rebels were a big ska band horn band here in burlington and i used to you know sneak into shows underage and and love it um it's a fun song it's just fun and um gourd packs a lot into this song um it's i don't really have any any critiques yay or nay other than man i remember being 15 16 years old and going to these shows and having a hell of a good time when i first heard this song the the amount of compression bothered me it's just like.[1:28:31] You know squished and also i found it strange i was thinking in the realm of like goldfinger or something like that and in what in one channel you've got the guitar the other side you've got the piano and i found the way the piano was so clean was a bit bothers bothersome at first, and i had a note i wish it was almost like rag timed up a bit like or you know a bit like maybe even a bit out of tune or just something to give it a little bit of personality that would be my one see this is the song that i felt was like the the mouth i did yeah i think it was the piano a melody but what i mean is is the actual sound yeah no but not the sound i i hear what you're saying craig it was too clean it needed to be like someone had a mic in the room of a saloon with some out of tune piano and then that would have been the that would have been the flavor that would have been the added that well because i like my note west coast punk like you don't tune up when you're playing punk songs you play what's on the friggin guitar that's exactly what So I hear that. I think that's a very fair, very fair criticism.[1:29:37] After listening to it on the CD last night, though, I found that it wouldn't have worked if it was done as a more sort of raw punk or like, if it wasn't compressed in that way, the vocals would not have popped in the same way. And so I think it was probably the right choice in hindsight. But like I said, if it could be just dirtied up a bit in some way, I think I would have enjoyed it a little bit more. I did like the beginning. It's kind of like a strange introduction. There's also those hard stops at the end. What's real? What's fake? There's not a dirty song on this record. You know, this record is not, it's not got, it is like that Camaro. Somebody's out polishing it with a shammy. It's pristine and clean. Let me howl.[1:30:29] Music.[1:36:30] This was one of my favorites. Really enjoyed this song. Really strong melodies. It's unlike any other song in style. And again, we keep coming back to this, but it does not sound like any other Gord song. Doesn't sound like any other song on this album. Very much like an 80s vibe musically. There's a, you know, because I've criticized some solos, I will say I did enjoy the clean guitar solo on this song. And then there's a sax solo that comes in over top of that and i like how that how the tempo goes into halftime and then it kicks back in at the end yeah solid song so i got i got big money from rush in the intro that's what it felt like to me okay so just think of that synth you know.[1:37:21] Big money when before it comes in so but you're right man that that breakdown with the guitar and the sax i just kept repeating that i freaking loved that like and you know you guys you know i i'm i like the dead and and one of the reasons why i think i like the tragically hit because they are jam band no matter what you say they are jam band and they're not going to go off into crazy solos well they did go off into crazy gourd vocal solos you could say right but you know rob's not ripping it for 25 minutes and and you know breaking out the wall and making sure you're you know timing your dose just right but um it it i i love that part to this is that um that that that breakdown. Cause you just, and again, and I'm also a big rush fan. So that intro, so yeah, yeah, this is one of those, like I said, I didn't have my MVP, but this was definitely like a strong, strong candidate. And then my final note on this, this was the last vocal recorded before he was diagnosed is some research that I did. So this was the last vocal was let me before, before he was diagnosed entirely for me.[1:38:41] Not necessarily the meaning, but just context. Wow. Been hitting the head with the shovel here. Who else needs to talk about Let Me Howl? I think it's just Justin, right? Who, me? Yeah. Yeah, the sax makes me feel like I'm driving a cab in Manhattan in 1986.[1:39:06] And it's raining out. you know uh it's so freaking cool and it's a long song and it does weird things i remember the first time that i heard it i thought that we were going to have a fade out on the on that half you know the the slower beat um or the half time whatever you want to call it and, and then out of nowhere this massive film and and we're back and we're faster than we were before, right like it there there's a sense of urgency at the end of the song like let me howl here like i'm i gotta get this out and um it's really really fun like again it's, you can slow dance to this song and you can boogie to this song and you can, i don't know it's it's really really fun and um it's up there for mvp for me it's not my mvp but it's top three or four. I also like how the chorus, let me howl. And on the word howl, he has this like glissando up, like a slow glissando up along with the harmony, which is what a wolf does. Like, um, he's not going clean from one note to another. He's got, he's, he's like slurring up to it. Okay. And like, like a wolf would do when they howl.[1:40:30] And also there's some very slight changes to the way he sings it, I believe, if I'm remembering, if this is the song I'm thinking of, where the chorus slightly changes like the notes he's singing different times or the harmony changes. Something changes a little bit that I thought was really cool. I didn't listen to it today, so.[1:40:52] Justin, hell breaks loose. What do you think? I immediately, before I knew it, I knew that this was Johnny Faye playing drums. Um yeah and uh it's it's a it's a really cool again and like i just referenced new york city um and it's in the first line of this song like and he paints the picture of walking into a bar and it's kirk watching a soccer game right uh fireworks on the roof elbow one of the very first dates with, with my, with my wife, we watched a world cup game in a, in a bar that was shoulder to shoulder and it was two teams I didn't give a shit about and everybody was cheering and everybody was drinking and it was, you know, and then one guy got pissed off, bigger screens, bigger feelings. Right. And it's, it's cool.

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The Chris Voss Show Podcast – The Yielding Warrior: Discovering the Secret Path to Unleashing Your True Potential by Jeff Patterson

The Chris Voss Show

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 21, 2024 34:47

The Yielding Warrior: Discovering the Secret Path to Unleashing Your True Potential by Jeff Patterson Theyieldingwarrior.com https://book.theyieldingwarrior.com/free-plus-shipping Discover the Secret Path to Unleashing Your True Potential Are you prepared to embark on a journey of personal growth and transformation that surpasses what you once believed was possible? The Yielding Warrior offers a unique perspective on the intersection of meditative arts principles and life's everyday challenges. Incorporating the core principle of yielding into actionable advice, Jeff Patterson, an expert in the meditative arts, offers readers a priceless and life-enriching resource. After teaching 25,000 students in his martial arts academy and earning the equivalent of black belts in the martial arts of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Eskrima, Tai Chi, Qigong, Muay Thai, and Kenpo, Jeff now shares personal experiences, age-old wisdom, and the philosophies of meditative arts with his readers. In The Yielding Warrior, you will learn: How to attain a higher level of proficiency in any sport or physical activity To enhance emotional control and sharpen intuition for increased happiness and self-acceptance To deepen self-awareness and esteem through the benefits of yielding To apply meditative practices to excel in interpersonal communication and business relationships To improve your focus by applying the skills attained through yielding awareness Don't miss out on the opportunity to enhance your life with an engrossing book that offers realistic, easy-to-understand guidance in the ancient technique of yielding awareness.About the author Jeff Patterson is a highly experienced martial artist, residing in Portland, Oregon, with over 36 years of practice under his belt. He is renowned for his exceptional skills in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Eskrima, Tai Chi, Qigong, Muay Thai, and Kenpo, having achieved black belt equivalency in all these martial arts disciplines. Jeff's passion for martial arts and its transformative power led him to establish Northwest Fighting Arts and Portland Tai Chi Academy, an organization that has flourished over the past 29 years, with over 25,000 students benefiting from his teachings. With a large student base of over 500 individuals, the academy offers a diverse range of classes, meticulously crafted comprehensive curricula for each martial art they teach, including Muay Thai, Western Boxing, Jeet Kune Do, Filipino Arts, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Tai Chi, and Qigong. Jeff is a firm believer in the benefits of meditative arts and their power to enhance overall life experiences. He has extensively studied the historical, philosophical, and health aspects of meditative arts and recognized the importance of the yielding concept to attain expertise in each discipline. Through his dedication and teachings, he has witnessed positive and profound changes in his students, which fuels his ongoing passion for sharing his knowledge.

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1110 Enhance Your Self-Awareness with Jeff Patterson

The Hidden Why Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 18, 2024 35:25

Enhance Your Self-Awareness In episode 1110 of our podcast, I welcome back Jeff Patterson, the esteemed martial artist and author of “The Yielding Warrior: Discovering the Secret Path to Unleashing Your True Potential.” This time, we dive deeper into the transformative power of meditative practices. Jeff shares invaluable insights on finding time to think, practicing … Continue reading 1110 Enhance Your Self-Awareness with Jeff Patterson

Moment 88: Angelo DiLullo: SHOCKING REVELATION! Angelo DiLullo EXPOSES The Secret Path to Awakening! Transform Your Life NOW!

Inspired Evolution

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 16, 2024 10:09

Watch the full episode with Angelo DiLullo here: https://youtu.be/aZXfQUI1WFkSTAY INSPIRED & KEEP EVOLVINGYEWSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/inspiredevolution. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Lustre Parfait

Emergence: A Revolutionary Path For Radical Life Change - with Derek Rydall | Spiritual | Productivity | Self-help | Happines

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 15, 2024 125:06

This week on the pod we wrap up Gord's discography with the Bob Rock collaboration, Lustre Parfait.Transcript:[0:00] Long Slice Brewery presents a live event celebration of Gord Downie, July 19th, at the Rec Room in Toronto. Join the hosts of the podcast, Discovering Downie, as they record their finale with special guest, Patrick Downie. A silent auction with items from the hip and many others will take place, along with live entertainment from the almost hip. All proceeds will benefit the Gord Downie Fund for Brain Cancer Research. For more information and tickets, please visit discoveringdowney.com. Clutched clipboard and staring out past the end of her first day into tonight and all the way across oceans of August to September. It makes for a beautifully vacant gaze.[1:08] Music.[1:42] Hey, it's J.D. here and welcome to Discovering Downey, an 11-part project with a focus on the music and poetry of Mr. Gord Downey. The enigmatic frontman of the Tragically Hip, Gord gave to the world an extensive solo discography on top of the vocal acrobatics in the hip that awed us for years. Gord released five albums while he was alive and three more posthumously.[2:09] Now listen, you might think you're the biggest fan of the Tragically Hip out there. However, why is it that so few of us have experience with this solo catalog? Have you really listened to those solo records? My friends Craig, Justin, and Kirk, giant fans of the hip in their own right, fell into that camp. So I invited them to Discover Downey with me, JD, as their host. Every week, we get together and listen to one of Gord's records, working in chronological order. We discuss and dissect the album, the production, the lyrics, and we break it down song by fucking song. This week, we wrap up Gord's discography with an album attributed to both Bob Rock and Gord, Luster Parfait. Craig, how goes it this week? week things are okay a bit of a break tomorrow going off on a little family trip for a couple days meeting my parents and sisters uh you've never met your parents before this is big news dude yeah yeah i think they're gonna like you man congratulations and then yeah and then shortly after that head off to toronto for for an event with you guys whoop whoop yeah How are you doing, Kirk?[3:30] You know, guys, I'm doing pretty good. It was 107 out here in Boise, Idaho, where I'm on show site. As we mentioned, I was in Europe last week, so I'm not quite sure time zone, temperate zone, what zone I'm in. I just – somebody point me in the right direction and I go. So I'm doing good, though. We had such a great time. But more importantly, I'm just really excited about next week and just hanging with you, you lads and checking out all the stuff that we have planned and, and, you know, especially that the event. So I'm that energy will get me through whatever jet lag, whatever heat stroke, whatever heck I encounter over the next seven days. So, and what about that new item? The hip gave us today to go towards our silent auction. Someone's going to get some major bragging rights. Man, we can't say what it is, but-[4:27] We might be fighting internally for this. We'll be revealing what it is, I guess, Friday. And some other great prize stuff, too. JD, you just told me and Kirk about this ridiculous prize that we got. Craig's got it memorized. Yeah. Two tickets to the Toronto Raptors. $500 in arena gift cards. and two customized or personalized jerseys and a shoot around. Man. Are you ready for this? Come on. That's great. Jadon. Yeah. You're in, you're not in Kansas. Tornado Alley. Tornado Alley. But there's twisters about. Yeah, we just had a...[5:51] And then 20 minutes later, there's a video on Facebook of a frigging tornado a half a mile up the street. What the hell? So we're fine. Yeah, that is freaky. If you look out your window and you see somebody riding a bike in the air, you're in big trouble. With a dog in the basket. That's right. Cow. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, but dude, I'm, I'm good. Otherwise without the weather or with the weather, I'm good. And I'm psyched for next week, man. Ooh. Yeah. Let's go. Justin. I tasted the podcast. Pilsner officially tasted it now. I had four of them at home. I gave two of them to my father-in-law and I drank two of them and they were very crisp. Delicious. Yeah. So it's going to be a lot of fun. Yeah. Awesome.[6:47] When word broke that we'd be getting a third posthumous record from Gord, there was a hush and a wait and see approach. You see, Gord had partnered with Bob Rock back in the 2010s, shortly after Rock had produced probably two of the most divisive records in the Hips catalog. I enjoy both these records a lot, but your mileage may vary. In any case, it was an uneasy feeling for fans. What would this album be? As it turns out, it's a whole lot of everything. There are songs that are reminiscent of the hip, like North Shore. There are horns on the title track, which we got to sample about six months before Lester Parfait dropped. And it relieved us.[7:41] There's even something resembling rack time? Suffice to say, as we've gotten used to saying around these parts, this album is altogether, folks, unlike anything Gord has produced before. It's been said that Bob Rock has a tendency to overstuff the records he produces. It's as though he's just been given access to a 48-track board and he feels compelled to use every last fucking track. rack. On this record, however, his hand seems firmly on the rudder. The songs come across as overly polished, of course, but never too indulgent. If there's one complaint I have, it's that there's too many goddamn songs. On a record as varied as Luster Parfait, you're almost overstimulated by the end. You've been through so many different styles and sounds. If I had it my way, this would be a tight 10-song record, and with the right tracks removed, I dare say this is a collection of songs I would put head-to-head against virtually any other record in Gord's oeuvre.[8:59] Yeah, I think it's that good. There are highs and there are lows on this record, as there have been on each of the albums, but on Luster Parfait, the highs seem higher to me. Have we ever heard Gord sing like he does on The Moment is a Wild Place? Or something more? Have we ever heard a chorus as striking as Is There Nowhere? By the way, big hat tip to Shea Dorval for providing those gorgeous backing vocals. At the end of the day, has Bob Rock redeemed himself with this effort to the haters out there? I would offer a resounding yes. Yes, this is a record that should be listened to loud and on a good pair of headphones. There is so much going on, but it all seems to have a purpose. That's what I think of Lester Parfait.[9:52] Tell me what your experience with the record is, Kirk. Yeah. So the first real listen I had to this album, because I'd been pretty busy with travel and whatnot, we were on our family vacation in Madrid. And beautiful little up on the top of the hotel looking over the city and just enjoying the wonderful atmosphere. And, um, I was actually listening to that kind of rough cut of our, um, rough cut of our interview with, uh, Niles and Kevin. And he had referenced like that. He thought that, you know, the, the, the moment is a wild places is, was his favorite song. And I'm just like, I can't hold off anymore. I need to jump in. So that was my first experience was listening to it, um, on, on the roof in Spain. And since then, it's just been a pretty incredible journey. I spent a lot of time like listening to Bob Rock interviews and, you know, just really understanding where it's coming from. And as you mentioned, JD, like, you know, I understand the divisiveness and whatnot, but oh my gosh, I, I was already in love when I listened to it the first couple of times at this point, you know, I'm, I'm firm in my, my commitment to, to in Gord, we trust, you know, And to see that...[11:17] That friendship. I mean, he, he, he makes the statement. We were like two teenagers that were in the studio, just making music together. And, um, you know, to hear how the whole process went and I know we'll get into it and everybody, you know, obviously we'll provide their input. Um, I fell in love with it even more, you know, and, and the variety on this, this album i mean guys we got reggae we got we got west coast punk we got 70s glam we got 80s synth pop we've got you know it it just every even within certain songs you'll have a jump from one friggin genre to another and then you you know you start looking at all the studios they recorded in, the process that it took, the number of years, the people that are involved.[12:13] And especially after we've discussed with the last three albums, like it was just fun to, I felt like, I felt like I got a warm hug from Gord. I really did. Just like, I just was all that, that we went through. It was like, Hey, this is just when it's fun. And this is, this This is for you, music lovers. That's what I felt. That's what I felt. I love that. I haven't watched much with Bob Rock, but I did read that one of the reasons why it took until 2023 to rear its head was because it was too painful for him to, like, he was really emotional following the death of Gordani in 2017. Absolutely. Because they had gotten lungs. Yeah. They had become such close friends and, you know, they reference, you know.[13:09] Uh, Gord flew out to talk about world container and they'd figured that out in 15 minutes. And then they spent the rest, the rest of the conversation talking about being dads, being Canadians, being hockey lovers. And, and then that just continued. And I think those guys, you know, with the level that they were at, I think they kind of found it was a peer to peer relationship.[13:32] And I really felt like they found refuge in each other. And then I think they sought it out because it was a long relationship. I mean, was it 06 when World Container was being made or coming out? Up until the very end. And that's when they first met is when he came out, or at least per what I had listened to. You know, they flew out to Maui, to his studio in Maui, Gord did, and then, you know, like I said, Discuss World Container. And then they didn't really do much as it was described until after the second album, We Are The Same, that they did. And then that's when the, you know, that relationship in the music for Luster Parfait started. So yeah, I mean, I recommend everyone to check into this. And Bob rock doesn't seem like, you know, like you.[14:25] You just, he didn't, didn't do a lot of, I mean, of course he gets on the documentaries, he gets a lot of airtime and whatnot, but beyond that, you know, there's not a ton, I guess, but the stuff specific to this is well worth, you can just hear the genuineness all these years after, like last year was a lot of the interviews that were going on and he's still breaking up. Like you're still oh yeah um and he's just he's like you go bob rock and you like you think the guy's flying you know coming in on the learjet all the time and he's like most of these interviews he's like just got done feeding his horses craig what was your first experience like i was also traveling uh down to seattle for a ball game and i was on on the amtrak train taking my notes and i I actually wrote, I'm going to read this and don't get mad at me. But I said, hate to be negative on this last album, but there's a lot to pick apart.[15:25] Two days ago, we were supposed to record this episode, and we had to postpone. And that evening, at 10.30 at night, I texted you guys a photo. A package arrived, and the CD was dropped off by Amazon. So I got the CD, and I started looking at the lyrics. And then the next day, I popped it in the car. And it's been in there for a couple days now, and I've been listening to it quite a lot. And my opinion has totally changed. Changed it's like some of this and i think it's what you said jd it's it's a very long album and so some of my favorite songs come at the end and what i what i've been doing is hitting shuffle and that's when it really started to um pick up for me is when i started listening on shuffle before getting the cd that i liked hearing just random songs come on and then and i thought it it was a problem with the sequencing at first but then i realized it's probably more because when the album came out i did listen a couple times when it first came out but i think i only got through the first four songs and so now i'm getting to know and love these later songs and then when i got the cd it just all kind of started working for me and i'm like wow some of the things that i was going to be nitpicking on today's episode i think i've I've grown to appreciate Justin, my man. Yeah.[16:51] Talk to me about your relationship with this release and has it changed since your first listen? So I pre-ordered this last year and yeah, this, this CD was in heavy rotation for me until, um, until you asked us to be part of the podcast. So I've been cold Turkey since January or whenever it was and waiting for for this week to get back into it. Yeah. I love this album, and I wish that Gord had done a Broadway show.[17:27] Um, could you imagine after hearing how strong his vocal is? Um, and especially during this time period. And it's funny, Craig, that you mentioned that you did not like this album. And then today you changed your mind. I took a break from this cause I've been over listening and I went back to the grand bounce and I love that freaking album as of today. And everybody knows I did not love that album when we were doing the podcast. Yay![18:00] Yeah. I love this news. It grew on me big time today. And Justin, one of the interviews that I watched, they actually said that the lyrics were almost like a screenplay on Luster Parfait and that there is a movie inside this album. It's just no one has brought it forth. So I like that. Broadway play. Movie i think i saw some of the same interviews you did um the one with uh terry mulligan was i actually listened to it a few times um to pick that apart but um yeah it would be it would be fantastic if that film was to get made or some sort of video component to this um but you know this was at gourd's you got to remember this the vocals recorded a decade ago and this was at gourd's busiest period and i would say his strongest period um vocally um and seems that way but you know bob also said in the in the interviews that he intentionally um potted gourd's mic up so that it was more on the forefront you know with the hip gourd's voice was an instrument um with this album it is the show and that absolutely rings true and you know jd the the songs that you mentioned just...[19:24] Kick my ass every time i hear it and i've heard them i've heard them 50 times at this point you know without exaggerating um yeah it's it's a very cool album a very confusing album uh stylistically um and it's very long but i can palette that um and i had the same issues craig um with stopping and starting and you hear you've you know you've heard the first six songs on this album probably twice as many times as the final seven or eight um and it's just it takes a commitment to get through it um and every song is long in addition to them there being so many of them um you know there's several songs that are five or six minutes um yeah seven and a half right it's for the moment is a wild place and i'm really interested in in your guys's uh mvp, yeah tracks for this like more than any other album we've done yeah because i think it's going to be all over the place i i've got mine and i i think this was like the easiest choice i've had to make and this is the first time i don't i quite literally don't have an mvp i'm i'm pulling the trigger when we talk every other album first three listens i had it down i mean i'm usually the first one to chime up i i can't i i just haven't been able to pick one it's strange that that it's It's opposite.[20:48] Should we try and untangle this web that Justin just spoke of, this mystery of a record, and go track by track? We start with, Greyboy says.[20:59] Music.[24:42] I mean, from the first note, it's like, what the hell are we listening to? And in the best way, you know, I just had no idea that this is where we were going. You know, and I love World Container and I love We Are The Same. And we all know everything else that Bob Rock has done. And this is not any of those things. It's bizarrely different. Um, and who the hell is gray boy, right? Like I've spent a year now trying to figure that out. And I thought I'd read something that it was a DJ. Um, yeah, I read that too. I'm not sure if it's true or not, but there's a DJ out of San Diego, uh, named gray boy. Um, sort of like an acid jazz DJ I read and it could be him he's referencing, but I'm not sure if that's no idea. Yeah. Um, but yeah, it's just a, a total, it's a mind fuck right from the beginning. And, and I was really like, okay, I'm turning this up. Um, you know, I remember listening to it in my car, um, the first time that I, that I put it on. However, I wanted to ask, um, JD and Craig, if, if you guys had any of this, um, on air in Canada, did, were any of these songs played on terrestrial radio? Yeah.[26:05] I don't recall hearing it on the radio i don't listen to a lot of uh local radio i'm usually, you know serious yeah xm listener but um but no i didn't hear it i did see the video though and so this song is a song i heard right away when it came out because of the the video which uh if you've seen it it has um some of the guys from offspring dexter nude and yeah and And when I look at the track listing, they don't actually, they don't play on the track. So they were just kind of there for the video and having fun filming the video. And Bob Rock's got James Hetfield's ESP that he's playing in it. And so it's a pretty cool video.[26:49] Did you guys recognize the drummer? I did, yeah. So Abe- Abe Laborio Jr. That's Paul McCartney's drummer. Yeah, really quick connection. When I was in my original band back in the 90s, we had a drummer who filled in for us fairly often when we were down a drummer. And he was roommates at Berklee with Abe. Really? And I didn't meet Abe, But one time he was in town for either sting or McCartney and our singer slash, you know, front front man got to jam with Abe and he came back and told me that he has never felt anything like it being in the room with him. He said when the, when the kick drum hit one, it was unlike anything he's ever experienced as a musician. So it was just that tight. And you can hear that tightness in his playing. Yeah. I mean, you don't get picked up as Paul McCartney's drummer, unless you know what the F you're doing. 20 years.[28:17] Video and, and, And he even plays and he's like, he's a beast of a man, right? He's, he's, he's, he's a big guy, but he's just sweet. I've had opportunity. There's a show called ma'am national associate music merchants. If you're a musician, you should know about it. It's every year in Anaheim. So it's pretty close. So I've been going for years and years and he's there quite a bit. And so, you know, had few little interactions and he's just, yeah, he's a, he's a sweetheart just, and, and an incredible musician. Oh, wow. Incredible musician. Well, they did it weird, right? Because they released Lester Parfait, and then they released a three-song EP, or maybe that was the time they released Lester Parfait. And then they released a six-song EP. And it had The Moment is a Wild Place, Camaro, Lester Parfait, Grey Boy Says, I think. So they did that But I'm not sure about, I'm not sure whether Lester Parfait Was considered the lead single or not Hold on I have it open here So that's why I asked you guys If you'd heard it on the air because Again the station that I talk about all the time Here WBQX played Lester Parfait Over and over last year Wow And I think that I heard Grey Boy Says as well On the radio.[29:45] Damn So we were talking earlier about sequencing. I believe it was Craig that was talking about it. So we'll start with him here because when I first heard the next track, which is the Raven and the Red-Tailed Hawk, I remember thinking, what the fuck kind of sequencing is this? We go from, you know, this crazy rock song to like a kid's song. And then all of a sudden that chorus hits and you're just like, wow. I would love to be next to a fucking stack listening to that, feeling my pant legs whistle in the wind. Fucking right. That would be just fantastic. Craig, what do you think of The Raven and the Red-Tailed Hawk? I really love this song. I think there's a lot of things that really stuck out. The lyrics were great. The chorus, like you mentioned, is powerful. There's the nod to the east wind, I think, in the lyrics of the chorus.[30:47] And it's just a strongly written song. There's a very unique melody. And there's a really cool descending tremolo guitar that I thought was effective. And some nice piano. piano there's a really wild synth solo which was really cool followed by an acoustic guitar solo which you know to to the opposite of what i said last song i loved i thought bob rock killed that solo an acoustic guitar solo is very hard to pull yes agreed to make it sound you have to be spot on and not only does the tone of the guitar have to be good but you have to have the feel.[31:28] And because you hear every slide you hear every nuance you're every bend you hear every chord configuration if you're if you're throwing that in so i agree 100 craig yeah you have to be kyle gas and when you're playing a playing an acoustic soloing you don't have that sustain when you're bending a note so it's just a so someone who tries to play you know just take electric solo and played on acoustic it's not going to sound the same so i thought he did a great job of crafting a solo that worked um there was some really cool like compositional tricks with you know like you know leading tones passing tones and just lots of lots of things to love in this um and also one quick thing at the end the vocal jumps up an octave going into that last chorus just a great great trick yeah and yeah the lyrics i just you know pulled out the lyric booklet two days ago and really wild stuff what do you think justin yeah it's the same exactly the same it's a kid's song and then it's not right um and it's the the storytelling and the.[32:40] You know i can see that helmet the imagery that he tells the story um and one of these interviews um um, that Gord had done, um, which nobody knew it at the time, but it was during these sessions.[32:58] Um, he had mentioned that Bob had asked him to speak more clearly. Don't be so vague with your lyrics. Tell, tell a story that people can understand without having to pull out an encyclopedia and boy, you got it right in this one. Um, you know, this is, it's very cut and dried. Um, it's, it's nothing to figure out. I, I just love how, how clear and concise it is. And some days I just can't do it, you know? Um.[33:28] I think we've all had that. Fuck yeah. Kirk, what do you think? Well, being the elder of the group and someone who really grew up in the 80s, I heard this song. I was joking before when we first started talking on, you can't see me, folks, but I'm doing the 80s dance. When I heard that song the first time, I got that new wave post. I just felt like a kid again in high school. And when you'd hear those, we were in the heart of new wave. It was like true post-punk, like Sex Pistols, late 70s, early 80s, punk, post-punk, where it's now you're getting the precursors to, you know, what becomes Green Day and Blink-182 and everything. But there's, I mean, fuck, there's five keyboards parts on this song, five separate keyboard, you know, credits listed and you can hear it. Um, so, you know, I would say, I know I'd mentioned at the beginning, like I couldn't pick an MVP. This was one that just always stood out. I wouldn't again say MVP, but loved it. It made me feel good every time I listened to it. And then Kirk's going to roll into his second criticism of the entire, uh, series. And I believe it was, is it Tim? I was just going to say, who are you, Tim?[34:47] Like i don't necessarily have an issue with fade outs but i struggled with the fade out on this one i really did i i was like i don't come on just like end it it's a long fade out too it's a long very long fade out very long fade out so um so you know i uh i i again if you guys know i really don't care but odds it's it's all good matthew good he was also strippers union so you know yeah he did the drums on that he was also like the house drummer for the kids in the hall so oh yeah yeah so like how cool is that that you got you go from paul mccartney's drummer to you know brian adams matthew good all the stuff that that pat did so um yeah uh great song uh just uh really helping the love affair uh with the album and uh you know outside of the i could have done without the fade out um friggin loved.[35:56] It friggin loved it it's a 20 second fade out though like it's it's long it's much sort of it's much i'm usually okay with it but this was you know the one thing though the reason why i brought it up is because i kept having to look at my phone going did my phone die um because i'm like the song was the next song wasn't coming he's got late and i couldn't tell if it was going out or if it was the intro but it's yeah it's a 20 second long outro insane justin how about you buddy yeah i i knew somebody was going to mention the fade out. I didn't hate it because the song is kind of long and it's like, alright, it kind of feels appropriate.[36:38] But yeah, no, I just love the song and I don't know, how many times are you going to say the sonic sounds like nothing else you know and i i understand you know he really wasn't necessarily involved in much of the the writing of the parts, um but i don't know it's just so freaking cool yeah it is it's very cool, so luster parfait what do you think of that track that's the one song that my daughter has grabbed a hold of because of the hey hey hey um you know i don't i don't know what the song is about but i picture it as gourd's love letter to music um and you know performing live we gather in the dark um you know we can only connect um that's that may be the only way that some people connect that's how we all connected right is through music and specifically gourd's music um i just this this uh this song you can't help but feel good listening to um it's such a fun freaking song and there's horns and there's that little you know half step.[37:58] Kind of thing in the chorus and it's it's really really interesting and it's very fun and it's funny almost um just the the energy that that gourd has and that the entire i want to say band but you know the people playing in the song it just sounds like every i can picture every single person in there playing with a smile on their face you know and and just enjoying the shit out of this whole process it's a luster parfait baby would you dig into the yeah because it starts off with horns and you we haven't had horns per se um on i mean i guess is this what it sounded with davis manning like i i i'll put my cards out there and i haven't heard a lot of it so i don't really know what the hip sounded like with him, but like you've got a full on sack. So what's that, Justin? Not like this. Davis Manning did not sound like this.[39:02] Ah no he sounded like uh and i he sounded like an 80s you know bar band saxophonist that's because that's exactly what it was who can it be now i'm in at work right but the horns just hit you right up front um and uh the the sax solo like in the middle and then And, you know, a really cool, as we talked about, you know, it's got a hard ending, which is great. But in the end, that little vamp with the B3 and the piano, like Justin said, the music all around, you just, you can't listen to it and not smile and not feel like that was the energy when it was being recorded.[39:51] So the one note that I wrote here too that I think is really cool. Um and it kind of speaks to what you guys were saying is like a like a a letter to music but he described the bridge bob did uh as being essentially the sensational alex harvey band and if you don't know anything about the sensational alex harvey band just look it up just youtube it and i'll leave that there um you know i guess i'll call it like the canadian david Bowie during the Ziggy Stardust years is, is probably a good way to describe it. So, um, but how cool is that? That like throwing that right in, right in after you get these two rockers and now he's going glam and, um, yeah, this just brilliant, uh, brilliant, brilliant, uh, title track song.[40:47] I really liked the, speaking of the bridge, the sort of chromatics and the bridge. And then at the very end, it blends into the final chorus.[40:59] So, you know, luster parfait, hey, hey, which I thought was very cool. Um yeah and speaking of the lyrics at the at the start it says isn't it funny how little we can do how much we are like a scene from the deluge and i looked up a scene from the deluge because it was capitalized and i found a painting called scene from a deluge from 1806, and it's a pretty wild painting i'll just read the description really quickly the man perched on a rock hangs from a from a tree that is beginning to break he tries to pull up his wife and two children all while supporting on his back an old man who carries a purse in his hand the sky is streaked with lightning like justin right now and a cadaver floats in the agitated water it's a pretty i'll just hold my screen it's pretty wild um anyways uh pretty wild so i'm not sure what he's getting at but uh but yeah definitely what's the lyric yeah it's the it's the intro isn't it funny how little we can do how much we are like a scene from the deluge, which as you describe it, it was pretty, uh, pretty stark. Yeah. Like, yeah.[42:26] Yeah. Like he's hanging on to like his wife and two kids with one arm, like by her one arm. So I guess there's not too much he can do.[42:35] Other quick notes. I just want to mention the horns. So the horns, the saxophone is played by Tom Keenleyside, who is a local Vancouver-based saxophone flautist. And he has been all over. He has played with so many different artists. and actually the very first cassette i ever bought back in grade seven i think i just finished grade seven and i was in the kitchen i can still i remember exactly where i was and on the radio came, rag doll by aerosmith 1987 and i was drawn in by the horns because i i'm i started playing saxophone in grade six so i was drawn in by that and steve tyler's voice and that song grabbed me right away I took my money from my piggy bank and I bought a Walkman and a cassette tape you know the next day and that's really where my journey with rock music started and so Bob Rock was the engineer on that album Permanent Vacation and Tom Cunley side played the saxophone so I thought there's a cool kind of full circle for for me personally um you know seeing that he was the one And because as soon as I heard horns, I knew it was him. Listen, I don't know where you would put a showcase track on a record from a sequencing standpoint.[44:02] Music.[50:44] The vocals uh that are going on in this um you got and then going back to bob and all the guitars like you've got acoustic guitars you got two lead guitars you've got what sounds almost like what i know as like a slack hawaiian slack guitar it sounds like a pedal steel but there's nothing in the liner the the the pedal steel song is not this song um it's got that kind of a you know of acoustic and slide in the beginning and and then you've got this the chorus that just uh you know it's uh it it it's like a dump truck of love coming down with this massive gourd here i am and and you understand why many people call it their favorite and uh a song that is seven minutes in 26 seconds and sounds like it's maybe a couple minutes so when you know that a song that's that long can just like you get lost in and you don't even think that it's that long you know you know it's it's obviously very very well written craig what were your thoughts i thought the.[52:02] Yeah the chorus was was what made it and the moment is a wild place reminded me of you know like a theme throughout his work about living in the moment where whether it's the dance and its disappearance or never ending ending present and i'm sure there are many others i know we've discussed them on this podcast so that was really really a great tie-in um the hawaiian guitar i loved as well at the start and you know you have to think that it is bob rock playing that so it you know he lives in maui much of you know much of the year from what i've heard and And, you know, he's soaking up all that Island music and, and yeah, my only other real note was, um, like a couple of quick things. Sean Nelson is the drummer on this track and the last one who I had to look up and he's actually, um.[52:54] Not someone who's played on a ton of high profile albums or anything. He's a drum instructor out of, I believe, San Francisco, I read. And, you know, very cool that he had that opportunity to work on this album. And one last thing, the piano flourishes at the end, reminded me of Dr. P from the country of miracles, which was very cool. Nice callback. Wow. Yeah. That's a great. Yeah. Justin, how about you? The moment is a wild place. Well, you know, I keep referencing my love of Prague and this sounds like a pink board. I can see that.[53:38] I love that it's long. I love that it's got, they use all 88 keys. You know, from low to high, it's It's really just a beautiful song, and the lyrics remind me of Secret Path. Heal. I don't know. There's definitely some tie-ins in my brain to Channing and his story. I don't believe that. Wow. Because this was probably written before secret path was even in chords around the same time around the same time it was birthed.[54:24] Yeah. But you know, I just, yeah, I think this is one of the songs that Bob said that Gordon heard completed before he passed.[54:36] Oh, that's nice to hear. Yeah. Uh, and, but Jesus Christ, the range that this guy has, right? Like, uh, I don't know. It, it, I fall apart whenever I hear the song. It's it's in in the best of ways you hear this song and it's almost like has he not been trying all these years you know because he's like he's got this in his fucking back pocket holy shit you have this in your back pocket and you're 50 years old time gourd god the other thing that i think is is uh something i just want to comment on really quickly is somebody who deals with mental wellness and is uh working on his mental health i look at this song almost the same way i look at the darkest one in that it's got this sort of clever twist right it's like the wild are strong, and the strong are the darkest ones and you're the darkest one so it's like starts out as almost this great compliment but it turns into something else and in this song it's like hey everybody you got to be in the moment you got to be in the moment but sometimes the moment is a wild fucking place that you don't want to be in so i'm going to put a bow in this jd and you guys.[56:04] So yeah i had mentioned earlier i was you know on the rooftop in madrid and i'm listening to the I'm listening to the Kevin Drew Niles interview, and you'd put this song in, sorry, Inside Baseball.[56:23] This song comes on, and it turns midnight in Madrid, and frigging fireworks start going off everywhere around the city. And I don't know if it was the transition from June to July. I don't know if it was the Spain had just won their Euro cup game earlier in the day, or if it was just, you know.[56:52] Tuesday in Spain at midnight, we like to put off fireworks, but I'm, I'm, you know, up there. Like I said, I've had a few glasses. I'm feeling wonderful. I'm jet lagged. I'm listening to that brilliant, brilliant, brilliant interview. The song comes on and fireworks start shooting off quite literally in the middle of it. So the moment is a wild place. Yeah, sure fucking is. Boy. Well, let's move to track five and something more. Craig, how do you feel something more lives up to its role as a follow-up song for The Moment is a Wild Place? This is a tour de force song and a showcase piece. Is this the right sequencing order? I'm just curious what you think. Yeah, that's a good question. I'll need to think about that some more, but I do think the song was quite good. It reminded me, vocally reminded me of like earlier Gord.[57:58] And it's the first song on Lester Parfait that did sound like a previous version of Gord. The horns are great, which is what makes it sound so it doesn't just sound like a copy of something that he did earlier. There were some great dissonant guitar shots that were very cool and a little horn part. And of course, we have to shout out the drummer on this song because it is none other than Johnny Faye, who makes an appearance a number of times on this album. And you can tell. He just has such a great... He's playing on an album with Pat Stewart, with Abe, and he fits right in there because he's just such a musical player.[58:46] He has such a great tone to his drums always, and it was just a treat to hear him again. He's also listed as backing vocals. I think that's on a later track. I think track number 11, I think, for some reason. Oh, okay. All right. Right. But speaking of vocals, I have in my notes that Johnny Faye said this was Gord's best vocal ever recorded, hip or otherwise. I've never heard – I've been listening to him since 1989, and I've never heard anything like this. Right, right. There's a lot of strong, strong Gord vocals. And he's also got a very powerful voice. We know that because watching a special video of his later performances where he's more guttural and screaming but holding the microphone down at his belly button. And you can still hear just how powerful his voice is. That's really wild that Johnny Faye would say that. This is the first one that, at least for the album version.[59:58] This song is actually towards the end. So kind of wild. Or at least from a lyrical standpoint, it goes something more in the field, and then there goes the sun. So it's one of the last three songs on the album. you've got an error your album's on that skirt my album is a wild place i'm not i'm not even lying guys i'm not lying look at it right there it's third from the end odd odd that that you know as we talk about the sequencing that's the listed you know outside of the comment from johnny i just you know gothic synths driving drums bright horns really amazing solo um uh just I like it actually in the spot that we're talking about it from a sequencing standpoint, as opposed to towards the end. Because it is one of those that, I guess they're all in the MVP category opportunity, but this to me might have been in the upper quarter of MVP opportunities.[1:01:04] What do you think, Justin? um i spent a fair amount of time on the lyrics on this one and trying to there's a lot of stuff that's in quotes um and i tried to figure out what he was referencing by a lot of stuff and the only thing this is the silliest thing that i think could have come out of this was the cool hand of a girl all i found for that was a mexican restaurant in toronto jd have you been there it's It's called The Cool Hand of a Girl.[1:01:39] Hand of a Girl. That's the only thing that I found on the internet with those words in hand. No, I've not heard of that restaurant. No. And I did some research on the restaurant, and it's been open since before this was recorded. So was he talking about a Mexican restaurant? It's an MO, man.[1:01:59] Yeah um i i did love the uh the line i legalize criminality and criminalize dissent i love that because i american who is fucking terrified right now and um that's where i live is where criminality is legal and dissent is criminal uh quite fucking literally, um i don't know the um you know you guys had referenced that this is this is sort of old gourd and the thing that really stuck out for me because i felt the same way it was yeah he said fuck you in this song and this album to that point feels too clean to have those lyrics, to have him say that. And the way that he says it is really live-gored, you know, the ranting voice, almost. He drags the F out in that word.[1:03:09] I like this song. It's not my favorite. I don't know why it's not my favorite i don't know why it's not not my favorite but um yeah this song is is fine and it the the as far as the sequencing goes you know the moment is a wild place is such a deep valley um that this just gets us right back up in the air and and we're on to our next stop and And, um, I, I liked the energy of it, um, to follow, um, yeah, in a wild place. But, um, other than that, I don't know. I think it's got another showcase vocal, uh, toward the end, the latter third of the song when he goes up high. Yeah, for sure. I don't know if you guys, uh, like, I'm not going to try and sing it, but do you know the part I'm talking about where he goes up very high? Yeah. Again, that's not something we've heard from him before. Him going into a place like that.[1:04:15] I could see the classic Gord sweat in this song. He worked hard in this one. And you know what? Moving on to Camaro, I sort of get a sweaty kind of vibe from this one, too. What do you think about this one, Justin? My first thought was, is Gord a secret car guy? like that would be amazing for you oh, No, I mean, this, this is, uh, this is, you know, you're in high school and this is the first car you can afford. Um, this is not a nice Camaro, by the way, the, I had, this is a, this is a 72 that nobody wanted and I found it for 400 bucks in the classifieds and let's go, you know, um, uh, I don't know. It's got no floor on the passenger side but everything else is cool you can see the lines on the road through the friggin' drin you can Barney Rubble it, it's a piece of shit but it's my car, it's my wheels and I love it, I actually went back and listened to other Camaro related songs.[1:05:33] Kings of Leon and Dead Milkmen Bitchin' Camaro You know, just, just, I went back to that for some reason. I don't know. It was, it was cool to just kind of revisit that. Bitching Camaro. Did you see Justin on this particular song and this actually brings up a question for me. The song is Bob said was written because that's his wife's favorite car was a Camaro and then he gave it to Gord and Gord was like, I don't want to write about a Camaro. I'm going to write about a girl named Camaro. So the lyrics are about a girl named Camaro but the title Camaro came from bob's um and this is again this is just what bob mentioned about it um his wife's favorite car so apologies yeah and isn't that crazy isn't that totally crazy and and.[1:06:36] Yeah. You know, a great song. Um, I have, uh, I have like talking heads listed as kind of a vibe in, in, in a lot of them actually have a real, you know, kind of eccentric talking heads, kind of odd jazzed influence horns, um, as well. So, yeah, but anyway, love that. It's a girl named Camaro. Great. I love the line of the chorus, Camaro, the name means just what you think the car can do, go. Just the way he phrases it is just very odd. Until I read it, I didn't realize what he was trying to say at the end.[1:07:16] And yeah, just very cool phrasing. it reminded me of um i couldn't get the simpsons out of my head the canyonero canyonero, but that's just where my mind went but my also my dad had he's currently rebuilding a uh a 1980 camaro in silver so i'm uh i actually just texted him to see if he could text me a picture of it but he's uh he's a car guy and yeah he's working on one as we speak so So it did bring back a memory that I had repressed from high school where I got a ride with a buddy's sister's boyfriend who had a Trans Am, you know, like a Burt Reynolds Smokey and the Bandit vintage. And we went 140 miles an hour on the way home. That's the only time I was certain that I was going to die was in the backseat of that car. And it's a Trans Am, not a Camaro, but same thing. Yeah. Yeah. Night.[1:08:15] Music.[1:12:50] The North Shore is the first track on the record to me that sounds like vintage hip. It could be at home on Day for Night, a different production version of it could have been on Fully Completely, maybe even Hen House. It's of that sort of vintage. Am I totally crazy, or am I barking up the right tree, Kurt? Yeah i mean i have i have written uh alt rock style um kind of ballad so you know that's i think that hip would fall into that that uh realm but the song sounded big to me it got big you know it starts off with that kind of acoustic piano in intro and um and and the cool thing like most scored lyrics is like is he talking about the north shore of maui is he talking about the north shore of you know lake ontario everyone because like everyone kind of has a north shore, and um i i uh i i i just appreciate again the his ability to um.[1:14:05] Keep you guessing and keep us talking for many more episodes of podcasts to dissect Accord's lyrics. Yeah. And I recall seeing an interview with Bob Rock where he kind of mentioned the same thing. He talked about the North shore in Maui. There's a North shore in Vancouver where, you know, Bob Rock would, would know about the North shore that I actually spent the first four years of my life on the North shore in North Vancouver. And, um, I'm I'm thinking he's probably talking about the lake only because he mentions, I think it swallows, which there wouldn't be, I don't think in Maui on the North shore there. It's much too windy. There's little sparrows, I think, but I could be wrong.[1:14:46] But, but yeah, it's meant to be for wherever your North shore is. And it really is a great song. It could be, could have been a radio hit is that, that type of song I did. This is one of those songs that earlier on I had a critique about the chorus being too generic. So the chord structure is one we've heard a million times. But then the more I listened to it, I started thinking, well, there's a reason this chord structure has been used a million times. It's powerful. And when Gord is added to this mix, it does sound original. And it sounds great. I really love the harmonies at the end in the guitar. There's some sort of like Boston seventies via seventies, like guitar rock vibe on the, on the harmonies, which I dug or like, or like almost like a thin Lizzie or something. So yeah, solid song all around.[1:15:39] Justin, your thoughts. Yeah. I actually, um, view this as a followup to the last recluse. Um, like, yep. That's all that to me lyrically. Um, I also went back to Summer's Killing Us from In Between Evolution, because I really do love the lyrics about one more breeze and summer's complete. And then at the end, he goes back to summer lowers its flag now. And obviously the word is summer. And so that is my tie in. But, you know, the the uptempo of summer is killing us and summer exists at the fair. Right you know like this is yeah summer kicks ass and then this is the end of it like we're going back to school now and uh the leaves are falling off of the trees and you know it just um i also really loved the line we occurred to each other 48 hours a day how fucking amazing is that line um when you're in love holy hell that's that's all you think about and um.[1:16:52] Fingers and toes 40 things we share you know uh yeah or fireworks um yeah believing in the country of me and you that's what it was yeah yeah yeah i agree with the last recluse reference though and the way he sings it is actually very similar to we held hands between our bikes it's very and if you've seen the video for the last recluse as well they actually show that with you know these two kids with their yeah well um track number eight is this nowhere kirk this song like i even have i told you about my nights at the ihop i would go after work here over the last couple days and and it's the right next to the hotel and it's simple and so i wrote this on a little napkin holder and my note says it's the same phrasing as one from.[1:17:42] You too i'm sure you guys all that's right yes yeah so and then all of a sudden what's that justin reference to it too midway through the song oh yeah it it's not getting better like he's bull right he is ripping this song he's admitting yep that's a great pick up justin yeah good friend right and then you have one more coffee in the bill which is gonna come up later as one of the lyrics and the backing that the chorus just boom shade shade of all now is that someone that you guys were familiar with ahead of this because I didn't know anything about her until I did the research Justin yeah No, Craig has a story. So Che, Amy Dorval is someone I had to look up because I heard the vocals on this song and I was so blown away by the backing vocals that I had to look her up. And she's from here. She's from Vancouver.[1:18:49] And I think she may be based out of Toronto now. I'm not quite sure. She has a couple of dates coming up in Portland and Seattle, I believe, but nothing here. So I was hoping to go check her out. But yeah, it turns out she worked with Devin Townsend on a project called Casualties of Cool. And so I went onto YouTube and looked that up. And it's very, very cool. Kind of like ambient stuff with just beautiful vocals. And yeah, Devin Townsend is a local musician who, yeah, I remember playing back in 95, sharing a bill with him when he played in a band called Strapping Young Lad. And now he's like a, you know, worldwide world, you know, renowned, uh, musician. And, uh, yeah, we have a, yeah, we have a bit of a band connection with him too. That I won't get into on, on air, but yeah. I want to love you.[1:19:45] That's so cool and then just my last two things on this song um, bob wrote five songs on her solo album and i don't know that he helped with the production he may have been the producer on it but he he wrote five songs with her very in a similar style that um he did with gourd but this is the part that gutted me gourd didn't hear the vocal, It was added after he passed.[1:20:43] I mean you know there's so many haters out there you know he the guy produced the the biggest album of the 90s like the the biggest decade for music um you know i'm pretty sure sales wise yeah i'm pretty sure the 90s as far as like you know you know actual physical product i gotta say this about bob he gives two fucks yep and it's just good for good for him to work with two he just he's living in maui with his wife and his horses and spending time with his kids and you know try you know yeah oh yeah i got to deal with this bon jovi album or this you know offspring album whatever else and then i'm gonna go and wake up and pick one of my 700 guitars and he's got he's got like just he's got he's got music for days but he doesn't sing so i mean he does a little backup vocals or whatever else but i love that about because you know i'm kind of teetering on this i love the bob rock hip albums and of course i am loving this album and and i appreciate the other stuff that i mean metallica that you know that i think that especially if you're a musician like i think i know every main riff from the black album i can't play it all but i know all the riffs of you know sandman and and um and i loved watching that documentary you know almost swore out the VHS. So I'm telling you how old I am again.[1:22:08] Yeah. Another thing about that song, I love the part after the chorus. There's that melody, the da-na, da-na, just at first it kind of throws you, but it's a really great choice.[1:22:20] And I'm going to give a little critique here. This guitar solo kind of kills me. It, it, it's just so generic and kind of boring. And actually now that you bring up the videotape of the, the Metallica, I think it's called day in the life of, I used to have a video VHS copy of that too. And there's a, there's a time on that when he's giving Kirk Hammett such a hard time about the solo. I think it was the unforgiven maybe. And he's just like, no, do it again. Do it. Gotta do your homework. Gotta do your homework. You don't do your fucking homework. So I was picturing like Kirk Hammett being in there, like giving him a hard, like hard time. And, you know, he needed, he needed Bob rock and needed a Bob rock on this song. I think.[1:23:07] Well, again, I think it comes, it comes from the fact though, too, that we've been listening to, you know, these bands and, and these records that have such a feel to them, you know, a cohesive feel. Feel and this record doesn't have that same sort of cohesive feel it's it's all over the place right 14 songs 14 songs that's in in in all the things you read he he gave him 14 songs and he got 14 songs back there was no added there was no cut it was 14 14 straight across and and at no point did i see anything that said like okay this this track was written in 1985 this track was It was written in 2010. It just was part of his cadre of music that he's had lying around. And again, I'd really be interested to know if the titles are Bob's or Gord's. I'd be really interested to know. I guess ultimately it would have come down to Bob in the end. But I'm sure he would have respected it. I think Gord, in their discussions, they would have had. I'm sure. But you're right. I mean, they are co-producers.[1:24:23] Co-writers of the of the record yeah craig i'll put a bow on your statement this was sorry i'm i'm getting a little too flowery with the bob rock quotes and everything else but his statement was budget wise i was the only guitar player available, so there's your answer to the solo okay okay sorry bob i i really i should say i i'm a bob rock fan i love both of the hip albums he did and and like i already mentioned my permanent vacation story and also sonic temple was a big one for me when i was young and that was his yeah me and my buddy found that cassette tape on the side of the road by my dad's work someone had thrown it out the window or something and we found it no no case just the tape and took that home and And yeah, so I'm a big, big Bob rock fan. So sorry, Justin. Yeah. I mean, apart from the backing vocals, I don't love this song. Um, and I think it's kind of the reasons why you guys said it's just not something musically doesn't do it for me. Um, and that's no disrespect to anybody, but the, you know, the background vocals are just so freaking stellar that it's it props the song up probably higher than it should rank for me.[1:25:48] Um yeah and i really you know i didn't care for the youtube the youtube riff and and it just it's just strange right it pulls you out it almost pulls you out of the song because you're like thrust into another song but like i said i do i do appreciate that gourd references the u2 song yes and says it's not getting better that's very cool okay all right well then we know what we're doing at least yeah good on him for for recognizing that and i'm guessing it was just an accident then he he either he noticed it or someone else pointed it out and then yeah know, I'll just add a lyric in here and it's all good. I think it's better than one personally. The next song is To Catch the Truth. Kurt, we'll start with you. Yeah, man. So here we go. We got a ska song, a frigging ska song, in my opinion. No doubt, Mighty Mighty Boston's, whatever your flavor is. But.[1:26:51] I love ska. I love ska. My wife loves ska and we grew up in Orange County. I used to go see No Doubt, play at colleges and play at local bars and crap like that.[1:27:07] And Mighty Mighty Boston is probably the – not even probably, by far the loudest concert I've ever been to, leaps and bounds. But gorge's doing a ska tune um west coast punk was uh was mentioned in a couple of the reviews that i saw vancouver's scene dug in the slugs um it's just a fun great song you know the beauty of ska at least from my standpoint so um loved it absolutely loved the tune jay dog yeah i uh remember very fondly uh watching real big fish in a very small room and um river city rebels were a big ska band horn band here in burlington and i used to you know sneak into shows underage and and love it um it's a fun song it's just fun and um gourd packs a lot into this song um it's i don't really have any any critiques yay or nay other than man i remember being 15 16 years old and going to these shows and having a hell of a good time when i first heard this song the the amount of compression bothered me it's just like.[1:28:31] You know squished and also i found it strange i was thinking in the realm of like goldfinger or something like that and in what in one channel you've got the guitar the other side you've got the piano and i found the way the piano was so clean was a bit bothers bothersome at first, and i had a note i wish it was almost like rag timed up a bit like or you know a bit like maybe even a bit out of tune or just something to give it a little bit of personality that would be my one see this is the song that i felt was like the the mouth i did yeah i think it was the piano a melody but what i mean is is the actual sound yeah no but not the sound i i hear what you're saying craig it was too clean it needed to be like someone had a mic in the room of a saloon with some out of tune piano and then that would have been the that would have been the flavor that would have been the added that well because i like my note west coast punk like you don't tune up when you're playing punk songs you play what's on the friggin guitar that's exactly what So I hear that. I think that's a very fair, very fair criticism.[1:29:37] After listening to it on the CD last night, though, I found that it wouldn't have worked if it was done as a more sort of raw punk or like, if it wasn't compressed in that way, the vocals would not have popped in the same way. And so I think it was probably the right choice in hindsight. But like I said, if it could be just dirtied up a bit in some way, I think I would have enjoyed it a little bit more. I did like the beginning. It's kind of like a strange introduction. There's also those hard stops at the end. What's real? What's fake? There's not a dirty song on this record. You know, this record is not, it's not got, it is like that Camaro. Somebody's out polishing it with a shammy. It's pristine and clean. Let me howl.[1:30:29] Music.[1:36:30] This was one of my favorites. Really enjoyed this song. Really strong melodies. It's unlike any other song in style. And again, we keep coming back to this, but it does not sound like any other Gord song. Doesn't sound like any other song on this album. Very much like an 80s vibe musically. There's a, you know, because I've criticized some solos, I will say I did enjoy the clean guitar solo on this song. And then there's a sax solo that comes in over top of that and i like how that how the tempo goes into halftime and then it kicks back in at the end yeah solid song so i got i got big money from rush in the intro that's what it felt like to me okay so just think of that synth you know.[1:37:21] Big money when before it comes in so but you're right man that that breakdown with the guitar and the sax i just kept repeating that i freaking loved that like and you know you guys you know i i'm i like the dead and and one of the reasons why i think i like the tragically hit because they are jam band no matter what you say they are jam band and they're not going to go off into crazy solos well they did go off into crazy gourd vocal solos you could say right but you know rob's not ripping it for 25 minutes and and you know breaking out the wall and making sure you're you know timing your dose just right but um it it i i love that part to this is that um that that that breakdown. Cause you just, and again, and I'm also a big rush fan. So that intro, so yeah, yeah, this is one of those, like I said, I didn't have my MVP, but this was definitely like a strong, strong candidate. And then my final note on this, this was the last vocal recorded before he was diagnosed is some research that I did. So this was the last vocal was let me before, before he was diagnosed entirely for me.[1:38:41] Not necessarily the meaning, but just context. Wow. Been hitting the head with the shovel here. Who else needs to talk about Let Me Howl? I think it's just Justin, right? Who, me? Yeah. Yeah, the sax makes me feel like I'm driving a cab in Manhattan in 1986.[1:39:06] And it's raining out. you know uh it's so freaking cool and it's a long song and it does weird things i remember the first time that i heard it i thought that we were going to have a fade out on the on that half you know the the slower beat um or the half time whatever you want to call it and, and then out of nowhere this massive film and and we're back and we're faster than we were before, right like it there there's a sense of urgency at the end of the song like let me howl here like i'm i gotta get this out and um it's really really fun like again it's, you can slow dance to this song and you can boogie to this song and you can, i don't know it's it's really really fun and um it's up there for mvp for me it's not my mvp but it's top three or four. I also like how the chorus, let me howl. And on the word howl, he has this like glissando up, like a slow glissando up along with the harmony, which is what a wolf does. Like, um, he's not going clean from one note to another. He's got, he's, he's like slurring up to it. Okay. And like, like a wolf would do when they howl.[1:40:30] And also there's some very slight changes to the way he sings it, I believe, if I'm remembering, if this is the song I'm thinking of, where the chorus slightly changes like the notes he's singing different times or the harmony changes. Something changes a little bit that I thought was really cool. I didn't listen to it today, so.[1:40:52] Justin, hell breaks loose. What do you think? I immediately, before I knew it, I knew that this was Johnny Faye playing drums. Um yeah and uh it's it's a it's a really cool again and like i just referenced new york city um and it's in the first line of this song like and he paints the picture of walking into a bar and it's kirk watching a soccer game right uh fireworks on the roof elbow one of the very first dates with, with my, with my wife, we watched a world cup game in a, in a bar that was shoulder to shoulder and it was two teams I didn't give a shit about and everybody was cheering and everybody was drinking and it was, you know, and then one guy got pissed off, bigger screens, bigger feelings. Right. And it's, it's cool.

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(Bonus Episode) The First Love: a Secret Path to Unstoppable Success

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 12, 2024 45:13

People end up becoming like those they love. In fact, we end up becoming ONE with whatever we love. Alas, the same is true about what we hate. So the secret to unstoppable success is to keep your eye and your heart singly dedicated on your ultimate emerging condition. Listen to today's episode, "The First Love: a Secret Path to Unstoppable Success," and find out how to embrace everything you love. Want more free trainings? Check out my free training page: https://derekrydall.com/free-trainings Get a copy of my best-selling book, EMERGENCE, and $1791 in huge bonuses! https://myemergencebook.com Get a copy of my best-selling book, THE ABUNDANCE PROJECT and $891 in amazing bonuses! https://theabundanceprojectbook.com Subscribe to Podcast here, or subscribe in iTunes or Stitcher, via email or Android: https://derekrydall.com/subscribe-to-podcast

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Introduce Yerself pt. 2

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 9, 2024 78:30

This week the gang gets together to discuss the rest of Inroduce Yerself.Transcript:Track 1:[0:00] Hey, it's Justin. You know and love us on the Discovering Downey podcast, right? So come hang out with us in person for the finale. Join us for Long Slice Brewing presents a celebration of Gord Downey at The Rec Room in downtown Toronto on Friday, July 19th. Craig is coming from Vancouver, Kirk is coming from LA, I'm driving from Vermont, and JD's like walking down the street or wherever he lives in Toronto. Tickets are available now on our website at discovererndowney.com, and when you get your tickets, that means you can come Come hang out with us and our very special guest, Patrick Downey, and you can bid on some incredibly cool silent auction items, all while jamming along with tragically hip cover band The Almost Hip, and most importantly, helping us raise money for the Gord Downey Fund for Brain Cancer Research. Crack open a long slice, put on some Gord tunes, take a journey with us on discovering Downey, and then crack open another long slice on July 19th and hang out with us in the six. I always wanted to sound cool and say that. For more information, follow us on all the socials and visit DiscoveringDowny.com. Christmas Day for Edgar. My dad always used to say just after the presents, well, it's as far away now as it will ever be. I'm thinking about that as the stewardess cracks the public address system. For those sitting in economy, there's no music for you today.Track 1:[1:21] Welcome, music lovers. Long Slice Brewery presents. Discovering Downey.Track 2:[1:31] Hey, it's JD here and welcome to Discovering Downey, an 11-part project with a focus on the music and poetry of Mr. Gord Downey. The late frontman of the Tragically Hip gave to the world an extensive solo discography on top of the hip's vocal local acrobats that wowed us for years. So far, he's released eight records in total, three of them posthumously. Now listen, you might be the biggest fan of the hip out there, but have you really listened to these solo records? Because I'm an inquisitive podcaster, I enlisted my friends, Craig, Justin, and Kirk, giant fans of the hip in their own right, to discover Downey with me, JD, as their host. Every week, we're going to get together and listen to one of Gord's records, working in chronological order. We discuss and dissect the album, the production, the lyrics, and we break it down song by song. This week we're going to be talking about the back half well plus two songs from the front half of introduce yourself justin my friend how are you doing on this gray fucking oh is it gray there toronto oh oh it's terrible all day maybe because i was wearing sunglasses wait a minute.Track 4:[2:55] It is it was the opposite of that here in in beautiful vermont today it's it was a beautiful day i I think it's going to be great for the rest of the week, though. So whatever you're getting today, we'll get tomorrow.Track 1:[3:05] Oh, that's weather with Justin. We'll be back with Craig and Traffic. Remember, news on the fives.Track 2:[3:12] Where in the world is Kirk from Fuckachino? How's it going, man?Track 5:[3:22] I am in Washington, D.C. Right now for work in a hotel room. so having some technical difficulties so my apologies but things are good and uh excited to continue the conversation greg.Track 2:[3:41] What say you things.Track 3:[3:44] Are going well a little uh a little tired after a night out uh watching the sadies last night so they played a small venue downtown and got to see the boys rock out and um yeah it was it was a pretty awesome show a big banner of Dallas in the background and yeah, some touching moments, but mostly they, they just rocked.Track 2:[4:03] I haven't been to a live show in a little while now.Track 4:[4:06] Super cool.Track 2:[4:12] All right, fellas, before we get into the music, I want to talk to you about an email that I got from an organization called Lake Fever Wilderness Company. Basically, the gist of this email is that the Lake Fever Wilderness Company has submitted all the paperwork required to City Hall to get At Riverdale Park East, here in Toronto, mere footsteps from my home, renamed Gord Downie Park. I saw an article on BlogTO, and then they also gave us a couple other links to stories. But I'm hoping that our little podcast here, that people who listen to it will hear this, and you know we can build some awareness around this somehow anything you want to say about this or comment about this are you jealous and ate in your town yes.Track 4:[5:17] That sounds like a great cause and um for what it's worth i love the song lake fever so.Track 2:[5:25] Right Right?Track 4:[5:26] Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that's a, that's whatever we can do to help, man. That sounds great.Track 5:[5:31] Sounds very cool.Track 3:[5:32] I'm jealous. We, who do we get? Brian Adams Avenue.Track 2:[5:39] Probably already have it. Don't you?Track 3:[5:41] I don't know. I don't know. Maybe in England.Track 2:[5:45] Really? There's not a. Right mind-blowing to me one of the top songs of all time in terms of played, everything i do i do for you right, yeah but this is not a brian adams podcast this is a podcast called discovering downy and let's pick it up where we left off last time that puts us on side two of the first record With the very candid, my first self.Track 5:[6:47] I mean, just explains it like I remember it. And yeah. could feel all of those crazy, stupid emotions and, uh, could just totally wrap my head around and embrace, you know, the message that he was writing, you know, a piano forward tune again. You know, I think we talked about that the last one, uh, I love the vocal and the background that starts coming in uh you know echoing essentially the line um and then the last line is just classic so yeah uh it's a it's a brilliant tune in my assessment.Track 3:[7:28] Yeah, what I liked about it is that it really instantly just takes you to a place in your own life, whether the story is one you connect with or not, it takes you back to, you know, when you were in your teens or whatever. And that's what I appreciated about this song. Another thing before the echoing vocal you're talking about there's i just noticed today for the first time very very faintly in the opposite channel is something that sounds like a, a meowing cat i think it's a person but it's almost this little it's so subtle it's almost like one of those hearing tests you get where there's a little beep and you're like did i hear that but i listened a second time and there's something that comes in about 30 seconds before for the more noticeable vocal on the other side so i.Track 4:[8:19] Did not on that view yeah i listened to it today too actually and.Track 3:[8:24] Um i.Track 4:[8:26] Mean this this girl sounds cool as hell you know like he says in the song six years older so it's definitely you know she's his girlfriend but he may not be her boyfriend from what i'm picking up on you know like and and i certainly related to the you.Track 3:[8:41] Told me off and could she be responsible for uh hooking gourd on reading because he wanted to be like her.Track 4:[8:50] Oh yeah yeah yeah yeah interesting thought yeah yeah yeah i don't know again like i did feel a little awkward listening to this song let's.Track 2:[9:02] Move to the next track on the record you're ashore.Track 3:[9:05] Well this is probably the song i have the least to say about it's maybe the least memorable for me I think probably it's the type of song that if it's about you it's probably a maybe a bit of an inside joke or I'm not really sure what the you know what it's about who it's about, I appreciated the gentleness in his voice. I was glad that it was the length that it was because it was not my favorite. What did you guys think?Track 5:[9:38] I loved it me too i uh i i uh i mean it's the shortest song on the album it's a minute 30 you know the lyrics are simple it's you know essentially you're sure you're sure repeated and a few little straight lines but the brilliant in the very beginning is you know he's strumming and then it's the let flow it down i believe is what he says and uh yeah it's um Um, I think especially amongst this body of work amongst this album, like, you know, there's a lot of, there's a lot of piano, there's a lot of synths, there's even some beats and things of that nature. And it was kind of nice to just get a little short acoustic ditty in my opinion. But, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm a sucker for that. That's, uh, just like, just like back in the eighties, right? Every metal band had its little ballad. so uh i i love the ballads so.Track 4:[10:38] Yeah i don't know who it's about but it's an earworm i find myself humming the tune uh quite often and there's only a few words in the song so it's not like, you know like you said craig the lyrics aren't nothing about it is really memorable but it is it does get into your brain and it's an easy little like you could just walk through the the park and just sing that all day. But yeah, I mean, it's a minute 30 and that's about right.Track 2:[11:07] Yeah, that's about right. It's interesting you say that you couldn't determine who that's about, because I, so far, have really sucked at that game, listening to the first record. So, as we go into the second record, Gord lobs a softball at me, and even I know that this next track, Love Over Money, is about the fucking Tragically Hip.Track 4:[11:37] Damn right it is.Track 2:[11:39] Yeah who wants to go first here kirk.Track 5:[11:42] Yeah i'll go first um yeah i i you know uh i would say jd i've had a similar you know a similar experience in in trying i have little parentheses in my notes of who i think the note might be or the song might be too and i you know i can't even get specifics i just write like brother you know question mark things of that nature so this one was obvious what i loved about it as well and and i think i might have mentioned it on on the last of the first the first album it's such a pop it's like a synth pop tune is what i have and this is gonna sound weird but for whatever reason when i hear the song i think of that snl skit where you've You've got like Jimmy Fallon and they're all playing like they're doing that little, you know, they do the little dance.Track 2:[12:36] Oh, right, right, right.Track 5:[12:37] You know, when I heard this song, I, by the second time, I just, I couldn't get that shit out of my brain. So, but just beautiful lyrics talking about the band. So direct and so loving and so to the point. To me, an absolute, brilliant Gord Downie song. I mean, you know, just wonderful, wonderful song.Track 3:[13:06] The moment he said the line, we played to no one, and then no one plus one, I knew it was about the hip. Because I remember in 1996, a band I played in, we went across Canada two times that year, self-booked tours. And we ended up in Thunder Bay on one of the tours.Track 3:[13:24] And we played in a tiny club called crocs and rolls which is sort of like a legendary club in in thunder bay a guy named frank lefredo was the booker there who was kind of like a legend, in uh in music across canada and anyway frank um the first night we we played and we didn't draw much of a crowd and he said you know don't worry guys the you know first time the tragedy hit played here they played to to no one and then they played a second night and they got a couple more and the next night and you know they played i think three nights in a row on an early tour, and so that made us feel a little better and he and he um he felt bad about the the draw so when we came back um he found us a gig at another venue um for the for the drive back so that's the the memory that that comes up for me um and also the other thing the queen's jubilee uh so the reference to the um to the playing to the the deafening the husband of the queen um that would be that that show which i looked up and uh and yeah they played poets and interesting enough in that version of poets he changes the lyrics he censors himself a little bit i noticed so for the queen he he He changed bare-breasted to bare-chested, and there was one other change I can't recall.Track 4:[14:44] Yeah, it was a great performance. I remember seeing that. I wish that I had looked it up just to bring the memory of it back, but that line stuck out to me. I remember seeing that performance.Track 3:[14:57] And he used the laminar flow line as well in that version of Poets.Track 4:[15:01] Oh, that I didn't remember.Track 2:[15:04] Wow.Track 3:[15:05] Which ended up in Coke Machine Glow on Every Irrelevance.Track 4:[15:11] Yeah. Obviously, the bond between those five guys is unbreakable, and this song is funny, too. I laughed at this song the first time that I heard it and heard the lyrics. We missed death and marriage and a birth. I did notice the words hotel worth, which is kind of a preview to an upcoming thing. There's a song that actually got a lot of airplay here locally a few years ago. But yeah, yep, it did. Yep, it was on the radio two or three times a day for a couple months here.Track 3:[15:47] The love over money line um made me also think about the way that they split their royalties and i'm not sure if if it was like a 20 all the way around that would be my guess but but often the the lyricist will take 50 and then the people who wrote the music take the other 50 so you know maybe it's not that simple but the fact that all five of them were as far as i know listed on all all the all the credits sort of um you know over their career that's something that drives so many bands apart is that fight over you know well i wrote this i wrote this and like even in the band i spoke about a while ago like we had some really crazy discussions around royalties and who should get what and you know in my mind i've always been a equal share guy i don't care if you're the drummer if you're you know you wrote your part that's just you know then again i've not not like i'm making a ton of a ton of money in music or anything but but um it was nice to to see them stick together so long and the same five guys like what other band can you think of that released that many albums with the same lineup it's got to be a very very.Track 2:[17:02] Very short list.Track 3:[17:03] Like there may be some three pieces i mean but a five piece band think of all the potential for conflict and for you know one guy leaving it like no one there's some sleuthing.Track 2:[17:17] Some sonic sleuthing for you listeners out there send us an email at discovering downy at gmail.com with bands that have a lineup up that was consistent with at least 15 records released? Are there any? Is there a database that you could just plug that into and get it from?Track 3:[17:40] No idea. I mean, Aerosmith would be close, but they had that lineup change in the mid-career.Track 2:[17:49] Right.Track 3:[17:51] For one album anyways.Track 2:[17:53] Joe Perry left, right? Joe Perry and Brad Whitford.Track 3:[17:55] Yeah.Track 2:[17:57] Yeah, yeah. Okay, so the next track is You, Me, and the Bees. Do I go two for two here when I say this is an ode to the Boston Bruins? Yeah. And its ability to connect with your family, particularly in this case to Gord's brother, Patrick.Track 3:[21:03] That sounds about right to me.Track 2:[21:04] Take us away.Track 3:[21:06] Took me right to my childhood as well. And a good friend of mine, so my friend Blair and I, we played a game called hall hockey. Hockey's in my parents basement with you know those fisher price um bowling sets we take take one of the pins and a ball and we would just hit the ball back and forth and if you hit the wall you score and we had this ongoing game every time he came over and we would you know do the play by play and we were both oilers fans so you weren't allowed to be the oilers you had to choose another team and i'll never forget the quebec nordique if you were the nordique and you you know you'd be Stastny and then you pass over to to you know Michelle Goulet and as soon as Michelle Goulet, got the puck you know you're getting a shot in the balls every single time I don't know what it was but and um yeah and then Blair became a little bigger than me and started winning every single game and then we yeah we aged out of that game but anyways that's where it took me yeah what What about you guys?Track 4:[22:06] Oh man, this was me and my old man playing pond hockey. Yeah, I loved the song and I loved I could tell right away that the percussion was a hockey stick scraping on the ground. I loved it. And you know, again, I laughed in this song several times and the line about the trading of George Thornton and you know, it's, I don't know, like Like, I'm so excited to get to meet Patrick Downey because it sounds like these guys just had fun the whole time. This song is that relationship. And, you know, and as a Habs fan, I freaking hate the Bruins, but I get it. You know, I totally get it. And, yeah, this is just a really cool song about your brother. You know, it's fun.Track 5:[22:57] Yeah, I loved the song. And I loved, I could tell right away that the percussion was a hockey stick scraping on the ground. I loved it. You know, again, I laughed in this song several times and the line about the trading of George Thornton. And, you know, it's, I don't know, like, I'm so excited to get to meet Patrick Downey because it sounds like these guys just had fun the whole time, you know, and the song is that.Track 4:[23:30] I, um, I really liked how Gord's voice was very staccato and this, um, he was really kind of a minimalist with, you know, he didn't drag any of the, any of the, the lines out the Bruins. You know, like just very on the beat and kind of not screwing around. Or maybe this is screwing around for him, I guess. But, you know, he turned the word Bruins into Bruins, just one syllable. And I don't know, it felt like a different approach lyrically or sonically, I guess.Track 3:[24:02] Yeah, that phrasing really matched the style of the song too. That sort of, like the percussion that Kirk was talking about. It just, yeah, had that staccato feel.Track 5:[24:11] The phrasing, thanks for bringing that up, Craig. I had just recently watched the Juno Award tribute, Dallas Green and Sarah Harmer and Kevin Hearn, I believe it was, and I believe it was the Junos. And gore you guys both talked mentioned like the way he phrases like the way he takes his lyrics and will you know enunciate them to fit into the line it is like no one else right and then when you watch this tribute and you see her singing introduce yourself and trying to you know keep the cadence that that that gourd has i guess that's a good way to describe it there's a uh, a unique cadence to it so i i was blown away by that if you guys haven't seen it you you must watch it and then when they go into bob cajun and the harmonies are just incredible but like goosebumps you know it's so incredible and then especially when she comes in with that harmony But to hear her do the phrasing was wonderful as well, because that has to be difficult.Track 2:[25:25] Yeah, it's what we love about him, right? His ability to twist and turn and put round pegs into square holes or square pegs into round holes probably is more difficult, in fact. Snowflake has a haunting piano line that works well with Gord's almost pastime. What do you think of Snowflakes.Track 5:[25:46] Kirk? Yeah, Melancholy was my note. Again, the piano is used heavily throughout this whole album, but on this song in particular. My guess at who it is to is just a girlfriend is all I wrote. Um but uh the the other note that i wrote was the the woman leaned in to say goodbye but i don't remember his name and uh just the um where is gourd going with that you know i i uh i i wondered i wrote that down as a note so um but just again uh fully emotional song.Track 3:[26:34] Yeah i wondered if that was almost like a reference to maybe his fading memory yeah the oh yeah i was a bit puzzled by that too craig yeah it was a very eerie song and i really loved it i love the um the jangling sounds gave it like a really eerie feeling like you're in a i don't know like a haunted ballroom of some ancient house like i just picture this as a movie when I'm listening to it the the, vocal delivery makes me wonder if it was one of the later tracks that he he did and i really love the chorus and the the reverb they put on like just like in a natural there is a ton of reverb, like way too much reverb but it works really well it's so powerful when they do it on this album not something i would normally like um yeah his voice is is gorgeous in the song um a lot of feeling to the piano playing as well by by kevin um yeah and again i had a note about phrasing when he says my name and when he says goodbye it's kind of rushed and it made me wonder if it was just a lack of time just you know doing it in one take and not worrying too much about yeah about how it came off um but again that's what we love about you too yeah yeah.Track 5:[27:58] You i mean craig you sing when you play takes a lot of energy um so that's that's one thing that i wondered throughout this this album in particular when like if you just say you're looking at it on your phone and you're listening and you bring up the lyrics and you're you're you're questioning some of the enunciations i guess of some of the words but it's that's gourd and that's uh you know Him making it work for that particular song. And sometimes different than what the lyrics are written as. I don't know if that's just typo type stuff or if that's on purpose. this.Track 4:[28:37] So I actually, I don't know, my, my thought on this was that maybe this was, um, something that he was remembering from his childhood and maybe, um, with a, an older sibling or, a relative or somebody, you know, that he knew well. And, um, the thing that stood out to me.Track 4:[29:00] More was the, his recollection of the lake and, um, of the house and describing everything about the scene and that this woman is somebody, an acquaintance of whoever he's walking down the road with, and they're going to see her. Um, cause there's the line, she told me to go explore the quiet rooms. Uh, it like, so this is all right, kid, go check out the house. We got stuff to talk about you know um and i actually um somehow connected this to the you know affluent woman in the video for it's a good life if you don't weaken um my my head kind of went to that music video and i don't don't know why or where that happened but um it just felt to me like it that type of house and that type of, of meeting. And, you know, and then at the end of that video, Gord leans down and whisper something into her ear and, and then, then they walk out. I don't, I don't really know why that's where I went, but, um, it's sort of a mishmash of two different things. Yeah.Track 4:[30:13] So like there's the song that we'll get to called the lake. When I first heard that, I thought that was about the lake, But now I think this song might be about the lake. I don't know.Track 5:[30:23] Just the fact that when he writes his lyrics, like, yeah, he, it's inspired by something, but it may even have a different meaning than what it was inspired by for him. And I don't think he really intends for the listening audience to do anything other than interpret it for their own selves or application. So, um, you know, I, you just, I never got the feeling like he'd be offended by that.Track 2:[30:49] Yeah, I can't agree with you more. Again, that's one of these great things about this performer that we all love. We can get behind that. The next song is called A Better End, and it makes me sad. Lonesome for Gord, I suppose. How does it make you feel, Justin?Track 4:[31:17] Yeah, the same. I mean, it sounds a lot like the Man Machine Poem album. There's some melancholy in a lot of those songs. And this album came together in a different context, but it's musically a lot similar to or very similar to a lot of the songs on there. And there are connections with the lyrics, the line, for treasure or worse. That's in, is that in Man? or machine, one of the others. You know, where God walks with persons, even the may be doomed, that line crushes me every time I hear it.Track 2:[32:00] Repeat it?Track 4:[32:02] Where God walks with persons, even the may be doomed. And, you know, there's an end to that sentence, right? There's a finality in that one. And I don't know. I don't know who it's about. The song is called A Better End, but he says bitter. Um you know and that only at the very end of the song does it say the better end um so maybe there's some letting go you know i i i don't know yeah.Track 5:[32:37] I i uh i have a description written as dark melancholy but then my final note was a plea and that to me as i think you had mentioned, Craig, you know, maybe it was to a family member. And I kind of felt like it was to all family members and all of his like close friends, like, this is the letter, like, this is it. And so I just wrote a plea, question mark. And the beat, I think we talked about this before, you know it's it had the clock feeling to me throughout um and then like you had mentioned justin uh you know you you the title's a better end the the lyric that he uses is stay to the bitter end but it stayed in the bitter end and uh uh just uh, He's put out so much energy at this point, you know, because it is when they've recorded this, you know, it's 20, 2017. They've done the they've done the. The tours, he's done the secret path stuff like he knows what's coming, he knows the bitter end and he gave everything he could. And this is like his like, hey, somebody give me some energy for, you know, here for a better end.Track 3:[34:04] Yeah, I wondered if this was a close family member maybe saying to stay with me until the bitter end. Really, yeah, this was an emotional song, but it's also the type of song that's going to keep bringing me back to this album. I love this song. i found that again another powerful chorus with that big reverb sound and the way he belts out songs like this and snowflake and uh in the choruses is a real strength of this album nancy and yeah just a very powerful um i i had a note i would be interested to hear a heavy version of the song like a full band version um yeah but yeah haunting piano it gave me um secret path vibes it felt very much like musically could have been on secret path he.Track 4:[35:02] He hits a lot of different spots um um in his range too he sings very deeply and then he sings very high um there's There's a lot of, you know, he's probably in three octaves or maybe four during the song. Probably three.Track 2:[35:22] Yeah. So when I hear this song, I think of it, I think of an LP, like an old LP, like a 72, you know, RPM record. And I picture it being played on my grandparents' couch-sized hi-fi. It just sounds, it sounds old. It sounds authentic.Track 5:[35:50] Authentic it sounds like a needle you know the indie rock on the vinyl right it.Track 2:[35:56] Sounds like which sorry.Track 5:[35:57] It sounds like the needle on the vinyl it's just yeah it's you you and then you got that the dining you know the the dining room or whatever recording that's going on in the background and then and then it just sounds like they have the actual, you know the the needle and the vinyl that that that that static sound going it's it's brilliant it's a little soft guitar it's it's a sweet song it really is it's a sweet song yeah.Track 3:[36:28] And the way he sings it too it's almost like a bit of a like a shaky vocal like a bit of a warble to his voice which maybe it was actually maybe they added an effect to make to give it that vinyl quality to it. But I think maybe it's just his, I think it's just his performance. And when I say shaky, I mean, in a deliberate way, I talked last week about how I can't think of any singer who has as many qualities to his voice as Gord and he does it better than anyone. Yeah. Yeah.Track 2:[37:09] But then it did go away. You know, sort of, right? Yeah.Track 3:[37:17] When he wanted it to, yeah. He just gained so much control over his voice. He had power from early on, but then he developed different subtleties. And when he gets into an album like Secret Path, and he's singing sort of in character, he can just go into all these different places depending on the emotion of the song. And another note about Nancy is, first of all, I'm guessing it's about a sister. I didn't actually look up the names of his sisters, but that's just my guess. I liked how it talked about the beginning, the middle, and the end. And Gord forever being the storyteller. He's always thinking in terms of story. Just a little nugget I picked up. And the conversation at the beginning too when they're just starting to hit record he's talking about his cuff link.Track 4:[38:16] It's a good one.Track 2:[38:17] It is. It's really good. And I think on first listen, it would have been bottom third for me. And now it's firmly somewhere in the middle third. Like, it has a crack top third for me. But, you know, it's moved up for sure.Track 4:[38:36] Yeah.Track 3:[38:37] I feel like this album gets better as it goes on. I actually prefer the second half.Track 5:[38:42] That's fair.Track 3:[38:43] Um i think at first i really enjoyed the first half more maybe because i was really preparing for that first half um for our pod but i i love the the second half yeah i.Track 4:[38:57] Actually very much agree with that i think for me it starts to really get good at you're ashore and like i said it's it's a kind of a forgettable song but the the tone sort of changes isn't that wild yeah well.Track 2:[39:11] We are at the last song of the first side the remarkably upbeat think my about us.Track 5:[41:21] This is brilliant. This song is brilliant for me from the first listen to the critical listens in the middle to listening again just recently before this. And just the way it made me feel, the swagger it had, the message it had, um that just incredible descending piano line um it it was uh it it it's up there for me it's really really really up there i love love this tune i.Track 3:[42:03] Agree this is a masterful song really it's just it comes at a place on the album.Track 3:[42:11] Where you really need something that's a little, kind of cute is the word i'll use and you've got that little piano melody that almost just sounds like a finger exercise you would do if you're learning how to play piano and some really cool sounds on the synth or maybe it's a theremin but i'm pretty sure it's a synth, and i also had a note that the the drums enter in an interesting way the bass and drums come in and just maybe a spot you're not quite ready for and yeah just just like a playful song that i really enjoy just super catchy i i wish the world could hear this music like i wish more people, would give this a chance because it should be words were i mean maybe this is my thesis for the end of this whole thing but gourd's work should be appreciated like like josh even said like they're both up they're both equal they're both amazing yeah.Track 4:[43:09] I had the word super catchy exactly the same in my in my notes and i really don't have a lot of other notes about this song but i i can't stop listening to it i know that um it's a yeah it's a it's a and you're right craig it came at the right time um in the sequencing um it was needed in this spot.Track 3:[43:31] It's a little heavy before that.Track 2:[43:32] Right?Track 3:[43:33] Yeah, and it's going to get heavy again. Yep, that's right. Really heavy.Track 2:[43:37] I learned a really valuable... I gained access to some valuable experience today, when I was preparing for this recording, because it's the first time that I've flipped the record over, and had to tackle the final five songs that we ever get to hear from Gord Downie, or so we thought at the time. You know, like, we didn't know there was going to be posthumous releases.Track 5:[44:17] Right.Track 2:[44:19] We knew he wrote this right before he passed, So either way, you know, it's fucking heavy. Craig, when you think of The Road, do you think of that as heavy?Track 5:[44:35] Yes.Track 3:[44:36] Wow, The Road, this song destroys me. Again, there's a bit of a theme on the album in a few songs about The Road, about missing out on life events. Yes. On, you know, the sacrifice. Of you know being a touring musician um you know a dream that i had when i was young and it didn't work out and you know i'm you know thankful for the life i have um and you know i'm sure gourd was as well but man like it had to be there had to be some really tough times being out away from your family all the time and missing things and um anyways this song is so good and the um the thing i want to say about this is when the drums come in there's no hi-hat it's just sort of kick and snare and that space really sets the the mood for this song um you know along with you know the piano of course um and there's one line i want to point out the machines are somewhat suitable now um you know is that is that the hospital machines is it is it a reference to man machine poem um i'm not sure but but this song like.Track 3:[46:06] Depresses me almost as much as the the book the road which destroyed me when i was um a young parent uh you know or not you know i wasn't young but my my son was young and if you you know um cormac mccarthy's the road it is absolutely devastating it is the a book that took me well i've never gotten over it really and the movie as well i watched the movie and it took me about six months to watch the movie i had to watch it like a little bit at a time when i was in the right headspace and it just it is if you haven't read it's maybe don't but it's incredible um but this this yeah if you name something the road it's probably going to destroy me well.Track 4:[46:51] So I had a bit of an awakening about three years ago when in May of 2021, my wife had something that she had to do at work late at night or 8 o'clock, 9 o'clock, whatever. And she couldn't be home to make dinner. And it was like a Tuesday or something. I don't know. And she messaged me during the day and said, you need to be home and make Evelyn dinner tonight. night. Evelyn's our daughter. And at the time she was, uh, almost four and I got home and I realized, holy shit, I've never made dinner for my daughter before. Um, I was working 80 hours a week and I was missing everything. And my wife had an Instagram account for our daughter. And that was the only way that I was keeping up. I lived in the same house, but I wasn't in the same family. You know what I mean? And yeah, the song brings all that back and made a big life change that very night. I sent a long message to my boss and said, we got to talk tomorrow, but I'm going to get it all out right now. Cause if I didn't say it now, I'm not going to say it. And I told him I'm done at the end of the year. I've I'll stick with you for my commitment through this year, but but I'd put 10 years into my job and missed everything in that 10 years. And, um.Track 4:[48:16] Give Gord another three decades on top of that. Um, I don't know who the song's about and I guess it doesn't matter, but, um, but obviously it matters, but, um, yeah, I, I really identified with the missing everything and even going back to the song about, um, uh, what is it? Love over money, um, about the band, you know, we missed funerals and births and all this stuff. And yeah, that's me. I've been there, man. I've, I still, to some degree, I'm there a little bit, but, um, yeah, I missed my daughter's first four years of her life.Track 5:[48:54] Everyone knows in this group here, I'm on the road all the time. I'm talking to you from a hotel room in, in Washington, DC. And, um, and so, I mean, Justin, I think this is actually a letter to the road and a letter to everyone that he's been on the road with, including his wife, his part, you know, his, his kids, his bandmates. It's, it's that, you know, that's that life you choose, you know, whether it's a traveling musician, whether it's a a traveling salesman, whether it's a, you know, a producer. Um, and, and, and it's, uh, it's tough, but when you're not on the road, if you are a road person, it's your, your, you know, jittery, you're nervous, but how do you, how do you give to your family and to yourself and to your job and to your art? And, uh, he wouldn't have been able to do that without the road. So but you know it's a blessing and a curse um i we mentioned this about another song here and this one i wrote was also a song that could have been on secret path was the note for me.Track 4:[50:17] Yeah yeah but musically yeah again.Track 5:[50:19] We there's not enough hours in the day right lads to uh just talk about the amazing insight and that we have it here you know to listen to to watch to read to just just beautiful.Track 4:[50:36] Well there's there's that point where you know you're you're young and and full of energy and you've got these huge goals and then you start to achieve them and then at the same time you have this other life going on behind the scenes that has always played second fiddle to that and then you realize at some point you're too deep into the pursuit to stop now but that this other life that was didn't even exist when you started uh has now taken the spot you know is number one on your on your pecking order and how the hell do you make that change without destroying everything that you've created you know yep.Track 5:[51:14] Oh you are the bird.Track 2:[51:18] Yeah it's uh it's a slow and lovely song right what do you think about it kirk to.Track 5:[51:28] Me this this was uh uh, uh, just a letter. It seemed like a letter to a sibling, right? You, you became the bird you, uh, and then it just, it made sense. And, uh, um, um.Track 5:[51:44] I, it, it starts getting heavy after a while, right? When you, when we break, I mean, we talked about it with the last week when we talked about the first one and how emotional it was and, you know, here we are, you know, however many songs in and you just, you stop. And like you said, you know, JD, it was like, these are the last five tunes and it's, it's, it's almost hard to embrace, um, and think about without just getting, you know, overwhelmed. I, I think it is, I think largely because of the love we have for, uh, you know, what, what, what Gord Downie has done solo and with the hip and, and in jazz as a human. So, um, but, uh, yeah, just, uh, you know, Another note was, again, I think I mentioned it earlier, just lyrics that are written different than what is being sung. And I didn't know if that was on purpose. I think I mentioned that. And I didn't know if it was something Gord was trying to do on purpose. Or it's probably nothing. It's probably just what was written and what was sung.Track 5:[53:04] You know, he probably had it written down as such and just like we do when you have a script in front of you, your brain has already chosen what the next word is going to be. So, anyway.Track 4:[53:15] I noticed that this shared a lot of similarities with Spoon from the first half where he talks about help being the only reason why we're here. You help others and the child in the song Spoon is, I guess, tasked with the same thing. I don't know if task is the right word, but this is a common thread throughout the album. And this lyrically shares a lot with that song.Track 3:[53:48] Yeah. I agree, Justin. That was my real only, my only real note on this song was that, that, you know, it's the only reason we're here. And that seems to be like, yeah, like if I had to break down this album into one message, that would be, I mean, other than like a goodbye and, uh, you know, uh, a lot, you know, a love letter to his close ones. Um, that is like the, yeah, the summation of this album. I also thought probably about A Child, the song, and also there's the line about he was the bird, he passed it down, you want to help people out. So, you know, he's referencing not only the person he's talking to, but someone, maybe another family member, a grandfather or someone who's passed down that quality that, he respects.Track 4:[54:35] There's one of my mentors. I kind of think of him as a father figure. His name is John Adams and he was a very bottom level race car driver around these parts. And, he and my father were about the same age and they were friends. And I started hanging out with John when I was 13 or 14 years old, trying to learn how to work on race cars. And there was one night he went off, he got pushed off the racetrack and he's, you know, this massive six foot six, 300 pound guy. And he comes barreling out of the car and climbs up to the top of the racetrack and gives a, gives the driver that, that wronged him the double bird. So he became the bird man that night. Um, that was his, that was his nickname. And so everybody calls him bird. And, you know, I thought, wouldn't that be silly if he passed his nickname down to me somehow, how you know because he doesn't all of his all of his kids are girls and i'm kind of like his sort of son um i don't think that's going to happen but i i know the song isn't made to laugh, but i laughed thinking about that that's.Track 2:[55:42] A nice memory though yeah.Track 4:[55:44] He's still with us he's still with us flipping people off all the time, yeah i.Track 5:[55:51] Love that the lake.Track 2:[58:56] Yeah, this one's a fucking tearjerker to me. So proceed with caution on this one. Justin?Track 4:[59:04] Yeah. I kind of mentioned it before that I thought that this song was about Lake Ontario, which has been such a constant theme throughout Gord's entire career with the hip and with the solo stuff. And there's so many references to the lake. Um but this song is not about the lake this song is is about his daughter willow i mean that's right at the end of the song uh i realized today you are lake ontario the love of my life you are willow and then he does this fantastic call and answer thing with his own you know backup vocals um saying willow over and over again and it's like wow this one this one is something um it's a it's a beautiful song um it's just gorgeous um and yes he does describe the lake or a lake um but all these same qualities could be about your child and man it's uh it's a crusher very.Track 5:[1:00:09] Astute observation mr justin that's uh i i think spot on um and as you mentioned you know it's obviously and and to compare the two is is that there's no disservice in that he loves them both dearly so um i loved how the keys on this made it feel like you were on the lake like you listen to the.Track 4:[1:00:37] Song and you feel like.Track 5:[1:00:39] You're floating in you know in a boat a canoe whatever on the lake and you hear the lake in that song. Um, absolutely amazing. Absolutely amazing.Track 4:[1:00:55] You know, I, I grew up on the water. Um, Lake Champlain is, they call it the sixth great lake. Um, and that's, I can see it out the window. Um, and my family had a camp on a little lake, uh, Hall's lake. And my wife grew up on a lake in Ohio, Guilford lake. And we go there They're three, four, five times a year. We're headed there next week. And she also came to Vermont working at a summer camp for, I think, seven summers on Lake Fairley, which is a gorgeous resort area. And so on first hearing this song, The Lake, and probably the first 10 times I heard it, I was like, man, I can see it. And then I picked up on the willow thing after, you know, 11th on my 11th listen, I guess. And I was like, Oh no, it's just something completely different. But if it is just about the lake, Oof, that's just as devastating and lovely.Track 3:[1:01:57] Yeah, I also grew up near a lake. Our house in Peachland, which my parents still live in, overlooks Okanagan Lake, which is a very large lake. And yeah, it just brings back memories. And it is maybe my favorite spot on earth. Right across the lake from where we live is a small island. There's no roads. There's no power. There's no development on the other side of the lake. And it's just a place that we would boat to when I was a kid and try to get over there every summer. And it's just, you know, this song takes me there. And also, you know, with the mention of his daughter at the end and, you know, the, you're the love of my life and it, yeah, it's just a beautiful song.Track 2:[1:02:46] It's gorgeous. Kirk?Track 5:[1:02:49] Again, we've said it already. you know these last five songs are they're crushers it's like it it was really hard to listen to them in succession like i really needed to stop you know this these last two far far away and blurred i you know my my my space that i left for what is supposed to be my guess of who it is who the song is to the letters to, is blank. And it is blank because to me it could be anyone. Maybe it was obvious to one of you guys, but I really felt like it was almost like a letter to everyone.Track 5:[1:03:34] We smile. All that we've been through, up and down for sure, onwards and upwards, up close, far away, and blurred. Um, the tempo changes in this song are amazing. It goes into a, a swing almost during the chorus. Um, and, uh, I, I, again, just the instrumentation and the, the combination of what, you know, uh, you know, obviously not just, um, Gordon, Kevin, but, you know, the others that contributed as well. So just add, I think, to each one of these letters, as it were, you know, as they started out. What'd you think about Far Away and Blurred, Craig?Track 3:[1:04:25] I really love this song. Another strong song on the second half of this album. And I almost wondered if maybe it could be another touring song, or maybe he's talking about traveling with his family. Great melody. And I agree with what you said, Kirk, when it changes tempo halfway through the song, and the drums come in with that slow beat, and the echo the the vocals are echoing and i i found that part very powerful and it's like, again i just can't, get over the the brilliance of his work it is like so emotional um and there's this like guitar pattern going on that's really really cool in the background as well and yeah and justin you yeah.Track 4:[1:05:20] I i guess i'm echoing what you guys have said um it's just a if i mean it's a little bit upbeat um for a hot minute there and again comes at a at a place where you need it um Um, yeah, it's, it's lovely. It's how it's a guy who's frigging dying, um, and telling everybody how much he loves them and that he always has, whether, whether you're in view or not. Right. Um, yeah, the.Track 5:[1:05:53] Passion in his voice in the vocal, um, is just so palpable. And so it just, I mean, wrenching, but almost in a, just again, another reminder of just how amazing, how amazing every part and ounce of the art that comes out of this guy is just incredible, incredible.Track 3:[1:06:23] Yeah, JD, did you have anything to add for this one?Track 2:[1:06:26] I don't know if I could get anything out right now if I tried. it's.Track 3:[1:06:30] A tough one I.Track 2:[1:06:32] Think you know his voice in the verses I've got written down that it's playful and painful at the same time, and you know it builds the chorus is obviously as powerful a gourd voice as we've heard in almost any song on this record, We'll get more of that in later records that we'll discuss in future episodes, but yeah, it's a great song, but it's the second-to-last song, and the North is a really powerful way to end. A callback to Secret Path and The Bridge. But overall, it's an interesting tracking decision. It can't be a coincidence. Right, Justin?Track 4:[1:11:07] No, of course it's not. It's a reminder. It's like he spent a good portion of that final show in Kingston reminding everybody to pay attention and to keep paying attention. And that's exactly what this song is. is it's it's uh yeah i did secret path but keep going forward keep talking about it keep moving keep changing um keep trying to figure this out um you know i don't know if we i don't think we've said this on air but when we first started talking about this album there i i mentioned to you guys in our in our group chat that i thought this was some of the songs on this album were like a stream of consciousness and i think i know that there's the video of of them recording this song and i know that it's not a stream of consciousness but i think when he was writing this song, what he wrote down is whatever came to his head first and i'm going to find a song to to put it to and i got to get this message out i don't care if it's rhymes or makes sense musically or what This has to be said again and again and again and again. And good on him, you know. Yeah.Track 3:[1:12:22] Yeah. So he makes the reference to, um, you know, a place West of, of James Bay, which would be Ottawa, Piscat, which of course the hip have, have the song about. And, um, I, I, I'm wondering if this song is either about or to Joseph Boyden, the author who, at the same time secret path was released, released a book called when Jack, um, I didn't mention him on the secret path episode only because there is some controversy you can look it up if you're interested but calling his um his roots into you know question um you know people questioning that he may not be in fact indigenous so you know that's definitely something you can kind of look into yourself but um joseph boyden is famous for a book called three day road and And just an interesting little thing that I came across about a week ago was a story related to this. So this story, Three Day Road, is about from just, I haven't read the book, but I've read a different story about a sniper in World War I named Francis Paganagabo. And he was nicknamed Peggy. And he has more kills than any sniper in North America.Track 3:[1:13:44] And his story is relatively unknown. And it's a really fascinating story. And anyways, I was reading a short story about that last week and then made this discovery about the connection to Joseph Boyden. Anyways, I highly encourage you to check out a story called Peggy. There's actually a podcast too by CBC called This Place. which is 150 years of Canadian history told by indigenous voices. And the episode on Peggy is incredible.Track 5:[1:14:19] The line Canada, we should have never called Canada. Um, I thought was pretty bold as well to put out there as you guys all had been mentioning, you know, obviously when he had addressed the crowd, you know, at several of the shows and, and several of his interviews. So I think that's, uh, bold, but expected. So I, I, uh, I think we all appreciate that. He would, would, go out there to this level.Track 3:[1:14:51] Yeah there's definitely a call back to that that statement in the last show that he made to the prime minister and i always um really admired that and, i always wondered what it would be like if an american artist did the same thing, you know like a high profile of bruce springsteen or someone went out and said something like that just the absolute division that would that would ensue um yeah yeah oh.Track 5:[1:15:18] Yeah I was going to say the dick and chicks are a good example.Track 3:[1:15:22] Of it.Track 4:[1:15:22] Happening.Track 5:[1:15:23] So but yeah.Track 4:[1:15:27] Or the opposite of that lady antebellum who's then sued the person that they stole their name from well fellas.Track 2:[1:15:36] It's time to ask the question will you be keeping this record in your rotation.Track 4:[1:15:44] I'm going to say not all the time And it's got nothing to do with the music. It's the subject. It's the heaviness of it. It's I don't want to, I don't want to be down. Um, there are some songs on this, on this record that are frigging awesome. They're all, they're all very good, but you know, there's some songs that certainly fit into the hip like catalog.Track 2:[1:16:07] Sure. And you can add them to your mixtape, right?Track 4:[1:16:10] Exactly. And that's probably how I'll consume them. Um, but this is going to be something that I listened to once every couple of years, maybe.Track 5:[1:16:19] Yeah, it's a commitment. I was just going to say it's a commitment. So I would answer very similarly to what Justin said. Even for this particular purpose of this podcast, it was heavy listening every time, every time you went through it. And so definitely some tunes I want to keep hearing regularly, but it's not something that I would. All i have on regular rotation like like i would would some of the others that that have definitely been fantastic in my opinion i.Track 3:[1:16:58] Agree with you guys i i definitely will come back to this album, um considering i gave it you know it took me six and a half years just to give it a first listen i'm definitely not going to wait that long um but i think i'll just have to be in the right frame of mind to put it on but i absolutely will i really do love it in fact coming up with an mvp track for this is definitely the hardest decision i've had to make i was hoping we were going to do one last week and one this week but so i'm it's going to be a last uh last second decision i was.Track 4:[1:17:31] Hoping jd would forget the question this time.Track 2:[1:17:33] I've got it written down so i don't forget my My memory is so piss poor.Track 3:[1:17:39] Right in on your hand.Track 2:[1:17:40] I call it a format sheet, but for real, it's cheating. Craig, we're going to stick with you. And we're going to go to MVP track.Track 3:[1:17:48] I want to know what they say first. So to clarify, is this my absolute favorite track or is this the track that I want to put onto a mixtape?Track 2:[1:18:00] It can be, that can be your interpretation. It can, it's the most valuable player. It's the, you know.Track 3:[1:18:07] So I had so many I mean my first instinct was a natural but I think I'm going to have to go with Snowflake it's.Track 2:[1:18:17] So good it.Track 3:[1:18:18] Is such a powerful song to me and I love the chorus I love the way again that big reverb sound and it's just a really gorgeous song and takes me you know visually takes me somewhere.Track 2:[1:18:36] We could definitely overuse the word gorgeous on this record because there's so much gorgeosity on it, you know?Track 4:[1:18:45] Nice.Track 5:[1:18:46] There is that.Track 2:[1:18:48] Right?Track 5:[1:18:49] There is that.Track 2:[1:18:50] Kirk.Track 5:[1:18:51] Yeah. MVP? Thinking about us, man.Track 3:[1:18:54] Good call.Track 5:[1:18:55] That tune, just thinking about us. It's thinking about us. That's all I need to say.Track 2:[1:19:01] You didn't have to hesitate at all. Wow.Track 5:[1:19:04] No.Track 2:[1:19:06] Justin, how are you going to react to the question? Craig was very concerned and didn't want to say anything. Kirk was very resolute and just put a flag in her. And Justin, where are you on this one? I'm giving you some time to think, so it's not really fair.Track 4:[1:19:25] Well, I don't need time to think. I just don't have an answer. I've been thinking about this since the first listen because I knew that this was coming. Um i will i i do have an answer um but i'll tell you the pics that i had wolf's home because it makes me think of my dad bedtime because of just the connection with my daughter and when this song or when this record came out um i love introduce yourself for the reasons that we talked about it's it's a great song about your buddy and and you know get me out of another jam please you know There was some interview that Gord did that he told Billy Ray. He goes, something happened with a guitar. And he goes, I will literally blow you if you fix this. I love Spoon, that song Spoon, because I really like the band. But I also like the story of going to the show with a kid. um but i'm gonna go with love over money because that's why we're all here in the first place yeah right good job justin yeah thank.Track 2:[1:20:37] You what bow you put in it love.Track 4:[1:20:39] It yeah yeah.Track 2:[1:20:42] And that brings us to the end of Introduce Yourself. Just a, you know, what a, I'm going to use the word again, what a gorgeous piece of work. And so memorable and so thoughtful. And, you know, this is the last stuff he recorded. It's really, really quite heavy. And we're sorry if we brought you down a little bit with these last two episodes, um but trust us we're celebrating this music we're not mourning we are celebrating and.Track 3:[1:21:23] Jd i want to thank you one more time for bringing me on board for this project because this is the album that i told you right from the start has been sitting on my shelf and i needed i wanted to listen to it. It's been staring at me for years and I just couldn't do it. And I think maybe just having, you know, you guys along with the ride makes it, you know, easier to do.Track 2:[1:21:50] Thank you very much. Thank you for doing it.Track 4:[1:21:53] Yeah. I a hundred percent. Thank you. I, I didn't know about any other records, um, um that gourd had done um but i knew about this one and i was choosing to not listen to it you know i i wanted nothing to do with it um and i gotta be honest with you i'm glad it's over i'm glad it's behind us um i listened to this this album in its entirety probably 25 to 30 times um it's.Track 2:[1:22:22] A lot yeah.Track 4:[1:22:23] It's a lot and the last week or so um leading up to recording this i stopped listening completely um i had to stop it was just killing me and i started listening to um some of the older hip stuff and i started listening to some sadie stuff and i listened to conquering sun quite a bit um but i had to get away from the heaviness and go back to being a fan, because this was a hard one.Track 2:[1:22:57] Completely agree well on behalf of uh craig and justin and kirk it's me jd and we're saying goodbye for another week we'll be back we've just got a couple episodes left fellas we've got away is mine and we've got luster parfait and then we've got the finale and i'm getting excited about yeah.Track 4:[1:23:21] Hell yeah oh yeah yeah and you know it's gonna.Track 2:[1:23:26] Be a good time.Track 4:[1:23:27] I got it you know we got to give a shout out to our our social media following you guys are really starting to step up and kick ass lately and it's really re-energized all of us a lot um we're our group chat has been on fire the last several days as we record this because we're just like did you see this one did you see the message there did you see the email oh my god you know it's yeah we're obsessing over the rankings and it's it's great it's fun it's a lot of fun well.Track 5:[1:23:52] So it was so crazy too to get some like some you know some of the official accounts of these people that we were talking about are.Track 4:[1:24:01] Right are.Track 5:[1:24:02] Sharing some of the you know the links and stuff to some of these episodes and and uh we're getting just some great amazing comments you know through the right you guys mentioned social media you know instagram facebook and uh just i don't think any of us had that on our bingo cards when we woke up in the morning, you know?Track 2:[1:24:22] I didn't.Track 4:[1:24:27] Right. And the Sadies messaged you back today, Craig. That's cool.Track 2:[1:24:33] Holy shit.Track 4:[1:24:34] And JD's putting in the legwork tenfold over what we're doing.Track 2:[1:24:38] Stop.Track 4:[1:24:39] He's listening. He's throwing everything together and doing interviews and making all this happen. I mean, I don't know if any of us are getting rich off this.Track 2:[1:24:48] Oh, not fucking me.Track 4:[1:24:50] You know, JD is certainly reaping the benefits of, I think a lot of people are appreciating what you're doing and I know we are.Track 5:[1:24:57] Yeah, absolutely.Track 2:[1:24:59] It's a group effort, guys. It's a group effort, man. All right, folks. Pick up your shit.Track 1:[1:25:07] Thanks for listening to Discovering Downey. To find out more about the show and its host, visit DiscoveringDowney.com. You can email us at discoveringdowney at gmail.com. And hey, we're social. Check us out.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/fully-and-completely/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Introduce Yerself pt. 2

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 9, 2024 78:30

This week the gang gets together to discuss the rest of Inroduce Yerself.Transcript:Track 1:[0:00] Hey, it's Justin. You know and love us on the Discovering Downey podcast, right? So come hang out with us in person for the finale. Join us for Long Slice Brewing presents a celebration of Gord Downey at The Rec Room in downtown Toronto on Friday, July 19th. Craig is coming from Vancouver, Kirk is coming from LA, I'm driving from Vermont, and JD's like walking down the street or wherever he lives in Toronto. Tickets are available now on our website at discovererndowney.com, and when you get your tickets, that means you can come Come hang out with us and our very special guest, Patrick Downey, and you can bid on some incredibly cool silent auction items, all while jamming along with tragically hip cover band The Almost Hip, and most importantly, helping us raise money for the Gord Downey Fund for Brain Cancer Research. Crack open a long slice, put on some Gord tunes, take a journey with us on discovering Downey, and then crack open another long slice on July 19th and hang out with us in the six. I always wanted to sound cool and say that. For more information, follow us on all the socials and visit DiscoveringDowny.com. Christmas Day for Edgar. My dad always used to say just after the presents, well, it's as far away now as it will ever be. I'm thinking about that as the stewardess cracks the public address system. For those sitting in economy, there's no music for you today.Track 1:[1:21] Welcome, music lovers. Long Slice Brewery presents. Discovering Downey.Track 2:[1:31] Hey, it's JD here and welcome to Discovering Downey, an 11-part project with a focus on the music and poetry of Mr. Gord Downey. The late frontman of the Tragically Hip gave to the world an extensive solo discography on top of the hip's vocal local acrobats that wowed us for years. So far, he's released eight records in total, three of them posthumously. Now listen, you might be the biggest fan of the hip out there, but have you really listened to these solo records? Because I'm an inquisitive podcaster, I enlisted my friends, Craig, Justin, and Kirk, giant fans of the hip in their own right, to discover Downey with me, JD, as their host. Every week, we're going to get together and listen to one of Gord's records, working in chronological order. We discuss and dissect the album, the production, the lyrics, and we break it down song by song. This week we're going to be talking about the back half well plus two songs from the front half of introduce yourself justin my friend how are you doing on this gray fucking oh is it gray there toronto oh oh it's terrible all day maybe because i was wearing sunglasses wait a minute.Track 4:[2:55] It is it was the opposite of that here in in beautiful vermont today it's it was a beautiful day i I think it's going to be great for the rest of the week, though. So whatever you're getting today, we'll get tomorrow.Track 1:[3:05] Oh, that's weather with Justin. We'll be back with Craig and Traffic. Remember, news on the fives.Track 2:[3:12] Where in the world is Kirk from Fuckachino? How's it going, man?Track 5:[3:22] I am in Washington, D.C. Right now for work in a hotel room. so having some technical difficulties so my apologies but things are good and uh excited to continue the conversation greg.Track 2:[3:41] What say you things.Track 3:[3:44] Are going well a little uh a little tired after a night out uh watching the sadies last night so they played a small venue downtown and got to see the boys rock out and um yeah it was it was a pretty awesome show a big banner of Dallas in the background and yeah, some touching moments, but mostly they, they just rocked.Track 2:[4:03] I haven't been to a live show in a little while now.Track 4:[4:06] Super cool.Track 2:[4:12] All right, fellas, before we get into the music, I want to talk to you about an email that I got from an organization called Lake Fever Wilderness Company. Basically, the gist of this email is that the Lake Fever Wilderness Company has submitted all the paperwork required to City Hall to get At Riverdale Park East, here in Toronto, mere footsteps from my home, renamed Gord Downie Park. I saw an article on BlogTO, and then they also gave us a couple other links to stories. But I'm hoping that our little podcast here, that people who listen to it will hear this, and you know we can build some awareness around this somehow anything you want to say about this or comment about this are you jealous and ate in your town yes.Track 4:[5:17] That sounds like a great cause and um for what it's worth i love the song lake fever so.Track 2:[5:25] Right Right?Track 4:[5:26] Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that's a, that's whatever we can do to help, man. That sounds great.Track 5:[5:31] Sounds very cool.Track 3:[5:32] I'm jealous. We, who do we get? Brian Adams Avenue.Track 2:[5:39] Probably already have it. Don't you?Track 3:[5:41] I don't know. I don't know. Maybe in England.Track 2:[5:45] Really? There's not a. Right mind-blowing to me one of the top songs of all time in terms of played, everything i do i do for you right, yeah but this is not a brian adams podcast this is a podcast called discovering downy and let's pick it up where we left off last time that puts us on side two of the first record With the very candid, my first self.Track 5:[6:47] I mean, just explains it like I remember it. And yeah. could feel all of those crazy, stupid emotions and, uh, could just totally wrap my head around and embrace, you know, the message that he was writing, you know, a piano forward tune again. You know, I think we talked about that the last one, uh, I love the vocal and the background that starts coming in uh you know echoing essentially the line um and then the last line is just classic so yeah uh it's a it's a brilliant tune in my assessment.Track 3:[7:28] Yeah, what I liked about it is that it really instantly just takes you to a place in your own life, whether the story is one you connect with or not, it takes you back to, you know, when you were in your teens or whatever. And that's what I appreciated about this song. Another thing before the echoing vocal you're talking about there's i just noticed today for the first time very very faintly in the opposite channel is something that sounds like a, a meowing cat i think it's a person but it's almost this little it's so subtle it's almost like one of those hearing tests you get where there's a little beep and you're like did i hear that but i listened a second time and there's something that comes in about 30 seconds before for the more noticeable vocal on the other side so i.Track 4:[8:19] Did not on that view yeah i listened to it today too actually and.Track 3:[8:24] Um i.Track 4:[8:26] Mean this this girl sounds cool as hell you know like he says in the song six years older so it's definitely you know she's his girlfriend but he may not be her boyfriend from what i'm picking up on you know like and and i certainly related to the you.Track 3:[8:41] Told me off and could she be responsible for uh hooking gourd on reading because he wanted to be like her.Track 4:[8:50] Oh yeah yeah yeah yeah interesting thought yeah yeah yeah i don't know again like i did feel a little awkward listening to this song let's.Track 2:[9:02] Move to the next track on the record you're ashore.Track 3:[9:05] Well this is probably the song i have the least to say about it's maybe the least memorable for me I think probably it's the type of song that if it's about you it's probably a maybe a bit of an inside joke or I'm not really sure what the you know what it's about who it's about, I appreciated the gentleness in his voice. I was glad that it was the length that it was because it was not my favorite. What did you guys think?Track 5:[9:38] I loved it me too i uh i i uh i mean it's the shortest song on the album it's a minute 30 you know the lyrics are simple it's you know essentially you're sure you're sure repeated and a few little straight lines but the brilliant in the very beginning is you know he's strumming and then it's the let flow it down i believe is what he says and uh yeah it's um Um, I think especially amongst this body of work amongst this album, like, you know, there's a lot of, there's a lot of piano, there's a lot of synths, there's even some beats and things of that nature. And it was kind of nice to just get a little short acoustic ditty in my opinion. But, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm a sucker for that. That's, uh, just like, just like back in the eighties, right? Every metal band had its little ballad. so uh i i love the ballads so.Track 4:[10:38] Yeah i don't know who it's about but it's an earworm i find myself humming the tune uh quite often and there's only a few words in the song so it's not like, you know like you said craig the lyrics aren't nothing about it is really memorable but it is it does get into your brain and it's an easy little like you could just walk through the the park and just sing that all day. But yeah, I mean, it's a minute 30 and that's about right.Track 2:[11:07] Yeah, that's about right. It's interesting you say that you couldn't determine who that's about, because I, so far, have really sucked at that game, listening to the first record. So, as we go into the second record, Gord lobs a softball at me, and even I know that this next track, Love Over Money, is about the fucking Tragically Hip.Track 4:[11:37] Damn right it is.Track 2:[11:39] Yeah who wants to go first here kirk.Track 5:[11:42] Yeah i'll go first um yeah i i you know uh i would say jd i've had a similar you know a similar experience in in trying i have little parentheses in my notes of who i think the note might be or the song might be too and i you know i can't even get specifics i just write like brother you know question mark things of that nature so this one was obvious what i loved about it as well and and i think i might have mentioned it on on the last of the first the first album it's such a pop it's like a synth pop tune is what i have and this is gonna sound weird but for whatever reason when i hear the song i think of that snl skit where you've You've got like Jimmy Fallon and they're all playing like they're doing that little, you know, they do the little dance.Track 2:[12:36] Oh, right, right, right.Track 5:[12:37] You know, when I heard this song, I, by the second time, I just, I couldn't get that shit out of my brain. So, but just beautiful lyrics talking about the band. So direct and so loving and so to the point. To me, an absolute, brilliant Gord Downie song. I mean, you know, just wonderful, wonderful song.Track 3:[13:06] The moment he said the line, we played to no one, and then no one plus one, I knew it was about the hip. Because I remember in 1996, a band I played in, we went across Canada two times that year, self-booked tours. And we ended up in Thunder Bay on one of the tours.Track 3:[13:24] And we played in a tiny club called crocs and rolls which is sort of like a legendary club in in thunder bay a guy named frank lefredo was the booker there who was kind of like a legend, in uh in music across canada and anyway frank um the first night we we played and we didn't draw much of a crowd and he said you know don't worry guys the you know first time the tragedy hit played here they played to to no one and then they played a second night and they got a couple more and the next night and you know they played i think three nights in a row on an early tour, and so that made us feel a little better and he and he um he felt bad about the the draw so when we came back um he found us a gig at another venue um for the for the drive back so that's the the memory that that comes up for me um and also the other thing the queen's jubilee uh so the reference to the um to the playing to the the deafening the husband of the queen um that would be that that show which i looked up and uh and yeah they played poets and interesting enough in that version of poets he changes the lyrics he censors himself a little bit i noticed so for the queen he he He changed bare-breasted to bare-chested, and there was one other change I can't recall.Track 4:[14:44] Yeah, it was a great performance. I remember seeing that. I wish that I had looked it up just to bring the memory of it back, but that line stuck out to me. I remember seeing that performance.Track 3:[14:57] And he used the laminar flow line as well in that version of Poets.Track 4:[15:01] Oh, that I didn't remember.Track 2:[15:04] Wow.Track 3:[15:05] Which ended up in Coke Machine Glow on Every Irrelevance.Track 4:[15:11] Yeah. Obviously, the bond between those five guys is unbreakable, and this song is funny, too. I laughed at this song the first time that I heard it and heard the lyrics. We missed death and marriage and a birth. I did notice the words hotel worth, which is kind of a preview to an upcoming thing. There's a song that actually got a lot of airplay here locally a few years ago. But yeah, yep, it did. Yep, it was on the radio two or three times a day for a couple months here.Track 3:[15:47] The love over money line um made me also think about the way that they split their royalties and i'm not sure if if it was like a 20 all the way around that would be my guess but but often the the lyricist will take 50 and then the people who wrote the music take the other 50 so you know maybe it's not that simple but the fact that all five of them were as far as i know listed on all all the all the credits sort of um you know over their career that's something that drives so many bands apart is that fight over you know well i wrote this i wrote this and like even in the band i spoke about a while ago like we had some really crazy discussions around royalties and who should get what and you know in my mind i've always been a equal share guy i don't care if you're the drummer if you're you know you wrote your part that's just you know then again i've not not like i'm making a ton of a ton of money in music or anything but but um it was nice to to see them stick together so long and the same five guys like what other band can you think of that released that many albums with the same lineup it's got to be a very very.Track 2:[17:02] Very short list.Track 3:[17:03] Like there may be some three pieces i mean but a five piece band think of all the potential for conflict and for you know one guy leaving it like no one there's some sleuthing.Track 2:[17:17] Some sonic sleuthing for you listeners out there send us an email at discovering downy at gmail.com with bands that have a lineup up that was consistent with at least 15 records released? Are there any? Is there a database that you could just plug that into and get it from?Track 3:[17:40] No idea. I mean, Aerosmith would be close, but they had that lineup change in the mid-career.Track 2:[17:49] Right.Track 3:[17:51] For one album anyways.Track 2:[17:53] Joe Perry left, right? Joe Perry and Brad Whitford.Track 3:[17:55] Yeah.Track 2:[17:57] Yeah, yeah. Okay, so the next track is You, Me, and the Bees. Do I go two for two here when I say this is an ode to the Boston Bruins? Yeah. And its ability to connect with your family, particularly in this case to Gord's brother, Patrick.Track 3:[21:03] That sounds about right to me.Track 2:[21:04] Take us away.Track 3:[21:06] Took me right to my childhood as well. And a good friend of mine, so my friend Blair and I, we played a game called hall hockey. Hockey's in my parents basement with you know those fisher price um bowling sets we take take one of the pins and a ball and we would just hit the ball back and forth and if you hit the wall you score and we had this ongoing game every time he came over and we would you know do the play by play and we were both oilers fans so you weren't allowed to be the oilers you had to choose another team and i'll never forget the quebec nordique if you were the nordique and you you know you'd be Stastny and then you pass over to to you know Michelle Goulet and as soon as Michelle Goulet, got the puck you know you're getting a shot in the balls every single time I don't know what it was but and um yeah and then Blair became a little bigger than me and started winning every single game and then we yeah we aged out of that game but anyways that's where it took me yeah what What about you guys?Track 4:[22:06] Oh man, this was me and my old man playing pond hockey. Yeah, I loved the song and I loved I could tell right away that the percussion was a hockey stick scraping on the ground. I loved it. And you know, again, I laughed in this song several times and the line about the trading of George Thornton and you know, it's, I don't know, like Like, I'm so excited to get to meet Patrick Downey because it sounds like these guys just had fun the whole time. This song is that relationship. And, you know, and as a Habs fan, I freaking hate the Bruins, but I get it. You know, I totally get it. And, yeah, this is just a really cool song about your brother. You know, it's fun.Track 5:[22:57] Yeah, I loved the song. And I loved, I could tell right away that the percussion was a hockey stick scraping on the ground. I loved it. You know, again, I laughed in this song several times and the line about the trading of George Thornton. And, you know, it's, I don't know, like, I'm so excited to get to meet Patrick Downey because it sounds like these guys just had fun the whole time, you know, and the song is that.Track 4:[23:30] I, um, I really liked how Gord's voice was very staccato and this, um, he was really kind of a minimalist with, you know, he didn't drag any of the, any of the, the lines out the Bruins. You know, like just very on the beat and kind of not screwing around. Or maybe this is screwing around for him, I guess. But, you know, he turned the word Bruins into Bruins, just one syllable. And I don't know, it felt like a different approach lyrically or sonically, I guess.Track 3:[24:02] Yeah, that phrasing really matched the style of the song too. That sort of, like the percussion that Kirk was talking about. It just, yeah, had that staccato feel.Track 5:[24:11] The phrasing, thanks for bringing that up, Craig. I had just recently watched the Juno Award tribute, Dallas Green and Sarah Harmer and Kevin Hearn, I believe it was, and I believe it was the Junos. And gore you guys both talked mentioned like the way he phrases like the way he takes his lyrics and will you know enunciate them to fit into the line it is like no one else right and then when you watch this tribute and you see her singing introduce yourself and trying to you know keep the cadence that that that gourd has i guess that's a good way to describe it there's a uh, a unique cadence to it so i i was blown away by that if you guys haven't seen it you you must watch it and then when they go into bob cajun and the harmonies are just incredible but like goosebumps you know it's so incredible and then especially when she comes in with that harmony But to hear her do the phrasing was wonderful as well, because that has to be difficult.Track 2:[25:25] Yeah, it's what we love about him, right? His ability to twist and turn and put round pegs into square holes or square pegs into round holes probably is more difficult, in fact. Snowflake has a haunting piano line that works well with Gord's almost pastime. What do you think of Snowflakes.Track 5:[25:46] Kirk? Yeah, Melancholy was my note. Again, the piano is used heavily throughout this whole album, but on this song in particular. My guess at who it is to is just a girlfriend is all I wrote. Um but uh the the other note that i wrote was the the woman leaned in to say goodbye but i don't remember his name and uh just the um where is gourd going with that you know i i uh i i wondered i wrote that down as a note so um but just again uh fully emotional song.Track 3:[26:34] Yeah i wondered if that was almost like a reference to maybe his fading memory yeah the oh yeah i was a bit puzzled by that too craig yeah it was a very eerie song and i really loved it i love the um the jangling sounds gave it like a really eerie feeling like you're in a i don't know like a haunted ballroom of some ancient house like i just picture this as a movie when I'm listening to it the the, vocal delivery makes me wonder if it was one of the later tracks that he he did and i really love the chorus and the the reverb they put on like just like in a natural there is a ton of reverb, like way too much reverb but it works really well it's so powerful when they do it on this album not something i would normally like um yeah his voice is is gorgeous in the song um a lot of feeling to the piano playing as well by by kevin um yeah and again i had a note about phrasing when he says my name and when he says goodbye it's kind of rushed and it made me wonder if it was just a lack of time just you know doing it in one take and not worrying too much about yeah about how it came off um but again that's what we love about you too yeah yeah.Track 5:[27:58] You i mean craig you sing when you play takes a lot of energy um so that's that's one thing that i wondered throughout this this album in particular when like if you just say you're looking at it on your phone and you're listening and you bring up the lyrics and you're you're you're questioning some of the enunciations i guess of some of the words but it's that's gourd and that's uh you know Him making it work for that particular song. And sometimes different than what the lyrics are written as. I don't know if that's just typo type stuff or if that's on purpose. this.Track 4:[28:37] So I actually, I don't know, my, my thought on this was that maybe this was, um, something that he was remembering from his childhood and maybe, um, with a, an older sibling or, a relative or somebody, you know, that he knew well. And, um, the thing that stood out to me.Track 4:[29:00] More was the, his recollection of the lake and, um, of the house and describing everything about the scene and that this woman is somebody, an acquaintance of whoever he's walking down the road with, and they're going to see her. Um, cause there's the line, she told me to go explore the quiet rooms. Uh, it like, so this is all right, kid, go check out the house. We got stuff to talk about you know um and i actually um somehow connected this to the you know affluent woman in the video for it's a good life if you don't weaken um my my head kind of went to that music video and i don't don't know why or where that happened but um it just felt to me like it that type of house and that type of, of meeting. And, you know, and then at the end of that video, Gord leans down and whisper something into her ear and, and then, then they walk out. I don't, I don't really know why that's where I went, but, um, it's sort of a mishmash of two different things. Yeah.Track 4:[30:13] So like there's the song that we'll get to called the lake. When I first heard that, I thought that was about the lake, But now I think this song might be about the lake. I don't know.Track 5:[30:23] Just the fact that when he writes his lyrics, like, yeah, he, it's inspired by something, but it may even have a different meaning than what it was inspired by for him. And I don't think he really intends for the listening audience to do anything other than interpret it for their own selves or application. So, um, you know, I, you just, I never got the feeling like he'd be offended by that.Track 2:[30:49] Yeah, I can't agree with you more. Again, that's one of these great things about this performer that we all love. We can get behind that. The next song is called A Better End, and it makes me sad. Lonesome for Gord, I suppose. How does it make you feel, Justin?Track 4:[31:17] Yeah, the same. I mean, it sounds a lot like the Man Machine Poem album. There's some melancholy in a lot of those songs. And this album came together in a different context, but it's musically a lot similar to or very similar to a lot of the songs on there. And there are connections with the lyrics, the line, for treasure or worse. That's in, is that in Man? or machine, one of the others. You know, where God walks with persons, even the may be doomed, that line crushes me every time I hear it.Track 2:[32:00] Repeat it?Track 4:[32:02] Where God walks with persons, even the may be doomed. And, you know, there's an end to that sentence, right? There's a finality in that one. And I don't know. I don't know who it's about. The song is called A Better End, but he says bitter. Um you know and that only at the very end of the song does it say the better end um so maybe there's some letting go you know i i i don't know yeah.Track 5:[32:37] I i uh i have a description written as dark melancholy but then my final note was a plea and that to me as i think you had mentioned, Craig, you know, maybe it was to a family member. And I kind of felt like it was to all family members and all of his like close friends, like, this is the letter, like, this is it. And so I just wrote a plea, question mark. And the beat, I think we talked about this before, you know it's it had the clock feeling to me throughout um and then like you had mentioned justin uh you know you you the title's a better end the the lyric that he uses is stay to the bitter end but it stayed in the bitter end and uh uh just uh, He's put out so much energy at this point, you know, because it is when they've recorded this, you know, it's 20, 2017. They've done the they've done the. The tours, he's done the secret path stuff like he knows what's coming, he knows the bitter end and he gave everything he could. And this is like his like, hey, somebody give me some energy for, you know, here for a better end.Track 3:[34:04] Yeah, I wondered if this was a close family member maybe saying to stay with me until the bitter end. Really, yeah, this was an emotional song, but it's also the type of song that's going to keep bringing me back to this album. I love this song. i found that again another powerful chorus with that big reverb sound and the way he belts out songs like this and snowflake and uh in the choruses is a real strength of this album nancy and yeah just a very powerful um i i had a note i would be interested to hear a heavy version of the song like a full band version um yeah but yeah haunting piano it gave me um secret path vibes it felt very much like musically could have been on secret path he.Track 4:[35:02] He hits a lot of different spots um um in his range too he sings very deeply and then he sings very high um there's There's a lot of, you know, he's probably in three octaves or maybe four during the song. Probably three.Track 2:[35:22] Yeah. So when I hear this song, I think of it, I think of an LP, like an old LP, like a 72, you know, RPM record. And I picture it being played on my grandparents' couch-sized hi-fi. It just sounds, it sounds old. It sounds authentic.Track 5:[35:50] Authentic it sounds like a needle you know the indie rock on the vinyl right it.Track 2:[35:56] Sounds like which sorry.Track 5:[35:57] It sounds like the needle on the vinyl it's just yeah it's you you and then you got that the dining you know the the dining room or whatever recording that's going on in the background and then and then it just sounds like they have the actual, you know the the needle and the vinyl that that that that static sound going it's it's brilliant it's a little soft guitar it's it's a sweet song it really is it's a sweet song yeah.Track 3:[36:28] And the way he sings it too it's almost like a bit of a like a shaky vocal like a bit of a warble to his voice which maybe it was actually maybe they added an effect to make to give it that vinyl quality to it. But I think maybe it's just his, I think it's just his performance. And when I say shaky, I mean, in a deliberate way, I talked last week about how I can't think of any singer who has as many qualities to his voice as Gord and he does it better than anyone. Yeah. Yeah.Track 2:[37:09] But then it did go away. You know, sort of, right? Yeah.Track 3:[37:17] When he wanted it to, yeah. He just gained so much control over his voice. He had power from early on, but then he developed different subtleties. And when he gets into an album like Secret Path, and he's singing sort of in character, he can just go into all these different places depending on the emotion of the song. And another note about Nancy is, first of all, I'm guessing it's about a sister. I didn't actually look up the names of his sisters, but that's just my guess. I liked how it talked about the beginning, the middle, and the end. And Gord forever being the storyteller. He's always thinking in terms of story. Just a little nugget I picked up. And the conversation at the beginning too when they're just starting to hit record he's talking about his cuff link.Track 4:[38:16] It's a good one.Track 2:[38:17] It is. It's really good. And I think on first listen, it would have been bottom third for me. And now it's firmly somewhere in the middle third. Like, it has a crack top third for me. But, you know, it's moved up for sure.Track 4:[38:36] Yeah.Track 3:[38:37] I feel like this album gets better as it goes on. I actually prefer the second half.Track 5:[38:42] That's fair.Track 3:[38:43] Um i think at first i really enjoyed the first half more maybe because i was really preparing for that first half um for our pod but i i love the the second half yeah i.Track 4:[38:57] Actually very much agree with that i think for me it starts to really get good at you're ashore and like i said it's it's a kind of a forgettable song but the the tone sort of changes isn't that wild yeah well.Track 2:[39:11] We are at the last song of the first side the remarkably upbeat think my about us.Track 5:[41:21] This is brilliant. This song is brilliant for me from the first listen to the critical listens in the middle to listening again just recently before this. And just the way it made me feel, the swagger it had, the message it had, um that just incredible descending piano line um it it was uh it it it's up there for me it's really really really up there i love love this tune i.Track 3:[42:03] Agree this is a masterful song really it's just it comes at a place on the album.Track 3:[42:11] Where you really need something that's a little, kind of cute is the word i'll use and you've got that little piano melody that almost just sounds like a finger exercise you would do if you're learning how to play piano and some really cool sounds on the synth or maybe it's a theremin but i'm pretty sure it's a synth, and i also had a note that the the drums enter in an interesting way the bass and drums come in and just maybe a spot you're not quite ready for and yeah just just like a playful song that i really enjoy just super catchy i i wish the world could hear this music like i wish more people, would give this a chance because it should be words were i mean maybe this is my thesis for the end of this whole thing but gourd's work should be appreciated like like josh even said like they're both up they're both equal they're both amazing yeah.Track 4:[43:09] I had the word super catchy exactly the same in my in my notes and i really don't have a lot of other notes about this song but i i can't stop listening to it i know that um it's a yeah it's a it's a and you're right craig it came at the right time um in the sequencing um it was needed in this spot.Track 3:[43:31] It's a little heavy before that.Track 2:[43:32] Right?Track 3:[43:33] Yeah, and it's going to get heavy again. Yep, that's right. Really heavy.Track 2:[43:37] I learned a really valuable... I gained access to some valuable experience today, when I was preparing for this recording, because it's the first time that I've flipped the record over, and had to tackle the final five songs that we ever get to hear from Gord Downie, or so we thought at the time. You know, like, we didn't know there was going to be posthumous releases.Track 5:[44:17] Right.Track 2:[44:19] We knew he wrote this right before he passed, So either way, you know, it's fucking heavy. Craig, when you think of The Road, do you think of that as heavy?Track 5:[44:35] Yes.Track 3:[44:36] Wow, The Road, this song destroys me. Again, there's a bit of a theme on the album in a few songs about The Road, about missing out on life events. Yes. On, you know, the sacrifice. Of you know being a touring musician um you know a dream that i had when i was young and it didn't work out and you know i'm you know thankful for the life i have um and you know i'm sure gourd was as well but man like it had to be there had to be some really tough times being out away from your family all the time and missing things and um anyways this song is so good and the um the thing i want to say about this is when the drums come in there's no hi-hat it's just sort of kick and snare and that space really sets the the mood for this song um you know along with you know the piano of course um and there's one line i want to point out the machines are somewhat suitable now um you know is that is that the hospital machines is it is it a reference to man machine poem um i'm not sure but but this song like.Track 3:[46:06] Depresses me almost as much as the the book the road which destroyed me when i was um a young parent uh you know or not you know i wasn't young but my my son was young and if you you know um cormac mccarthy's the road it is absolutely devastating it is the a book that took me well i've never gotten over it really and the movie as well i watched the movie and it took me about six months to watch the movie i had to watch it like a little bit at a time when i was in the right headspace and it just it is if you haven't read it's maybe don't but it's incredible um but this this yeah if you name something the road it's probably going to destroy me well.Track 4:[46:51] So I had a bit of an awakening about three years ago when in May of 2021, my wife had something that she had to do at work late at night or 8 o'clock, 9 o'clock, whatever. And she couldn't be home to make dinner. And it was like a Tuesday or something. I don't know. And she messaged me during the day and said, you need to be home and make Evelyn dinner tonight. night. Evelyn's our daughter. And at the time she was, uh, almost four and I got home and I realized, holy shit, I've never made dinner for my daughter before. Um, I was working 80 hours a week and I was missing everything. And my wife had an Instagram account for our daughter. And that was the only way that I was keeping up. I lived in the same house, but I wasn't in the same family. You know what I mean? And yeah, the song brings all that back and made a big life change that very night. I sent a long message to my boss and said, we got to talk tomorrow, but I'm going to get it all out right now. Cause if I didn't say it now, I'm not going to say it. And I told him I'm done at the end of the year. I've I'll stick with you for my commitment through this year, but but I'd put 10 years into my job and missed everything in that 10 years. And, um.Track 4:[48:16] Give Gord another three decades on top of that. Um, I don't know who the song's about and I guess it doesn't matter, but, um, but obviously it matters, but, um, yeah, I, I really identified with the missing everything and even going back to the song about, um, uh, what is it? Love over money, um, about the band, you know, we missed funerals and births and all this stuff. And yeah, that's me. I've been there, man. I've, I still, to some degree, I'm there a little bit, but, um, yeah, I missed my daughter's first four years of her life.Track 5:[48:54] Everyone knows in this group here, I'm on the road all the time. I'm talking to you from a hotel room in, in Washington, DC. And, um, and so, I mean, Justin, I think this is actually a letter to the road and a letter to everyone that he's been on the road with, including his wife, his part, you know, his, his kids, his bandmates. It's, it's that, you know, that's that life you choose, you know, whether it's a traveling musician, whether it's a a traveling salesman, whether it's a, you know, a producer. Um, and, and, and it's, uh, it's tough, but when you're not on the road, if you are a road person, it's your, your, you know, jittery, you're nervous, but how do you, how do you give to your family and to yourself and to your job and to your art? And, uh, he wouldn't have been able to do that without the road. So but you know it's a blessing and a curse um i we mentioned this about another song here and this one i wrote was also a song that could have been on secret path was the note for me.Track 4:[50:17] Yeah yeah but musically yeah again.Track 5:[50:19] We there's not enough hours in the day right lads to uh just talk about the amazing insight and that we have it here you know to listen to to watch to read to just just beautiful.Track 4:[50:36] Well there's there's that point where you know you're you're young and and full of energy and you've got these huge goals and then you start to achieve them and then at the same time you have this other life going on behind the scenes that has always played second fiddle to that and then you realize at some point you're too deep into the pursuit to stop now but that this other life that was didn't even exist when you started uh has now taken the spot you know is number one on your on your pecking order and how the hell do you make that change without destroying everything that you've created you know yep.Track 5:[51:14] Oh you are the bird.Track 2:[51:18] Yeah it's uh it's a slow and lovely song right what do you think about it kirk to.Track 5:[51:28] Me this this was uh uh, uh, just a letter. It seemed like a letter to a sibling, right? You, you became the bird you, uh, and then it just, it made sense. And, uh, um, um.Track 5:[51:44] I, it, it starts getting heavy after a while, right? When you, when we break, I mean, we talked about it with the last week when we talked about the first one and how emotional it was and, you know, here we are, you know, however many songs in and you just, you stop. And like you said, you know, JD, it was like, these are the last five tunes and it's, it's, it's almost hard to embrace, um, and think about without just getting, you know, overwhelmed. I, I think it is, I think largely because of the love we have for, uh, you know, what, what, what Gord Downie has done solo and with the hip and, and in jazz as a human. So, um, but, uh, yeah, just, uh, you know, Another note was, again, I think I mentioned it earlier, just lyrics that are written different than what is being sung. And I didn't know if that was on purpose. I think I mentioned that. And I didn't know if it was something Gord was trying to do on purpose. Or it's probably nothing. It's probably just what was written and what was sung.Track 5:[53:04] You know, he probably had it written down as such and just like we do when you have a script in front of you, your brain has already chosen what the next word is going to be. So, anyway.Track 4:[53:15] I noticed that this shared a lot of similarities with Spoon from the first half where he talks about help being the only reason why we're here. You help others and the child in the song Spoon is, I guess, tasked with the same thing. I don't know if task is the right word, but this is a common thread throughout the album. And this lyrically shares a lot with that song.Track 3:[53:48] Yeah. I agree, Justin. That was my real only, my only real note on this song was that, that, you know, it's the only reason we're here. And that seems to be like, yeah, like if I had to break down this album into one message, that would be, I mean, other than like a goodbye and, uh, you know, uh, a lot, you know, a love letter to his close ones. Um, that is like the, yeah, the summation of this album. I also thought probably about A Child, the song, and also there's the line about he was the bird, he passed it down, you want to help people out. So, you know, he's referencing not only the person he's talking to, but someone, maybe another family member, a grandfather or someone who's passed down that quality that, he respects.Track 4:[54:35] There's one of my mentors. I kind of think of him as a father figure. His name is John Adams and he was a very bottom level race car driver around these parts. And, he and my father were about the same age and they were friends. And I started hanging out with John when I was 13 or 14 years old, trying to learn how to work on race cars. And there was one night he went off, he got pushed off the racetrack and he's, you know, this massive six foot six, 300 pound guy. And he comes barreling out of the car and climbs up to the top of the racetrack and gives a, gives the driver that, that wronged him the double bird. So he became the bird man that night. Um, that was his, that was his nickname. And so everybody calls him bird. And, you know, I thought, wouldn't that be silly if he passed his nickname down to me somehow, how you know because he doesn't all of his all of his kids are girls and i'm kind of like his sort of son um i don't think that's going to happen but i i know the song isn't made to laugh, but i laughed thinking about that that's.Track 2:[55:42] A nice memory though yeah.Track 4:[55:44] He's still with us he's still with us flipping people off all the time, yeah i.Track 5:[55:51] Love that the lake.Track 2:[58:56] Yeah, this one's a fucking tearjerker to me. So proceed with caution on this one. Justin?Track 4:[59:04] Yeah. I kind of mentioned it before that I thought that this song was about Lake Ontario, which has been such a constant theme throughout Gord's entire career with the hip and with the solo stuff. And there's so many references to the lake. Um but this song is not about the lake this song is is about his daughter willow i mean that's right at the end of the song uh i realized today you are lake ontario the love of my life you are willow and then he does this fantastic call and answer thing with his own you know backup vocals um saying willow over and over again and it's like wow this one this one is something um it's a it's a beautiful song um it's just gorgeous um and yes he does describe the lake or a lake um but all these same qualities could be about your child and man it's uh it's a crusher very.Track 5:[1:00:09] Astute observation mr justin that's uh i i think spot on um and as you mentioned you know it's obviously and and to compare the two is is that there's no disservice in that he loves them both dearly so um i loved how the keys on this made it feel like you were on the lake like you listen to the.Track 4:[1:00:37] Song and you feel like.Track 5:[1:00:39] You're floating in you know in a boat a canoe whatever on the lake and you hear the lake in that song. Um, absolutely amazing. Absolutely amazing.Track 4:[1:00:55] You know, I, I grew up on the water. Um, Lake Champlain is, they call it the sixth great lake. Um, and that's, I can see it out the window. Um, and my family had a camp on a little lake, uh, Hall's lake. And my wife grew up on a lake in Ohio, Guilford lake. And we go there They're three, four, five times a year. We're headed there next week. And she also came to Vermont working at a summer camp for, I think, seven summers on Lake Fairley, which is a gorgeous resort area. And so on first hearing this song, The Lake, and probably the first 10 times I heard it, I was like, man, I can see it. And then I picked up on the willow thing after, you know, 11th on my 11th listen, I guess. And I was like, Oh no, it's just something completely different. But if it is just about the lake, Oof, that's just as devastating and lovely.Track 3:[1:01:57] Yeah, I also grew up near a lake. Our house in Peachland, which my parents still live in, overlooks Okanagan Lake, which is a very large lake. And yeah, it just brings back memories. And it is maybe my favorite spot on earth. Right across the lake from where we live is a small island. There's no roads. There's no power. There's no development on the other side of the lake. And it's just a place that we would boat to when I was a kid and try to get over there every summer. And it's just, you know, this song takes me there. And also, you know, with the mention of his daughter at the end and, you know, the, you're the love of my life and it, yeah, it's just a beautiful song.Track 2:[1:02:46] It's gorgeous. Kirk?Track 5:[1:02:49] Again, we've said it already. you know these last five songs are they're crushers it's like it it was really hard to listen to them in succession like i really needed to stop you know this these last two far far away and blurred i you know my my my space that i left for what is supposed to be my guess of who it is who the song is to the letters to, is blank. And it is blank because to me it could be anyone. Maybe it was obvious to one of you guys, but I really felt like it was almost like a letter to everyone.Track 5:[1:03:34] We smile. All that we've been through, up and down for sure, onwards and upwards, up close, far away, and blurred. Um, the tempo changes in this song are amazing. It goes into a, a swing almost during the chorus. Um, and, uh, I, I, again, just the instrumentation and the, the combination of what, you know, uh, you know, obviously not just, um, Gordon, Kevin, but, you know, the others that contributed as well. So just add, I think, to each one of these letters, as it were, you know, as they started out. What'd you think about Far Away and Blurred, Craig?Track 3:[1:04:25] I really love this song. Another strong song on the second half of this album. And I almost wondered if maybe it could be another touring song, or maybe he's talking about traveling with his family. Great melody. And I agree with what you said, Kirk, when it changes tempo halfway through the song, and the drums come in with that slow beat, and the echo the the vocals are echoing and i i found that part very powerful and it's like, again i just can't, get over the the brilliance of his work it is like so emotional um and there's this like guitar pattern going on that's really really cool in the background as well and yeah and justin you yeah.Track 4:[1:05:20] I i guess i'm echoing what you guys have said um it's just a if i mean it's a little bit upbeat um for a hot minute there and again comes at a at a place where you need it um Um, yeah, it's, it's lovely. It's how it's a guy who's frigging dying, um, and telling everybody how much he loves them and that he always has, whether, whether you're in view or not. Right. Um, yeah, the.Track 5:[1:05:53] Passion in his voice in the vocal, um, is just so palpable. And so it just, I mean, wrenching, but almost in a, just again, another reminder of just how amazing, how amazing every part and ounce of the art that comes out of this guy is just incredible, incredible.Track 3:[1:06:23] Yeah, JD, did you have anything to add for this one?Track 2:[1:06:26] I don't know if I could get anything out right now if I tried. it's.Track 3:[1:06:30] A tough one I.Track 2:[1:06:32] Think you know his voice in the verses I've got written down that it's playful and painful at the same time, and you know it builds the chorus is obviously as powerful a gourd voice as we've heard in almost any song on this record, We'll get more of that in later records that we'll discuss in future episodes, but yeah, it's a great song, but it's the second-to-last song, and the North is a really powerful way to end. A callback to Secret Path and The Bridge. But overall, it's an interesting tracking decision. It can't be a coincidence. Right, Justin?Track 4:[1:11:07] No, of course it's not. It's a reminder. It's like he spent a good portion of that final show in Kingston reminding everybody to pay attention and to keep paying attention. And that's exactly what this song is. is it's it's uh yeah i did secret path but keep going forward keep talking about it keep moving keep changing um keep trying to figure this out um you know i don't know if we i don't think we've said this on air but when we first started talking about this album there i i mentioned to you guys in our in our group chat that i thought this was some of the songs on this album were like a stream of consciousness and i think i know that there's the video of of them recording this song and i know that it's not a stream of consciousness but i think when he was writing this song, what he wrote down is whatever came to his head first and i'm going to find a song to to put it to and i got to get this message out i don't care if it's rhymes or makes sense musically or what This has to be said again and again and again and again. And good on him, you know. Yeah.Track 3:[1:12:22] Yeah. So he makes the reference to, um, you know, a place West of, of James Bay, which would be Ottawa, Piscat, which of course the hip have, have the song about. And, um, I, I, I'm wondering if this song is either about or to Joseph Boyden, the author who, at the same time secret path was released, released a book called when Jack, um, I didn't mention him on the secret path episode only because there is some controversy you can look it up if you're interested but calling his um his roots into you know question um you know people questioning that he may not be in fact indigenous so you know that's definitely something you can kind of look into yourself but um joseph boyden is famous for a book called three day road and And just an interesting little thing that I came across about a week ago was a story related to this. So this story, Three Day Road, is about from just, I haven't read the book, but I've read a different story about a sniper in World War I named Francis Paganagabo. And he was nicknamed Peggy. And he has more kills than any sniper in North America.Track 3:[1:13:44] And his story is relatively unknown. And it's a really fascinating story. And anyways, I was reading a short story about that last week and then made this discovery about the connection to Joseph Boyden. Anyways, I highly encourage you to check out a story called Peggy. There's actually a podcast too by CBC called This Place. which is 150 years of Canadian history told by indigenous voices. And the episode on Peggy is incredible.Track 5:[1:14:19] The line Canada, we should have never called Canada. Um, I thought was pretty bold as well to put out there as you guys all had been mentioning, you know, obviously when he had addressed the crowd, you know, at several of the shows and, and several of his interviews. So I think that's, uh, bold, but expected. So I, I, uh, I think we all appreciate that. He would, would, go out there to this level.Track 3:[1:14:51] Yeah there's definitely a call back to that that statement in the last show that he made to the prime minister and i always um really admired that and, i always wondered what it would be like if an american artist did the same thing, you know like a high profile of bruce springsteen or someone went out and said something like that just the absolute division that would that would ensue um yeah yeah oh.Track 5:[1:15:18] Yeah I was going to say the dick and chicks are a good example.Track 3:[1:15:22] Of it.Track 4:[1:15:22] Happening.Track 5:[1:15:23] So but yeah.Track 4:[1:15:27] Or the opposite of that lady antebellum who's then sued the person that they stole their name from well fellas.Track 2:[1:15:36] It's time to ask the question will you be keeping this record in your rotation.Track 4:[1:15:44] I'm going to say not all the time And it's got nothing to do with the music. It's the subject. It's the heaviness of it. It's I don't want to, I don't want to be down. Um, there are some songs on this, on this record that are frigging awesome. They're all, they're all very good, but you know, there's some songs that certainly fit into the hip like catalog.Track 2:[1:16:07] Sure. And you can add them to your mixtape, right?Track 4:[1:16:10] Exactly. And that's probably how I'll consume them. Um, but this is going to be something that I listened to once every couple of years, maybe.Track 5:[1:16:19] Yeah, it's a commitment. I was just going to say it's a commitment. So I would answer very similarly to what Justin said. Even for this particular purpose of this podcast, it was heavy listening every time, every time you went through it. And so definitely some tunes I want to keep hearing regularly, but it's not something that I would. All i have on regular rotation like like i would would some of the others that that have definitely been fantastic in my opinion i.Track 3:[1:16:58] Agree with you guys i i definitely will come back to this album, um considering i gave it you know it took me six and a half years just to give it a first listen i'm definitely not going to wait that long um but i think i'll just have to be in the right frame of mind to put it on but i absolutely will i really do love it in fact coming up with an mvp track for this is definitely the hardest decision i've had to make i was hoping we were going to do one last week and one this week but so i'm it's going to be a last uh last second decision i was.Track 4:[1:17:31] Hoping jd would forget the question this time.Track 2:[1:17:33] I've got it written down so i don't forget my My memory is so piss poor.Track 3:[1:17:39] Right in on your hand.Track 2:[1:17:40] I call it a format sheet, but for real, it's cheating. Craig, we're going to stick with you. And we're going to go to MVP track.Track 3:[1:17:48] I want to know what they say first. So to clarify, is this my absolute favorite track or is this the track that I want to put onto a mixtape?Track 2:[1:18:00] It can be, that can be your interpretation. It can, it's the most valuable player. It's the, you know.Track 3:[1:18:07] So I had so many I mean my first instinct was a natural but I think I'm going to have to go with Snowflake it's.Track 2:[1:18:17] So good it.Track 3:[1:18:18] Is such a powerful song to me and I love the chorus I love the way again that big reverb sound and it's just a really gorgeous song and takes me you know visually takes me somewhere.Track 2:[1:18:36] We could definitely overuse the word gorgeous on this record because there's so much gorgeosity on it, you know?Track 4:[1:18:45] Nice.Track 5:[1:18:46] There is that.Track 2:[1:18:48] Right?Track 5:[1:18:49] There is that.Track 2:[1:18:50] Kirk.Track 5:[1:18:51] Yeah. MVP? Thinking about us, man.Track 3:[1:18:54] Good call.Track 5:[1:18:55] That tune, just thinking about us. It's thinking about us. That's all I need to say.Track 2:[1:19:01] You didn't have to hesitate at all. Wow.Track 5:[1:19:04] No.Track 2:[1:19:06] Justin, how are you going to react to the question? Craig was very concerned and didn't want to say anything. Kirk was very resolute and just put a flag in her. And Justin, where are you on this one? I'm giving you some time to think, so it's not really fair.Track 4:[1:19:25] Well, I don't need time to think. I just don't have an answer. I've been thinking about this since the first listen because I knew that this was coming. Um i will i i do have an answer um but i'll tell you the pics that i had wolf's home because it makes me think of my dad bedtime because of just the connection with my daughter and when this song or when this record came out um i love introduce yourself for the reasons that we talked about it's it's a great song about your buddy and and you know get me out of another jam please you know There was some interview that Gord did that he told Billy Ray. He goes, something happened with a guitar. And he goes, I will literally blow you if you fix this. I love Spoon, that song Spoon, because I really like the band. But I also like the story of going to the show with a kid. um but i'm gonna go with love over money because that's why we're all here in the first place yeah right good job justin yeah thank.Track 2:[1:20:37] You what bow you put in it love.Track 4:[1:20:39] It yeah yeah.Track 2:[1:20:42] And that brings us to the end of Introduce Yourself. Just a, you know, what a, I'm going to use the word again, what a gorgeous piece of work. And so memorable and so thoughtful. And, you know, this is the last stuff he recorded. It's really, really quite heavy. And we're sorry if we brought you down a little bit with these last two episodes, um but trust us we're celebrating this music we're not mourning we are celebrating and.Track 3:[1:21:23] Jd i want to thank you one more time for bringing me on board for this project because this is the album that i told you right from the start has been sitting on my shelf and i needed i wanted to listen to it. It's been staring at me for years and I just couldn't do it. And I think maybe just having, you know, you guys along with the ride makes it, you know, easier to do.Track 2:[1:21:50] Thank you very much. Thank you for doing it.Track 4:[1:21:53] Yeah. I a hundred percent. Thank you. I, I didn't know about any other records, um, um that gourd had done um but i knew about this one and i was choosing to not listen to it you know i i wanted nothing to do with it um and i gotta be honest with you i'm glad it's over i'm glad it's behind us um i listened to this this album in its entirety probably 25 to 30 times um it's.Track 2:[1:22:22] A lot yeah.Track 4:[1:22:23] It's a lot and the last week or so um leading up to recording this i stopped listening completely um i had to stop it was just killing me and i started listening to um some of the older hip stuff and i started listening to some sadie stuff and i listened to conquering sun quite a bit um but i had to get away from the heaviness and go back to being a fan, because this was a hard one.Track 2:[1:22:57] Completely agree well on behalf of uh craig and justin and kirk it's me jd and we're saying goodbye for another week we'll be back we've just got a couple episodes left fellas we've got away is mine and we've got luster parfait and then we've got the finale and i'm getting excited about yeah.Track 4:[1:23:21] Hell yeah oh yeah yeah and you know it's gonna.Track 2:[1:23:26] Be a good time.Track 4:[1:23:27] I got it you know we got to give a shout out to our our social media following you guys are really starting to step up and kick ass lately and it's really re-energized all of us a lot um we're our group chat has been on fire the last several days as we record this because we're just like did you see this one did you see the message there did you see the email oh my god you know it's yeah we're obsessing over the rankings and it's it's great it's fun it's a lot of fun well.Track 5:[1:23:52] So it was so crazy too to get some like some you know some of the official accounts of these people that we were talking about are.Track 4:[1:24:01] Right are.Track 5:[1:24:02] Sharing some of the you know the links and stuff to some of these episodes and and uh we're getting just some great amazing comments you know through the right you guys mentioned social media you know instagram facebook and uh just i don't think any of us had that on our bingo cards when we woke up in the morning, you know?Track 2:[1:24:22] I didn't.Track 4:[1:24:27] Right. And the Sadies messaged you back today, Craig. That's cool.Track 2:[1:24:33] Holy shit.Track 4:[1:24:34] And JD's putting in the legwork tenfold over what we're doing.Track 2:[1:24:38] Stop.Track 4:[1:24:39] He's listening. He's throwing everything together and doing interviews and making all this happen. I mean, I don't know if any of us are getting rich off this.Track 2:[1:24:48] Oh, not fucking me.Track 4:[1:24:50] You know, JD is certainly reaping the benefits of, I think a lot of people are appreciating what you're doing and I know we are.Track 5:[1:24:57] Yeah, absolutely.Track 2:[1:24:59] It's a group effort, guys. It's a group effort, man. All right, folks. Pick up your shit.Track 1:[1:25:07] Thanks for listening to Discovering Downey. To find out more about the show and its host, visit DiscoveringDowney.com. You can email us at discoveringdowney at gmail.com. And hey, we're social. Check us out.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/gettinghiptothehip/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Introduce Yerself pt. 1

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 2, 2024 70:57

Buckle in because this is a personal album we're discussing on today's episode of Discovering Downie. A mere 10 days following Gord's death fans were gifted the posthumous diary, Introduce Yerself. Craig, Justin, and Kirk have little experience with this record. Things get raw!Thanks for clicking.Follow us on social media @gorddowniepodTranscript: Track 6:[0:00] One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10. Long Slice Brewery presents a live event celebration of Gord Downie July 19th at The Rec Room in Toronto. Join the hosts of the podcast Discovering Downie as they record their finale with special guest Patrick Downie. A silent auction with items from the hip and many others will take place along with live entertainment from the almost hip. All proceeds will benefit the Gord Downie Fund for brain cancer research. For more information and tickets, please visit discoveringdowney.com. How it all works. Welcome, music lovers. Long Slice Brewery presents Discovering Downey.Track 1:[1:15] Hey, it's JD here. Welcome to Discovering Downey, an 11-part project with a focus on the music and poetry of Mr. Gord Downey. The late frontman of the Tragically Hip gave to the world an extensive solo discography on top of the hip's vocal acrobatics that awed us for years. So far, he's released eight records in total, three of them posthumously. You might be the biggest fan of the hip out there, but have you heard these records? Because I'm an inquisitive podcaster, I enlisted my friends Craig, Justin, and Kirk, giant fans in their own right to discover downy with me jd as their host every week we get together and listen to one of gourd's records starting with coke machine glow and working from there in chronological order we discuss and dissect the album the production the lyrics and we break it down song by fucking song this week we're dealing with the challenging introduce Introduce yourself. Craig, how are you doing this week, my friend?Track 2:[2:20] I'm doing well.Track 1:[2:21] That's good to hear.Track 2:[2:22] Can't complain.Track 1:[2:23] Gigging?Track 2:[2:24] Yeah, I had a big show on the weekend and it was sold out and we had played about 30 tunes and it was a great time.Track 1:[2:32] Oh man, I wish I had a teleport device. Yeah. So I could go to your gigs. You too, Kirk. How are you doing, man?Track 4:[2:40] I'm doing well. Thank you. Yeah. Had a gig last week and got some travel coming up. So just been kind of finishing up on some graduation things with the kids. And, you know, like I said, some work stuff, obviously spending lots of time with this, this little project we got going on, but yeah, doing well.Track 1:[2:59] It's a lot. It's a lot, but it's been a lot of fun so far. And part of the fun is Mr. Justin St. Louis. How are you doing, sir?Track 3:[3:08] I'm good, dude. It's hardcore, hardcore here in this house right now, but things are good, man. Things are good.Track 1:[3:16] Well, that's great. Just off the top, I want to say that we're starting to get some items rolling in for the silent auction for the fundraising event that we're hosting in July. We've got the PWHL Toronto franchise has given us a really cool donation that we'll be sharing online in the days and weeks to come. We also got a donation from the Toronto Blue Jays, the Tragically Hip themselves have donated something. We've got a great restaurant, Mighty Bird, that is donating. And there's lots of other stuff as well, like lots of great artwork and shit. So get your tickets.Track 4:[3:56] Hey, we have some beers too, right?Track 1:[3:58] We do have some beers. Yeah, Podcast Pilsner. It's got our logo on the can.Track 3:[4:03] Let's go.Track 1:[4:04] That right? Yeah. And it should be a decent price. It's made by our title sponsor, Long Slice, of course. So go to discoveringdowney.com and click on fundraising tickets. Bob's your uncle. So there's that.Track 4:[4:17] Bob's your uncle. Love it. I love it. That's like six one way, half a dozen the other. I tell that to anyone that's under 40 and they look at me like, what are you talking about? Like, just figure it out. ticks one way, half a dozen the other. That's very confusing.Track 1:[4:35] Yeah. It is.Track 3:[4:39] Every time I hear Bob's your uncle, I think of 101 Dalmatians. When the bad guys break in and steal the pups from the nanny, he says, well, be out faster than you can say Bob's your uncle. And that was the first time I ever heard it. Anyway.Track 1:[4:54] I found out it's not an American phrase. It's a Canadian and UK phrase. So I told a bunch of people this and they were like, I've never heard of this in my life.Track 3:[5:03] What do you mean? No. Yeah. Right.Track 1:[5:06] All right, time to get a bit heavy here, because on October 17th, 2017, we said goodbye to the man who walks among the stars. This was truly one of the more emotional days in my nearly 50 years on this plane. Only losing family and close friends has ever cut as deeply as sending Gord off to the abyss. Less than two weeks later though on october 27th 2017, gourd released a posthumous effort called introduce yourself, where do you start with this one in my mind there are elements from each of the previous five albums on display here i hear secret path on coco chanel number five to name one off the top of my head the sparse production handled deftly by kevin drew gourd's partner in creating this double record. I have to imagine the production and limited instrumentation could have been a result of Gord's condition at the time of recording. However, as sick as he was, he persevered through two sessions in putting this album together.Track 1:[6:15] The liner notes indicate that Gord took on the bulk of the guitar work while handling vocals, some synth, and a bit of percussion to boot. Mr. Drew handled piano, bass, organs, keyboard, and percussion. This album does also feature some great guest performers, notably Dave Hamelin, with some work on the drums, as well as synth, and finally, on Nancy, he plays a frickin' B-3. David Billy Ray Koster offered some additional drum work and background vocals, while Patrick Downey contributed background vocals and percussion on Safe is Dead. Jillian Weiss also added vocals to that track. Lastly, engineer and bathhouse resident Niles Spencer has his fingerprints on several songs, playing keys, creating beats, samples, and a Morse code sound on the 19th track, The Road. From the get-go, this album has been scoured by fans to try and determine who each song is about. You see, this album has a premise. Each of the 23 songs is about someone from Gord's life. This is clearly the most personal record Gord, or the hip for that matter, has ever released. I'm going to leave you with one more date that is significant to me with regards to Introduce Yourself. May 30th, 2024.Track 1:[7:35] This was the day I peeled the cellophane off my copy of the vinyl and finally listened to the album in its entirety. Prior to that Thursday in May, I just didn't have the stamina or emotional wherewithal to make a dent in what I now know is a celebration of the music, the man, and the legend, Gord Downie. Justin, what are your initial thoughts on this one?Track 3:[8:00] I could not handle this album when it came out. I tried it and I had to abort after five songs maybe. And I'll tell you, and maybe I should save it for the song, but there was one, this all happened when, when my daughter was a newborn, there was, there's one song that just wrecks me and, uh, still does. Um, there's several that do, but one particular, and I just had to put it away until this, this project came around. So, you know, I sat on it for seven years. I had tried it and I wasn't ready.Track 1:[8:31] Me too, man. Me too. I'm either going to apologize for this project or be thanked for this project to find out what Justin's thoughts were on some of these songs. Kirk, I want to hear from you.Track 4:[8:44] Yeah. Well, for me, this came after us doing Secret Path, and that was such an emotional...Track 4:[8:56] Couple of weeks. I mean, it really was because we'd already become so close to Gord before we even started this project. Then when we started this project, you just became intimately familiar and then secret path happens and you're just, and I needed a break. I needed a break from, I'll say Gord Downie solo and I needed to fall in love with the hip again. I think I got that record store day hip album and i put that on and then i just went on a journey and just kind of fell in love with the hip again but i took a long break to prepare myself for this and there's no amount to break or anything that could really prepare you for it and every listen no matter what the device was whether it was on my record whether it was in the car whether it was out walking the dog. It was just obviously beautiful when you think about these letters and that he had the opportunity to do it, but also just so extremely heartbreaking at the same time, right? And then one final thing for me, my wife and I had also just recently watched the new documentary that came out on Jim Henson, right? And we're big Muppets fans. And of course they had a little bit on, you know, on Craig and I's favorite Emmett Otter.Track 4:[10:20] But yeah, it's just real quick, you know, but the point I wanted to make was.Track 4:[10:27] The Muppets, Sesame Street, everything that Jim Henson created, right? And he passed when he was 53. And Gord passed when he's 53. And I'm 53.Track 4:[10:39] And I'll be honest with you, gents, I have been on this. I'm 53. And these two gentlemen created this body of artwork that has been so incredibly moving for so many people for so many generations. And it just really stopped me in my tracks and went, wow, I'm 53. If I went right now, what would my story be and what impact would I have? And how thankful, even though it was, and I say this because I'm 53, that we lost those two gentlemen so young. Thank goodness we have this to go back and listen and watch and read and discuss and record podcasts. And I'm just so thankful. So sorry, a very long-winded answer, but I needed to share that with you because I think all of us are gonna have these emotional moments throughout this recording today. And just thinking about like, if I had a chance to write letters to everyone before I went, like, I don't know that I could do that. So um so that every listen has just been that thought wow can you imagine you had to write a letter to all the people that you know you cared for just.Track 1:[12:02] Take a moment brother we appreciate you man hell yeah best 53 year old on this podcast by by a country mile i.Track 4:[12:13] Will i will accept that sorry i'll accept that thank you as i cry thank you all right.Track 1:[12:22] Craig no i always i always start my questions with like for some reason i'm like mclaughlin of the mclaughlin group uh i don't know if you remember that sketch on snl but i feel like what justin you know and it's like this episode is a lot more stark and i don't want to be like scaring the shit out of you as i'm asking you a question but craig i want i'm curious about your experience now yeah.Track 2:[12:51] Well really quickly just before we um get into that uh kirk um not sure if you knew this this will probably just make things worse but um jim henson at his funeral they actually used a song from emmett otter as the um as the song that played during his um ceremony so yeah So you know how much it meant to him? Yeah.Track 3:[13:11] He also wrote his own goodbye letter and just stored it away.Track 2:[13:15] Oh, wow.Track 3:[13:15] In case of emergency, right? Yeah.Track 2:[13:19] It's crazy. Yeah. So, J.D., much like yourself –, I bought this album when it came out, and it remained unopened. And I actually remember watching a video that was like a promotional video that came out around the time the album was released. And it was a black and white. I put it on for about 30 seconds, and I just, I had to turn it off. And I actually just, for the first time since then, watched it last night. And it made sense why it hit me that hard it was the north the very last song which we'll get to at the very very end of i guess next week's podcast and that is a heavy tune and gourd was, not looking his best during the recording of that and it was just sort of like a rehearsal take they were showing it was just heartbreaking to watch and it was such a sad song i didn't know what it was about at the time, but I just knew I could not listen to this album. And yeah, so when this podcast opportunity came up, that was my first thought was like, I've had, I've been waiting to crack this open and I was looking for the opportunity to, you know, the right time. And that time is here. And to build off what Kirk was saying, like this, this album is a gift.Track 3:[14:46] Yeah.Track 2:[14:49] To his loved ones who were the subjects of the songs, to his bandmates, to his fans. And it's beautiful. The fact that he got this out there, like Kirk said so well, how many people get, number one, the opportunity to do something like this, and number two, can bring themselves to write those hard words.Track 1:[15:15] Absolutely. Yeah.Track 2:[15:16] Yeah.Track 6:[15:17] And, and when you consider the condition that he was in when he recorded these things, it's absolutely mind blowing for heaven's sake.Track 1:[15:26] This isn't somebody who was fully operational. And there's songs that are just so well thought out and gorgeous and, and so gored, you know?Track 3:[15:38] Well, and he wrote it in two stages too. And, you know, I would say that the second stage was probably in worse condition, right?Track 1:[15:47] You're likely right.Track 3:[15:49] He was gone six months after, you know, wild.Track 4:[15:55] One thing, because this is a blanket statement for all of it, is in any of the, you know, quick research that you do, like most of these songs were recorded in one to two takes. You know, for multiple reasons, one, they didn't have the time and neither did he or the energy. And so when you, you know, when you thought about when I went through and listened to every song and just went like, you got this amount of time, you're going to do this. And, you know, and they end up, I mean, one to two takes on some of these albums, just some of these songs. Sorry.Track 3:[16:34] And that's all they needed to.Track 1:[16:37] Yeah, I think that rawness really adds another layer to the context in a certain way, doesn't it? Because it is raw emotionally, and then it's raw musically as well.Track 4:[16:48] Yeah, very much so, but still incredible. Like on a majority of those songs, you wouldn't know. I mean, the one thing I read, and I would agree, is it's a piano forward album. There's very much a piano keys. There's some great guitar lines, but, um, so that helps obviously from a production standpoint in, in getting your, your tone tonality and, but I also think that it just really added to the, the, the emotion that the points, I'm sorry, I'm, no.Track 3:[17:30] But you're right.Track 4:[17:31] It's just incredible that they were able to get some of this production down in the manner that they did. And as a whole, going back to 53, I could hear so many decades in the songs, in the musicality that he was trying to experience. There's literal 80s synth pop songs on this. There's ballads. And there's all of these. You know, for me, I reflected born in the seventies, you know, really experienced that music eighties, nineties, two thousands. And then obviously the stuff you were influenced before that. And that instrumentation, in my opinion, came through in a lot of these songs. And again, one in two takes blows me away. Yeah.Track 1:[18:18] Yeah. Yeah. Drew, Kevin drew deserves, uh, a heap of, uh, of credit for pulling this together. And Niles Spencer was the engineer on the project. So hopefully later this summer, you guys get to meet Niles and we get to look around the bathhouse. That would be tremendous.Track 2:[18:40] Yeah. That would be amazing.Track 3:[18:41] Yeah.Track 1:[18:42] So we'll see what we can do there. Should we get into this song by song?Track 2:[18:45] Yeah.Track 3:[18:45] Let's do it.Track 1:[18:46] Okay. Craig, we're going to start with you in first person.Track 2:[18:51] So i decided early on when i started listening to this album i i felt like i didn't want to dig too deeply into what you know who each song was about right but some are just so obvious so first person you know it's a song to his mother you know the first person that you know he sees the first person to bring him to life just a really great song to start the album with very emotional um, Yeah. And I don't know, I didn't look up if his mother is still alive or was alive when this was released. So, you know, at the end he's saying goodbye.Track 3:[19:30] He addressed her in the final Kingston concert.Track 2:[19:34] Okay.Track 3:[19:34] Yeah. And she was there for that. I mean, they were only a year apart, so I don't know this, but I would assume she was still alive at that point. And I don't know if she's now or not.Track 2:[19:44] Yeah just the you know again the chance to say goodbye to his mom and yeah it's not really, how things are supposed to go i guess but um not at all yeah and that yeah the last thing i'll say is just there's that you know the vocalizations after the word goodbye i talked about them last week on secret path but there's these like raw just emotional you know screams and like emotes that he makes um in in the secret path concert and on the album and on this album as well that you know just that i don't know guttural just raw human emotion that it's really cool, what'd you guys think yeah.Track 1:[20:25] We saw a lot of that on the final tour for sure that raw guttural emotion.Track 2:[20:29] And uh.Track 1:[20:31] It's mirrored on this record absolutely crystallized uh on vinyl and cd cassette i don't know if it's on cassette justin um where do you stand on first person.Track 3:[20:43] Can't add a whole lot more but there's one thing that is very consistent in this song and the second song and it's that quarter note bass drum heartbeat boom boom boom boom to the whole thing and it's, not by accident for sure yeah yeah.Track 2:[21:01] And that was a feature of secret path to a lot of other songs without heartbeat.Track 4:[21:06] And a clock too is what I heard. Yes. I heard it as an underlying heartbeat, but it was also- click it was also time moving yeah oh that's good yeah it it really hit me in.Track 4:[21:22] Fact i think it was last night on one of the one of the tunes i don't remember exactly which one it was but it was fitting and it was very much a clock and a heartbeat again love love the opportunity that we had the chance to to to listen to this and to listen to those thoughts you know that was one One of the things I was thinking of, and we can say this about all of them is sometimes it's hard to really express your feelings at any moment, face-to-face writing it down, you know, after the fact. And so often it's after the fact, you know, this entire album, but of course this song right away, acknowledging his mom, but just that I'm going to go through and I'm going to give everyone that I've been in touch with or that I've loved, you know, I'm going to express some feelings to them. And a lot of the times those things sometimes people feel might be appropriate to be private, but for me, I love that Gord was very open about those feelings and emotions. So just incredible. Absolutely incredible.Track 1:[22:28] Incredible yeah i couldn't agree with you more it's so heartbreaking and i don't know whether we should have put a trigger warning at the top of this episode uh as we did with secret path this is some heavy shit so let's move on to wolf's home, All I want is you, All I want is you.Track 3:[26:05] And the heartbeat, you know, it really just, that's the other half, right? This is a decidedly more upbeat tune. It's really catchy. It's kind of fun. And it really, you know, the track that follows this is heavy too, but it does set the tone for kind of the rest of the album. The context of this whole thing, like we talked about over and over, is heavy, but the songs are kind of fun, you know? And Wolf's home is, all right, kids, stop the nonsense and the bullshit. Dad's home. Everybody cut it out. There's two lines that really stuck out to me. One was, I don't do what I hate, which is a spin on I do what I hate from Man, from the Man Machine poem album, which is the first track on that. And then at the very end is, all I want is you. you know and you know all the all the references to to edgar downey throughout the the hips catalog and and everything that gore did and you know lonely end of the rank and all those things it's um yeah i just these first two songs really kind of wrap your arms around the entire album with with what you're going to get out of this and um it's nice that it was his parents that, were the the opening numbers you know it was really a touching couple of tracks there.Track 4:[27:25] Yeah absolutely it's a tribute really it is and a tribute to obviously what an upbringing to, be able to you know have this individual that again has left us with such amazing art but yeah mom and dad right off the the bat i don't know if you guys noticed this or not and i think craig was trying to show it i have lucky enough to have the vinyl of this but on all the it's all handwritten the lyrics that are in here but in each one i'm fairly certain it's the who the song's about but it's it's covered up and it's a different color and it's on every single song in both you know close the first and the second album craig.Track 3:[28:04] You referenced that black and white video and in that video the only bits of color are where they overlay they kind of superimpose gray uh, gourd's handwriting in red and blue and he's got that four color pen that he's always using on.Track 4:[28:20] All the interviews. Yep.Track 3:[28:21] And I also was super happy to figure out that he's a lefty in that video because they show him making a note. And I'm like, all right.Track 4:[28:30] Right on, left-handers.Track 2:[28:31] My daughter is going to love that. Yeah, so this song, Wolf's Home, again, yeah, definitely about his father. And it's such a catchy song. The melody in the chorus, the ascending melody and the way the timbre of his voice just, changes as he's going up to those high notes and just such a nice quality like, he's such a versatile vocalist i don't think he gets enough credit for the just the different voices he uses on on different styles of tracks.Track 3:[29:03] There was something that i read a few years ago about how gourd just stayed in the pocket with the hip and i'm like what the frig are you talking about like the guy will go until he doesn't have a voice on the low end and then he blows it out on the top, Mariah Carey style. Like, it's unbelievable, his range.Track 1:[29:21] Ha ha ha ha ha ha.Track 2:[29:23] Some interest interesting percussion sounds almost like on on the two and four there's some kind of a where the snare would be there's some kind of i don't know what it is almost sounds like toy drums or something or just something random in the studio they were hitting but, but yeah i have nothing really more to add just just a great song.Track 4:[29:40] Yeah and i'll pick up on bedtime the next one which is to one of the kids i'm not sure if it's specific or if it's just to his children in general or you know again just going through that the theme that we've been talking about is knowing you know and it really doesn't matter who it's to that does add to obviously the level of seriousness but for me it was I think Craig mentioned this as well it's like yeah there was something you could pick out right away but it really didn't matter at some points again just breaking down that these were the very personal letters that were going out and doing it in a manner of he gets to add the instrumentation to it and as as we've talked about on several of the different albums and different tunes then again this one is more of the piano ford as they had mentioned the emotion that can be evoked from from that backing music to it and and knowing looking at very few i think there was only like four or five of these tunes that were solely gourd so you had some of the other you know drew that was involved, and niles and some of the other that helped i think a little bit with some of the i mean i don't know what their breakdown was if they were more instrumentation if they were more the uh um the lyric side of it but but just uh again i think a masterpiece put considering everything and having kids we all went through this or i went through this with all my kids.Track 4:[31:06] Multiple times in a different manner and and but how important that was and how with each of my kids, I have those memories of that connection, right? And that was a way that you could help your spouse was putting the help and putting the kids to bed. So it evokes some, some, very direct and deep memories and then saddens you when you know that these are memories that his children are going to read and hopefully appreciate.Track 1:[31:36] Oh, I can't imagine. I can't imagine. I just can't imagine.Track 2:[31:41] Yeah. Definitely brought back memories for me of, of those early years with kids and the, the struggle of bedtime and just the, the passage of time, you know, the way that those nights would just seem to last forever. And you were just, Then you wake up the next day and do it all over again. And then yet the years just start flying by. And that's what struck me during this song is that just the passage of time and how strange the days are so long and the years are so short. So, Justin, what do you think?Track 3:[32:18] Like I said, this album was released, Gord Died, and this album was released when my daughter was four months old. and we still have her gray rocking chair upstairs that, um, why would I would rock her to sleep in? And when this album came out, I think I listened on the first day, this song came on as I was rocking her to sleep and I bawled like a frigging toddler. And, uh you know the the line um as if from a bomb backing up like whoa and the floor with the creaks of time and we're living in this old apartment above a barn you know that's you can't breathe without the floor creaking and then you get to the door and she wakes up like are you really like leaving like what do you get back here you know and like so this song i it totally destroyed me and as I'm trying to get her calm I'm losing it and so I had this is this was it I heard three songs on this album and I stopped for seven years until we started this project I do love this song very much but man did it hit home and I was already raw from from having lost Gord you know my musical hero ten days before and then shit this happens come on yeah.Track 4:[33:40] I wanted to speak about JD when you were talking in the intro. When Gord passed, it was as deep as any friend or family member that I can recall. I mean, it was a deep fetal position kind of cry. And especially having seen and just a break, we've already talked about it before in a prior episode, but on the long time running when on the last tour, when he would kiss everyone on the lips before they went out on stage, you just were overwhelmed by the amount of love this one individual had. And that, you know, to this day, it's still permeates in this discussion. So amazing.Track 1:[34:29] Well, let's stick with you, Kirk. Let's talk a bit about introduce yourself.Track 4:[34:33] Introduce yourself. Well, title track to the album. I'm sorry. I got to get this out of the way. I need to know so much more, or I need to visit the Danforth because some of my favorite songs always mentioned the Danforth. And I just have to imagine it's some beautiful place near Toronto because it's in like old apartment from bare naked lady, which is a song that I love. Several other Canadian bands mentioned the Danforth. So that was the thing that snuck that stuck out right because everything had been so emotional i needed some sort of brevity and so when i got to danforth the line danforth so i need to ask jd give me info on the danforth so the danforth is the.Track 1:[35:18] Other side of bluer street the eastbound corridor of the street we call bluer street in midtown yeah it's not down it's the roof of downtown is bluer street and it cuts across the Bloor Viaduct, the Prince Edward Viaduct, which has the luminous veil on it that we spoke.Track 2:[35:36] Of in another episode.Track 1:[35:38] Then the Danforth was traditionally Greek town. It had oodles of Greek restaurants. There was lots of Greek variety stores and that sort of thing. And in the early nineties, it became a very popular place to start a family. You buy a house pretty reasonably. Now it's, you know, just as it's, as is want to happen. And it's pushing further and further and further East because the original Danforth area is now, you know, like $3 million homes, $4 million homes. Uh, and then there's some areas that there are way more than that. And I'd be glad to take you on a mini tour when I'm here because that's where I live. You know, maybe a soda pop at my local. We'll see.Track 3:[36:23] Yeah. Love it. Let's do that.Track 4:[36:25] Yeah. So that was my, that was my takeaway on this, this particular one. And again, that just overwhelmed my thought process was needing to know more about the Danforth. So I appreciate you helping, helping me with that. So, yeah.Track 2:[36:41] So this song was, um, was written about Billy Ray, Billy Ray Koster, the longtime hip roadie. And so, um, it's really just a thank you. And at the end of the song, just, you know, I thank you for your help. Help. Such a simple line, but such a beautiful goodbye to this lifelong friend who, from what I remember reading years ago, is that Billy Ray just as a young man or someone in his late teens just wrote the hip saying, I want a job, I'll do anything, and just worked his way up. And he really became almost like a member of the band by the end. And just the story of of this song is hilarious. Like it's a, it's a emotional song, but it's also so funny. Like the, you know, the not it isn't, it isn't because, you know, maybe some of the reason he, he, you know, the story being that he needs to write, introduce yourself on his hand to show to Billy Ray. So he'll introduce himself to the driver of the car that he, that Gord should know the name of, but has forgotten. So, you know, was that because of, you know, the cancer maybe? And I think I know what Justin's going to talk about here. What was your first thought?Track 3:[37:56] I can picture them in the back of a car or the cab or whatever. And Gord's like, oh shit, you know, like, what do I do here? Yeah. I mean, there's not much more that I could peel back on this, but I do remember in the interim of deciding to put the album down when it came out. And now I do remember watching the live performance that Sarah Harmer, Kevin Hearn, right, did it. And it was awesome. It was really, really, really good. And I was like, oh, okay, that's, and I had no idea what it was about at that time. So I was like, oh, this is a really sweet song.Track 2:[38:29] The Junos.Track 3:[38:30] Obviously emotional, but, um, you know, hearing the, hearing the lyrics, I was like, Oh, okay. And I've referenced it a few times here, the interview, the sit down with Peter Mansbridge and yeah. And he's like, well, I've got your name here, so I don't call you Doug or whatever, you know? Um, yeah. So, uh, yeah.Track 1:[38:57] Right.Track 2:[38:59] That's what I was going for. Yeah.Track 4:[39:02] Hey, I got to say with Billy Ray, because most of the shows that I saw were in small clubs, he was just as much a member of the band as anyone else for all of my crew. We almost enjoyed seeing him more, right? He always had that kind of crooked cowboy hat. And he always had like either a roll of duct tape or a wrench or there was art, you know, there was always something that says I'm the tech guy like reminded you of Tom Hanks when he did that Saturday Night Live skit when he was a roadie for Aerosmith or whatever, but he was so much he was the flavor of it. It was like he had to come out and put the mic stand back up because Gord knocked it down, you know. And then I love the fact as well that on this album, as well as I think the last or a couple of the others, he plays drums on a few of them. So how fantastic is that from Craig, as you mentioned, like a letter, just this, hey, I want to do something for you. And then he becomes this lifelong friend. And now he's part of, you know, part of introduce yourself in the title track song and, uh, just such a character.Track 3:[40:11] So it also, uh, it reminded me of the roadie by tenacious D. Sebastian bringing this, you know, 55 year old groupie into the dressing room.Track 4:[40:23] Love it.Track 3:[40:25] Love it.Track 4:[40:25] Love it. Love it.Track 2:[40:28] As someone who is terrible with names, definitely made, made me laugh. And if I ever get a tattoo, maybe that's what it'll have to be. Cause man, I'm in my job. It's not the best quality.Track 3:[40:39] It's a good story though.Track 1:[40:41] Coco Chanel five. That's what I think, yeah.Track 3:[43:49] So this, I mean, it's got to be about Laura, right? And yeah, and the thing that made me doubt that was that there's a song later in the album about his first girlfriend. So maybe he's singing about all of them. But the thing that drove it home for me was the line when I was recording in Memphis, which is the Up To Here album. That would put the timeline about right. I, I feel awkward listening to the song, the song and the one about the girlfriend. Like I shouldn't, I shouldn't be in this room right now, you know? Yeah.Track 2:[44:20] That, that, that was my thing off the top was like, I didn't want to dive too deep into who these songs are about, but sometimes it's, yeah, that this, that's what I thought about this one. And, but you know, Gord put this out in the world, so we, it is okay for us to do this. It is, is um yeah.Track 4:[44:37] And i agree that it definitely could have been on secret path like it has very much that same feel musically right instrumentation musically that was very much and there was even a moment on this particular song where it it was an mvp for for me for a while oh interesting yeah i just i think because again secret path was so impactful and for me after like the great build buildup from Coke machine glow, you know, just that amazing buildup and you hit secret path and you're just, it was hard to go on. So it was, I, you know, I was glad to hear something to kind of wake me up out of that funk. So, uh, but just a great song, but yes, difficult to listen to at times that the line was very uncomfortable for me. It really was. It's so good.Track 3:[45:27] Don't even say it.Track 4:[45:28] I'm not, but it's very uncomfortable for me. And that's That's probably the reason why I didn't end up as my MVP. I'll be honest.Track 1:[45:38] Just a little too inside baseball, Gord. Let's go with Ricky, please. And we'll start with Craig this time.Track 2:[45:47] This is a song I don't have a lot of notes about. It's just a nice upbeat song that was needed at this point. And it's nice and short. Gave me, I've said this a number of times on this pod, but Ben Folds kind of vibes you know and I have no idea who Ricky is I really didn't look at the lyrics too closely in this one so.Track 1:[46:13] Okay. Anybody else got anything?Track 3:[46:15] So I had asked in the group chat if this was about Patrick, his brother Patrick. And I know that You, Me, and the Bees is about him too, but I was thinking Ricky might be a nickname for Patrick. But the reason why I asked that was one of the lines is, you got me to the only door I've got. And Gord references the door in interviews and at the end of his life. And I know that Patrick was very close to him and was kind of his caretaker at the end. Um, so that's where I was thinking that maybe this is maybe Patrick got two songs. I don't know. I really don't know, but it's obviously somebody who's been very close with him forever and, you know, dating back before the illness, of course, too. But yeah, I don't know who it's about, but that was my initial thought. And I, I don't know. I have no idea, but it is a very fun listen.Track 1:[47:06] Well, if you out there listening, no, send us an email, discovering downy at gmail.com. we'd love to hear from you kirk what do you got.Track 4:[47:15] This one it gets a little more upbeat and so the clock is going a little faster i i agree with you justin that there definitely has a a feel to this sounds like a brother at least from that that standpoint i love i love the instrumentation the repetitiveness the i i i did that was something that i have in my memory as far as a note for this so this.Track 3:[47:40] Song and and a few others sound like a marriage between now for plan a and man machine poem like they could be hip songs 100 from those two.Track 4:[47:49] Great agreed i would wild okay.Track 1:[47:51] I gotta think about this in a different way safe is dead is our next track and i think we'll start with justin this time yeah.Track 3:[48:01] So i guess i'm gonna say it again this sounds like it could be from Not For Plan A or Man Machine Poem. And I don't know... It's probably more like man-machine poem, I think, but I couldn't even tell you who this is about. But, you know, it's certainly previewing death or reliving somebody else's. I don't know. But the dark preview, who'd miss this fear, a damn silence, exiles meet. And then the dark brochure, full dark soon, and then the rise of a scarred moon. So, like, I wonder if the brochure is a literal brochure. Like, here's what to expect in your next year and a half with glioblastoma, you know? Like, good luck, read this, and you've got information.Track 1:[48:42] God.Track 4:[48:43] That's, I mean, honestly, that's very much the way I took it. Safe is dead. Like, there's no good information on here. So it was stark to me, even in the music. And then if you read in some of the liner notes, this was one of the only ones with some backing vocals, and I think Patrick was one of them. And I think Billy Ray was another one. I have to look that up. But so interesting when you think about who was involved in this song. And then, again, just that premise or thought, like whether it's a pamphlet or like his doctor saying, hey, this is what's up. So you're just like safe as dead. Yeah. That was my uh.Track 2:[49:31] Yeah justin you mentioned man machine poem and i have a note right here that says remind the vocals remind me of insarnia from that album and musically i was really drawn to this song it reminds me so much of a band called future islands and specifically there's a song called fall from grace on the singles album which was the album that broke them and i heard that.Track 3:[49:56] Song today on the drive home.Track 2:[49:57] Really yeah.Track 3:[49:58] It's funny it.Track 2:[49:59] Is so similar yeah and i love i love that's my one of my very favorite songs by future islands so this one really stuck with me just the the drum beat the repetitive notes in the piano if it was future islands it would be more of a synth sound but it's a very similar idea just this repetitive groove that just goes for the entire song the nice echoing at the end the vocals that you mentioned and the way the beat drops out there's like a single hand clap to end the song it's one of my favorites i think on the album tremendous and sorry and last thing what wait what like what such a gourd thing to say what what wait what like just awkward and but not from him when he says it it's just when you when.Track 4:[50:49] You hear it for the first time it doesn't sound like he's saying that i had a completely different phrase.Track 2:[50:54] In my brain.Track 4:[50:55] You know when you hear something you're rocket man burning up his when you hear that that's what i heard was.Track 2:[51:01] Something completely.Track 4:[51:02] Different until i read it and i.Track 2:[51:03] Went excuse me while i kiss this guy wait.Track 4:[51:05] What what yeah exactly there's a bathroom on the right on the right.Track 2:[51:10] Do we.Track 3:[51:15] Have to pay rights fees for these now jay no.Track 1:[51:17] No we're fine we're fine we got big podcast lawyers yeah well we go upbeat again with the next song uh in a celebratory sort of way kirk what do you think is spoon.Track 4:[54:10] I'm just going to ask this question up front. In the band Spoon, we had had some discussions about them on our exchange, and I didn't look deep enough. Are they a Canadian band? They're not, no. No? But popular up there, obviously, and is that who he's referring to when you go down to the bottom?Track 1:[54:32] It definitely is that band. in terms of popularity middling you know they're not a superstar band by any stretch but they sell you know they sell they sell records similar to what they are in the u.s they're still sort of underground you know to a lot of people even though they've had at least three breakout albums great indie band yes but.Track 3:[54:52] They're only an indie band you know they're.Track 1:[54:53] Not mainstream yeah.Track 2:[54:56] Yeah relating to the story i just told actually it was driving me nuts i i knew i had a ticket to spoon but i have no memory of the concert and it was just driving me nuts i actually pulled up my concert tickets yesterday and went through them all until i finally finally figured out what it was was that i just mentioned future islands they were playing a show at stanley park in downtown vancouver the you know the park and um spoon was headlining future islands was opening so i went for future islands they sold out of beer like in the opening band they may and not Not that I was there for beer, but the timing worked out perfectly though, because I actually had a second concert ticket that same night to see War on Drugs in downtown Vancouver. So we had to like run down the street, catch a bus down to downtown Vancouver and made it to the Vogue to see War on Drugs. This is, I don't know, nine years ago, I think. And so I missed Spoon. So I didn't even get to see five songs.Track 4:[55:54] You missed Spoon. I was going to ask if you had both. No. Okay. You missed Spoon.Track 3:[55:58] I haven't seen them, but I love them. And in particular, the album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga that is referenced on here. You don't even have to know that it's Spoon to know Don't You Ever or The Underdog or Cherry Bomb from that album. I know that if you heard them, you would recognize them instantly. They're radio hits. But Spoon's a freaking great band. And I'm jealous of the five-year-old kid who's in this song, which has got to be his youngest son, right? I would imagine.Track 1:[56:27] Well, he talks about recording in Maui with Bob.Track 3:[56:29] In Maui with Bob, yeah.Track 1:[56:31] So that would be what? That would be 2011?Track 2:[56:34] I think so.Track 3:[56:35] That would be the luster part of it, wouldn't it?Track 1:[56:37] That's what I've, that's what I've thought.Track 2:[56:38] I assume it's talking about either We Are The Same or World Container because he talks about we. He says we as in the band, like we were recording with Bob. Job so yeah and Maui is a place that um you know it's it's it's the destination for people in in Vancouver for vacation it's you know five hours away and so I've been there multiple times and so when he when I first heard the song and he starts dropping you know Haleakala the volcano Baby Beach is a place where when my son was just just a baby we took him to Baby Beach which is a a place where there's a like a natural barrier i believe it's natural there's no waves so you can actually take your toddler into the water they can just kind of play around in six inches of water and it goes out for for many meters and and i have these distinct memories and a great set of photos of my son on that beach talks about anthony's which is a little restaurant up in the in paella I believe, which is on the, if you're taking the road to Hana, very famous drive around the east side of the island, which I recommend to anyone who goes there. Brought back all these memories of my trips out there. And he even talks about his, I think his leg was broken or something. And one of my early trips to Maui, I was there on crutches. I had a hockey injury.Track 2:[58:03] So I had to cancel a bunch of my plans for that trip. And my son was very young. I think it was seven, eight months. And I remember the first day just taking the stroller for a walk and I'd go, you know, to the cinnamon roll place. And then I'd go back to the condo. And then the next day I'd go a bit further by the end. Within a week, I was walking for hours every morning. Like, you know, with the time change, I was up at 5.30 a.m. And taking him for just the longest walk. And just such a great memory. And I was fully healed by the end of that trip. That's great.Track 3:[58:35] There is the opening lines I just wanted to mention. You're transcendent. You taught me so many things. You taught me that help is all we to this dumb planet bring. What a nice compliment to give somebody.Track 2:[58:45] Right? And don't read the Apple Music translation because it says hell instead of help.Track 3:[58:51] That would change the song.Track 2:[58:52] You know, I've noticed on some of my listens.Track 4:[58:56] I'll look up a lyric because you can look on Spotify or whatever. And what you're hearing or what he's saying does not correlate with what the lyrics are so i noticed that on a few tunes i didn't write the specific ones down but uh that's interesting that you know it it translates it however it wants so i'm like he didn't just say what.Track 3:[59:17] It's for what it's worth i've had good luck on the website genius um when i when i can't find yeah and there's usually some notes some reference notes but they'll also capitalize words like like the album, the liner notes would have, as opposed to if you're listening to Spotify or YouTube or something that just doesn't take, you know, have that nuance. Right. Um, and I can add a lot of meaning.Track 2:[59:43] Yeah, and Kirk, you asked about Spoon being Canadian. While they're not, the band Deer Hunter, who Gord mentions in the song as the opener, they are from out east, I believe, Montreal maybe?Track 1:[59:55] Do you know, JD? I think it's in Quebec. Yeah, I think so.Track 3:[59:59] I think they are.Track 2:[1:00:00] I feel like I've seen them.Track 4:[1:00:01] Are they still active? Because I feel like I've just seen them recently, like opening up for Barenaked Ladies, which would make sense if they're Canadian.Track 3:[1:00:08] They have, they have a little bit of a following around where I live. Um, I haven't, I haven't seen them and I don't know much about them, but I know that the local station out of Albany, New York mentions deer hunter often. So yeah, there's still, I think there's still around.Track 4:[1:00:23] And I feel like I just saw them with bare naked ladies and, uh, what's the band that does closing time? Semi Sonic.Track 1:[1:00:30] Yeah.Track 4:[1:00:31] They were on the same, same bell.Track 1:[1:00:33] I went on a scavenger hunt in setlist.fm trying to find a show in Toronto that Deer Hunter opened for Spoon, and I couldn't track it down. That would definitely help us with the date in terms of figuring it out. I'm pretty sure they even say the venue in the song, don't they? In the lyric?Track 4:[1:00:58] Deer Hunter opened the show. The headliner was introduced. We did our best. We'd have to go soon. We got a t-shirt and we cut five tunes. Just enough to say that the first show for us, too, was Spoon. So anything else on Spoon?Track 3:[1:01:15] I listened to Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga several times because of this song. Yeah.Track 1:[1:01:24] Next up, Craig, is A Natural.Track 2:[1:01:29] Yeah, this song is the... Okay, so I'm in Seattle. This is... What year was this album? 2017? And this would have been, I'm guessing, a couple of weeks after gourd passed and i was in a 10 days i was in a clothing store or something i think a vintage clothing store in seattle and my wife was shopping and i was just sort of hanging out and i heard this song i was it was kind of like lightly in the background i couldn't i wasn't paying attention to who it was but they always play great music in seattle on in these types of stories i find and then the chorus came on and that powerful voice of his with all that reverb and it hit me like like a ton of bricks like i was like yeah it was like gourd from beyond the grave um and i was just i was in the u.s i was i was just it was amazing and i remember thinking like what is this is this like a hip song that i somehow don't know is this a you know some other artist where he just sings the chorus and i you know tracked it down when i got home and realized it was on the album that i had unopened um and so this was one song that i did listen to over the years, yeah what'd you guys think of this one.Track 4:[1:02:54] Just this was one of those that was the kind of the synth pop you know feel behind it which i loved again because again correlating back to the ages is like, gord probably had an affinity for the 80s and certain aspects of it in certain songs and whether you like it or not you're still influenced by it because you get that kind of that's again the the keyboard the synth sent the type music there but yeah again as craig mentioned the um powerfulness in the voice during the chorus is it creates goosebumps it just fills you up and and again makes you thankful that you have a variety of different you know opportunities to listen to the voice you know whether it's a solo stuff for the hip and so you were you just you were thankful for it and just the imagery in this song you know just sitting there and it's soaking and wet you know bathing suit with a bb gun and just kind of iron you know you you've experienced that or you've seen it and so you just felt connected to the song right away but it was so intense and then just the song the course itself is just a praise you are a natural if you say that about someone they're just you know they're beyond special so very much a song that made an impression, especially with his vocal abilities, as we've all mentioned and commented on how phenomenal it is and how varied, which I think Craig mentioned as well, or Justin as well.Track 3:[1:04:23] I wondered if this was about his sister or one of his daughters. I don't know why, but just the scene, the way that it's set, it seems like he's singing about a female.Track 4:[1:04:35] I would not disagree with that.Track 3:[1:04:36] Yeah, I don't know. Yeah. Well, and I was thinking that as they were kids, he's telling this story from his own childhood. Yeah. Don't know.Track 2:[1:04:47] That was my first thought too, but yeah, it could be. I feel like it is probably a child with one of his children.Track 3:[1:04:53] It also sounds a lot like a couple of songs in Secret Path.Track 2:[1:04:57] Yeah. The way he sings at the end though, I am the lucky one. That made me think I think maybe it was him as a father saying that line. And also to add to the 80s vibe, the bass, it really takes a lead in this song, very much like a Peter Hook style New Order.Track 4:[1:05:17] Yeah, great observation, Greg. I don't disagree with that at all.Track 1:[1:05:22] Well, let's wrap things up for this week with faith, faith. And we'll start with you, Mr. St. Louis.Track 3:[1:05:31] This one got me. Jesus, about the dog. I mean, I assume it's a dog. What else would be getting scratched under the chin? But, oh, my gosh, my puppy is just, well, the puppy is two years old. But, you know, I mean, what's nicer than the love that you get from your dog? and um very.Track 1:[1:05:54] Little in this world.Track 3:[1:05:55] Faith yeah but i mean just this song too is crushing take this take the dog out of it this is this is a masterpiece of a song and you can get emotional without lyrics with a song it's pretty damn amazing um so a couple of a couple of weeks ago, my mentor ken squire and you can google him he he's the one that got nascar on tv he's he's from around the way here and i worked for him for 20 years and he kind of took me up under his wing as the annoying kid who wouldn't stop asking for a job you know he's he's a legendary figure in the world of motorsport around the world so he he passed back in november and a few weeks ago they had his memorial service at his racetrack here in Vermont. And the most poignant part of the whole thing was they read a poem called The Sweetness of Dogs. This song brought me back to that moment where I welled up at his service and how the person and the dog are sitting under the moonlight. The person looks up at the moon and thinks, what could be more beautiful? And And the dog looks up to the person and thinks the same thing. And I'm just like, whoa. And the song just drains me. Yeah. Yeah. Ferguson, Ferguson's going to get this song the rest of his life.Track 4:[1:07:22] Yeah. It's, uh, it's, it's overwhelming. The, the passion that you feel when he screams the faith, faith, your faith, your faith, your faith. I think it's the Y-E-R, touching the nose every morning, one, two, three times, dark unwavering eyes. And if you have an animal, you know, especially if you have a dog for me, you know, I have my, my little guy, Andy, and we take our walks every day. And I do a lot of my gourd listening when I'm on a walk with my dog, you know, and it's, The dog has an attitude, and it's a great personality. And yeah, there's a love there that I think he captures, obviously, amazingly in the lyrics there.Track 2:[1:08:15] Yeah, I just have a note about the piano playing. So Kevin Drew on the piano, as we learned on the Secret Path album, he plays with a lot of feeling. And he's definitely got like a style to his playing. And I love how at the end he goes up the octave. And it's just, there's a lot of emotion in his playing, which really matches the lyrics. Now, unlike you guys, I'm not a pet person. I'm allergic to dogs. So it's not really my fault. Um so i've never had a dog i did have a cat growing up and i i do have a really great story but i'm gonna i'm gonna save it for when we have more time it feels.Track 4:[1:08:54] Like loving emmett otter craig that's what it feels like.Track 2:[1:08:57] Okay that's what it feels.Track 1:[1:08:59] Like well fellas uh it's been an absolute, pleasure to listen to your thoughts on the first half sort of i know it's not divisible the way the records are, but that's what we're going to cover this week. Let's bid adieu to our listeners and encourage you out there to shoot us an email, discoverydowney at gmail.com if you're enjoying what you're here. We'd love for you to join our community on Facebook, and of course we want to see you on July 19th at the Rec Room here in toronto tickets are available now at discovering downy.com.Track 4:[1:09:47] That's going to be a fun night i.Track 1:[1:09:51] Think so right.Track 4:[1:09:52] Really fun and do.Track 2:[1:09:55] People know like we've never actually met no i don't i guess i guess they.Track 1:[1:09:59] Wouldn't know that yeah.Track 2:[1:10:00] I mean i've i've met jd and kirk i guess in person very briefly yes uh kirk um a couple times and justin yeah yeah not not yet i haven't met you yet but But yeah.Track 4:[1:10:09] It'll be the first time for all four of us. Yeah.Track 1:[1:10:12] But we're all going to see each other on the night.Track 2:[1:10:15] It's going to be awesome.Track 3:[1:10:16] Yeah. Actually, we're going to see each other on the 18th too, aren't we?Track 2:[1:10:20] Road trip.Track 3:[1:10:21] Yeah.Track 1:[1:10:21] Yeah. Yeah. If you're out there and you're.Track 4:[1:10:24] We got to go to the.Track 1:[1:10:25] If you're out there, we got to see the dance tonight and you feel like meeting up with four dudes and you want to give us a tragically hip tour. That's a perfect opportunity. You guys are discovering Downey at gmail.com email. We would love that we would love nothing more than that so we'll have a film crew with us we can shoot some cool stuff and it'll be a lot of fun, pick up your shit.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/fully-and-completely/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Introduce Yerself pt. 1

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 2, 2024 70:57

Buckle in because this is a personal album we're discussing on today's episode of Discovering Downie. A mere 10 days following Gord's death fans were gifted the posthumous diary, Introduce Yerself. Craig, Justin, and Kirk have little experience with this record. Things get raw!Thanks for clicking.Follow us on social media @gorddowniepodTranscript: Track 6:[0:00] One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10. Long Slice Brewery presents a live event celebration of Gord Downie July 19th at The Rec Room in Toronto. Join the hosts of the podcast Discovering Downie as they record their finale with special guest Patrick Downie. A silent auction with items from the hip and many others will take place along with live entertainment from the almost hip. All proceeds will benefit the Gord Downie Fund for brain cancer research. For more information and tickets, please visit discoveringdowney.com. How it all works. Welcome, music lovers. Long Slice Brewery presents Discovering Downey.Track 1:[1:15] Hey, it's JD here. Welcome to Discovering Downey, an 11-part project with a focus on the music and poetry of Mr. Gord Downey. The late frontman of the Tragically Hip gave to the world an extensive solo discography on top of the hip's vocal acrobatics that awed us for years. So far, he's released eight records in total, three of them posthumously. You might be the biggest fan of the hip out there, but have you heard these records? Because I'm an inquisitive podcaster, I enlisted my friends Craig, Justin, and Kirk, giant fans in their own right to discover downy with me jd as their host every week we get together and listen to one of gourd's records starting with coke machine glow and working from there in chronological order we discuss and dissect the album the production the lyrics and we break it down song by fucking song this week we're dealing with the challenging introduce Introduce yourself. Craig, how are you doing this week, my friend?Track 2:[2:20] I'm doing well.Track 1:[2:21] That's good to hear.Track 2:[2:22] Can't complain.Track 1:[2:23] Gigging?Track 2:[2:24] Yeah, I had a big show on the weekend and it was sold out and we had played about 30 tunes and it was a great time.Track 1:[2:32] Oh man, I wish I had a teleport device. Yeah. So I could go to your gigs. You too, Kirk. How are you doing, man?Track 4:[2:40] I'm doing well. Thank you. Yeah. Had a gig last week and got some travel coming up. So just been kind of finishing up on some graduation things with the kids. And, you know, like I said, some work stuff, obviously spending lots of time with this, this little project we got going on, but yeah, doing well.Track 1:[2:59] It's a lot. It's a lot, but it's been a lot of fun so far. And part of the fun is Mr. Justin St. Louis. How are you doing, sir?Track 3:[3:08] I'm good, dude. It's hardcore, hardcore here in this house right now, but things are good, man. Things are good.Track 1:[3:16] Well, that's great. Just off the top, I want to say that we're starting to get some items rolling in for the silent auction for the fundraising event that we're hosting in July. We've got the PWHL Toronto franchise has given us a really cool donation that we'll be sharing online in the days and weeks to come. We also got a donation from the Toronto Blue Jays, the Tragically Hip themselves have donated something. We've got a great restaurant, Mighty Bird, that is donating. And there's lots of other stuff as well, like lots of great artwork and shit. So get your tickets.Track 4:[3:56] Hey, we have some beers too, right?Track 1:[3:58] We do have some beers. Yeah, Podcast Pilsner. It's got our logo on the can.Track 3:[4:03] Let's go.Track 1:[4:04] That right? Yeah. And it should be a decent price. It's made by our title sponsor, Long Slice, of course. So go to discoveringdowney.com and click on fundraising tickets. Bob's your uncle. So there's that.Track 4:[4:17] Bob's your uncle. Love it. I love it. That's like six one way, half a dozen the other. I tell that to anyone that's under 40 and they look at me like, what are you talking about? Like, just figure it out. ticks one way, half a dozen the other. That's very confusing.Track 1:[4:35] Yeah. It is.Track 3:[4:39] Every time I hear Bob's your uncle, I think of 101 Dalmatians. When the bad guys break in and steal the pups from the nanny, he says, well, be out faster than you can say Bob's your uncle. And that was the first time I ever heard it. Anyway.Track 1:[4:54] I found out it's not an American phrase. It's a Canadian and UK phrase. So I told a bunch of people this and they were like, I've never heard of this in my life.Track 3:[5:03] What do you mean? No. Yeah. Right.Track 1:[5:06] All right, time to get a bit heavy here, because on October 17th, 2017, we said goodbye to the man who walks among the stars. This was truly one of the more emotional days in my nearly 50 years on this plane. Only losing family and close friends has ever cut as deeply as sending Gord off to the abyss. Less than two weeks later though on october 27th 2017, gourd released a posthumous effort called introduce yourself, where do you start with this one in my mind there are elements from each of the previous five albums on display here i hear secret path on coco chanel number five to name one off the top of my head the sparse production handled deftly by kevin drew gourd's partner in creating this double record. I have to imagine the production and limited instrumentation could have been a result of Gord's condition at the time of recording. However, as sick as he was, he persevered through two sessions in putting this album together.Track 1:[6:15] The liner notes indicate that Gord took on the bulk of the guitar work while handling vocals, some synth, and a bit of percussion to boot. Mr. Drew handled piano, bass, organs, keyboard, and percussion. This album does also feature some great guest performers, notably Dave Hamelin, with some work on the drums, as well as synth, and finally, on Nancy, he plays a frickin' B-3. David Billy Ray Koster offered some additional drum work and background vocals, while Patrick Downey contributed background vocals and percussion on Safe is Dead. Jillian Weiss also added vocals to that track. Lastly, engineer and bathhouse resident Niles Spencer has his fingerprints on several songs, playing keys, creating beats, samples, and a Morse code sound on the 19th track, The Road. From the get-go, this album has been scoured by fans to try and determine who each song is about. You see, this album has a premise. Each of the 23 songs is about someone from Gord's life. This is clearly the most personal record Gord, or the hip for that matter, has ever released. I'm going to leave you with one more date that is significant to me with regards to Introduce Yourself. May 30th, 2024.Track 1:[7:35] This was the day I peeled the cellophane off my copy of the vinyl and finally listened to the album in its entirety. Prior to that Thursday in May, I just didn't have the stamina or emotional wherewithal to make a dent in what I now know is a celebration of the music, the man, and the legend, Gord Downie. Justin, what are your initial thoughts on this one?Track 3:[8:00] I could not handle this album when it came out. I tried it and I had to abort after five songs maybe. And I'll tell you, and maybe I should save it for the song, but there was one, this all happened when, when my daughter was a newborn, there was, there's one song that just wrecks me and, uh, still does. Um, there's several that do, but one particular, and I just had to put it away until this, this project came around. So, you know, I sat on it for seven years. I had tried it and I wasn't ready.Track 1:[8:31] Me too, man. Me too. I'm either going to apologize for this project or be thanked for this project to find out what Justin's thoughts were on some of these songs. Kirk, I want to hear from you.Track 4:[8:44] Yeah. Well, for me, this came after us doing Secret Path, and that was such an emotional...Track 4:[8:56] Couple of weeks. I mean, it really was because we'd already become so close to Gord before we even started this project. Then when we started this project, you just became intimately familiar and then secret path happens and you're just, and I needed a break. I needed a break from, I'll say Gord Downie solo and I needed to fall in love with the hip again. I think I got that record store day hip album and i put that on and then i just went on a journey and just kind of fell in love with the hip again but i took a long break to prepare myself for this and there's no amount to break or anything that could really prepare you for it and every listen no matter what the device was whether it was on my record whether it was in the car whether it was out walking the dog. It was just obviously beautiful when you think about these letters and that he had the opportunity to do it, but also just so extremely heartbreaking at the same time, right? And then one final thing for me, my wife and I had also just recently watched the new documentary that came out on Jim Henson, right? And we're big Muppets fans. And of course they had a little bit on, you know, on Craig and I's favorite Emmett Otter.Track 4:[10:20] But yeah, it's just real quick, you know, but the point I wanted to make was.Track 4:[10:27] The Muppets, Sesame Street, everything that Jim Henson created, right? And he passed when he was 53. And Gord passed when he's 53. And I'm 53.Track 4:[10:39] And I'll be honest with you, gents, I have been on this. I'm 53. And these two gentlemen created this body of artwork that has been so incredibly moving for so many people for so many generations. And it just really stopped me in my tracks and went, wow, I'm 53. If I went right now, what would my story be and what impact would I have? And how thankful, even though it was, and I say this because I'm 53, that we lost those two gentlemen so young. Thank goodness we have this to go back and listen and watch and read and discuss and record podcasts. And I'm just so thankful. So sorry, a very long-winded answer, but I needed to share that with you because I think all of us are gonna have these emotional moments throughout this recording today. And just thinking about like, if I had a chance to write letters to everyone before I went, like, I don't know that I could do that. So um so that every listen has just been that thought wow can you imagine you had to write a letter to all the people that you know you cared for just.Track 1:[12:02] Take a moment brother we appreciate you man hell yeah best 53 year old on this podcast by by a country mile i.Track 4:[12:13] Will i will accept that sorry i'll accept that thank you as i cry thank you all right.Track 1:[12:22] Craig no i always i always start my questions with like for some reason i'm like mclaughlin of the mclaughlin group uh i don't know if you remember that sketch on snl but i feel like what justin you know and it's like this episode is a lot more stark and i don't want to be like scaring the shit out of you as i'm asking you a question but craig i want i'm curious about your experience now yeah.Track 2:[12:51] Well really quickly just before we um get into that uh kirk um not sure if you knew this this will probably just make things worse but um jim henson at his funeral they actually used a song from emmett otter as the um as the song that played during his um ceremony so yeah So you know how much it meant to him? Yeah.Track 3:[13:11] He also wrote his own goodbye letter and just stored it away.Track 2:[13:15] Oh, wow.Track 3:[13:15] In case of emergency, right? Yeah.Track 2:[13:19] It's crazy. Yeah. So, J.D., much like yourself –, I bought this album when it came out, and it remained unopened. And I actually remember watching a video that was like a promotional video that came out around the time the album was released. And it was a black and white. I put it on for about 30 seconds, and I just, I had to turn it off. And I actually just, for the first time since then, watched it last night. And it made sense why it hit me that hard it was the north the very last song which we'll get to at the very very end of i guess next week's podcast and that is a heavy tune and gourd was, not looking his best during the recording of that and it was just sort of like a rehearsal take they were showing it was just heartbreaking to watch and it was such a sad song i didn't know what it was about at the time, but I just knew I could not listen to this album. And yeah, so when this podcast opportunity came up, that was my first thought was like, I've had, I've been waiting to crack this open and I was looking for the opportunity to, you know, the right time. And that time is here. And to build off what Kirk was saying, like this, this album is a gift.Track 3:[14:46] Yeah.Track 2:[14:49] To his loved ones who were the subjects of the songs, to his bandmates, to his fans. And it's beautiful. The fact that he got this out there, like Kirk said so well, how many people get, number one, the opportunity to do something like this, and number two, can bring themselves to write those hard words.Track 1:[15:15] Absolutely. Yeah.Track 2:[15:16] Yeah.Track 6:[15:17] And, and when you consider the condition that he was in when he recorded these things, it's absolutely mind blowing for heaven's sake.Track 1:[15:26] This isn't somebody who was fully operational. And there's songs that are just so well thought out and gorgeous and, and so gored, you know?Track 3:[15:38] Well, and he wrote it in two stages too. And, you know, I would say that the second stage was probably in worse condition, right?Track 1:[15:47] You're likely right.Track 3:[15:49] He was gone six months after, you know, wild.Track 4:[15:55] One thing, because this is a blanket statement for all of it, is in any of the, you know, quick research that you do, like most of these songs were recorded in one to two takes. You know, for multiple reasons, one, they didn't have the time and neither did he or the energy. And so when you, you know, when you thought about when I went through and listened to every song and just went like, you got this amount of time, you're going to do this. And, you know, and they end up, I mean, one to two takes on some of these albums, just some of these songs. Sorry.Track 3:[16:34] And that's all they needed to.Track 1:[16:37] Yeah, I think that rawness really adds another layer to the context in a certain way, doesn't it? Because it is raw emotionally, and then it's raw musically as well.Track 4:[16:48] Yeah, very much so, but still incredible. Like on a majority of those songs, you wouldn't know. I mean, the one thing I read, and I would agree, is it's a piano forward album. There's very much a piano keys. There's some great guitar lines, but, um, so that helps obviously from a production standpoint in, in getting your, your tone tonality and, but I also think that it just really added to the, the, the emotion that the points, I'm sorry, I'm, no.Track 3:[17:30] But you're right.Track 4:[17:31] It's just incredible that they were able to get some of this production down in the manner that they did. And as a whole, going back to 53, I could hear so many decades in the songs, in the musicality that he was trying to experience. There's literal 80s synth pop songs on this. There's ballads. And there's all of these. You know, for me, I reflected born in the seventies, you know, really experienced that music eighties, nineties, two thousands. And then obviously the stuff you were influenced before that. And that instrumentation, in my opinion, came through in a lot of these songs. And again, one in two takes blows me away. Yeah.Track 1:[18:18] Yeah. Yeah. Drew, Kevin drew deserves, uh, a heap of, uh, of credit for pulling this together. And Niles Spencer was the engineer on the project. So hopefully later this summer, you guys get to meet Niles and we get to look around the bathhouse. That would be tremendous.Track 2:[18:40] Yeah. That would be amazing.Track 3:[18:41] Yeah.Track 1:[18:42] So we'll see what we can do there. Should we get into this song by song?Track 2:[18:45] Yeah.Track 3:[18:45] Let's do it.Track 1:[18:46] Okay. Craig, we're going to start with you in first person.Track 2:[18:51] So i decided early on when i started listening to this album i i felt like i didn't want to dig too deeply into what you know who each song was about right but some are just so obvious so first person you know it's a song to his mother you know the first person that you know he sees the first person to bring him to life just a really great song to start the album with very emotional um, Yeah. And I don't know, I didn't look up if his mother is still alive or was alive when this was released. So, you know, at the end he's saying goodbye.Track 3:[19:30] He addressed her in the final Kingston concert.Track 2:[19:34] Okay.Track 3:[19:34] Yeah. And she was there for that. I mean, they were only a year apart, so I don't know this, but I would assume she was still alive at that point. And I don't know if she's now or not.Track 2:[19:44] Yeah just the you know again the chance to say goodbye to his mom and yeah it's not really, how things are supposed to go i guess but um not at all yeah and that yeah the last thing i'll say is just there's that you know the vocalizations after the word goodbye i talked about them last week on secret path but there's these like raw just emotional you know screams and like emotes that he makes um in in the secret path concert and on the album and on this album as well that you know just that i don't know guttural just raw human emotion that it's really cool, what'd you guys think yeah.Track 1:[20:25] We saw a lot of that on the final tour for sure that raw guttural emotion.Track 2:[20:29] And uh.Track 1:[20:31] It's mirrored on this record absolutely crystallized uh on vinyl and cd cassette i don't know if it's on cassette justin um where do you stand on first person.Track 3:[20:43] Can't add a whole lot more but there's one thing that is very consistent in this song and the second song and it's that quarter note bass drum heartbeat boom boom boom boom to the whole thing and it's, not by accident for sure yeah yeah.Track 2:[21:01] And that was a feature of secret path to a lot of other songs without heartbeat.Track 4:[21:06] And a clock too is what I heard. Yes. I heard it as an underlying heartbeat, but it was also- click it was also time moving yeah oh that's good yeah it it really hit me in.Track 4:[21:22] Fact i think it was last night on one of the one of the tunes i don't remember exactly which one it was but it was fitting and it was very much a clock and a heartbeat again love love the opportunity that we had the chance to to to listen to this and to listen to those thoughts you know that was one One of the things I was thinking of, and we can say this about all of them is sometimes it's hard to really express your feelings at any moment, face-to-face writing it down, you know, after the fact. And so often it's after the fact, you know, this entire album, but of course this song right away, acknowledging his mom, but just that I'm going to go through and I'm going to give everyone that I've been in touch with or that I've loved, you know, I'm going to express some feelings to them. And a lot of the times those things sometimes people feel might be appropriate to be private, but for me, I love that Gord was very open about those feelings and emotions. So just incredible. Absolutely incredible.Track 1:[22:28] Incredible yeah i couldn't agree with you more it's so heartbreaking and i don't know whether we should have put a trigger warning at the top of this episode uh as we did with secret path this is some heavy shit so let's move on to wolf's home, All I want is you, All I want is you.Track 3:[26:05] And the heartbeat, you know, it really just, that's the other half, right? This is a decidedly more upbeat tune. It's really catchy. It's kind of fun. And it really, you know, the track that follows this is heavy too, but it does set the tone for kind of the rest of the album. The context of this whole thing, like we talked about over and over, is heavy, but the songs are kind of fun, you know? And Wolf's home is, all right, kids, stop the nonsense and the bullshit. Dad's home. Everybody cut it out. There's two lines that really stuck out to me. One was, I don't do what I hate, which is a spin on I do what I hate from Man, from the Man Machine poem album, which is the first track on that. And then at the very end is, all I want is you. you know and you know all the all the references to to edgar downey throughout the the hips catalog and and everything that gore did and you know lonely end of the rank and all those things it's um yeah i just these first two songs really kind of wrap your arms around the entire album with with what you're going to get out of this and um it's nice that it was his parents that, were the the opening numbers you know it was really a touching couple of tracks there.Track 4:[27:25] Yeah absolutely it's a tribute really it is and a tribute to obviously what an upbringing to, be able to you know have this individual that again has left us with such amazing art but yeah mom and dad right off the the bat i don't know if you guys noticed this or not and i think craig was trying to show it i have lucky enough to have the vinyl of this but on all the it's all handwritten the lyrics that are in here but in each one i'm fairly certain it's the who the song's about but it's it's covered up and it's a different color and it's on every single song in both you know close the first and the second album craig.Track 3:[28:04] You referenced that black and white video and in that video the only bits of color are where they overlay they kind of superimpose gray uh, gourd's handwriting in red and blue and he's got that four color pen that he's always using on.Track 4:[28:20] All the interviews. Yep.Track 3:[28:21] And I also was super happy to figure out that he's a lefty in that video because they show him making a note. And I'm like, all right.Track 4:[28:30] Right on, left-handers.Track 2:[28:31] My daughter is going to love that. Yeah, so this song, Wolf's Home, again, yeah, definitely about his father. And it's such a catchy song. The melody in the chorus, the ascending melody and the way the timbre of his voice just, changes as he's going up to those high notes and just such a nice quality like, he's such a versatile vocalist i don't think he gets enough credit for the just the different voices he uses on on different styles of tracks.Track 3:[29:03] There was something that i read a few years ago about how gourd just stayed in the pocket with the hip and i'm like what the frig are you talking about like the guy will go until he doesn't have a voice on the low end and then he blows it out on the top, Mariah Carey style. Like, it's unbelievable, his range.Track 1:[29:21] Ha ha ha ha ha ha.Track 2:[29:23] Some interest interesting percussion sounds almost like on on the two and four there's some kind of a where the snare would be there's some kind of i don't know what it is almost sounds like toy drums or something or just something random in the studio they were hitting but, but yeah i have nothing really more to add just just a great song.Track 4:[29:40] Yeah and i'll pick up on bedtime the next one which is to one of the kids i'm not sure if it's specific or if it's just to his children in general or you know again just going through that the theme that we've been talking about is knowing you know and it really doesn't matter who it's to that does add to obviously the level of seriousness but for me it was I think Craig mentioned this as well it's like yeah there was something you could pick out right away but it really didn't matter at some points again just breaking down that these were the very personal letters that were going out and doing it in a manner of he gets to add the instrumentation to it and as as we've talked about on several of the different albums and different tunes then again this one is more of the piano ford as they had mentioned the emotion that can be evoked from from that backing music to it and and knowing looking at very few i think there was only like four or five of these tunes that were solely gourd so you had some of the other you know drew that was involved, and niles and some of the other that helped i think a little bit with some of the i mean i don't know what their breakdown was if they were more instrumentation if they were more the uh um the lyric side of it but but just uh again i think a masterpiece put considering everything and having kids we all went through this or i went through this with all my kids.Track 4:[31:06] Multiple times in a different manner and and but how important that was and how with each of my kids, I have those memories of that connection, right? And that was a way that you could help your spouse was putting the help and putting the kids to bed. So it evokes some, some, very direct and deep memories and then saddens you when you know that these are memories that his children are going to read and hopefully appreciate.Track 1:[31:36] Oh, I can't imagine. I can't imagine. I just can't imagine.Track 2:[31:41] Yeah. Definitely brought back memories for me of, of those early years with kids and the, the struggle of bedtime and just the, the passage of time, you know, the way that those nights would just seem to last forever. And you were just, Then you wake up the next day and do it all over again. And then yet the years just start flying by. And that's what struck me during this song is that just the passage of time and how strange the days are so long and the years are so short. So, Justin, what do you think?Track 3:[32:18] Like I said, this album was released, Gord Died, and this album was released when my daughter was four months old. and we still have her gray rocking chair upstairs that, um, why would I would rock her to sleep in? And when this album came out, I think I listened on the first day, this song came on as I was rocking her to sleep and I bawled like a frigging toddler. And, uh you know the the line um as if from a bomb backing up like whoa and the floor with the creaks of time and we're living in this old apartment above a barn you know that's you can't breathe without the floor creaking and then you get to the door and she wakes up like are you really like leaving like what do you get back here you know and like so this song i it totally destroyed me and as I'm trying to get her calm I'm losing it and so I had this is this was it I heard three songs on this album and I stopped for seven years until we started this project I do love this song very much but man did it hit home and I was already raw from from having lost Gord you know my musical hero ten days before and then shit this happens come on yeah.Track 4:[33:40] I wanted to speak about JD when you were talking in the intro. When Gord passed, it was as deep as any friend or family member that I can recall. I mean, it was a deep fetal position kind of cry. And especially having seen and just a break, we've already talked about it before in a prior episode, but on the long time running when on the last tour, when he would kiss everyone on the lips before they went out on stage, you just were overwhelmed by the amount of love this one individual had. And that, you know, to this day, it's still permeates in this discussion. So amazing.Track 1:[34:29] Well, let's stick with you, Kirk. Let's talk a bit about introduce yourself.Track 4:[34:33] Introduce yourself. Well, title track to the album. I'm sorry. I got to get this out of the way. I need to know so much more, or I need to visit the Danforth because some of my favorite songs always mentioned the Danforth. And I just have to imagine it's some beautiful place near Toronto because it's in like old apartment from bare naked lady, which is a song that I love. Several other Canadian bands mentioned the Danforth. So that was the thing that snuck that stuck out right because everything had been so emotional i needed some sort of brevity and so when i got to danforth the line danforth so i need to ask jd give me info on the danforth so the danforth is the.Track 1:[35:18] Other side of bluer street the eastbound corridor of the street we call bluer street in midtown yeah it's not down it's the roof of downtown is bluer street and it cuts across the Bloor Viaduct, the Prince Edward Viaduct, which has the luminous veil on it that we spoke.Track 2:[35:36] Of in another episode.Track 1:[35:38] Then the Danforth was traditionally Greek town. It had oodles of Greek restaurants. There was lots of Greek variety stores and that sort of thing. And in the early nineties, it became a very popular place to start a family. You buy a house pretty reasonably. Now it's, you know, just as it's, as is want to happen. And it's pushing further and further and further East because the original Danforth area is now, you know, like $3 million homes, $4 million homes. Uh, and then there's some areas that there are way more than that. And I'd be glad to take you on a mini tour when I'm here because that's where I live. You know, maybe a soda pop at my local. We'll see.Track 3:[36:23] Yeah. Love it. Let's do that.Track 4:[36:25] Yeah. So that was my, that was my takeaway on this, this particular one. And again, that just overwhelmed my thought process was needing to know more about the Danforth. So I appreciate you helping, helping me with that. So, yeah.Track 2:[36:41] So this song was, um, was written about Billy Ray, Billy Ray Koster, the longtime hip roadie. And so, um, it's really just a thank you. And at the end of the song, just, you know, I thank you for your help. Help. Such a simple line, but such a beautiful goodbye to this lifelong friend who, from what I remember reading years ago, is that Billy Ray just as a young man or someone in his late teens just wrote the hip saying, I want a job, I'll do anything, and just worked his way up. And he really became almost like a member of the band by the end. And just the story of of this song is hilarious. Like it's a, it's a emotional song, but it's also so funny. Like the, you know, the not it isn't, it isn't because, you know, maybe some of the reason he, he, you know, the story being that he needs to write, introduce yourself on his hand to show to Billy Ray. So he'll introduce himself to the driver of the car that he, that Gord should know the name of, but has forgotten. So, you know, was that because of, you know, the cancer maybe? And I think I know what Justin's going to talk about here. What was your first thought?Track 3:[37:56] I can picture them in the back of a car or the cab or whatever. And Gord's like, oh shit, you know, like, what do I do here? Yeah. I mean, there's not much more that I could peel back on this, but I do remember in the interim of deciding to put the album down when it came out. And now I do remember watching the live performance that Sarah Harmer, Kevin Hearn, right, did it. And it was awesome. It was really, really, really good. And I was like, oh, okay, that's, and I had no idea what it was about at that time. So I was like, oh, this is a really sweet song.Track 2:[38:29] The Junos.Track 3:[38:30] Obviously emotional, but, um, you know, hearing the, hearing the lyrics, I was like, Oh, okay. And I've referenced it a few times here, the interview, the sit down with Peter Mansbridge and yeah. And he's like, well, I've got your name here, so I don't call you Doug or whatever, you know? Um, yeah. So, uh, yeah.Track 1:[38:57] Right.Track 2:[38:59] That's what I was going for. Yeah.Track 4:[39:02] Hey, I got to say with Billy Ray, because most of the shows that I saw were in small clubs, he was just as much a member of the band as anyone else for all of my crew. We almost enjoyed seeing him more, right? He always had that kind of crooked cowboy hat. And he always had like either a roll of duct tape or a wrench or there was art, you know, there was always something that says I'm the tech guy like reminded you of Tom Hanks when he did that Saturday Night Live skit when he was a roadie for Aerosmith or whatever, but he was so much he was the flavor of it. It was like he had to come out and put the mic stand back up because Gord knocked it down, you know. And then I love the fact as well that on this album, as well as I think the last or a couple of the others, he plays drums on a few of them. So how fantastic is that from Craig, as you mentioned, like a letter, just this, hey, I want to do something for you. And then he becomes this lifelong friend. And now he's part of, you know, part of introduce yourself in the title track song and, uh, just such a character.Track 3:[40:11] So it also, uh, it reminded me of the roadie by tenacious D. Sebastian bringing this, you know, 55 year old groupie into the dressing room.Track 4:[40:23] Love it.Track 3:[40:25] Love it.Track 4:[40:25] Love it. Love it.Track 2:[40:28] As someone who is terrible with names, definitely made, made me laugh. And if I ever get a tattoo, maybe that's what it'll have to be. Cause man, I'm in my job. It's not the best quality.Track 3:[40:39] It's a good story though.Track 1:[40:41] Coco Chanel five. That's what I think, yeah.Track 3:[43:49] So this, I mean, it's got to be about Laura, right? And yeah, and the thing that made me doubt that was that there's a song later in the album about his first girlfriend. So maybe he's singing about all of them. But the thing that drove it home for me was the line when I was recording in Memphis, which is the Up To Here album. That would put the timeline about right. I, I feel awkward listening to the song, the song and the one about the girlfriend. Like I shouldn't, I shouldn't be in this room right now, you know? Yeah.Track 2:[44:20] That, that, that was my thing off the top was like, I didn't want to dive too deep into who these songs are about, but sometimes it's, yeah, that this, that's what I thought about this one. And, but you know, Gord put this out in the world, so we, it is okay for us to do this. It is, is um yeah.Track 4:[44:37] And i agree that it definitely could have been on secret path like it has very much that same feel musically right instrumentation musically that was very much and there was even a moment on this particular song where it it was an mvp for for me for a while oh interesting yeah i just i think because again secret path was so impactful and for me after like the great build buildup from Coke machine glow, you know, just that amazing buildup and you hit secret path and you're just, it was hard to go on. So it was, I, you know, I was glad to hear something to kind of wake me up out of that funk. So, uh, but just a great song, but yes, difficult to listen to at times that the line was very uncomfortable for me. It really was. It's so good.Track 3:[45:27] Don't even say it.Track 4:[45:28] I'm not, but it's very uncomfortable for me. And that's That's probably the reason why I didn't end up as my MVP. I'll be honest.Track 1:[45:38] Just a little too inside baseball, Gord. Let's go with Ricky, please. And we'll start with Craig this time.Track 2:[45:47] This is a song I don't have a lot of notes about. It's just a nice upbeat song that was needed at this point. And it's nice and short. Gave me, I've said this a number of times on this pod, but Ben Folds kind of vibes you know and I have no idea who Ricky is I really didn't look at the lyrics too closely in this one so.Track 1:[46:13] Okay. Anybody else got anything?Track 3:[46:15] So I had asked in the group chat if this was about Patrick, his brother Patrick. And I know that You, Me, and the Bees is about him too, but I was thinking Ricky might be a nickname for Patrick. But the reason why I asked that was one of the lines is, you got me to the only door I've got. And Gord references the door in interviews and at the end of his life. And I know that Patrick was very close to him and was kind of his caretaker at the end. Um, so that's where I was thinking that maybe this is maybe Patrick got two songs. I don't know. I really don't know, but it's obviously somebody who's been very close with him forever and, you know, dating back before the illness, of course, too. But yeah, I don't know who it's about, but that was my initial thought. And I, I don't know. I have no idea, but it is a very fun listen.Track 1:[47:06] Well, if you out there listening, no, send us an email, discovering downy at gmail.com. we'd love to hear from you kirk what do you got.Track 4:[47:15] This one it gets a little more upbeat and so the clock is going a little faster i i agree with you justin that there definitely has a a feel to this sounds like a brother at least from that that standpoint i love i love the instrumentation the repetitiveness the i i i did that was something that i have in my memory as far as a note for this so this.Track 3:[47:40] Song and and a few others sound like a marriage between now for plan a and man machine poem like they could be hip songs 100 from those two.Track 4:[47:49] Great agreed i would wild okay.Track 1:[47:51] I gotta think about this in a different way safe is dead is our next track and i think we'll start with justin this time yeah.Track 3:[48:01] So i guess i'm gonna say it again this sounds like it could be from Not For Plan A or Man Machine Poem. And I don't know... It's probably more like man-machine poem, I think, but I couldn't even tell you who this is about. But, you know, it's certainly previewing death or reliving somebody else's. I don't know. But the dark preview, who'd miss this fear, a damn silence, exiles meet. And then the dark brochure, full dark soon, and then the rise of a scarred moon. So, like, I wonder if the brochure is a literal brochure. Like, here's what to expect in your next year and a half with glioblastoma, you know? Like, good luck, read this, and you've got information.Track 1:[48:42] God.Track 4:[48:43] That's, I mean, honestly, that's very much the way I took it. Safe is dead. Like, there's no good information on here. So it was stark to me, even in the music. And then if you read in some of the liner notes, this was one of the only ones with some backing vocals, and I think Patrick was one of them. And I think Billy Ray was another one. I have to look that up. But so interesting when you think about who was involved in this song. And then, again, just that premise or thought, like whether it's a pamphlet or like his doctor saying, hey, this is what's up. So you're just like safe as dead. Yeah. That was my uh.Track 2:[49:31] Yeah justin you mentioned man machine poem and i have a note right here that says remind the vocals remind me of insarnia from that album and musically i was really drawn to this song it reminds me so much of a band called future islands and specifically there's a song called fall from grace on the singles album which was the album that broke them and i heard that.Track 3:[49:56] Song today on the drive home.Track 2:[49:57] Really yeah.Track 3:[49:58] It's funny it.Track 2:[49:59] Is so similar yeah and i love i love that's my one of my very favorite songs by future islands so this one really stuck with me just the the drum beat the repetitive notes in the piano if it was future islands it would be more of a synth sound but it's a very similar idea just this repetitive groove that just goes for the entire song the nice echoing at the end the vocals that you mentioned and the way the beat drops out there's like a single hand clap to end the song it's one of my favorites i think on the album tremendous and sorry and last thing what wait what like what such a gourd thing to say what what wait what like just awkward and but not from him when he says it it's just when you when.Track 4:[50:49] You hear it for the first time it doesn't sound like he's saying that i had a completely different phrase.Track 2:[50:54] In my brain.Track 4:[50:55] You know when you hear something you're rocket man burning up his when you hear that that's what i heard was.Track 2:[51:01] Something completely.Track 4:[51:02] Different until i read it and i.Track 2:[51:03] Went excuse me while i kiss this guy wait.Track 4:[51:05] What what yeah exactly there's a bathroom on the right on the right.Track 2:[51:10] Do we.Track 3:[51:15] Have to pay rights fees for these now jay no.Track 1:[51:17] No we're fine we're fine we got big podcast lawyers yeah well we go upbeat again with the next song uh in a celebratory sort of way kirk what do you think is spoon.Track 4:[54:10] I'm just going to ask this question up front. In the band Spoon, we had had some discussions about them on our exchange, and I didn't look deep enough. Are they a Canadian band? They're not, no. No? But popular up there, obviously, and is that who he's referring to when you go down to the bottom?Track 1:[54:32] It definitely is that band. in terms of popularity middling you know they're not a superstar band by any stretch but they sell you know they sell they sell records similar to what they are in the u.s they're still sort of underground you know to a lot of people even though they've had at least three breakout albums great indie band yes but.Track 3:[54:52] They're only an indie band you know they're.Track 1:[54:53] Not mainstream yeah.Track 2:[54:56] Yeah relating to the story i just told actually it was driving me nuts i i knew i had a ticket to spoon but i have no memory of the concert and it was just driving me nuts i actually pulled up my concert tickets yesterday and went through them all until i finally finally figured out what it was was that i just mentioned future islands they were playing a show at stanley park in downtown vancouver the you know the park and um spoon was headlining future islands was opening so i went for future islands they sold out of beer like in the opening band they may and not Not that I was there for beer, but the timing worked out perfectly though, because I actually had a second concert ticket that same night to see War on Drugs in downtown Vancouver. So we had to like run down the street, catch a bus down to downtown Vancouver and made it to the Vogue to see War on Drugs. This is, I don't know, nine years ago, I think. And so I missed Spoon. So I didn't even get to see five songs.Track 4:[55:54] You missed Spoon. I was going to ask if you had both. No. Okay. You missed Spoon.Track 3:[55:58] I haven't seen them, but I love them. And in particular, the album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga that is referenced on here. You don't even have to know that it's Spoon to know Don't You Ever or The Underdog or Cherry Bomb from that album. I know that if you heard them, you would recognize them instantly. They're radio hits. But Spoon's a freaking great band. And I'm jealous of the five-year-old kid who's in this song, which has got to be his youngest son, right? I would imagine.Track 1:[56:27] Well, he talks about recording in Maui with Bob.Track 3:[56:29] In Maui with Bob, yeah.Track 1:[56:31] So that would be what? That would be 2011?Track 2:[56:34] I think so.Track 3:[56:35] That would be the luster part of it, wouldn't it?Track 1:[56:37] That's what I've, that's what I've thought.Track 2:[56:38] I assume it's talking about either We Are The Same or World Container because he talks about we. He says we as in the band, like we were recording with Bob. Job so yeah and Maui is a place that um you know it's it's it's the destination for people in in Vancouver for vacation it's you know five hours away and so I've been there multiple times and so when he when I first heard the song and he starts dropping you know Haleakala the volcano Baby Beach is a place where when my son was just just a baby we took him to Baby Beach which is a a place where there's a like a natural barrier i believe it's natural there's no waves so you can actually take your toddler into the water they can just kind of play around in six inches of water and it goes out for for many meters and and i have these distinct memories and a great set of photos of my son on that beach talks about anthony's which is a little restaurant up in the in paella I believe, which is on the, if you're taking the road to Hana, very famous drive around the east side of the island, which I recommend to anyone who goes there. Brought back all these memories of my trips out there. And he even talks about his, I think his leg was broken or something. And one of my early trips to Maui, I was there on crutches. I had a hockey injury.Track 2:[58:03] So I had to cancel a bunch of my plans for that trip. And my son was very young. I think it was seven, eight months. And I remember the first day just taking the stroller for a walk and I'd go, you know, to the cinnamon roll place. And then I'd go back to the condo. And then the next day I'd go a bit further by the end. Within a week, I was walking for hours every morning. Like, you know, with the time change, I was up at 5.30 a.m. And taking him for just the longest walk. And just such a great memory. And I was fully healed by the end of that trip. That's great.Track 3:[58:35] There is the opening lines I just wanted to mention. You're transcendent. You taught me so many things. You taught me that help is all we to this dumb planet bring. What a nice compliment to give somebody.Track 2:[58:45] Right? And don't read the Apple Music translation because it says hell instead of help.Track 3:[58:51] That would change the song.Track 2:[58:52] You know, I've noticed on some of my listens.Track 4:[58:56] I'll look up a lyric because you can look on Spotify or whatever. And what you're hearing or what he's saying does not correlate with what the lyrics are so i noticed that on a few tunes i didn't write the specific ones down but uh that's interesting that you know it it translates it however it wants so i'm like he didn't just say what.Track 3:[59:17] It's for what it's worth i've had good luck on the website genius um when i when i can't find yeah and there's usually some notes some reference notes but they'll also capitalize words like like the album, the liner notes would have, as opposed to if you're listening to Spotify or YouTube or something that just doesn't take, you know, have that nuance. Right. Um, and I can add a lot of meaning.Track 2:[59:43] Yeah, and Kirk, you asked about Spoon being Canadian. While they're not, the band Deer Hunter, who Gord mentions in the song as the opener, they are from out east, I believe, Montreal maybe?Track 1:[59:55] Do you know, JD? I think it's in Quebec. Yeah, I think so.Track 3:[59:59] I think they are.Track 2:[1:00:00] I feel like I've seen them.Track 4:[1:00:01] Are they still active? Because I feel like I've just seen them recently, like opening up for Barenaked Ladies, which would make sense if they're Canadian.Track 3:[1:00:08] They have, they have a little bit of a following around where I live. Um, I haven't, I haven't seen them and I don't know much about them, but I know that the local station out of Albany, New York mentions deer hunter often. So yeah, there's still, I think there's still around.Track 4:[1:00:23] And I feel like I just saw them with bare naked ladies and, uh, what's the band that does closing time? Semi Sonic.Track 1:[1:00:30] Yeah.Track 4:[1:00:31] They were on the same, same bell.Track 1:[1:00:33] I went on a scavenger hunt in setlist.fm trying to find a show in Toronto that Deer Hunter opened for Spoon, and I couldn't track it down. That would definitely help us with the date in terms of figuring it out. I'm pretty sure they even say the venue in the song, don't they? In the lyric?Track 4:[1:00:58] Deer Hunter opened the show. The headliner was introduced. We did our best. We'd have to go soon. We got a t-shirt and we cut five tunes. Just enough to say that the first show for us, too, was Spoon. So anything else on Spoon?Track 3:[1:01:15] I listened to Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga several times because of this song. Yeah.Track 1:[1:01:24] Next up, Craig, is A Natural.Track 2:[1:01:29] Yeah, this song is the... Okay, so I'm in Seattle. This is... What year was this album? 2017? And this would have been, I'm guessing, a couple of weeks after gourd passed and i was in a 10 days i was in a clothing store or something i think a vintage clothing store in seattle and my wife was shopping and i was just sort of hanging out and i heard this song i was it was kind of like lightly in the background i couldn't i wasn't paying attention to who it was but they always play great music in seattle on in these types of stories i find and then the chorus came on and that powerful voice of his with all that reverb and it hit me like like a ton of bricks like i was like yeah it was like gourd from beyond the grave um and i was just i was in the u.s i was i was just it was amazing and i remember thinking like what is this is this like a hip song that i somehow don't know is this a you know some other artist where he just sings the chorus and i you know tracked it down when i got home and realized it was on the album that i had unopened um and so this was one song that i did listen to over the years, yeah what'd you guys think of this one.Track 4:[1:02:54] Just this was one of those that was the kind of the synth pop you know feel behind it which i loved again because again correlating back to the ages is like, gord probably had an affinity for the 80s and certain aspects of it in certain songs and whether you like it or not you're still influenced by it because you get that kind of that's again the the keyboard the synth sent the type music there but yeah again as craig mentioned the um powerfulness in the voice during the chorus is it creates goosebumps it just fills you up and and again makes you thankful that you have a variety of different you know opportunities to listen to the voice you know whether it's a solo stuff for the hip and so you were you just you were thankful for it and just the imagery in this song you know just sitting there and it's soaking and wet you know bathing suit with a bb gun and just kind of iron you know you you've experienced that or you've seen it and so you just felt connected to the song right away but it was so intense and then just the song the course itself is just a praise you are a natural if you say that about someone they're just you know they're beyond special so very much a song that made an impression, especially with his vocal abilities, as we've all mentioned and commented on how phenomenal it is and how varied, which I think Craig mentioned as well, or Justin as well.Track 3:[1:04:23] I wondered if this was about his sister or one of his daughters. I don't know why, but just the scene, the way that it's set, it seems like he's singing about a female.Track 4:[1:04:35] I would not disagree with that.Track 3:[1:04:36] Yeah, I don't know. Yeah. Well, and I was thinking that as they were kids, he's telling this story from his own childhood. Yeah. Don't know.Track 2:[1:04:47] That was my first thought too, but yeah, it could be. I feel like it is probably a child with one of his children.Track 3:[1:04:53] It also sounds a lot like a couple of songs in Secret Path.Track 2:[1:04:57] Yeah. The way he sings at the end though, I am the lucky one. That made me think I think maybe it was him as a father saying that line. And also to add to the 80s vibe, the bass, it really takes a lead in this song, very much like a Peter Hook style New Order.Track 4:[1:05:17] Yeah, great observation, Greg. I don't disagree with that at all.Track 1:[1:05:22] Well, let's wrap things up for this week with faith, faith. And we'll start with you, Mr. St. Louis.Track 3:[1:05:31] This one got me. Jesus, about the dog. I mean, I assume it's a dog. What else would be getting scratched under the chin? But, oh, my gosh, my puppy is just, well, the puppy is two years old. But, you know, I mean, what's nicer than the love that you get from your dog? and um very.Track 1:[1:05:54] Little in this world.Track 3:[1:05:55] Faith yeah but i mean just this song too is crushing take this take the dog out of it this is this is a masterpiece of a song and you can get emotional without lyrics with a song it's pretty damn amazing um so a couple of a couple of weeks ago, my mentor ken squire and you can google him he he's the one that got nascar on tv he's he's from around the way here and i worked for him for 20 years and he kind of took me up under his wing as the annoying kid who wouldn't stop asking for a job you know he's he's a legendary figure in the world of motorsport around the world so he he passed back in november and a few weeks ago they had his memorial service at his racetrack here in Vermont. And the most poignant part of the whole thing was they read a poem called The Sweetness of Dogs. This song brought me back to that moment where I welled up at his service and how the person and the dog are sitting under the moonlight. The person looks up at the moon and thinks, what could be more beautiful? And And the dog looks up to the person and thinks the same thing. And I'm just like, whoa. And the song just drains me. Yeah. Yeah. Ferguson, Ferguson's going to get this song the rest of his life.Track 4:[1:07:22] Yeah. It's, uh, it's, it's overwhelming. The, the passion that you feel when he screams the faith, faith, your faith, your faith, your faith. I think it's the Y-E-R, touching the nose every morning, one, two, three times, dark unwavering eyes. And if you have an animal, you know, especially if you have a dog for me, you know, I have my, my little guy, Andy, and we take our walks every day. And I do a lot of my gourd listening when I'm on a walk with my dog, you know, and it's, The dog has an attitude, and it's a great personality. And yeah, there's a love there that I think he captures, obviously, amazingly in the lyrics there.Track 2:[1:08:15] Yeah, I just have a note about the piano playing. So Kevin Drew on the piano, as we learned on the Secret Path album, he plays with a lot of feeling. And he's definitely got like a style to his playing. And I love how at the end he goes up the octave. And it's just, there's a lot of emotion in his playing, which really matches the lyrics. Now, unlike you guys, I'm not a pet person. I'm allergic to dogs. So it's not really my fault. Um so i've never had a dog i did have a cat growing up and i i do have a really great story but i'm gonna i'm gonna save it for when we have more time it feels.Track 4:[1:08:54] Like loving emmett otter craig that's what it feels like.Track 2:[1:08:57] Okay that's what it feels.Track 1:[1:08:59] Like well fellas uh it's been an absolute, pleasure to listen to your thoughts on the first half sort of i know it's not divisible the way the records are, but that's what we're going to cover this week. Let's bid adieu to our listeners and encourage you out there to shoot us an email, discoverydowney at gmail.com if you're enjoying what you're here. We'd love for you to join our community on Facebook, and of course we want to see you on July 19th at the Rec Room here in toronto tickets are available now at discovering downy.com.Track 4:[1:09:47] That's going to be a fun night i.Track 1:[1:09:51] Think so right.Track 4:[1:09:52] Really fun and do.Track 2:[1:09:55] People know like we've never actually met no i don't i guess i guess they.Track 1:[1:09:59] Wouldn't know that yeah.Track 2:[1:10:00] I mean i've i've met jd and kirk i guess in person very briefly yes uh kirk um a couple times and justin yeah yeah not not yet i haven't met you yet but But yeah.Track 4:[1:10:09] It'll be the first time for all four of us. Yeah.Track 1:[1:10:12] But we're all going to see each other on the night.Track 2:[1:10:15] It's going to be awesome.Track 3:[1:10:16] Yeah. Actually, we're going to see each other on the 18th too, aren't we?Track 2:[1:10:20] Road trip.Track 3:[1:10:21] Yeah.Track 1:[1:10:21] Yeah. Yeah. If you're out there and you're.Track 4:[1:10:24] We got to go to the.Track 1:[1:10:25] If you're out there, we got to see the dance tonight and you feel like meeting up with four dudes and you want to give us a tragically hip tour. That's a perfect opportunity. You guys are discovering Downey at gmail.com email. We would love that we would love nothing more than that so we'll have a film crew with us we can shoot some cool stuff and it'll be a lot of fun, pick up your shit.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/gettinghiptothehip/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Introduce Yerself pt. 2

ceo failure reflecting path to success secret path

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 2, 2024 78:30

This week the gang gets together to discuss the rest of Inroduce Yerself. Transcript: Track 1:[0:00] Hey, it's Justin. You know and love us on the Discovering Downey podcast, right? So come hang out with us in person for the finale. Join us for Long Slice Brewing presents a celebration of Gord Downey at The Rec Room in downtown Toronto on Friday, July 19th. Craig is coming from Vancouver, Kirk is coming from LA, I'm driving from Vermont, and JD's like walking down the street or wherever he lives in Toronto. Tickets are available now on our website at discovererndowney.com, and when you get your tickets, that means you can come Come hang out with us and our very special guest, Patrick Downey, and you can bid on some incredibly cool silent auction items, all while jamming along with tragically hip cover band The Almost Hip, and most importantly, helping us raise money for the Gord Downey Fund for Brain Cancer Research. Crack open a long slice, put on some Gord tunes, take a journey with us on discovering Downey, and then crack open another long slice on July 19th and hang out with us in the six. I always wanted to sound cool and say that. For more information, follow us on all the socials and visit DiscoveringDowny.com. Christmas Day for Edgar. My dad always used to say just after the presents, well, it's as far away now as it will ever be. I'm thinking about that as the stewardess cracks the public address system. For those sitting in economy, there's no music for you today.Track 1:[1:21] Welcome, music lovers. Long Slice Brewery presents. Discovering Downey.Track 2:[1:31] Hey, it's JD here and welcome to Discovering Downey, an 11-part project with a focus on the music and poetry of Mr. Gord Downey. The late frontman of the Tragically Hip gave to the world an extensive solo discography on top of the hip's vocal local acrobats that wowed us for years. So far, he's released eight records in total, three of them posthumously. Now listen, you might be the biggest fan of the hip out there, but have you really listened to these solo records? Because I'm an inquisitive podcaster, I enlisted my friends, Craig, Justin, and Kirk, giant fans of the hip in their own right, to discover Downey with me, JD, as their host. Every week, we're going to get together and listen to one of Gord's records, working in chronological order. We discuss and dissect the album, the production, the lyrics, and we break it down song by song. This week we're going to be talking about the back half well plus two songs from the front half of introduce yourself justin my friend how are you doing on this gray fucking oh is it gray there toronto oh oh it's terrible all day maybe because i was wearing sunglasses wait a minute.Track 4:[2:55] It is it was the opposite of that here in in beautiful vermont today it's it was a beautiful day i I think it's going to be great for the rest of the week, though. So whatever you're getting today, we'll get tomorrow.Track 1:[3:05] Oh, that's weather with Justin. We'll be back with Craig and Traffic. Remember, news on the fives.Track 2:[3:12] Where in the world is Kirk from Fuckachino? How's it going, man?Track 5:[3:22] I am in Washington, D.C. Right now for work in a hotel room. so having some technical difficulties so my apologies but things are good and uh excited to continue the conversation greg.Track 2:[3:41] What say you things.Track 3:[3:44] Are going well a little uh a little tired after a night out uh watching the sadies last night so they played a small venue downtown and got to see the boys rock out and um yeah it was it was a pretty awesome show a big banner of Dallas in the background and yeah, some touching moments, but mostly they, they just rocked.Track 2:[4:03] I haven't been to a live show in a little while now.Track 4:[4:06] Super cool.Track 2:[4:12] All right, fellas, before we get into the music, I want to talk to you about an email that I got from an organization called Lake Fever Wilderness Company. Basically, the gist of this email is that the Lake Fever Wilderness Company has submitted all the paperwork required to City Hall to get At Riverdale Park East, here in Toronto, mere footsteps from my home, renamed Gord Downie Park. I saw an article on BlogTO, and then they also gave us a couple other links to stories. But I'm hoping that our little podcast here, that people who listen to it will hear this, and you know we can build some awareness around this somehow anything you want to say about this or comment about this are you jealous and ate in your town yes.Track 4:[5:17] That sounds like a great cause and um for what it's worth i love the song lake fever so.Track 2:[5:25] Right Right?Track 4:[5:26] Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that's a, that's whatever we can do to help, man. That sounds great.Track 5:[5:31] Sounds very cool.Track 3:[5:32] I'm jealous. We, who do we get? Brian Adams Avenue.Track 2:[5:39] Probably already have it. Don't you?Track 3:[5:41] I don't know. I don't know. Maybe in England.Track 2:[5:45] Really? There's not a. Right mind-blowing to me one of the top songs of all time in terms of played, everything i do i do for you right, yeah but this is not a brian adams podcast this is a podcast called discovering downy and let's pick it up where we left off last time that puts us on side two of the first record With the very candid, my first self.Track 5:[6:47] I mean, just explains it like I remember it. And yeah. could feel all of those crazy, stupid emotions and, uh, could just totally wrap my head around and embrace, you know, the message that he was writing, you know, a piano forward tune again. You know, I think we talked about that the last one, uh, I love the vocal and the background that starts coming in uh you know echoing essentially the line um and then the last line is just classic so yeah uh it's a it's a brilliant tune in my assessment.Track 3:[7:28] Yeah, what I liked about it is that it really instantly just takes you to a place in your own life, whether the story is one you connect with or not, it takes you back to, you know, when you were in your teens or whatever. And that's what I appreciated about this song. Another thing before the echoing vocal you're talking about there's i just noticed today for the first time very very faintly in the opposite channel is something that sounds like a, a meowing cat i think it's a person but it's almost this little it's so subtle it's almost like one of those hearing tests you get where there's a little beep and you're like did i hear that but i listened a second time and there's something that comes in about 30 seconds before for the more noticeable vocal on the other side so i.Track 4:[8:19] Did not on that view yeah i listened to it today too actually and.Track 3:[8:24] Um i.Track 4:[8:26] Mean this this girl sounds cool as hell you know like he says in the song six years older so it's definitely you know she's his girlfriend but he may not be her boyfriend from what i'm picking up on you know like and and i certainly related to the you.Track 3:[8:41] Told me off and could she be responsible for uh hooking gourd on reading because he wanted to be like her.Track 4:[8:50] Oh yeah yeah yeah yeah interesting thought yeah yeah yeah i don't know again like i did feel a little awkward listening to this song let's.Track 2:[9:02] Move to the next track on the record you're ashore.Track 3:[9:05] Well this is probably the song i have the least to say about it's maybe the least memorable for me I think probably it's the type of song that if it's about you it's probably a maybe a bit of an inside joke or I'm not really sure what the you know what it's about who it's about, I appreciated the gentleness in his voice. I was glad that it was the length that it was because it was not my favorite. What did you guys think?Track 5:[9:38] I loved it me too i uh i i uh i mean it's the shortest song on the album it's a minute 30 you know the lyrics are simple it's you know essentially you're sure you're sure repeated and a few little straight lines but the brilliant in the very beginning is you know he's strumming and then it's the let flow it down i believe is what he says and uh yeah it's um Um, I think especially amongst this body of work amongst this album, like, you know, there's a lot of, there's a lot of piano, there's a lot of synths, there's even some beats and things of that nature. And it was kind of nice to just get a little short acoustic ditty in my opinion. But, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm a sucker for that. That's, uh, just like, just like back in the eighties, right? Every metal band had its little ballad. so uh i i love the ballads so.Track 4:[10:38] Yeah i don't know who it's about but it's an earworm i find myself humming the tune uh quite often and there's only a few words in the song so it's not like, you know like you said craig the lyrics aren't nothing about it is really memorable but it is it does get into your brain and it's an easy little like you could just walk through the the park and just sing that all day. But yeah, I mean, it's a minute 30 and that's about right.Track 2:[11:07] Yeah, that's about right. It's interesting you say that you couldn't determine who that's about, because I, so far, have really sucked at that game, listening to the first record. So, as we go into the second record, Gord lobs a softball at me, and even I know that this next track, Love Over Money, is about the fucking Tragically Hip.Track 4:[11:37] Damn right it is.Track 2:[11:39] Yeah who wants to go first here kirk.Track 5:[11:42] Yeah i'll go first um yeah i i you know uh i would say jd i've had a similar you know a similar experience in in trying i have little parentheses in my notes of who i think the note might be or the song might be too and i you know i can't even get specifics i just write like brother you know question mark things of that nature so this one was obvious what i loved about it as well and and i think i might have mentioned it on on the last of the first the first album it's such a pop it's like a synth pop tune is what i have and this is gonna sound weird but for whatever reason when i hear the song i think of that snl skit where you've You've got like Jimmy Fallon and they're all playing like they're doing that little, you know, they do the little dance.Track 2:[12:36] Oh, right, right, right.Track 5:[12:37] You know, when I heard this song, I, by the second time, I just, I couldn't get that shit out of my brain. So, but just beautiful lyrics talking about the band. So direct and so loving and so to the point. To me, an absolute, brilliant Gord Downie song. I mean, you know, just wonderful, wonderful song.Track 3:[13:06] The moment he said the line, we played to no one, and then no one plus one, I knew it was about the hip. Because I remember in 1996, a band I played in, we went across Canada two times that year, self-booked tours. And we ended up in Thunder Bay on one of the tours.Track 3:[13:24] And we played in a tiny club called crocs and rolls which is sort of like a legendary club in in thunder bay a guy named frank lefredo was the booker there who was kind of like a legend, in uh in music across canada and anyway frank um the first night we we played and we didn't draw much of a crowd and he said you know don't worry guys the you know first time the tragedy hit played here they played to to no one and then they played a second night and they got a couple more and the next night and you know they played i think three nights in a row on an early tour, and so that made us feel a little better and he and he um he felt bad about the the draw so when we came back um he found us a gig at another venue um for the for the drive back so that's the the memory that that comes up for me um and also the other thing the queen's jubilee uh so the reference to the um to the playing to the the deafening the husband of the queen um that would be that that show which i looked up and uh and yeah they played poets and interesting enough in that version of poets he changes the lyrics he censors himself a little bit i noticed so for the queen he he He changed bare-breasted to bare-chested, and there was one other change I can't recall.Track 4:[14:44] Yeah, it was a great performance. I remember seeing that. I wish that I had looked it up just to bring the memory of it back, but that line stuck out to me. I remember seeing that performance.Track 3:[14:57] And he used the laminar flow line as well in that version of Poets.Track 4:[15:01] Oh, that I didn't remember.Track 2:[15:04] Wow.Track 3:[15:05] Which ended up in Coke Machine Glow on Every Irrelevance.Track 4:[15:11] Yeah. Obviously, the bond between those five guys is unbreakable, and this song is funny, too. I laughed at this song the first time that I heard it and heard the lyrics. We missed death and marriage and a birth. I did notice the words hotel worth, which is kind of a preview to an upcoming thing. There's a song that actually got a lot of airplay here locally a few years ago. But yeah, yep, it did. Yep, it was on the radio two or three times a day for a couple months here.Track 3:[15:47] The love over money line um made me also think about the way that they split their royalties and i'm not sure if if it was like a 20 all the way around that would be my guess but but often the the lyricist will take 50 and then the people who wrote the music take the other 50 so you know maybe it's not that simple but the fact that all five of them were as far as i know listed on all all the all the credits sort of um you know over their career that's something that drives so many bands apart is that fight over you know well i wrote this i wrote this and like even in the band i spoke about a while ago like we had some really crazy discussions around royalties and who should get what and you know in my mind i've always been a equal share guy i don't care if you're the drummer if you're you know you wrote your part that's just you know then again i've not not like i'm making a ton of a ton of money in music or anything but but um it was nice to to see them stick together so long and the same five guys like what other band can you think of that released that many albums with the same lineup it's got to be a very very.Track 2:[17:02] Very short list.Track 3:[17:03] Like there may be some three pieces i mean but a five piece band think of all the potential for conflict and for you know one guy leaving it like no one there's some sleuthing.Track 2:[17:17] Some sonic sleuthing for you listeners out there send us an email at discovering downy at gmail.com with bands that have a lineup up that was consistent with at least 15 records released? Are there any? Is there a database that you could just plug that into and get it from?Track 3:[17:40] No idea. I mean, Aerosmith would be close, but they had that lineup change in the mid-career.Track 2:[17:49] Right.Track 3:[17:51] For one album anyways.Track 2:[17:53] Joe Perry left, right? Joe Perry and Brad Whitford.Track 3:[17:55] Yeah.Track 2:[17:57] Yeah, yeah. Okay, so the next track is You, Me, and the Bees. Do I go two for two here when I say this is an ode to the Boston Bruins? Yeah. And its ability to connect with your family, particularly in this case to Gord's brother, Patrick.Track 3:[21:03] That sounds about right to me.Track 2:[21:04] Take us away.Track 3:[21:06] Took me right to my childhood as well. And a good friend of mine, so my friend Blair and I, we played a game called hall hockey. Hockey's in my parents basement with you know those fisher price um bowling sets we take take one of the pins and a ball and we would just hit the ball back and forth and if you hit the wall you score and we had this ongoing game every time he came over and we would you know do the play by play and we were both oilers fans so you weren't allowed to be the oilers you had to choose another team and i'll never forget the quebec nordique if you were the nordique and you you know you'd be Stastny and then you pass over to to you know Michelle Goulet and as soon as Michelle Goulet, got the puck you know you're getting a shot in the balls every single time I don't know what it was but and um yeah and then Blair became a little bigger than me and started winning every single game and then we yeah we aged out of that game but anyways that's where it took me yeah what What about you guys?Track 4:[22:06] Oh man, this was me and my old man playing pond hockey. Yeah, I loved the song and I loved I could tell right away that the percussion was a hockey stick scraping on the ground. I loved it. And you know, again, I laughed in this song several times and the line about the trading of George Thornton and you know, it's, I don't know, like Like, I'm so excited to get to meet Patrick Downey because it sounds like these guys just had fun the whole time. This song is that relationship. And, you know, and as a Habs fan, I freaking hate the Bruins, but I get it. You know, I totally get it. And, yeah, this is just a really cool song about your brother. You know, it's fun.Track 5:[22:57] Yeah, I loved the song. And I loved, I could tell right away that the percussion was a hockey stick scraping on the ground. I loved it. You know, again, I laughed in this song several times and the line about the trading of George Thornton. And, you know, it's, I don't know, like, I'm so excited to get to meet Patrick Downey because it sounds like these guys just had fun the whole time, you know, and the song is that.Track 4:[23:30] I, um, I really liked how Gord's voice was very staccato and this, um, he was really kind of a minimalist with, you know, he didn't drag any of the, any of the, the lines out the Bruins. You know, like just very on the beat and kind of not screwing around. Or maybe this is screwing around for him, I guess. But, you know, he turned the word Bruins into Bruins, just one syllable. And I don't know, it felt like a different approach lyrically or sonically, I guess.Track 3:[24:02] Yeah, that phrasing really matched the style of the song too. That sort of, like the percussion that Kirk was talking about. It just, yeah, had that staccato feel.Track 5:[24:11] The phrasing, thanks for bringing that up, Craig. I had just recently watched the Juno Award tribute, Dallas Green and Sarah Harmer and Kevin Hearn, I believe it was, and I believe it was the Junos. And gore you guys both talked mentioned like the way he phrases like the way he takes his lyrics and will you know enunciate them to fit into the line it is like no one else right and then when you watch this tribute and you see her singing introduce yourself and trying to you know keep the cadence that that that gourd has i guess that's a good way to describe it there's a uh, a unique cadence to it so i i was blown away by that if you guys haven't seen it you you must watch it and then when they go into bob cajun and the harmonies are just incredible but like goosebumps you know it's so incredible and then especially when she comes in with that harmony But to hear her do the phrasing was wonderful as well, because that has to be difficult.Track 2:[25:25] Yeah, it's what we love about him, right? His ability to twist and turn and put round pegs into square holes or square pegs into round holes probably is more difficult, in fact. Snowflake has a haunting piano line that works well with Gord's almost pastime. What do you think of Snowflakes.Track 5:[25:46] Kirk? Yeah, Melancholy was my note. Again, the piano is used heavily throughout this whole album, but on this song in particular. My guess at who it is to is just a girlfriend is all I wrote. Um but uh the the other note that i wrote was the the woman leaned in to say goodbye but i don't remember his name and uh just the um where is gourd going with that you know i i uh i i wondered i wrote that down as a note so um but just again uh fully emotional song.Track 3:[26:34] Yeah i wondered if that was almost like a reference to maybe his fading memory yeah the oh yeah i was a bit puzzled by that too craig yeah it was a very eerie song and i really loved it i love the um the jangling sounds gave it like a really eerie feeling like you're in a i don't know like a haunted ballroom of some ancient house like i just picture this as a movie when I'm listening to it the the, vocal delivery makes me wonder if it was one of the later tracks that he he did and i really love the chorus and the the reverb they put on like just like in a natural there is a ton of reverb, like way too much reverb but it works really well it's so powerful when they do it on this album not something i would normally like um yeah his voice is is gorgeous in the song um a lot of feeling to the piano playing as well by by kevin um yeah and again i had a note about phrasing when he says my name and when he says goodbye it's kind of rushed and it made me wonder if it was just a lack of time just you know doing it in one take and not worrying too much about yeah about how it came off um but again that's what we love about you too yeah yeah.Track 5:[27:58] You i mean craig you sing when you play takes a lot of energy um so that's that's one thing that i wondered throughout this this album in particular when like if you just say you're looking at it on your phone and you're listening and you bring up the lyrics and you're you're you're questioning some of the enunciations i guess of some of the words but it's that's gourd and that's uh you know Him making it work for that particular song. And sometimes different than what the lyrics are written as. I don't know if that's just typo type stuff or if that's on purpose. this.Track 4:[28:37] So I actually, I don't know, my, my thought on this was that maybe this was, um, something that he was remembering from his childhood and maybe, um, with a, an older sibling or, a relative or somebody, you know, that he knew well. And, um, the thing that stood out to me.Track 4:[29:00] More was the, his recollection of the lake and, um, of the house and describing everything about the scene and that this woman is somebody, an acquaintance of whoever he's walking down the road with, and they're going to see her. Um, cause there's the line, she told me to go explore the quiet rooms. Uh, it like, so this is all right, kid, go check out the house. We got stuff to talk about you know um and i actually um somehow connected this to the you know affluent woman in the video for it's a good life if you don't weaken um my my head kind of went to that music video and i don't don't know why or where that happened but um it just felt to me like it that type of house and that type of, of meeting. And, you know, and then at the end of that video, Gord leans down and whisper something into her ear and, and then, then they walk out. I don't, I don't really know why that's where I went, but, um, it's sort of a mishmash of two different things. Yeah.Track 4:[30:13] So like there's the song that we'll get to called the lake. When I first heard that, I thought that was about the lake, But now I think this song might be about the lake. I don't know.Track 5:[30:23] Just the fact that when he writes his lyrics, like, yeah, he, it's inspired by something, but it may even have a different meaning than what it was inspired by for him. And I don't think he really intends for the listening audience to do anything other than interpret it for their own selves or application. So, um, you know, I, you just, I never got the feeling like he'd be offended by that.Track 2:[30:49] Yeah, I can't agree with you more. Again, that's one of these great things about this performer that we all love. We can get behind that. The next song is called A Better End, and it makes me sad. Lonesome for Gord, I suppose. How does it make you feel, Justin?Track 4:[31:17] Yeah, the same. I mean, it sounds a lot like the Man Machine Poem album. There's some melancholy in a lot of those songs. And this album came together in a different context, but it's musically a lot similar to or very similar to a lot of the songs on there. And there are connections with the lyrics, the line, for treasure or worse. That's in, is that in Man? or machine, one of the others. You know, where God walks with persons, even the may be doomed, that line crushes me every time I hear it.Track 2:[32:00] Repeat it?Track 4:[32:02] Where God walks with persons, even the may be doomed. And, you know, there's an end to that sentence, right? There's a finality in that one. And I don't know. I don't know who it's about. The song is called A Better End, but he says bitter. Um you know and that only at the very end of the song does it say the better end um so maybe there's some letting go you know i i i don't know yeah.Track 5:[32:37] I i uh i have a description written as dark melancholy but then my final note was a plea and that to me as i think you had mentioned, Craig, you know, maybe it was to a family member. And I kind of felt like it was to all family members and all of his like close friends, like, this is the letter, like, this is it. And so I just wrote a plea, question mark. And the beat, I think we talked about this before, you know it's it had the clock feeling to me throughout um and then like you had mentioned justin uh you know you you the title's a better end the the lyric that he uses is stay to the bitter end but it stayed in the bitter end and uh uh just uh, He's put out so much energy at this point, you know, because it is when they've recorded this, you know, it's 20, 2017. They've done the they've done the. The tours, he's done the secret path stuff like he knows what's coming, he knows the bitter end and he gave everything he could. And this is like his like, hey, somebody give me some energy for, you know, here for a better end.Track 3:[34:04] Yeah, I wondered if this was a close family member maybe saying to stay with me until the bitter end. Really, yeah, this was an emotional song, but it's also the type of song that's going to keep bringing me back to this album. I love this song. i found that again another powerful chorus with that big reverb sound and the way he belts out songs like this and snowflake and uh in the choruses is a real strength of this album nancy and yeah just a very powerful um i i had a note i would be interested to hear a heavy version of the song like a full band version um yeah but yeah haunting piano it gave me um secret path vibes it felt very much like musically could have been on secret path he.Track 4:[35:02] He hits a lot of different spots um um in his range too he sings very deeply and then he sings very high um there's There's a lot of, you know, he's probably in three octaves or maybe four during the song. Probably three.Track 2:[35:22] Yeah. So when I hear this song, I think of it, I think of an LP, like an old LP, like a 72, you know, RPM record. And I picture it being played on my grandparents' couch-sized hi-fi. It just sounds, it sounds old. It sounds authentic.Track 5:[35:50] Authentic it sounds like a needle you know the indie rock on the vinyl right it.Track 2:[35:56] Sounds like which sorry.Track 5:[35:57] It sounds like the needle on the vinyl it's just yeah it's you you and then you got that the dining you know the the dining room or whatever recording that's going on in the background and then and then it just sounds like they have the actual, you know the the needle and the vinyl that that that that static sound going it's it's brilliant it's a little soft guitar it's it's a sweet song it really is it's a sweet song yeah.Track 3:[36:28] And the way he sings it too it's almost like a bit of a like a shaky vocal like a bit of a warble to his voice which maybe it was actually maybe they added an effect to make to give it that vinyl quality to it. But I think maybe it's just his, I think it's just his performance. And when I say shaky, I mean, in a deliberate way, I talked last week about how I can't think of any singer who has as many qualities to his voice as Gord and he does it better than anyone. Yeah. Yeah.Track 2:[37:09] But then it did go away. You know, sort of, right? Yeah.Track 3:[37:17] When he wanted it to, yeah. He just gained so much control over his voice. He had power from early on, but then he developed different subtleties. And when he gets into an album like Secret Path, and he's singing sort of in character, he can just go into all these different places depending on the emotion of the song. And another note about Nancy is, first of all, I'm guessing it's about a sister. I didn't actually look up the names of his sisters, but that's just my guess. I liked how it talked about the beginning, the middle, and the end. And Gord forever being the storyteller. He's always thinking in terms of story. Just a little nugget I picked up. And the conversation at the beginning too when they're just starting to hit record he's talking about his cuff link.Track 4:[38:16] It's a good one.Track 2:[38:17] It is. It's really good. And I think on first listen, it would have been bottom third for me. And now it's firmly somewhere in the middle third. Like, it has a crack top third for me. But, you know, it's moved up for sure.Track 4:[38:36] Yeah.Track 3:[38:37] I feel like this album gets better as it goes on. I actually prefer the second half.Track 5:[38:42] That's fair.Track 3:[38:43] Um i think at first i really enjoyed the first half more maybe because i was really preparing for that first half um for our pod but i i love the the second half yeah i.Track 4:[38:57] Actually very much agree with that i think for me it starts to really get good at you're ashore and like i said it's it's a kind of a forgettable song but the the tone sort of changes isn't that wild yeah well.Track 2:[39:11] We are at the last song of the first side the remarkably upbeat think my about us.Track 5:[41:21] This is brilliant. This song is brilliant for me from the first listen to the critical listens in the middle to listening again just recently before this. And just the way it made me feel, the swagger it had, the message it had, um that just incredible descending piano line um it it was uh it it it's up there for me it's really really really up there i love love this tune i.Track 3:[42:03] Agree this is a masterful song really it's just it comes at a place on the album.Track 3:[42:11] Where you really need something that's a little, kind of cute is the word i'll use and you've got that little piano melody that almost just sounds like a finger exercise you would do if you're learning how to play piano and some really cool sounds on the synth or maybe it's a theremin but i'm pretty sure it's a synth, and i also had a note that the the drums enter in an interesting way the bass and drums come in and just maybe a spot you're not quite ready for and yeah just just like a playful song that i really enjoy just super catchy i i wish the world could hear this music like i wish more people, would give this a chance because it should be words were i mean maybe this is my thesis for the end of this whole thing but gourd's work should be appreciated like like josh even said like they're both up they're both equal they're both amazing yeah.Track 4:[43:09] I had the word super catchy exactly the same in my in my notes and i really don't have a lot of other notes about this song but i i can't stop listening to it i know that um it's a yeah it's a it's a and you're right craig it came at the right time um in the sequencing um it was needed in this spot.Track 3:[43:31] It's a little heavy before that.Track 2:[43:32] Right?Track 3:[43:33] Yeah, and it's going to get heavy again. Yep, that's right. Really heavy.Track 2:[43:37] I learned a really valuable... I gained access to some valuable experience today, when I was preparing for this recording, because it's the first time that I've flipped the record over, and had to tackle the final five songs that we ever get to hear from Gord Downie, or so we thought at the time. You know, like, we didn't know there was going to be posthumous releases.Track 5:[44:17] Right.Track 2:[44:19] We knew he wrote this right before he passed, So either way, you know, it's fucking heavy. Craig, when you think of The Road, do you think of that as heavy?Track 5:[44:35] Yes.Track 3:[44:36] Wow, The Road, this song destroys me. Again, there's a bit of a theme on the album in a few songs about The Road, about missing out on life events. Yes. On, you know, the sacrifice. Of you know being a touring musician um you know a dream that i had when i was young and it didn't work out and you know i'm you know thankful for the life i have um and you know i'm sure gourd was as well but man like it had to be there had to be some really tough times being out away from your family all the time and missing things and um anyways this song is so good and the um the thing i want to say about this is when the drums come in there's no hi-hat it's just sort of kick and snare and that space really sets the the mood for this song um you know along with you know the piano of course um and there's one line i want to point out the machines are somewhat suitable now um you know is that is that the hospital machines is it is it a reference to man machine poem um i'm not sure but but this song like.Track 3:[46:06] Depresses me almost as much as the the book the road which destroyed me when i was um a young parent uh you know or not you know i wasn't young but my my son was young and if you you know um cormac mccarthy's the road it is absolutely devastating it is the a book that took me well i've never gotten over it really and the movie as well i watched the movie and it took me about six months to watch the movie i had to watch it like a little bit at a time when i was in the right headspace and it just it is if you haven't read it's maybe don't but it's incredible um but this this yeah if you name something the road it's probably going to destroy me well.Track 4:[46:51] So I had a bit of an awakening about three years ago when in May of 2021, my wife had something that she had to do at work late at night or 8 o'clock, 9 o'clock, whatever. And she couldn't be home to make dinner. And it was like a Tuesday or something. I don't know. And she messaged me during the day and said, you need to be home and make Evelyn dinner tonight. night. Evelyn's our daughter. And at the time she was, uh, almost four and I got home and I realized, holy shit, I've never made dinner for my daughter before. Um, I was working 80 hours a week and I was missing everything. And my wife had an Instagram account for our daughter. And that was the only way that I was keeping up. I lived in the same house, but I wasn't in the same family. You know what I mean? And yeah, the song brings all that back and made a big life change that very night. I sent a long message to my boss and said, we got to talk tomorrow, but I'm going to get it all out right now. Cause if I didn't say it now, I'm not going to say it. And I told him I'm done at the end of the year. I've I'll stick with you for my commitment through this year, but but I'd put 10 years into my job and missed everything in that 10 years. And, um.Track 4:[48:16] Give Gord another three decades on top of that. Um, I don't know who the song's about and I guess it doesn't matter, but, um, but obviously it matters, but, um, yeah, I, I really identified with the missing everything and even going back to the song about, um, uh, what is it? Love over money, um, about the band, you know, we missed funerals and births and all this stuff. And yeah, that's me. I've been there, man. I've, I still, to some degree, I'm there a little bit, but, um, yeah, I missed my daughter's first four years of her life.Track 5:[48:54] Everyone knows in this group here, I'm on the road all the time. I'm talking to you from a hotel room in, in Washington, DC. And, um, and so, I mean, Justin, I think this is actually a letter to the road and a letter to everyone that he's been on the road with, including his wife, his part, you know, his, his kids, his bandmates. It's, it's that, you know, that's that life you choose, you know, whether it's a traveling musician, whether it's a a traveling salesman, whether it's a, you know, a producer. Um, and, and, and it's, uh, it's tough, but when you're not on the road, if you are a road person, it's your, your, you know, jittery, you're nervous, but how do you, how do you give to your family and to yourself and to your job and to your art? And, uh, he wouldn't have been able to do that without the road. So but you know it's a blessing and a curse um i we mentioned this about another song here and this one i wrote was also a song that could have been on secret path was the note for me.Track 4:[50:17] Yeah yeah but musically yeah again.Track 5:[50:19] We there's not enough hours in the day right lads to uh just talk about the amazing insight and that we have it here you know to listen to to watch to read to just just beautiful.Track 4:[50:36] Well there's there's that point where you know you're you're young and and full of energy and you've got these huge goals and then you start to achieve them and then at the same time you have this other life going on behind the scenes that has always played second fiddle to that and then you realize at some point you're too deep into the pursuit to stop now but that this other life that was didn't even exist when you started uh has now taken the spot you know is number one on your on your pecking order and how the hell do you make that change without destroying everything that you've created you know yep.Track 5:[51:14] Oh you are the bird.Track 2:[51:18] Yeah it's uh it's a slow and lovely song right what do you think about it kirk to.Track 5:[51:28] Me this this was uh uh, uh, just a letter. It seemed like a letter to a sibling, right? You, you became the bird you, uh, and then it just, it made sense. And, uh, um, um.Track 5:[51:44] I, it, it starts getting heavy after a while, right? When you, when we break, I mean, we talked about it with the last week when we talked about the first one and how emotional it was and, you know, here we are, you know, however many songs in and you just, you stop. And like you said, you know, JD, it was like, these are the last five tunes and it's, it's, it's almost hard to embrace, um, and think about without just getting, you know, overwhelmed. I, I think it is, I think largely because of the love we have for, uh, you know, what, what, what Gord Downie has done solo and with the hip and, and in jazz as a human. So, um, but, uh, yeah, just, uh, you know, Another note was, again, I think I mentioned it earlier, just lyrics that are written different than what is being sung. And I didn't know if that was on purpose. I think I mentioned that. And I didn't know if it was something Gord was trying to do on purpose. Or it's probably nothing. It's probably just what was written and what was sung.Track 5:[53:04] You know, he probably had it written down as such and just like we do when you have a script in front of you, your brain has already chosen what the next word is going to be. So, anyway.Track 4:[53:15] I noticed that this shared a lot of similarities with Spoon from the first half where he talks about help being the only reason why we're here. You help others and the child in the song Spoon is, I guess, tasked with the same thing. I don't know if task is the right word, but this is a common thread throughout the album. And this lyrically shares a lot with that song.Track 3:[53:48] Yeah. I agree, Justin. That was my real only, my only real note on this song was that, that, you know, it's the only reason we're here. And that seems to be like, yeah, like if I had to break down this album into one message, that would be, I mean, other than like a goodbye and, uh, you know, uh, a lot, you know, a love letter to his close ones. Um, that is like the, yeah, the summation of this album. I also thought probably about A Child, the song, and also there's the line about he was the bird, he passed it down, you want to help people out. So, you know, he's referencing not only the person he's talking to, but someone, maybe another family member, a grandfather or someone who's passed down that quality that, he respects.Track 4:[54:35] There's one of my mentors. I kind of think of him as a father figure. His name is John Adams and he was a very bottom level race car driver around these parts. And, he and my father were about the same age and they were friends. And I started hanging out with John when I was 13 or 14 years old, trying to learn how to work on race cars. And there was one night he went off, he got pushed off the racetrack and he's, you know, this massive six foot six, 300 pound guy. And he comes barreling out of the car and climbs up to the top of the racetrack and gives a, gives the driver that, that wronged him the double bird. So he became the bird man that night. Um, that was his, that was his nickname. And so everybody calls him bird. And, you know, I thought, wouldn't that be silly if he passed his nickname down to me somehow, how you know because he doesn't all of his all of his kids are girls and i'm kind of like his sort of son um i don't think that's going to happen but i i know the song isn't made to laugh, but i laughed thinking about that that's.Track 2:[55:42] A nice memory though yeah.Track 4:[55:44] He's still with us he's still with us flipping people off all the time, yeah i.Track 5:[55:51] Love that the lake.Track 2:[58:56] Yeah, this one's a fucking tearjerker to me. So proceed with caution on this one. Justin?Track 4:[59:04] Yeah. I kind of mentioned it before that I thought that this song was about Lake Ontario, which has been such a constant theme throughout Gord's entire career with the hip and with the solo stuff. And there's so many references to the lake. Um but this song is not about the lake this song is is about his daughter willow i mean that's right at the end of the song uh i realized today you are lake ontario the love of my life you are willow and then he does this fantastic call and answer thing with his own you know backup vocals um saying willow over and over again and it's like wow this one this one is something um it's a it's a beautiful song um it's just gorgeous um and yes he does describe the lake or a lake um but all these same qualities could be about your child and man it's uh it's a crusher very.Track 5:[1:00:09] Astute observation mr justin that's uh i i think spot on um and as you mentioned you know it's obviously and and to compare the two is is that there's no disservice in that he loves them both dearly so um i loved how the keys on this made it feel like you were on the lake like you listen to the.Track 4:[1:00:37] Song and you feel like.Track 5:[1:00:39] You're floating in you know in a boat a canoe whatever on the lake and you hear the lake in that song. Um, absolutely amazing. Absolutely amazing.Track 4:[1:00:55] You know, I, I grew up on the water. Um, Lake Champlain is, they call it the sixth great lake. Um, and that's, I can see it out the window. Um, and my family had a camp on a little lake, uh, Hall's lake. And my wife grew up on a lake in Ohio, Guilford lake. And we go there They're three, four, five times a year. We're headed there next week. And she also came to Vermont working at a summer camp for, I think, seven summers on Lake Fairley, which is a gorgeous resort area. And so on first hearing this song, The Lake, and probably the first 10 times I heard it, I was like, man, I can see it. And then I picked up on the willow thing after, you know, 11th on my 11th listen, I guess. And I was like, Oh no, it's just something completely different. But if it is just about the lake, Oof, that's just as devastating and lovely.Track 3:[1:01:57] Yeah, I also grew up near a lake. Our house in Peachland, which my parents still live in, overlooks Okanagan Lake, which is a very large lake. And yeah, it just brings back memories. And it is maybe my favorite spot on earth. Right across the lake from where we live is a small island. There's no roads. There's no power. There's no development on the other side of the lake. And it's just a place that we would boat to when I was a kid and try to get over there every summer. And it's just, you know, this song takes me there. And also, you know, with the mention of his daughter at the end and, you know, the, you're the love of my life and it, yeah, it's just a beautiful song.Track 2:[1:02:46] It's gorgeous. Kirk?Track 5:[1:02:49] Again, we've said it already. you know these last five songs are they're crushers it's like it it was really hard to listen to them in succession like i really needed to stop you know this these last two far far away and blurred i you know my my my space that i left for what is supposed to be my guess of who it is who the song is to the letters to, is blank. And it is blank because to me it could be anyone. Maybe it was obvious to one of you guys, but I really felt like it was almost like a letter to everyone.Track 5:[1:03:34] We smile. All that we've been through, up and down for sure, onwards and upwards, up close, far away, and blurred. Um, the tempo changes in this song are amazing. It goes into a, a swing almost during the chorus. Um, and, uh, I, I, again, just the instrumentation and the, the combination of what, you know, uh, you know, obviously not just, um, Gordon, Kevin, but, you know, the others that contributed as well. So just add, I think, to each one of these letters, as it were, you know, as they started out. What'd you think about Far Away and Blurred, Craig?Track 3:[1:04:25] I really love this song. Another strong song on the second half of this album. And I almost wondered if maybe it could be another touring song, or maybe he's talking about traveling with his family. Great melody. And I agree with what you said, Kirk, when it changes tempo halfway through the song, and the drums come in with that slow beat, and the echo the the vocals are echoing and i i found that part very powerful and it's like, again i just can't, get over the the brilliance of his work it is like so emotional um and there's this like guitar pattern going on that's really really cool in the background as well and yeah and justin you yeah.Track 4:[1:05:20] I i guess i'm echoing what you guys have said um it's just a if i mean it's a little bit upbeat um for a hot minute there and again comes at a at a place where you need it um Um, yeah, it's, it's lovely. It's how it's a guy who's frigging dying, um, and telling everybody how much he loves them and that he always has, whether, whether you're in view or not. Right. Um, yeah, the.Track 5:[1:05:53] Passion in his voice in the vocal, um, is just so palpable. And so it just, I mean, wrenching, but almost in a, just again, another reminder of just how amazing, how amazing every part and ounce of the art that comes out of this guy is just incredible, incredible.Track 3:[1:06:23] Yeah, JD, did you have anything to add for this one?Track 2:[1:06:26] I don't know if I could get anything out right now if I tried. it's.Track 3:[1:06:30] A tough one I.Track 2:[1:06:32] Think you know his voice in the verses I've got written down that it's playful and painful at the same time, and you know it builds the chorus is obviously as powerful a gourd voice as we've heard in almost any song on this record, We'll get more of that in later records that we'll discuss in future episodes, but yeah, it's a great song, but it's the second-to-last song, and the North is a really powerful way to end. A callback to Secret Path and The Bridge. But overall, it's an interesting tracking decision. It can't be a coincidence. Right, Justin?Track 4:[1:11:07] No, of course it's not. It's a reminder. It's like he spent a good portion of that final show in Kingston reminding everybody to pay attention and to keep paying attention. And that's exactly what this song is. is it's it's uh yeah i did secret path but keep going forward keep talking about it keep moving keep changing um keep trying to figure this out um you know i don't know if we i don't think we've said this on air but when we first started talking about this album there i i mentioned to you guys in our in our group chat that i thought this was some of the songs on this album were like a stream of consciousness and i think i know that there's the video of of them recording this song and i know that it's not a stream of consciousness but i think when he was writing this song, what he wrote down is whatever came to his head first and i'm going to find a song to to put it to and i got to get this message out i don't care if it's rhymes or makes sense musically or what This has to be said again and again and again and again. And good on him, you know. Yeah.Track 3:[1:12:22] Yeah. So he makes the reference to, um, you know, a place West of, of James Bay, which would be Ottawa, Piscat, which of course the hip have, have the song about. And, um, I, I, I'm wondering if this song is either about or to Joseph Boyden, the author who, at the same time secret path was released, released a book called when Jack, um, I didn't mention him on the secret path episode only because there is some controversy you can look it up if you're interested but calling his um his roots into you know question um you know people questioning that he may not be in fact indigenous so you know that's definitely something you can kind of look into yourself but um joseph boyden is famous for a book called three day road and And just an interesting little thing that I came across about a week ago was a story related to this. So this story, Three Day Road, is about from just, I haven't read the book, but I've read a different story about a sniper in World War I named Francis Paganagabo. And he was nicknamed Peggy. And he has more kills than any sniper in North America.Track 3:[1:13:44] And his story is relatively unknown. And it's a really fascinating story. And anyways, I was reading a short story about that last week and then made this discovery about the connection to Joseph Boyden. Anyways, I highly encourage you to check out a story called Peggy. There's actually a podcast too by CBC called This Place. which is 150 years of Canadian history told by indigenous voices. And the episode on Peggy is incredible.Track 5:[1:14:19] The line Canada, we should have never called Canada. Um, I thought was pretty bold as well to put out there as you guys all had been mentioning, you know, obviously when he had addressed the crowd, you know, at several of the shows and, and several of his interviews. So I think that's, uh, bold, but expected. So I, I, uh, I think we all appreciate that. He would, would, go out there to this level.Track 3:[1:14:51] Yeah there's definitely a call back to that that statement in the last show that he made to the prime minister and i always um really admired that and, i always wondered what it would be like if an american artist did the same thing, you know like a high profile of bruce springsteen or someone went out and said something like that just the absolute division that would that would ensue um yeah yeah oh.Track 5:[1:15:18] Yeah I was going to say the dick and chicks are a good example.Track 3:[1:15:22] Of it.Track 4:[1:15:22] Happening.Track 5:[1:15:23] So but yeah.Track 4:[1:15:27] Or the opposite of that lady antebellum who's then sued the person that they stole their name from well fellas.Track 2:[1:15:36] It's time to ask the question will you be keeping this record in your rotation.Track 4:[1:15:44] I'm going to say not all the time And it's got nothing to do with the music. It's the subject. It's the heaviness of it. It's I don't want to, I don't want to be down. Um, there are some songs on this, on this record that are frigging awesome. They're all, they're all very good, but you know, there's some songs that certainly fit into the hip like catalog.Track 2:[1:16:07] Sure. And you can add them to your mixtape, right?Track 4:[1:16:10] Exactly. And that's probably how I'll consume them. Um, but this is going to be something that I listened to once every couple of years, maybe.Track 5:[1:16:19] Yeah, it's a commitment. I was just going to say it's a commitment. So I would answer very similarly to what Justin said. Even for this particular purpose of this podcast, it was heavy listening every time, every time you went through it. And so definitely some tunes I want to keep hearing regularly, but it's not something that I would. All i have on regular rotation like like i would would some of the others that that have definitely been fantastic in my opinion i.Track 3:[1:16:58] Agree with you guys i i definitely will come back to this album, um considering i gave it you know it took me six and a half years just to give it a first listen i'm definitely not going to wait that long um but i think i'll just have to be in the right frame of mind to put it on but i absolutely will i really do love it in fact coming up with an mvp track for this is definitely the hardest decision i've had to make i was hoping we were going to do one last week and one this week but so i'm it's going to be a last uh last second decision i was.Track 4:[1:17:31] Hoping jd would forget the question this time.Track 2:[1:17:33] I've got it written down so i don't forget my My memory is so piss poor.Track 3:[1:17:39] Right in on your hand.Track 2:[1:17:40] I call it a format sheet, but for real, it's cheating. Craig, we're going to stick with you. And we're going to go to MVP track.Track 3:[1:17:48] I want to know what they say first. So to clarify, is this my absolute favorite track or is this the track that I want to put onto a mixtape?Track 2:[1:18:00] It can be, that can be your interpretation. It can, it's the most valuable player. It's the, you know.Track 3:[1:18:07] So I had so many I mean my first instinct was a natural but I think I'm going to have to go with Snowflake it's.Track 2:[1:18:17] So good it.Track 3:[1:18:18] Is such a powerful song to me and I love the chorus I love the way again that big reverb sound and it's just a really gorgeous song and takes me you know visually takes me somewhere.Track 2:[1:18:36] We could definitely overuse the word gorgeous on this record because there's so much gorgeosity on it, you know?Track 4:[1:18:45] Nice.Track 5:[1:18:46] There is that.Track 2:[1:18:48] Right?Track 5:[1:18:49] There is that.Track 2:[1:18:50] Kirk.Track 5:[1:18:51] Yeah. MVP? Thinking about us, man.Track 3:[1:18:54] Good call.Track 5:[1:18:55] That tune, just thinking about us. It's thinking about us. That's all I need to say.Track 2:[1:19:01] You didn't have to hesitate at all. Wow.Track 5:[1:19:04] No.Track 2:[1:19:06] Justin, how are you going to react to the question? Craig was very concerned and didn't want to say anything. Kirk was very resolute and just put a flag in her. And Justin, where are you on this one? I'm giving you some time to think, so it's not really fair.Track 4:[1:19:25] Well, I don't need time to think. I just don't have an answer. I've been thinking about this since the first listen because I knew that this was coming. Um i will i i do have an answer um but i'll tell you the pics that i had wolf's home because it makes me think of my dad bedtime because of just the connection with my daughter and when this song or when this record came out um i love introduce yourself for the reasons that we talked about it's it's a great song about your buddy and and you know get me out of another jam please you know There was some interview that Gord did that he told Billy Ray. He goes, something happened with a guitar. And he goes, I will literally blow you if you fix this. I love Spoon, that song Spoon, because I really like the band. But I also like the story of going to the show with a kid. um but i'm gonna go with love over money because that's why we're all here in the first place yeah right good job justin yeah thank.Track 2:[1:20:37] You what bow you put in it love.Track 4:[1:20:39] It yeah yeah.Track 2:[1:20:42] And that brings us to the end of Introduce Yourself. Just a, you know, what a, I'm going to use the word again, what a gorgeous piece of work. And so memorable and so thoughtful. And, you know, this is the last stuff he recorded. It's really, really quite heavy. And we're sorry if we brought you down a little bit with these last two episodes, um but trust us we're celebrating this music we're not mourning we are celebrating and.Track 3:[1:21:23] Jd i want to thank you one more time for bringing me on board for this project because this is the album that i told you right from the start has been sitting on my shelf and i needed i wanted to listen to it. It's been staring at me for years and I just couldn't do it. And I think maybe just having, you know, you guys along with the ride makes it, you know, easier to do.Track 2:[1:21:50] Thank you very much. Thank you for doing it.Track 4:[1:21:53] Yeah. I a hundred percent. Thank you. I, I didn't know about any other records, um, um that gourd had done um but i knew about this one and i was choosing to not listen to it you know i i wanted nothing to do with it um and i gotta be honest with you i'm glad it's over i'm glad it's behind us um i listened to this this album in its entirety probably 25 to 30 times um it's.Track 2:[1:22:22] A lot yeah.Track 4:[1:22:23] It's a lot and the last week or so um leading up to recording this i stopped listening completely um i had to stop it was just killing me and i started listening to um some of the older hip stuff and i started listening to some sadie stuff and i listened to conquering sun quite a bit um but i had to get away from the heaviness and go back to being a fan, because this was a hard one.Track 2:[1:22:57] Completely agree well on behalf of uh craig and justin and kirk it's me jd and we're saying goodbye for another week we'll be back we've just got a couple episodes left fellas we've got away is mine and we've got luster parfait and then we've got the finale and i'm getting excited about yeah.Track 4:[1:23:21] Hell yeah oh yeah yeah and you know it's gonna.Track 2:[1:23:26] Be a good time.Track 4:[1:23:27] I got it you know we got to give a shout out to our our social media following you guys are really starting to step up and kick ass lately and it's really re-energized all of us a lot um we're our group chat has been on fire the last several days as we record this because we're just like did you see this one did you see the message there did you see the email oh my god you know it's yeah we're obsessing over the rankings and it's it's great it's fun it's a lot of fun well.Track 5:[1:23:52] So it was so crazy too to get some like some you know some of the official accounts of these people that we were talking about are.Track 4:[1:24:01] Right are.Track 5:[1:24:02] Sharing some of the you know the links and stuff to some of these episodes and and uh we're getting just some great amazing comments you know through the right you guys mentioned social media you know instagram facebook and uh just i don't think any of us had that on our bingo cards when we woke up in the morning, you know?Track 2:[1:24:22] I didn't.Track 4:[1:24:27] Right. And the Sadies messaged you back today, Craig. That's cool.Track 2:[1:24:33] Holy shit.Track 4:[1:24:34] And JD's putting in the legwork tenfold over what we're doing.Track 2:[1:24:38] Stop.Track 4:[1:24:39] He's listening. He's throwing everything together and doing interviews and making all this happen. I mean, I don't know if any of us are getting rich off this.Track 2:[1:24:48] Oh, not fucking me.Track 4:[1:24:50] You know, JD is certainly reaping the benefits of, I think a lot of people are appreciating what you're doing and I know we are.Track 5:[1:24:57] Yeah, absolutely.Track 2:[1:24:59] It's a group effort, guys. It's a group effort, man. All right, folks. Pick up your shit.Track 1:[1:25:07] Thanks for listening to Discovering Downey. To find out more about the show and its host, visit DiscoveringDowney.com. You can email us at discoveringdowney at gmail.com. And hey, we're social. Check us out.

Why Failure is Your Secret Path to Success

Double Your Sales Now!

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 25, 2024 25:51

In this week's episode #292, I really dive deep into the transformative power of failure within the realm of entrepreneurship. Reflecting on my own journey spanning nearly two decades, I've come to understand that what many perceive as failure is often a crucial stepping stone to success. From failed launches to strategies that didn't yield results, I've learned that each setback holds invaluable lessons. This episode is particularly close to my heart as I explore why failure shouldn't be feared but embraced as a pathway to growth and innovation in business. I share insights on how to leverage setbacks as opportunities for course correction and breakthroughs. Also, I announce exciting developments at Ursula Inc., including the upcoming launch of a new program designed to help business owners significantly boost profits while reducing workload. If you're ready to shift your perspective on failure and harness it for your business's advancement, this episode is a must-listen.Episode Highlights:Introduction 00:00Embracing Failure as Information 5:05Turning Failure into Financial Breakthroughs 9:06Seeking Help and Support 23:03Resources Mentioned:The Belief Zone Masterclass:Join us at our next 2X IntensiveEmail me at Ursula@ursulainc.co if you would love to work with me.Follow Ursula: @7figure_CEO

Secret Path

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 25, 2024 84:14

Today the gang gets together to discuss the fifth album in Gord's discography, the haunting, Secret PathSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/fully-and-completely/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

gord secret path

Secret Path

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 25, 2024 84:14

Today the gang gets together to discuss the fifth album in Gord's discography, the haunting, Secret PathSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/gettinghiptothehip/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

gord secret path

Introduce Yerself Pt. 1

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 24, 2024 70:57

Buckle in because this is a personal album we're discussing on today's episode of Discovering Downie. A mere 10 days following Gord's death fans were gifted the posthumous diary, Introduce Yerself. Craig, Justin, and Kirk have little experience with this record. Things get raw!Thanks for clicking.Follow us on social media @gorddowniepodTranscript: Track 6:[0:00] One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10. Long Slice Brewery presents a live event celebration of Gord Downie July 19th at The Rec Room in Toronto. Join the hosts of the podcast Discovering Downie as they record their finale with special guest Patrick Downie. A silent auction with items from the hip and many others will take place along with live entertainment from the almost hip. All proceeds will benefit the Gord Downie Fund for brain cancer research. For more information and tickets, please visit discoveringdowney.com. How it all works. Welcome, music lovers. Long Slice Brewery presents Discovering Downey.Track 1:[1:15] Hey, it's JD here. Welcome to Discovering Downey, an 11-part project with a focus on the music and poetry of Mr. Gord Downey. The late frontman of the Tragically Hip gave to the world an extensive solo discography on top of the hip's vocal acrobatics that awed us for years. So far, he's released eight records in total, three of them posthumously. You might be the biggest fan of the hip out there, but have you heard these records? Because I'm an inquisitive podcaster, I enlisted my friends Craig, Justin, and Kirk, giant fans in their own right to discover downy with me jd as their host every week we get together and listen to one of gourd's records starting with coke machine glow and working from there in chronological order we discuss and dissect the album the production the lyrics and we break it down song by fucking song this week we're dealing with the challenging introduce Introduce yourself. Craig, how are you doing this week, my friend?Track 2:[2:20] I'm doing well.Track 1:[2:21] That's good to hear.Track 2:[2:22] Can't complain.Track 1:[2:23] Gigging?Track 2:[2:24] Yeah, I had a big show on the weekend and it was sold out and we had played about 30 tunes and it was a great time.Track 1:[2:32] Oh man, I wish I had a teleport device. Yeah. So I could go to your gigs. You too, Kirk. How are you doing, man?Track 4:[2:40] I'm doing well. Thank you. Yeah. Had a gig last week and got some travel coming up. So just been kind of finishing up on some graduation things with the kids. And, you know, like I said, some work stuff, obviously spending lots of time with this, this little project we got going on, but yeah, doing well.Track 1:[2:59] It's a lot. It's a lot, but it's been a lot of fun so far. And part of the fun is Mr. Justin St. Louis. How are you doing, sir?Track 3:[3:08] I'm good, dude. It's hardcore, hardcore here in this house right now, but things are good, man. Things are good.Track 1:[3:16] Well, that's great. Just off the top, I want to say that we're starting to get some items rolling in for the silent auction for the fundraising event that we're hosting in July. We've got the PWHL Toronto franchise has given us a really cool donation that we'll be sharing online in the days and weeks to come. We also got a donation from the Toronto Blue Jays, the Tragically Hip themselves have donated something. We've got a great restaurant, Mighty Bird, that is donating. And there's lots of other stuff as well, like lots of great artwork and shit. So get your tickets.Track 4:[3:56] Hey, we have some beers too, right?Track 1:[3:58] We do have some beers. Yeah, Podcast Pilsner. It's got our logo on the can.Track 3:[4:03] Let's go.Track 1:[4:04] That right? Yeah. And it should be a decent price. It's made by our title sponsor, Long Slice, of course. So go to discoveringdowney.com and click on fundraising tickets. Bob's your uncle. So there's that.Track 4:[4:17] Bob's your uncle. Love it. I love it. That's like six one way, half a dozen the other. I tell that to anyone that's under 40 and they look at me like, what are you talking about? Like, just figure it out. ticks one way, half a dozen the other. That's very confusing.Track 1:[4:35] Yeah. It is.Track 3:[4:39] Every time I hear Bob's your uncle, I think of 101 Dalmatians. When the bad guys break in and steal the pups from the nanny, he says, well, be out faster than you can say Bob's your uncle. And that was the first time I ever heard it. Anyway.Track 1:[4:54] I found out it's not an American phrase. It's a Canadian and UK phrase. So I told a bunch of people this and they were like, I've never heard of this in my life.Track 3:[5:03] What do you mean? No. Yeah. Right.Track 1:[5:06] All right, time to get a bit heavy here, because on October 17th, 2017, we said goodbye to the man who walks among the stars. This was truly one of the more emotional days in my nearly 50 years on this plane. Only losing family and close friends has ever cut as deeply as sending Gord off to the abyss. Less than two weeks later though on october 27th 2017, gourd released a posthumous effort called introduce yourself, where do you start with this one in my mind there are elements from each of the previous five albums on display here i hear secret path on coco chanel number five to name one off the top of my head the sparse production handled deftly by kevin drew gourd's partner in creating this double record. I have to imagine the production and limited instrumentation could have been a result of Gord's condition at the time of recording. However, as sick as he was, he persevered through two sessions in putting this album together.Track 1:[6:15] The liner notes indicate that Gord took on the bulk of the guitar work while handling vocals, some synth, and a bit of percussion to boot. Mr. Drew handled piano, bass, organs, keyboard, and percussion. This album does also feature some great guest performers, notably Dave Hamelin, with some work on the drums, as well as synth, and finally, on Nancy, he plays a frickin' B-3. David Billy Ray Koster offered some additional drum work and background vocals, while Patrick Downey contributed background vocals and percussion on Safe is Dead. Jillian Weiss also added vocals to that track. Lastly, engineer and bathhouse resident Niles Spencer has his fingerprints on several songs, playing keys, creating beats, samples, and a Morse code sound on the 19th track, The Road. From the get-go, this album has been scoured by fans to try and determine who each song is about. You see, this album has a premise. Each of the 23 songs is about someone from Gord's life. This is clearly the most personal record Gord, or the hip for that matter, has ever released. I'm going to leave you with one more date that is significant to me with regards to Introduce Yourself. May 30th, 2024.Track 1:[7:35] This was the day I peeled the cellophane off my copy of the vinyl and finally listened to the album in its entirety. Prior to that Thursday in May, I just didn't have the stamina or emotional wherewithal to make a dent in what I now know is a celebration of the music, the man, and the legend, Gord Downie. Justin, what are your initial thoughts on this one?Track 3:[8:00] I could not handle this album when it came out. I tried it and I had to abort after five songs maybe. And I'll tell you, and maybe I should save it for the song, but there was one, this all happened when, when my daughter was a newborn, there was, there's one song that just wrecks me and, uh, still does. Um, there's several that do, but one particular, and I just had to put it away until this, this project came around. So, you know, I sat on it for seven years. I had tried it and I wasn't ready.Track 1:[8:31] Me too, man. Me too. I'm either going to apologize for this project or be thanked for this project to find out what Justin's thoughts were on some of these songs. Kirk, I want to hear from you.Track 4:[8:44] Yeah. Well, for me, this came after us doing Secret Path, and that was such an emotional...Track 4:[8:56] Couple of weeks. I mean, it really was because we'd already become so close to Gord before we even started this project. Then when we started this project, you just became intimately familiar and then secret path happens and you're just, and I needed a break. I needed a break from, I'll say Gord Downie solo and I needed to fall in love with the hip again. I think I got that record store day hip album and i put that on and then i just went on a journey and just kind of fell in love with the hip again but i took a long break to prepare myself for this and there's no amount to break or anything that could really prepare you for it and every listen no matter what the device was whether it was on my record whether it was in the car whether it was out walking the dog. It was just obviously beautiful when you think about these letters and that he had the opportunity to do it, but also just so extremely heartbreaking at the same time, right? And then one final thing for me, my wife and I had also just recently watched the new documentary that came out on Jim Henson, right? And we're big Muppets fans. And of course they had a little bit on, you know, on Craig and I's favorite Emmett Otter.Track 4:[10:20] But yeah, it's just real quick, you know, but the point I wanted to make was.Track 4:[10:27] The Muppets, Sesame Street, everything that Jim Henson created, right? And he passed when he was 53. And Gord passed when he's 53. And I'm 53.Track 4:[10:39] And I'll be honest with you, gents, I have been on this. I'm 53. And these two gentlemen created this body of artwork that has been so incredibly moving for so many people for so many generations. And it just really stopped me in my tracks and went, wow, I'm 53. If I went right now, what would my story be and what impact would I have? And how thankful, even though it was, and I say this because I'm 53, that we lost those two gentlemen so young. Thank goodness we have this to go back and listen and watch and read and discuss and record podcasts. And I'm just so thankful. So sorry, a very long-winded answer, but I needed to share that with you because I think all of us are gonna have these emotional moments throughout this recording today. And just thinking about like, if I had a chance to write letters to everyone before I went, like, I don't know that I could do that. So um so that every listen has just been that thought wow can you imagine you had to write a letter to all the people that you know you cared for just.Track 1:[12:02] Take a moment brother we appreciate you man hell yeah best 53 year old on this podcast by by a country mile i.Track 4:[12:13] Will i will accept that sorry i'll accept that thank you as i cry thank you all right.Track 1:[12:22] Craig no i always i always start my questions with like for some reason i'm like mclaughlin of the mclaughlin group uh i don't know if you remember that sketch on snl but i feel like what justin you know and it's like this episode is a lot more stark and i don't want to be like scaring the shit out of you as i'm asking you a question but craig i want i'm curious about your experience now yeah.Track 2:[12:51] Well really quickly just before we um get into that uh kirk um not sure if you knew this this will probably just make things worse but um jim henson at his funeral they actually used a song from emmett otter as the um as the song that played during his um ceremony so yeah So you know how much it meant to him? Yeah.Track 3:[13:11] He also wrote his own goodbye letter and just stored it away.Track 2:[13:15] Oh, wow.Track 3:[13:15] In case of emergency, right? Yeah.Track 2:[13:19] It's crazy. Yeah. So, J.D., much like yourself –, I bought this album when it came out, and it remained unopened. And I actually remember watching a video that was like a promotional video that came out around the time the album was released. And it was a black and white. I put it on for about 30 seconds, and I just, I had to turn it off. And I actually just, for the first time since then, watched it last night. And it made sense why it hit me that hard it was the north the very last song which we'll get to at the very very end of i guess next week's podcast and that is a heavy tune and gourd was, not looking his best during the recording of that and it was just sort of like a rehearsal take they were showing it was just heartbreaking to watch and it was such a sad song i didn't know what it was about at the time, but I just knew I could not listen to this album. And yeah, so when this podcast opportunity came up, that was my first thought was like, I've had, I've been waiting to crack this open and I was looking for the opportunity to, you know, the right time. And that time is here. And to build off what Kirk was saying, like this, this album is a gift.Track 3:[14:46] Yeah.Track 2:[14:49] To his loved ones who were the subjects of the songs, to his bandmates, to his fans. And it's beautiful. The fact that he got this out there, like Kirk said so well, how many people get, number one, the opportunity to do something like this, and number two, can bring themselves to write those hard words.Track 1:[15:15] Absolutely. Yeah.Track 2:[15:16] Yeah.Track 6:[15:17] And, and when you consider the condition that he was in when he recorded these things, it's absolutely mind blowing for heaven's sake.Track 1:[15:26] This isn't somebody who was fully operational. And there's songs that are just so well thought out and gorgeous and, and so gored, you know?Track 3:[15:38] Well, and he wrote it in two stages too. And, you know, I would say that the second stage was probably in worse condition, right?Track 1:[15:47] You're likely right.Track 3:[15:49] He was gone six months after, you know, wild.Track 4:[15:55] One thing, because this is a blanket statement for all of it, is in any of the, you know, quick research that you do, like most of these songs were recorded in one to two takes. You know, for multiple reasons, one, they didn't have the time and neither did he or the energy. And so when you, you know, when you thought about when I went through and listened to every song and just went like, you got this amount of time, you're going to do this. And, you know, and they end up, I mean, one to two takes on some of these albums, just some of these songs. Sorry.Track 3:[16:34] And that's all they needed to.Track 1:[16:37] Yeah, I think that rawness really adds another layer to the context in a certain way, doesn't it? Because it is raw emotionally, and then it's raw musically as well.Track 4:[16:48] Yeah, very much so, but still incredible. Like on a majority of those songs, you wouldn't know. I mean, the one thing I read, and I would agree, is it's a piano forward album. There's very much a piano keys. There's some great guitar lines, but, um, so that helps obviously from a production standpoint in, in getting your, your tone tonality and, but I also think that it just really added to the, the, the emotion that the points, I'm sorry, I'm, no.Track 3:[17:30] But you're right.Track 4:[17:31] It's just incredible that they were able to get some of this production down in the manner that they did. And as a whole, going back to 53, I could hear so many decades in the songs, in the musicality that he was trying to experience. There's literal 80s synth pop songs on this. There's ballads. And there's all of these. You know, for me, I reflected born in the seventies, you know, really experienced that music eighties, nineties, two thousands. And then obviously the stuff you were influenced before that. And that instrumentation, in my opinion, came through in a lot of these songs. And again, one in two takes blows me away. Yeah.Track 1:[18:18] Yeah. Yeah. Drew, Kevin drew deserves, uh, a heap of, uh, of credit for pulling this together. And Niles Spencer was the engineer on the project. So hopefully later this summer, you guys get to meet Niles and we get to look around the bathhouse. That would be tremendous.Track 2:[18:40] Yeah. That would be amazing.Track 3:[18:41] Yeah.Track 1:[18:42] So we'll see what we can do there. Should we get into this song by song?Track 2:[18:45] Yeah.Track 3:[18:45] Let's do it.Track 1:[18:46] Okay. Craig, we're going to start with you in first person.Track 2:[18:51] So i decided early on when i started listening to this album i i felt like i didn't want to dig too deeply into what you know who each song was about right but some are just so obvious so first person you know it's a song to his mother you know the first person that you know he sees the first person to bring him to life just a really great song to start the album with very emotional um, Yeah. And I don't know, I didn't look up if his mother is still alive or was alive when this was released. So, you know, at the end he's saying goodbye.Track 3:[19:30] He addressed her in the final Kingston concert.Track 2:[19:34] Okay.Track 3:[19:34] Yeah. And she was there for that. I mean, they were only a year apart, so I don't know this, but I would assume she was still alive at that point. And I don't know if she's now or not.Track 2:[19:44] Yeah just the you know again the chance to say goodbye to his mom and yeah it's not really, how things are supposed to go i guess but um not at all yeah and that yeah the last thing i'll say is just there's that you know the vocalizations after the word goodbye i talked about them last week on secret path but there's these like raw just emotional you know screams and like emotes that he makes um in in the secret path concert and on the album and on this album as well that you know just that i don't know guttural just raw human emotion that it's really cool, what'd you guys think yeah.Track 1:[20:25] We saw a lot of that on the final tour for sure that raw guttural emotion.Track 2:[20:29] And uh.Track 1:[20:31] It's mirrored on this record absolutely crystallized uh on vinyl and cd cassette i don't know if it's on cassette justin um where do you stand on first person.Track 3:[20:43] Can't add a whole lot more but there's one thing that is very consistent in this song and the second song and it's that quarter note bass drum heartbeat boom boom boom boom to the whole thing and it's, not by accident for sure yeah yeah.Track 2:[21:01] And that was a feature of secret path to a lot of other songs without heartbeat.Track 4:[21:06] And a clock too is what I heard. Yes. I heard it as an underlying heartbeat, but it was also- click it was also time moving yeah oh that's good yeah it it really hit me in.Track 4:[21:22] Fact i think it was last night on one of the one of the tunes i don't remember exactly which one it was but it was fitting and it was very much a clock and a heartbeat again love love the opportunity that we had the chance to to to listen to this and to listen to those thoughts you know that was one One of the things I was thinking of, and we can say this about all of them is sometimes it's hard to really express your feelings at any moment, face-to-face writing it down, you know, after the fact. And so often it's after the fact, you know, this entire album, but of course this song right away, acknowledging his mom, but just that I'm going to go through and I'm going to give everyone that I've been in touch with or that I've loved, you know, I'm going to express some feelings to them. And a lot of the times those things sometimes people feel might be appropriate to be private, but for me, I love that Gord was very open about those feelings and emotions. So just incredible. Absolutely incredible.Track 1:[22:28] Incredible yeah i couldn't agree with you more it's so heartbreaking and i don't know whether we should have put a trigger warning at the top of this episode uh as we did with secret path this is some heavy shit so let's move on to wolf's home, All I want is you, All I want is you.Track 3:[26:05] And the heartbeat, you know, it really just, that's the other half, right? This is a decidedly more upbeat tune. It's really catchy. It's kind of fun. And it really, you know, the track that follows this is heavy too, but it does set the tone for kind of the rest of the album. The context of this whole thing, like we talked about over and over, is heavy, but the songs are kind of fun, you know? And Wolf's home is, all right, kids, stop the nonsense and the bullshit. Dad's home. Everybody cut it out. There's two lines that really stuck out to me. One was, I don't do what I hate, which is a spin on I do what I hate from Man, from the Man Machine poem album, which is the first track on that. And then at the very end is, all I want is you. you know and you know all the all the references to to edgar downey throughout the the hips catalog and and everything that gore did and you know lonely end of the rank and all those things it's um yeah i just these first two songs really kind of wrap your arms around the entire album with with what you're going to get out of this and um it's nice that it was his parents that, were the the opening numbers you know it was really a touching couple of tracks there.Track 4:[27:25] Yeah absolutely it's a tribute really it is and a tribute to obviously what an upbringing to, be able to you know have this individual that again has left us with such amazing art but yeah mom and dad right off the the bat i don't know if you guys noticed this or not and i think craig was trying to show it i have lucky enough to have the vinyl of this but on all the it's all handwritten the lyrics that are in here but in each one i'm fairly certain it's the who the song's about but it's it's covered up and it's a different color and it's on every single song in both you know close the first and the second album craig.Track 3:[28:04] You referenced that black and white video and in that video the only bits of color are where they overlay they kind of superimpose gray uh, gourd's handwriting in red and blue and he's got that four color pen that he's always using on.Track 4:[28:20] All the interviews. Yep.Track 3:[28:21] And I also was super happy to figure out that he's a lefty in that video because they show him making a note. And I'm like, all right.Track 4:[28:30] Right on, left-handers.Track 2:[28:31] My daughter is going to love that. Yeah, so this song, Wolf's Home, again, yeah, definitely about his father. And it's such a catchy song. The melody in the chorus, the ascending melody and the way the timbre of his voice just, changes as he's going up to those high notes and just such a nice quality like, he's such a versatile vocalist i don't think he gets enough credit for the just the different voices he uses on on different styles of tracks.Track 3:[29:03] There was something that i read a few years ago about how gourd just stayed in the pocket with the hip and i'm like what the frig are you talking about like the guy will go until he doesn't have a voice on the low end and then he blows it out on the top, Mariah Carey style. Like, it's unbelievable, his range.Track 1:[29:21] Ha ha ha ha ha ha.Track 2:[29:23] Some interest interesting percussion sounds almost like on on the two and four there's some kind of a where the snare would be there's some kind of i don't know what it is almost sounds like toy drums or something or just something random in the studio they were hitting but, but yeah i have nothing really more to add just just a great song.Track 4:[29:40] Yeah and i'll pick up on bedtime the next one which is to one of the kids i'm not sure if it's specific or if it's just to his children in general or you know again just going through that the theme that we've been talking about is knowing you know and it really doesn't matter who it's to that does add to obviously the level of seriousness but for me it was I think Craig mentioned this as well it's like yeah there was something you could pick out right away but it really didn't matter at some points again just breaking down that these were the very personal letters that were going out and doing it in a manner of he gets to add the instrumentation to it and as as we've talked about on several of the different albums and different tunes then again this one is more of the piano ford as they had mentioned the emotion that can be evoked from from that backing music to it and and knowing looking at very few i think there was only like four or five of these tunes that were solely gourd so you had some of the other you know drew that was involved, and niles and some of the other that helped i think a little bit with some of the i mean i don't know what their breakdown was if they were more instrumentation if they were more the uh um the lyric side of it but but just uh again i think a masterpiece put considering everything and having kids we all went through this or i went through this with all my kids.Track 4:[31:06] Multiple times in a different manner and and but how important that was and how with each of my kids, I have those memories of that connection, right? And that was a way that you could help your spouse was putting the help and putting the kids to bed. So it evokes some, some, very direct and deep memories and then saddens you when you know that these are memories that his children are going to read and hopefully appreciate.Track 1:[31:36] Oh, I can't imagine. I can't imagine. I just can't imagine.Track 2:[31:41] Yeah. Definitely brought back memories for me of, of those early years with kids and the, the struggle of bedtime and just the, the passage of time, you know, the way that those nights would just seem to last forever. And you were just, Then you wake up the next day and do it all over again. And then yet the years just start flying by. And that's what struck me during this song is that just the passage of time and how strange the days are so long and the years are so short. So, Justin, what do you think?Track 3:[32:18] Like I said, this album was released, Gord Died, and this album was released when my daughter was four months old. and we still have her gray rocking chair upstairs that, um, why would I would rock her to sleep in? And when this album came out, I think I listened on the first day, this song came on as I was rocking her to sleep and I bawled like a frigging toddler. And, uh you know the the line um as if from a bomb backing up like whoa and the floor with the creaks of time and we're living in this old apartment above a barn you know that's you can't breathe without the floor creaking and then you get to the door and she wakes up like are you really like leaving like what do you get back here you know and like so this song i it totally destroyed me and as I'm trying to get her calm I'm losing it and so I had this is this was it I heard three songs on this album and I stopped for seven years until we started this project I do love this song very much but man did it hit home and I was already raw from from having lost Gord you know my musical hero ten days before and then shit this happens come on yeah.Track 4:[33:40] I wanted to speak about JD when you were talking in the intro. When Gord passed, it was as deep as any friend or family member that I can recall. I mean, it was a deep fetal position kind of cry. And especially having seen and just a break, we've already talked about it before in a prior episode, but on the long time running when on the last tour, when he would kiss everyone on the lips before they went out on stage, you just were overwhelmed by the amount of love this one individual had. And that, you know, to this day, it's still permeates in this discussion. So amazing.Track 1:[34:29] Well, let's stick with you, Kirk. Let's talk a bit about introduce yourself.Track 4:[34:33] Introduce yourself. Well, title track to the album. I'm sorry. I got to get this out of the way. I need to know so much more, or I need to visit the Danforth because some of my favorite songs always mentioned the Danforth. And I just have to imagine it's some beautiful place near Toronto because it's in like old apartment from bare naked lady, which is a song that I love. Several other Canadian bands mentioned the Danforth. So that was the thing that snuck that stuck out right because everything had been so emotional i needed some sort of brevity and so when i got to danforth the line danforth so i need to ask jd give me info on the danforth so the danforth is the.Track 1:[35:18] Other side of bluer street the eastbound corridor of the street we call bluer street in midtown yeah it's not down it's the roof of downtown is bluer street and it cuts across the Bloor Viaduct, the Prince Edward Viaduct, which has the luminous veil on it that we spoke.Track 2:[35:36] Of in another episode.Track 1:[35:38] Then the Danforth was traditionally Greek town. It had oodles of Greek restaurants. There was lots of Greek variety stores and that sort of thing. And in the early nineties, it became a very popular place to start a family. You buy a house pretty reasonably. Now it's, you know, just as it's, as is want to happen. And it's pushing further and further and further East because the original Danforth area is now, you know, like $3 million homes, $4 million homes. Uh, and then there's some areas that there are way more than that. And I'd be glad to take you on a mini tour when I'm here because that's where I live. You know, maybe a soda pop at my local. We'll see.Track 3:[36:23] Yeah. Love it. Let's do that.Track 4:[36:25] Yeah. So that was my, that was my takeaway on this, this particular one. And again, that just overwhelmed my thought process was needing to know more about the Danforth. So I appreciate you helping, helping me with that. So, yeah.Track 2:[36:41] So this song was, um, was written about Billy Ray, Billy Ray Koster, the longtime hip roadie. And so, um, it's really just a thank you. And at the end of the song, just, you know, I thank you for your help. Help. Such a simple line, but such a beautiful goodbye to this lifelong friend who, from what I remember reading years ago, is that Billy Ray just as a young man or someone in his late teens just wrote the hip saying, I want a job, I'll do anything, and just worked his way up. And he really became almost like a member of the band by the end. And just the story of of this song is hilarious. Like it's a, it's a emotional song, but it's also so funny. Like the, you know, the not it isn't, it isn't because, you know, maybe some of the reason he, he, you know, the story being that he needs to write, introduce yourself on his hand to show to Billy Ray. So he'll introduce himself to the driver of the car that he, that Gord should know the name of, but has forgotten. So, you know, was that because of, you know, the cancer maybe? And I think I know what Justin's going to talk about here. What was your first thought?Track 3:[37:56] I can picture them in the back of a car or the cab or whatever. And Gord's like, oh shit, you know, like, what do I do here? Yeah. I mean, there's not much more that I could peel back on this, but I do remember in the interim of deciding to put the album down when it came out. And now I do remember watching the live performance that Sarah Harmer, Kevin Hearn, right, did it. And it was awesome. It was really, really, really good. And I was like, oh, okay, that's, and I had no idea what it was about at that time. So I was like, oh, this is a really sweet song.Track 2:[38:29] The Junos.Track 3:[38:30] Obviously emotional, but, um, you know, hearing the, hearing the lyrics, I was like, Oh, okay. And I've referenced it a few times here, the interview, the sit down with Peter Mansbridge and yeah. And he's like, well, I've got your name here, so I don't call you Doug or whatever, you know? Um, yeah. So, uh, yeah.Track 1:[38:57] Right.Track 2:[38:59] That's what I was going for. Yeah.Track 4:[39:02] Hey, I got to say with Billy Ray, because most of the shows that I saw were in small clubs, he was just as much a member of the band as anyone else for all of my crew. We almost enjoyed seeing him more, right? He always had that kind of crooked cowboy hat. And he always had like either a roll of duct tape or a wrench or there was art, you know, there was always something that says I'm the tech guy like reminded you of Tom Hanks when he did that Saturday Night Live skit when he was a roadie for Aerosmith or whatever, but he was so much he was the flavor of it. It was like he had to come out and put the mic stand back up because Gord knocked it down, you know. And then I love the fact as well that on this album, as well as I think the last or a couple of the others, he plays drums on a few of them. So how fantastic is that from Craig, as you mentioned, like a letter, just this, hey, I want to do something for you. And then he becomes this lifelong friend. And now he's part of, you know, part of introduce yourself in the title track song and, uh, just such a character.Track 3:[40:11] So it also, uh, it reminded me of the roadie by tenacious D. Sebastian bringing this, you know, 55 year old groupie into the dressing room.Track 4:[40:23] Love it.Track 3:[40:25] Love it.Track 4:[40:25] Love it. Love it.Track 2:[40:28] As someone who is terrible with names, definitely made, made me laugh. And if I ever get a tattoo, maybe that's what it'll have to be. Cause man, I'm in my job. It's not the best quality.Track 3:[40:39] It's a good story though.Track 1:[40:41] Coco Chanel five. That's what I think, yeah.Track 3:[43:49] So this, I mean, it's got to be about Laura, right? And yeah, and the thing that made me doubt that was that there's a song later in the album about his first girlfriend. So maybe he's singing about all of them. But the thing that drove it home for me was the line when I was recording in Memphis, which is the Up To Here album. That would put the timeline about right. I, I feel awkward listening to the song, the song and the one about the girlfriend. Like I shouldn't, I shouldn't be in this room right now, you know? Yeah.Track 2:[44:20] That, that, that was my thing off the top was like, I didn't want to dive too deep into who these songs are about, but sometimes it's, yeah, that this, that's what I thought about this one. And, but you know, Gord put this out in the world, so we, it is okay for us to do this. It is, is um yeah.Track 4:[44:37] And i agree that it definitely could have been on secret path like it has very much that same feel musically right instrumentation musically that was very much and there was even a moment on this particular song where it it was an mvp for for me for a while oh interesting yeah i just i think because again secret path was so impactful and for me after like the great build buildup from Coke machine glow, you know, just that amazing buildup and you hit secret path and you're just, it was hard to go on. So it was, I, you know, I was glad to hear something to kind of wake me up out of that funk. So, uh, but just a great song, but yes, difficult to listen to at times that the line was very uncomfortable for me. It really was. It's so good.Track 3:[45:27] Don't even say it.Track 4:[45:28] I'm not, but it's very uncomfortable for me. And that's That's probably the reason why I didn't end up as my MVP. I'll be honest.Track 1:[45:38] Just a little too inside baseball, Gord. Let's go with Ricky, please. And we'll start with Craig this time.Track 2:[45:47] This is a song I don't have a lot of notes about. It's just a nice upbeat song that was needed at this point. And it's nice and short. Gave me, I've said this a number of times on this pod, but Ben Folds kind of vibes you know and I have no idea who Ricky is I really didn't look at the lyrics too closely in this one so.Track 1:[46:13] Okay. Anybody else got anything?Track 3:[46:15] So I had asked in the group chat if this was about Patrick, his brother Patrick. And I know that You, Me, and the Bees is about him too, but I was thinking Ricky might be a nickname for Patrick. But the reason why I asked that was one of the lines is, you got me to the only door I've got. And Gord references the door in interviews and at the end of his life. And I know that Patrick was very close to him and was kind of his caretaker at the end. Um, so that's where I was thinking that maybe this is maybe Patrick got two songs. I don't know. I really don't know, but it's obviously somebody who's been very close with him forever and, you know, dating back before the illness, of course, too. But yeah, I don't know who it's about, but that was my initial thought. And I, I don't know. I have no idea, but it is a very fun listen.Track 1:[47:06] Well, if you out there listening, no, send us an email, discovering downy at gmail.com. we'd love to hear from you kirk what do you got.Track 4:[47:15] This one it gets a little more upbeat and so the clock is going a little faster i i agree with you justin that there definitely has a a feel to this sounds like a brother at least from that that standpoint i love i love the instrumentation the repetitiveness the i i i did that was something that i have in my memory as far as a note for this so this.Track 3:[47:40] Song and and a few others sound like a marriage between now for plan a and man machine poem like they could be hip songs 100 from those two.Track 4:[47:49] Great agreed i would wild okay.Track 1:[47:51] I gotta think about this in a different way safe is dead is our next track and i think we'll start with justin this time yeah.Track 3:[48:01] So i guess i'm gonna say it again this sounds like it could be from Not For Plan A or Man Machine Poem. And I don't know... It's probably more like man-machine poem, I think, but I couldn't even tell you who this is about. But, you know, it's certainly previewing death or reliving somebody else's. I don't know. But the dark preview, who'd miss this fear, a damn silence, exiles meet. And then the dark brochure, full dark soon, and then the rise of a scarred moon. So, like, I wonder if the brochure is a literal brochure. Like, here's what to expect in your next year and a half with glioblastoma, you know? Like, good luck, read this, and you've got information.Track 1:[48:42] God.Track 4:[48:43] That's, I mean, honestly, that's very much the way I took it. Safe is dead. Like, there's no good information on here. So it was stark to me, even in the music. And then if you read in some of the liner notes, this was one of the only ones with some backing vocals, and I think Patrick was one of them. And I think Billy Ray was another one. I have to look that up. But so interesting when you think about who was involved in this song. And then, again, just that premise or thought, like whether it's a pamphlet or like his doctor saying, hey, this is what's up. So you're just like safe as dead. Yeah. That was my uh.Track 2:[49:31] Yeah justin you mentioned man machine poem and i have a note right here that says remind the vocals remind me of insarnia from that album and musically i was really drawn to this song it reminds me so much of a band called future islands and specifically there's a song called fall from grace on the singles album which was the album that broke them and i heard that.Track 3:[49:56] Song today on the drive home.Track 2:[49:57] Really yeah.Track 3:[49:58] It's funny it.Track 2:[49:59] Is so similar yeah and i love i love that's my one of my very favorite songs by future islands so this one really stuck with me just the the drum beat the repetitive notes in the piano if it was future islands it would be more of a synth sound but it's a very similar idea just this repetitive groove that just goes for the entire song the nice echoing at the end the vocals that you mentioned and the way the beat drops out there's like a single hand clap to end the song it's one of my favorites i think on the album tremendous and sorry and last thing what wait what like what such a gourd thing to say what what wait what like just awkward and but not from him when he says it it's just when you when.Track 4:[50:49] You hear it for the first time it doesn't sound like he's saying that i had a completely different phrase.Track 2:[50:54] In my brain.Track 4:[50:55] You know when you hear something you're rocket man burning up his when you hear that that's what i heard was.Track 2:[51:01] Something completely.Track 4:[51:02] Different until i read it and i.Track 2:[51:03] Went excuse me while i kiss this guy wait.Track 4:[51:05] What what yeah exactly there's a bathroom on the right on the right.Track 2:[51:10] Do we.Track 3:[51:15] Have to pay rights fees for these now jay no.Track 1:[51:17] No we're fine we're fine we got big podcast lawyers yeah well we go upbeat again with the next song uh in a celebratory sort of way kirk what do you think is spoon.Track 4:[54:10] I'm just going to ask this question up front. In the band Spoon, we had had some discussions about them on our exchange, and I didn't look deep enough. Are they a Canadian band? They're not, no. No? But popular up there, obviously, and is that who he's referring to when you go down to the bottom?Track 1:[54:32] It definitely is that band. in terms of popularity middling you know they're not a superstar band by any stretch but they sell you know they sell they sell records similar to what they are in the u.s they're still sort of underground you know to a lot of people even though they've had at least three breakout albums great indie band yes but.Track 3:[54:52] They're only an indie band you know they're.Track 1:[54:53] Not mainstream yeah.Track 2:[54:56] Yeah relating to the story i just told actually it was driving me nuts i i knew i had a ticket to spoon but i have no memory of the concert and it was just driving me nuts i actually pulled up my concert tickets yesterday and went through them all until i finally finally figured out what it was was that i just mentioned future islands they were playing a show at stanley park in downtown vancouver the you know the park and um spoon was headlining future islands was opening so i went for future islands they sold out of beer like in the opening band they may and not Not that I was there for beer, but the timing worked out perfectly though, because I actually had a second concert ticket that same night to see War on Drugs in downtown Vancouver. So we had to like run down the street, catch a bus down to downtown Vancouver and made it to the Vogue to see War on Drugs. This is, I don't know, nine years ago, I think. And so I missed Spoon. So I didn't even get to see five songs.Track 4:[55:54] You missed Spoon. I was going to ask if you had both. No. Okay. You missed Spoon.Track 3:[55:58] I haven't seen them, but I love them. And in particular, the album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga that is referenced on here. You don't even have to know that it's Spoon to know Don't You Ever or The Underdog or Cherry Bomb from that album. I know that if you heard them, you would recognize them instantly. They're radio hits. But Spoon's a freaking great band. And I'm jealous of the five-year-old kid who's in this song, which has got to be his youngest son, right? I would imagine.Track 1:[56:27] Well, he talks about recording in Maui with Bob.Track 3:[56:29] In Maui with Bob, yeah.Track 1:[56:31] So that would be what? That would be 2011?Track 2:[56:34] I think so.Track 3:[56:35] That would be the luster part of it, wouldn't it?Track 1:[56:37] That's what I've, that's what I've thought.Track 2:[56:38] I assume it's talking about either We Are The Same or World Container because he talks about we. He says we as in the band, like we were recording with Bob. Job so yeah and Maui is a place that um you know it's it's it's the destination for people in in Vancouver for vacation it's you know five hours away and so I've been there multiple times and so when he when I first heard the song and he starts dropping you know Haleakala the volcano Baby Beach is a place where when my son was just just a baby we took him to Baby Beach which is a a place where there's a like a natural barrier i believe it's natural there's no waves so you can actually take your toddler into the water they can just kind of play around in six inches of water and it goes out for for many meters and and i have these distinct memories and a great set of photos of my son on that beach talks about anthony's which is a little restaurant up in the in paella I believe, which is on the, if you're taking the road to Hana, very famous drive around the east side of the island, which I recommend to anyone who goes there. Brought back all these memories of my trips out there. And he even talks about his, I think his leg was broken or something. And one of my early trips to Maui, I was there on crutches. I had a hockey injury.Track 2:[58:03] So I had to cancel a bunch of my plans for that trip. And my son was very young. I think it was seven, eight months. And I remember the first day just taking the stroller for a walk and I'd go, you know, to the cinnamon roll place. And then I'd go back to the condo. And then the next day I'd go a bit further by the end. Within a week, I was walking for hours every morning. Like, you know, with the time change, I was up at 5.30 a.m. And taking him for just the longest walk. And just such a great memory. And I was fully healed by the end of that trip. That's great.Track 3:[58:35] There is the opening lines I just wanted to mention. You're transcendent. You taught me so many things. You taught me that help is all we to this dumb planet bring. What a nice compliment to give somebody.Track 2:[58:45] Right? And don't read the Apple Music translation because it says hell instead of help.Track 3:[58:51] That would change the song.Track 2:[58:52] You know, I've noticed on some of my listens.Track 4:[58:56] I'll look up a lyric because you can look on Spotify or whatever. And what you're hearing or what he's saying does not correlate with what the lyrics are so i noticed that on a few tunes i didn't write the specific ones down but uh that's interesting that you know it it translates it however it wants so i'm like he didn't just say what.Track 3:[59:17] It's for what it's worth i've had good luck on the website genius um when i when i can't find yeah and there's usually some notes some reference notes but they'll also capitalize words like like the album, the liner notes would have, as opposed to if you're listening to Spotify or YouTube or something that just doesn't take, you know, have that nuance. Right. Um, and I can add a lot of meaning.Track 2:[59:43] Yeah, and Kirk, you asked about Spoon being Canadian. While they're not, the band Deer Hunter, who Gord mentions in the song as the opener, they are from out east, I believe, Montreal maybe?Track 1:[59:55] Do you know, JD? I think it's in Quebec. Yeah, I think so.Track 3:[59:59] I think they are.Track 2:[1:00:00] I feel like I've seen them.Track 4:[1:00:01] Are they still active? Because I feel like I've just seen them recently, like opening up for Barenaked Ladies, which would make sense if they're Canadian.Track 3:[1:00:08] They have, they have a little bit of a following around where I live. Um, I haven't, I haven't seen them and I don't know much about them, but I know that the local station out of Albany, New York mentions deer hunter often. So yeah, there's still, I think there's still around.Track 4:[1:00:23] And I feel like I just saw them with bare naked ladies and, uh, what's the band that does closing time? Semi Sonic.Track 1:[1:00:30] Yeah.Track 4:[1:00:31] They were on the same, same bell.Track 1:[1:00:33] I went on a scavenger hunt in setlist.fm trying to find a show in Toronto that Deer Hunter opened for Spoon, and I couldn't track it down. That would definitely help us with the date in terms of figuring it out. I'm pretty sure they even say the venue in the song, don't they? In the lyric?Track 4:[1:00:58] Deer Hunter opened the show. The headliner was introduced. We did our best. We'd have to go soon. We got a t-shirt and we cut five tunes. Just enough to say that the first show for us, too, was Spoon. So anything else on Spoon?Track 3:[1:01:15] I listened to Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga several times because of this song. Yeah.Track 1:[1:01:24] Next up, Craig, is A Natural.Track 2:[1:01:29] Yeah, this song is the... Okay, so I'm in Seattle. This is... What year was this album? 2017? And this would have been, I'm guessing, a couple of weeks after gourd passed and i was in a 10 days i was in a clothing store or something i think a vintage clothing store in seattle and my wife was shopping and i was just sort of hanging out and i heard this song i was it was kind of like lightly in the background i couldn't i wasn't paying attention to who it was but they always play great music in seattle on in these types of stories i find and then the chorus came on and that powerful voice of his with all that reverb and it hit me like like a ton of bricks like i was like yeah it was like gourd from beyond the grave um and i was just i was in the u.s i was i was just it was amazing and i remember thinking like what is this is this like a hip song that i somehow don't know is this a you know some other artist where he just sings the chorus and i you know tracked it down when i got home and realized it was on the album that i had unopened um and so this was one song that i did listen to over the years, yeah what'd you guys think of this one.Track 4:[1:02:54] Just this was one of those that was the kind of the synth pop you know feel behind it which i loved again because again correlating back to the ages is like, gord probably had an affinity for the 80s and certain aspects of it in certain songs and whether you like it or not you're still influenced by it because you get that kind of that's again the the keyboard the synth sent the type music there but yeah again as craig mentioned the um powerfulness in the voice during the chorus is it creates goosebumps it just fills you up and and again makes you thankful that you have a variety of different you know opportunities to listen to the voice you know whether it's a solo stuff for the hip and so you were you just you were thankful for it and just the imagery in this song you know just sitting there and it's soaking and wet you know bathing suit with a bb gun and just kind of iron you know you you've experienced that or you've seen it and so you just felt connected to the song right away but it was so intense and then just the song the course itself is just a praise you are a natural if you say that about someone they're just you know they're beyond special so very much a song that made an impression, especially with his vocal abilities, as we've all mentioned and commented on how phenomenal it is and how varied, which I think Craig mentioned as well, or Justin as well.Track 3:[1:04:23] I wondered if this was about his sister or one of his daughters. I don't know why, but just the scene, the way that it's set, it seems like he's singing about a female.Track 4:[1:04:35] I would not disagree with that.Track 3:[1:04:36] Yeah, I don't know. Yeah. Well, and I was thinking that as they were kids, he's telling this story from his own childhood. Yeah. Don't know.Track 2:[1:04:47] That was my first thought too, but yeah, it could be. I feel like it is probably a child with one of his children.Track 3:[1:04:53] It also sounds a lot like a couple of songs in Secret Path.Track 2:[1:04:57] Yeah. The way he sings at the end though, I am the lucky one. That made me think I think maybe it was him as a father saying that line. And also to add to the 80s vibe, the bass, it really takes a lead in this song, very much like a Peter Hook style New Order.Track 4:[1:05:17] Yeah, great observation, Greg. I don't disagree with that at all.Track 1:[1:05:22] Well, let's wrap things up for this week with faith, faith. And we'll start with you, Mr. St. Louis.Track 3:[1:05:31] This one got me. Jesus, about the dog. I mean, I assume it's a dog. What else would be getting scratched under the chin? But, oh, my gosh, my puppy is just, well, the puppy is two years old. But, you know, I mean, what's nicer than the love that you get from your dog? and um very.Track 1:[1:05:54] Little in this world.Track 3:[1:05:55] Faith yeah but i mean just this song too is crushing take this take the dog out of it this is this is a masterpiece of a song and you can get emotional without lyrics with a song it's pretty damn amazing um so a couple of a couple of weeks ago, my mentor ken squire and you can google him he he's the one that got nascar on tv he's he's from around the way here and i worked for him for 20 years and he kind of took me up under his wing as the annoying kid who wouldn't stop asking for a job you know he's he's a legendary figure in the world of motorsport around the world so he he passed back in november and a few weeks ago they had his memorial service at his racetrack here in Vermont. And the most poignant part of the whole thing was they read a poem called The Sweetness of Dogs. This song brought me back to that moment where I welled up at his service and how the person and the dog are sitting under the moonlight. The person looks up at the moon and thinks, what could be more beautiful? And And the dog looks up to the person and thinks the same thing. And I'm just like, whoa. And the song just drains me. Yeah. Yeah. Ferguson, Ferguson's going to get this song the rest of his life.Track 4:[1:07:22] Yeah. It's, uh, it's, it's overwhelming. The, the passion that you feel when he screams the faith, faith, your faith, your faith, your faith. I think it's the Y-E-R, touching the nose every morning, one, two, three times, dark unwavering eyes. And if you have an animal, you know, especially if you have a dog for me, you know, I have my, my little guy, Andy, and we take our walks every day. And I do a lot of my gourd listening when I'm on a walk with my dog, you know, and it's, The dog has an attitude, and it's a great personality. And yeah, there's a love there that I think he captures, obviously, amazingly in the lyrics there.Track 2:[1:08:15] Yeah, I just have a note about the piano playing. So Kevin Drew on the piano, as we learned on the Secret Path album, he plays with a lot of feeling. And he's definitely got like a style to his playing. And I love how at the end he goes up the octave. And it's just, there's a lot of emotion in his playing, which really matches the lyrics. Now, unlike you guys, I'm not a pet person. I'm allergic to dogs. So it's not really my fault. Um so i've never had a dog i did have a cat growing up and i i do have a really great story but i'm gonna i'm gonna save it for when we have more time it feels.Track 4:[1:08:54] Like loving emmett otter craig that's what it feels like.Track 2:[1:08:57] Okay that's what it feels.Track 1:[1:08:59] Like well fellas uh it's been an absolute, pleasure to listen to your thoughts on the first half sort of i know it's not divisible the way the records are, but that's what we're going to cover this week. Let's bid adieu to our listeners and encourage you out there to shoot us an email, discoverydowney at gmail.com if you're enjoying what you're here. We'd love for you to join our community on Facebook, and of course we want to see you on July 19th at the Rec Room here in toronto tickets are available now at discovering downy.com.Track 4:[1:09:47] That's going to be a fun night i.Track 1:[1:09:51] Think so right.Track 4:[1:09:52] Really fun and do.Track 2:[1:09:55] People know like we've never actually met no i don't i guess i guess they.Track 1:[1:09:59] Wouldn't know that yeah.Track 2:[1:10:00] I mean i've i've met jd and kirk i guess in person very briefly yes uh kirk um a couple times and justin yeah yeah not not yet i haven't met you yet but But yeah.Track 4:[1:10:09] It'll be the first time for all four of us. Yeah.Track 1:[1:10:12] But we're all going to see each other on the night.Track 2:[1:10:15] It's going to be awesome.Track 3:[1:10:16] Yeah. Actually, we're going to see each other on the 18th too, aren't we?Track 2:[1:10:20] Road trip.Track 3:[1:10:21] Yeah.Track 1:[1:10:21] Yeah. Yeah. If you're out there and you're.Track 4:[1:10:24] We got to go to the.Track 1:[1:10:25] If you're out there, we got to see the dance tonight and you feel like meeting up with four dudes and you want to give us a tragically hip tour. That's a perfect opportunity. You guys are discovering Downey at gmail.com email. We would love that we would love nothing more than that so we'll have a film crew with us we can shoot some cool stuff and it'll be a lot of fun, pick up your shit.

Secret Path

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 19, 2024 84:14

This week on Discovering Downie the gang takes a look at the haunting fifth record in Gord's discography, Secret Path. Transcript:Track 1:[0:01] Hey, it's JD here, and we wanted to take a moment to thank you for tuning in to Discovering Downey. That said, it's time to take this relationship to the next level. Live, baby, live. Friday, July 19th, Long Slice Brewery presents a celebration of Gord Downey. Tickets are now on sale at DiscoveringDowney.com. Come for the finale of Discovering Downey with special guest Patrick Downey and stay for the HIP Tribute Act, the Almost HIP, and our fantastic silent auction. All proceeds from this project will go to the Gord Downey Fund for Brain Cancer Research. So come out to the show because seeing is believing and you won't believe what we've got in store for you until you see it yourself. Get your tickets today.Track 1:[0:53] The goalie who lives across the street. Jean Beliveau is welcome anytime at the outdoor rink in the park just across from my house for morning hockey under blue skies this winter. Birds wheeling overhead, rushing temperatures, lousy to no gear. I'm the goalie who lives across the street. Kids play with smokes hanging out of their mouths. Beautiful huck hogs with incredible tricks. They are so easily fatigued that you can't.Track 1:[1:32] Two minutes for it. I saw his blood, a billowing crimson cloud against the milk white ice. That's an infraction here. When the predatory follow the puck down to the other end, my net swarms like the great barrier reef of the smaller fish. My crease fills with good questions and wobbly wrist shots. There are no bad questions, only bad wrist shots. And then there are the parents always yelling, always telling them where to aim. At the rink across the street, Jerry Cheevers is welcome Welcome any time. Welcome, music lovers. Long Slice Brewery presents Discovering Downey.Track 1:[2:13] Hey, it's JD here, and welcome to Discovering Downey, an 11-part project with a focus on the music and poetry of Mr. Gord Downey. The late frontman of the Tragically Hip gave to the world an extensive solo discography on top of The Hip's vocal acrobatics that awed us for years. So far, he's released eight records in total, three of them posthumously. Now listen, you might be the biggest fan of The Hip out there, but have you really listened to these solo records? Because I'm an inquisitive podcaster, I enlisted my friends Craig, Justin, and Kirk, giant fans in their own right, to discover Downey with me, JD, as their host. Every week we get together and listen to one of Gord's records, working in chronological order. We discuss and dissect the album, the production, the lyrics, and we break it down song by song. This week we're going to be talking about Gord's fifth record, his last release before his death in October of 2017. This is a sobering, thoughtful, and potentially triggering album called Secret Path. Justice St. Louis, how goes? Things are busy, but things are good. And this is the thing that I look forward to the most out of my many, many things that I have going on.Track 1:[3:38] Racing all the time and kid stuff all the time and soccer is in full swing and everything is fun. But this is the thing that I can kind of crack a beer and relax and hang out with you dudes and just enjoy what we're doing. Well, that's lovely. Yeah. I'm glad you're enjoying this. Me too. Kirk from Chino, are you ready to get going on this one? I am ready. Yeah, it's a big one, right? Yeah, it is. I mean, obviously there's that nervous anticipation, I think is a good way to describe it. This of all we've been through that has been obviously just amazing and overwhelming as you mentioned like how did we not dive into this before you know especially with our love of the hip but then this comes along and just when you think you're you know you got your head wrapped around it it just goes to a whole nother level and uh again just something peeling back those layers And just finding out more about what an incredible individual that we had the chance to be on earth with at the same time. And obviously as much as we miss him.Track 2:[4:49] And we do miss him so much. Fuck.Track 1:[4:54] Craig, what's news? news oh not too much same as justin i've got a lot going on with you know my son in baseball my daughter in soccer the band work um which you know is mostly good but can be can be tough this time of year looking forward to digging into this album i've this is the one album i said coming into this project that i actually do have experience with so i've i've.Track 1:[5:20] Been listening to this since it came out, and so a bit of a different experience this week for me. Yeah, I suspect we're going to be leaning on some of your learnings over the years as we dive into the music. So that'll be interesting to compare and contrast what we've got from the record, or what the other fellas have got from the record, and compare and contrast it to what you've learned over the years. Yeah. I could tell you that after years of waiting for some kind of concept record from Gord or the Tragically Hip, we finally get that on Gord's fifth and final record released during his lifetime. After being moved by a late 1960s article from McLean's magazine, he began to honor the legacy of its subject matter, the young indigenous child named Jenny Wenjack. Secret Path was released as part of a multimedia experience, including a book, animated video, and of course, the standout 10-track album. To call this album chilling is an understatement. There is no happy ending for our protagonists, and Gord's voice reflects that throughout the 41-minute runtime of this album. The sparse production and instrumentation underscores the haunting lyrics and melodies Gord has conjured on this release.Track 1:[6:35] Don't fall into the trap of thinking you must listen to this record from start to finish to really get it. There are plenty of songs for song's sake on this release, and they can certainly be enjoyed without the context of the entire record, but clearly the record is designed to be listened to front to back, ultimately. Produced by Kevin Drew over a couple sessions years apart, the record dropped in the midst of Gord's battle with cancer, but that didn't stop him from making certain everybody knew the importance of Chani's story. This is an important record as a music fan and as a Canadian. Understanding our past is key to informing our future, and Gord and his cohorts outdid themselves on this effort, and it is a must-listen to unlocking the legacy work in Gord's memory.Track 1:[7:25] Kirk, talk to me about your first experience with Secret Path. Well, as extensive as Craig, this is the only actual Gord Downie album that I listened to once through maybe three years ago, four years ago, after I read the book and mentioned parts of it. Not the actual graphic novel, but the tragically hip book where they have discussions about some of his solo stuff. So, you know, I had gone through the songs once before, but what I typically like to do when I'm doing the first lesson is go for a walk. And so I'm listening to it while I'm, you know, walking the dog and have my headsets in and usually at night. So it's quiet out outside of, you know, the birds and whatever other sounds are going around. And, you know, it like we'd all kind of mentioned this is this is a heavy heavy heavy heavy album and heavy songs and as that journey progressed and I would listen to the actual vinyl and then watch some stuff on online and listen in my vehicle and obviously I you know it was I think of all the albums this one it really.Track 1:[8:41] Drives you to do the research and to really listen and to really understand what it's all about. And probably, I don't know, like 20, 20 something listens in. And I finally watched the actual cartoon. And then I got the book around the same time and it changed everything. Think it had already made an incredible impact on me and then i got the you know finally got the graphic novel in and i watched the the 45 minute or so cartoon or or film of it you then see, what is being written about yeah and you see it in such a dramatic fashion and honestly gentlemen And it, it, it, it emphasized and changed a lot of the meaning of the songs that I had already listened to 20 times and had an opinion on and had done some research and read the lyrics, but I hadn't, I hadn't seen it. And that, that novel and, and then watching the, the, the, the film, I mean, to be bold is, is life-changing. You can love it and enjoy it, and it can uplift you, but I think that the topic and the subject matter deserves reverence, and so it has mine. Craig, you have a lot of history.Track 1:[10:08] With this record but i'm wondering if you can think back to the first time you heard it what was your experience like then that's tough it's it's um for me the the animation and the, and the the songs have always gone hand in hand i've always i'm so i'm not sure i've mentioned this before but i'm um i teach you know grade seven students and this is something i have used in my class every year since it's come out um i'll talk more a little bit more about that a little bit later so to me they've always been tied together and every year for me it's like a like peeling back another layer and it's just been amazing over the years to share it with with so many kids and and hearing different perspectives and different things i hadn't thought about um sharing you know my ideas with them and it's always a highlight of the year you know of course you know a very serious topic and um you know they get the heaviness of it And I think that's the beauty of using art to educate about topics like this. Of course, you shouldn't just use this, but as a supplement to your teaching, it's really powerful. And yeah, they really do enjoy it for the most part.Track 1:[11:22] Justin, what are your initial thoughts of the record? I feel guilty that there's still a huge group of people that celebrate and get angry about the fact that others are trying to change the way that we are educated here, that Columbus Day is a thing in the States, and that Indigenous Peoples Day hasn't been adopted universally. You know, there's a strong contingent of Abnaki and Mohawk in this area. And I do know, you know, people that are affiliated with those tribes and those groups. And I just kind of want to say I'm sorry all the time. Like this album and the novel and the video, exceptionally moving. Kirk said, I can't be happy when I'm listening to it. I really think some of the songs musically are phenomenal and I want to dance to them. But I also am like, don't dance to this. What are you doing? Yeah, I really love, and I mean that word, I love this album and this project. If I can say one more thing too, coming into this whole journey with you guys, this was my reference point. And I knew how amazing this album was. And I honestly.Track 1:[12:46] Was terrified to dig into coke machine glow and all these other albums and just be disappointed, and so i would i've been super happy that that all those albums were so great knowing that this masterpiece was coming up like and i don't use that word lightly this this might be the best thing gourd ever made and you guys know how much i love the hip and how much i love you know battle of the nudes but but like you said justin it's very somber and it's a it's a whole different from Beast. I want to also say this as kind of a disclaimer that I don't want to give the impression that I know what I'm talking about on this episode because I don't. My research about this is only surface level. Kirk and I, I don't know if I can speak for you, but I think we've talked about this, that we don't really have a deep enough understanding of what this album represents. And, you know, I do want to lean on you, Craig, and you, JD, as you guys would know, you know, intimately more about the subject. And I have really enjoyed learning and I have deep dove into several podcasts. And I would absolutely recommend, if I can get it out there now, there's a guy named Chris Waite who has an Anishinaabe podcast, which is fantastic. And I listened to five or six hours of it so far and I've read things and I've listened to other podcasts. And some of it is the same regurgitated thing that I think they probably just read off Wikipedia or something, but there are some that really do a great job. And Kirk, you said it again, this is life-changing and I actually care about this. I've already forgotten half the songs on all the other albums that we've listened to, but I won't with this one. Yeah. I mean, obviously he had a tremendous platform and this was something that became very important to him in his later years. But it's interesting that, you know, work was started on this record in 2012. Yeah, that part to me, J.D., was... Starting the recording in 2012 and 2013 and then not releasing till 2016, correct? Yeah, he was waiting for the 50-year anniversary of Jane's passing. So that was a date, I believe, that was always there. I'm going to use this opportunity to do my own disclaimer. And that is to just say that not all people would agree that this is Gord's story to tell. I just want to acknowledge that that is a valid opinion to have. And so if you're listening and you're thinking this is not his story to tell, I totally get what you're saying. Excellent point, Craig. That's something that we need to be very careful around. So if you are listening to this and this is something that could be triggering, whether it's the subject matter or the people telling the story or the people interpreting the telling of that story, if this If this is something that is going to make you squeamish or uncomfortable or trigger something in you deeper than that, please turn off the podcast now. We'll be here when you're ready. This isn't going away. Let's get to the first track, though, fellas. This is an absolutely haunting song. It's called The Stranger.Track 1:[21:07] Yeah, so right away, the tone is set with the soundscape, the introduction, you know, probably 30 seconds before the guitar comes in. And when it comes in, it's unmistakably Gord playing that guitar. And, you know, it's something he, it feels very much like something he would write. And it has an odd feel to it. It's really hard to sing along to.Track 1:[21:32] And the phrasing makes it really unique.Track 1:[21:35] He sometimes starts right on beat one, and sometimes there's this little pickup and makes it a little disorienting at first, but it gets into a more sort of repetitive style afterwards. But the heartbeat in the drums, really haunting piano, just all just sets the tone perfectly. The lyrics, again, they're just just setting up the story i really enjoy the the contrast you've got the playful you know the boy walking down the the railroad tracks he's jumping to the right he's jumping to the left and and this is something that'll come back a little bit later too as this you know basically the whole the whole story is set present time of the story is him walking down the track until he you know passes the line and what i'm feeling is anyone's guess what is in my head and what is in my chest to me that might be gourd's way of almost saying this this is like an artistic telling of this story like this isn't meant to be a literal this isn't an encyclopedia entry about about cheney this is felt that same thing craig yeah yeah it's very much centered in emotion and because you know there is no way of knowing what he was really going through so gourd is just tapping into all these human emotions that one could imagine you would go through so and that is one of the critiques of this album that i've read is that you know it's not 100 factual well i really don't think that's the point this this is a much larger story than this isn't about one one boy i mean.Track 1:[23:05] It is but it's also about canada it's about it's about everything it's and a couple of other you know quick things so the memories if you're looking at the animation and the the graphic novel this first song starts with memories and the the main thing you'll notice right away is You've got the cold colors, the blues in the residential school memories and walking along the track too. In contrast with when he's talking about his family. So he talks about his dad. Dad is not my dad. My dad is not a wild man. So the goal of the government was to assimilate Indigenous peoples who were quote unquote uncivilized. It actually shows the opposite. It shows that his memories of his family are of love. Oh, man. Yeah.Track 1:[23:56] Kirk, what do you think? Take us there, brother. Throughout all of these songs and what's laid as a foundation for us with The Stranger is there's always hope. The hauntingness of this song sets the tone. Like you mentioned, Craig, the coloring is, as I said earlier, when I saw it, when I read it and I saw it, it changed the meaning for things. But that to me is, I try to be an optimist. I loved the color. I don't know that I would have survived if there was no color in this because there needed to be that light and that division of those families and in the colors that they were to have any sort of pathway out of this. Yeah, and also just showing that he had a very rich life. It shows him learning how to make a fire, how to fish, all these cultural teachings that were life, were valuable.Track 1:[24:54] So anyways, I just want to mention one other thing. Another great visual in the graphic novel is the raven feather falling and transitioning into the hare. So upon arrival to the residential school, Chani's remembering his first day when they're being showered and probably scrubbed with harsh chemicals, which there are many stories of this happening, and the hair being cut. That's very symbolic. The long hair in males in many indigenous cultures is sacred.Track 1:[25:36] It's often cut only for a special reason. Maybe if a family member passes or something, the long hair is very closely tied to their identity a lot of time from what I've heard and read. So this was just very cruel behavior and humiliating. Yeah let's uh go to the second track on this record it is called swing set who's up first so swing set um.Track 1:[26:07] That's kind of the one where channey is like on the cusp of now and it's literally in the lyrics now not yet now not yet i didn't know this until researching like like everything in this i didn't realize that he was one of set i think i read nine kids that took off that day and he was one of three in in a group somewhere i read that there were nine children that left that same day and And they waited until one kid was being dragged literally back into the school to make their escape off the swing set. I mean, they were watching, like knowing this is going to happen. And the video is incredible to go with the music. They're like, you know, they make a distraction and twist one kid up in the swings. And I don't honestly remember if it was Chani or one of the others, but to make the teachers think, you know, we're playing, right? And we don't have this other plan. Yeah, the now not yet through the whole song is really cool. And by the way, the tune is awesome. Like that's what I was going to mention. Justin is the music is the emotion. Like it's that fleeting, like it's, it's very upbeat. I mean, that was one thing that was, that hit me when I first hit, heard it was like, no, I did not expect music like this.Track 1:[27:19] Right. In the context of, of, you know, the overall package now to me, and I know it isn't Kevin Hearn and I've talked before about how I enjoy the stuff that he does with bare naked and I know he's done a little bit with Gord and is on a track here. So I immediately thought it was Kevin Hearn because that's very much his type of and style.Track 1:[27:40] So I had made the assumption that was it and it isn't, but I love that it had that same feeling. And the music itself is almost chaotic. It's upbeat and chaotic, which is the emotions. I mean, come on guys, we've all had that moment where you're gonna do something stupid, and you know you're gonna do it and you know it's probably not the best thing to do but the emotions you have inside you know you could the goosebumps and uh and to me the the music really i think encapsulated that that feeling phenomenally and how crazy like that's the that's the springboard swing set that's that this is where the plan was gonna it's literal and metaphorical yeah that at first i guess longer versus the turning around around in my seat and the chains are tight over my head and until the tension is complete, right?Track 1:[28:32] Whoa. How cool of a double meaning. Honestly, that's one of Gord's best set of lines in anything really that he's written. Like, cause it's literally on a swing and they're twisting the kid around. And then also this is the fulcrum of my life, right? And here's the tension and there's no way out of it. It's go now, not now. And later on when, when he looks back and any, the image of it is his just, just seeing the swing twisting in the sun is great. It was great. The other thing I wanted to mention about this song, I love how there's the breath in the background. It's almost like that either excitement or even, you know, when you're running and you're breathing heavily. And there's kind of that breathy sound in the background, almost like background sort of vocals. And one thing in the art is that some of the frames are showing sort of like them praying in the school.Track 1:[29:22] And so various memories in between the swinging is what I was just looking at because I have the graphic novel next to me. But yeah, Greg, that's a great, right. So this, this like forced religion upon them. So these schools were funded by the government, but they were typically run by, by church groups. So, and if I read correctly that this was the Cecilia Jeffrey school, right. And this was run by a women's organization connected to a church. Is that right? I believe so. Yeah. Yeah. But all of the images are of men or so it seems. Yeah. And I believe that was one of the critiques I read online, which I really don't think It matters in what Gord was trying to communicate here. I mean, again, like I said at the start, this is all about the emotion and.Track 1:[30:06] Getting an idea across that is really not just about one kid it's just about the whole system and yeah yeah there when i i got the book before i saw the video i wanted to kind of do it in stages listen to the music first and then read the book and then do the video and the images of when channy's in bed and the i don't know what you want to call it the clergyman or the the teacher or the the schoolmarm or whoever it is is walking kind of through the bunk at night took on a whole different meaning for me later in this album yes um and i didn't realize what i didn't know until about three or four songs later it's creepy in this one when you're reading when you're reading the book and looking through it it's you know like all right man it's nighttime like leave me alone right yeah it looks more like an intimidation thing totally than what it turns out to be yeah.Track 2:[31:01] I I tend to agree with you, and let's see how it plays out in the next chapter of this story. Maybe my favorite song on the record. I don't have to do an MVP pick, so I can reveal it to you early, but Seven Matches. Kirk?Track 1:[31:18] I think it ended up just being a group of three that made it past a certain moment, and they went to a relative's house, or it could have been parents, and two of them, and then uh cheney was you know not part of that and so he needed to move on, and is given this jar with the seven matches and the song itself you know from a musical standpoint is is is very soothing and it's uh i love that style of of vocalization that that that Gord uses in the speak singing, I guess is a good way to describe it. It's so deceiving, right? Because it does make you feel, like when I listened to it the first couple of times, and even now, like it gives me a sense of warmth. It gives me a sense of security. And this mother said, here, these are your seven matches. And then the emphasis that's put on that.Track 1:[32:25] To me, it really broke down to like, this is your life. Your life is now in a jar and it's seven matches. And then with each phrase, it's six, it's five, it's four, and he has to use them or he freezes. So I'm, as we've mentioned the whole theme, this warm song that does give you comfort is heartbreaking, absolutely heartbreaking.Track 1:[33:00] Yeah this one is um because it starts out so hopeful right and it sounds like you can hear a spring in his step you know and he's got this chick of the matches and it's like a little rhythm going down the train tracks and you know he talks about how i know she didn't mean to hurt my feelings but that's what she like i know how to build a fire right like give me a break you know But then you're down to two matches, you know, and you're, uh-oh, like it's, it really gets heavy at the end. Yeah. I also wonder if that line you just mentioned is, it could be her saying, you know, you need to give yourself up and go back to the school. And I almost wondered if that was, was another meaning of that.Track 1:[33:45] Like she didn't, you know, she, she hurt my feelings. That's insightful. Yeah. It certainly could be. i i took it as the way that i did because he mentions the memory of her smile like right here you go buddy this will help you good luck yeah that's just my interpretation yeah and i think there are layers like like any song of.Track 1:[34:06] Gourd's and i just wanted to mention to the almost like childlike quality of these first few songs like in.Track 1:[34:14] The way that gourd's singing almost like a naivety to his voice and not only that you mentioned the the seven six five four that's like a a very common thing to do in children's music and so i wondered if that was intentional to a lot of the melodies in these first few songs are quite yeah just just like simple melodies that almost sound like you could picture a kid singing them yeah i didn't think of it but you're you're right wow i just want to mention that this is the song that i think i had i want to say familiarity because it was like three or four notes but the peter mansbridge interview with gourd yeah they they were kind of in the studio gordon and the guys and they played this song and it was just maybe one line and i don't remember but i remember the tune this was the one that stuck with me entering this this project i want to point out because again as i mentioned i had the graphic novel next to me on a music stand you know as points of reference but the heartbreaking frame from the middle of the page where the family very stoic the mom is again as you mentioned you know showing them how to use the match and you could see the despair in their face you can see the absolute despair because they know this is only going to end two ways he's going to get caught and go back or the eventuality of what happens, happens.Track 1:[35:38] But then the next photo, the smile, you know, the last smile, I mean, when you think about it, this is the last actual act of love.Track 1:[35:49] He experiences before he passes like the a real act of love from another human being and then the chick chick chick is he's shaking the matches and part of the song so that that's all i wanted to mention i i actually did think that um that little grin on his face not only was it feeling nice about what that family did for him but also like now i've got an ace in the hole like a little bit a little bit mischievous. Like I have a backup plan now. Like he's got, he's got, he's pulled one over on something, you know?Track 1:[40:10] The chorus in here, I will not be struck. I'm not going back. Visually, it ties into the shots of Chaney in school being taught English and struggling. A lot of survivors reported being hit when they were speaking their own language. And so they were forced to learn English and were forbidden to speak their own languages.Track 1:[40:35] And to this day, there are many, thankfully many, Indigenous languages, but often not a lot of people speaking them. So I think, you know, from what I've heard that, that it's definitely on the upswing and I know there's people around where I live teaching languages, you know, teaching traditional languages to kids and, um, and even in the schools. Yeah i i so struck i thought the word struck like you said is is super deep struck meaning literally hit by one of the teachers and i also struck like i will not be struck by emotion no by emotion and turning back and yes the match absolutely but also he's literally walking down train tracks i won't be struck by a train and he says i'm gonna put my ear against the rail and And what I can't hear, I can feel, which is again, what I can't hear. I can feel is a way to think about him struggling with the language and you see him squinting at the map. Like, I don't know what this means. And in the video at one point, they scramble the letters on the map because it's meaningless, you know? Yeah. And he throws the map in the fire. He's like, oh, I can't read it. So I'm going to just burn it. And it makes no difference to me. You know, if they didn't understand the language, they got hit. It. So if what I don't hear, I will feel. And I really love the, again, you go back to the father. I see my father's face warming his feet by the stove.Track 1:[42:05] We used to have each other. Now we only have ourselves. And there's that warmth like.Track 1:[42:12] In the in the visuals but also in the music um this song too has a very if you were to just hear this song without you know the context without thinking too much about the lyrics it's it's it starts off very melodic you've got just that that acoustic guitar and then the vocal melody is very very very um you know sweet and the drums come in and what i love about the drums is that you've got.Track 1:[42:40] This this rock beat the kick and and snare are just locked in so tight but then the hi-hat gives it a bit of chaos and there's just so much feeling in that in that hi-hat playing and i i'm thinking maybe they in the mix it might move around a little bit but it really the contrast between the tightness of the of the kick and snare and the and the hats really gives it, gives it a great feel um and then the bass comes in with this nice melodic line and then what what happens is the bass starts playing on the offbeats and it gives this sort of like ominous feel like something is, is coming. Right. And, and then also there's that guitar, the electric guitar is maybe my favorite part of the song. There's this, it actually, it's just sort of repeating the vocal melody, but there's this, some open strings in there and it's almost like a little bit out of tune or something or an effect that makes it just sound a bit uneasy.Track 2:[43:37] Yeah. I wouldn't have been able to explain that, but I get exactly what you're saying. Kirk, what do you think, buddy?Track 1:[43:45] I do love the overall usage, the hip as well, with the open tunings. That's something, as you know, Craig, playing in what you do and having to have a few guitars ready to go with open tuning, there is definitely an overall presence that it brings to the music. And if you don't mind, I'm going to jump into Sun, the next song. Song speaking of an ominous feeling and thought and they showed in the in in the graphic and in, obviously in in the the movie the cartoon the vision of his father and and then this song you know it's when I'm on your shoulder uh one of the in my research one of the things I found was a uh.Track 1:[44:30] I was a school in Canada that was the I'm assuming it was the teacher was playing the guitar and singing this and there was a interpretive dance going on to it and it was just extremely powerful extremely extremely powerful i i mean you guys know i lost my pops a year ago the memories and being a father and and the memories of that bond what what cheney's going through and as we you know are in this journey and and and not knowing what's going to come there's an you know i think I think a dark expectation, but you always hope that there's going to be something positive out of it. I think this song really, really sets up that whatever happens with this journey, you know, his family's there, his tribe's there, his dad's there. So I have a son from a previous relationship. He's, he'll be 18 this year.Track 1:[45:24] And I haven't talked to him in seven years, eight years, and not by my choice. That's just the way things are. This song hits me like a ton of bricks every single time I hear it. And I would like for him to hear it. Yeah. He's Chani and I'm, I'm dad and not quite the same thing, but it's real close. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's a gorgeous song and it's.Track 1:[45:53] It's the most hopeful part of this album as as far as i'm concerned you know this is the driver for channy to to get home you know and he's got 600 kilometers ahead of him yeah there's dad that's that's the finish line yeah yeah i get you know feelings from from like there's many emotional spots on this album but this is definitely one that hits hard you know being a father and and a son and just um you know that message of you know i'll whatever happens i'll be with you and you know again the warmth of the of his father um the you know the fire is reminding him of his father the image and the warmth of his and also i think you know the use of the word dance you know like when you dance i'll be on your shoulder you know thinking of how important dance was or is in.Track 1:[46:47] Indigenous culture and you know again another thing that they wouldn't have been allowed to practice you know i think that there's another layer of this and i love the line at the end even as the world convulses and then at that moment there's this bass convulsion there's that big deep noise yep and you know don't stop wishing what you wish yeah just such a great message and i know that's that's a part that hits me pretty heavy and especially that last chorus when that high harmony comes in just so emotional and yeah really great song i i i'm thankful for this song you know with my with my experience it's i need reminders and this is a good one right yeah i really i really love the song a lot yeah so some secret pass secret path and if the last one you You know, if sun is the most hopeful, this is where it turns.Track 1:[47:46] Yes. Yeah. Right. And it's immediate, um, freezing rain and there's never been a colder rain than the one I'm in. And that is, you know, literally and symbolic, you know, it's, it is pouring on this kid and the snow is building up and it's, it's so nasty. And we, you know, I don't know if you get snow down in Chino, but we get snow. We do at our local mountains yeah where my mother-in-law lives in right when and in big bear and because i travel a lot i i get into a lot of snow so i've been into some below zero temperatures and i yeah i i that's why i live in southern california gentlemen yeah i know i know i like visiting the snow i don't like living in it yeah i know the ice pellets he's talking about And you go out to walk the dog and your feet come in soaked and you're only out there for two minutes. The dog's got to poop and you just, all right, do it. Come on. And you come in and you're cold and it sucks and it's to the skin, it's to the bone. And in this instance it's piled up so high that he can't even walk on the tracks they're sticking you know the snow and the ice pellets are sticking to the tracks so he can't tightrope them he can't he can't get his feet off of off of the wooden whatever they're called planks between the tracks.Track 1:[49:12] Because there's snow and ice built up on the tracks too so he is screwed every way possible.Track 1:[49:17] And there's no way out of it and this is the secret path like this is and this is what i have to do during the secret path the thought process right because he's he's essentially entering a delirium right all you have is your thoughts at this point and so the focus then becomes it's not a it's a windbreaker it's not a jacket it's a windbreaker where's my jean jacket And if you've ever worn a jean jacket before, you feel it and it provides warmth, but windbreakers don't provide warmth. They're what they are. And that delirium leads into those lines that are haunting, absolutely haunting as he's navigating all the elements that you had mentioned, Justin. And it's like you said this song just takes such a turn and then it takes a deeper turn and a deeper turn and a deeper term and and then it hits the chord and i'm sure you guys have heard it yep but that chord the first time i listened to it after the you know years ago when i just did a kind of a, I don't even know if I listened to the whole thing. I think I just kind of hit the first of each song, right? I didn't listen to the album, like listen to it. But this time when I listened to it, I heard that chord and that chord is death.Track 1:[50:46] That chord is now hope's gone. Now it's just whatever happens. He continues, of course, but that chord is the, there's no secret path. That's exactly it. That's the turning point right there is it's, it's hope is gone. And I know the exact, exact moment you mean. And I love that line too, that you mentioned about the, the icy rails that he can't even tightrope. You imagine him earlier in the day, maybe, you know, kind of like playing these childish games like like in the first song he mentions jumping from the left to the right and now it's like that loss of innocence right like he's yeah there's no way out now and the the jean jacket thing my take on this is that there's actually a famous uh you know story uh about a woman named phyllis webstad so she started something called orange shirt day have you heard of this down there yes yep or maybe i've seen it i have not okay yeah so september 30th for a number of years now has been in BC anyways has been the orange shirt day and so this woman Phyllis is from, around here she actually went to the school that would be closest to where I live and she you know was taken away to residential school and she was given or bought this this brand new orange shirt to take to school and when she got there you know they took it away from her and she never saw it again and she just couldn't understand as a you know young girl why they stole it from her and and so you know she talked about you know to this day the color orange reminds her of this and those feelings of of you know feeling worthless and so september 30th now in canada is a as a new statutory holiday uh as of a couple of years ago for national it's the national day of um national day for truth and reconciliation it's called and um yeah so so that That is what it reminded me of this, you know, he is, his jean jacket's taken away and, you know, they give him this windbreaker that it doesn't even do what it's supposed to do. You know, they're, they're liars, right? Like they, they call this a wind, windbreaker. It doesn't do what they said it would do. There's one part in one of the choruses. I know what you're going to say. Where he says it's, and then they call it a windbreaker. and like gourd is and i don't know if that's intentional or not but it feels like channy's like incredible it's like what what is this is it a windbreaker or not like why why are you selling this if it's not because channy had uh from what i understand a pretty good understanding of wordplay whether he could read or not in english he picked up on um double meanings of words or a twist of phrase or or something like this that you know could mean a couple of different things and and be funny even well this is literally this jacket is not breaking the wind from me right like yeah why.Track 1:[58:27] Yeah. This is, this is a tough song. Um, it also happens to be a great song and again, take away the meaning and it's a very just rock and song. Yeah. I love the way you've got that really quiet intro and then it just hits you over the top of the head with that don't and really just smacks you in the face. And it, it is so powerful. I mentioned I I'm, I'm a teacher. And when, when I play this for the first time and I crank the speaker up to see, you know, the the shock yeah yeah so so this you know very obviously a reference to abuse to you know sexual abuse physical abuse i spent a little bit of time in the last few weeks going through the truth and reconciliation document which is basically the documented truth of survivors and their families and and anyone who is affected by by residential schools and the university of mantoba keeps these uh these records and they're they're free to look at you know if you too many many stories to to count it's just horrifying and yeah really i think the part that gets me in this song is it's not even in the lyric um booklet i don't think but what but the little whispers how how yes yeah that so so powerful you know how how yeah when i heard the song first.Track 1:[59:41] Before i saw the illustrations and before i saw the video i i thought that this was Cheney saying, don't let this change who you are, not knowing that it was about sexual abuse, not even considering that that was a thing. And I thought that this was, don't let their, you know, it's in the law to kill the Indian, right? That's the phrasing that's in the rules or the laws or whatever the credo was that was written up in the 1800s when this started, started kill the Indian in the child and don't don't let them do this to you don't let them take your your culture away from you your your origin from you I had a very similar take and belief on it Justin as an end you described right after that you you have the you know I heard them in the dark heard the things they do I heard the heavy whispers you know.Track 1:[1:00:39] Whisper just don't let them touch you and that's that's about you that's the part in the video where i was like oh now i get it yeah they make it yeah yeah quite obvious at that point like yeah if you haven't gotten it by that point there there's a frame there that yeah it's it's heartbreaking it's it's same thing as i mentioned earlier like i had i had an understanding of what the the lyrics meant or the songs were and then i got the graphic novel and i i went through it and And I'd stop, I literally had to close it and walk away for a bit and gather myself and just, you know, you know how something horrible is going on and you're, you go, how can it be any worse? And then the worst reveals itself. Yeah. In the book, the last frames, um, before the, the, the next song are a hand in the dark. work. And then the very last frame is a hand in the sky over literally and figuratively over Chaney's head as he walks down the tracks. And it's like, this is never going to go away. It's something he would have if he lived to 90 years old, it's still there.Track 1:[1:01:49] Well, and you know, we talked about how secret path was that transition, right? And there was smiles and there was glimmers of hope. And then when it turns, when that desperation hits in there's no secret path like all that that he had been suppressing that you know that's.Track 1:[1:02:09] Victims of abuse that's a survival technique is to just suppress it and it it released it and so now all the dark darknesses is just so prevalent and heartbreaking yeah.Track 2:[1:02:27] It's hard to hold my tongue and, this stuff makes me angry and rightly so, but we're going to turn the page right now and we're going to go to the next track which is the 8th track on the record Haunt Them, Haunt Them, Haunt Them, justin i.Track 1:[1:02:55] Think i'm in despair okay then you can end the song right there like that's it i don't know if i if i if i have cried actively but this is the one that i was like okay all right um i'm ready for this to be over with because i don't know if i can handle it and um the raven and, can't wait to eat your eyes you know like god that raven is just like sitting on the branch licking his lips like let's go let's i i've got a way out for you man and it's going to be through my stomach you know because you're going to die and and i can't wait you're my next meal and.Track 1:[1:03:32] You know and he's got a channy has to try and keep walking and keep breathing and you know the theme throughout the thing is is i'm i'm just going to close my eyes i'm just going to catch my breath i'm gonna get up and keep going and he's at the point where he knows if i if i try that.Track 1:[1:03:51] That i'm not getting up my pale last days and my all my memories are just memories of memories like he can't and even he can't he can't think of being there with his father or his family at home he can only think of laying in bed at the school thinking about his father at home like he's he's happy he's out of body he's he's um delirious he is beyond rational thinking i think and the drum beat is you know we've all been in a situation where we're truly exhausted and your heart just feels like it's you know 20 times bigger than it is and it's your brain the blood flow the pumping is is in your head and that that is such a prevalent theme throughout this and i think it really helps to hit home that desperation and again yeah the uh being being followed stalked by the raven you know death forgive me because again i don't know this and i don't want to sound like i do but if i understand it correctly ravens are sort of important in indigenous culture sort of the the symbol of death is that am i understanding this correctly or or that they represent maybe the darkening of times or something. I would imagine it would be probably different for, for different areas of the.Track 1:[1:05:13] You know entry but um yeah but yeah definitely i think in this story you know definitely that's, part of what the raven character is there for yeah um another thing to touch on in this song is is this is really about the you know the stripping of culture and the the scenes with with the halloween like i just imagine you know these kids who are being told that that they're you know uncivilized you know this is you know their their words and then they're teaching them about this you know crazy holiday about ghosts and ghouls and it just imagine how nuts that must have seemed to them and so you know being forced to to you know we you know many schools even to this day you know we do things around christmas and thanksgiving and all these you know, Easter, all these, um, you know, Christian holidays. And, you know, thankfully now things are more inclusive when we try to recognize many holidays, you know, in these parts, just that, yeah. I can't necessarily say the same around here.Track 1:[1:06:19] Yes. Um, anyways, I, I kind of lost my train of thought, but, but I know. Yeah. The, and even the, I like the, the, the masks that they show in the, um, in the video that, you know, the paper mask, paper bag mask and and the eyes are cut out and then later on you of course you've got the raven holding the eyes and and the other thing i think about this song is that this is like revenge this is revenge this is him wanting revenge and i think it's shortly i don't think it's a feeling that goes through the whole song because at the very end there's that twist where it's i want to go back not to haunt them yes so the whole song it's like i want to go back and haunt them you know i want revenge you know and you have to imagine these are the some of the emotions you might go through in this in this experience like anger and wanting to get back at them and then at the end no i just want to go back and you know not that he wants to go back to school and be treated the way he was but at some point he must have had that feeling like this was a mistake i want to go back not to haunt them just i want to go back you know one thing that hit me with the graphic novel and and and the uh the movie cartoon um the when they take the picture.Track 1:[1:07:28] And um i'm sure you guys have heard the you know the the tale of of of being fearful of a camera right the camera takes your soul and that was one thing that hit me when i saw it even though i know it's in more in modern times and and um there would be exposure to it but um.Track 1:[1:07:50] Further indignities and reasoning for haunting right that they're making us put these masks on but then they're still taking that picture and taking taking the soul was a and and probably meaning and probably sending that picture to a newspaper saying look how much fun these kids are having yes yeah and being exploited at the same time even further moving into the only place to be you obviously you can be hit by the emotion as I read through the lyrics and as I looked at the images yeah and I think this is a song of acceptance regardless of trade or true not true we do know that he was taken from his family and we do know that it was hundreds of miles away and we do know that eventually he perished and and and obviously went through horrendous things and is now made that decision and moved and to try and get back home and has gone through what we've discussed. And this is the only place to be, right? Because I think as we discussed in Secret Path.Track 1:[1:08:57] I think there's that in the song Secret Path, that turn and I don't believe that he has necessarily hoped to physically be back with his family, but I think he's now realizing that he's going to be with his family as he moves on and uh he's out he's away from from that which caused this horrific change in in his life from a you know 12 year old boy or however old when he was first taken and from a loving family and sisters and and and and to to the horrors that were experienced and now Now, obviously, physical survival is not likely, and this is the only place to be.Track 1:[1:09:42] And I was thankful, like Justin mentioned, after don't let this touch you and haunt them and like really wondering, wow, how can we finish this? I did feel a sense of, okay, I'm going to give you a little bit of a pillow to fall down on. Um before we finish this out which you know when we talk about the last song um you know i spoken with you guys earlier before we started recording about how impactful that song is but the only place to be was i think the right uh transition into where we've come from into where we're going, yeah and and the word acceptance is exactly what i what i think for the song it's that acceptance of, of death and um and even in the visuals you have a life you know almost like his life flashing before him it's it's all you know and as an effective sort of conclusion to the story too you've got all these scenes that we've seen in the book just flashing by and a lot of the lyrics are almost like him being at one with nature which we know of course is a huge part of indigenous culture is just that being at one with the earth and respect for the environment with respect for, you know animals and everything being equal and i think that's what what this song is is is doing yeah.Track 2:[1:11:03] Yeah what do you think justin.Track 1:[1:11:06] Well and i i found a lot of peace in this song and comfort for my own selfish self but i think that maybe that's what gourd is trying to convey here too and and i am for the wolf and the raven will be first to get my eyes and i'm going to feed these animals and take my body that's fine and I'll be somewhere else and I think he's yeah acceptance is the right word this this song is definitely a cooling of temperatures though like it's okay you can breathe and we know where this is headed and the worst part of it is over like he's he's ready to go here's the door.Track 2:[1:15:12] Here, here, and here. How would you best describe this one, Craig?Track 1:[1:15:20] Pure emotion. Like this song, like with so few words. There are nine words in the song. Yeah. Gorgeous takes you. Yeah. Just like eases out of it. And it's just heartbreaking and beautiful.Track 1:[1:15:37] And the, um, yeah, I should mention the piano too. So, so this is one of the, the tracks that Kevin drew helped to help to write his piano work is, is just, yeah, it's, it's just a perfect closer, like a little epilogue and yeah, lyrically, this one's tough. This one's tough to again in so few words it's like you know what gets me is that i think it's the last line when he says you sign you sign you know it's like you know the death certificate or yeah it's just yeah kirk yeah i know you said this one really affected you what what are your thoughts i i um yeah we're jumble it's it's it's everything it's um you know as a as a lover of music as a creator of music as a recreator of music in in all forms it's hard to write it's it's hard to write poetry it's hard to write a novel it's hard to write a sentence and you want to write everything you want you feel like you need to have this descriptive word for every single thought and emotion right just think about like if you're in social media like you you want to you're put you're posting a picture or story and you want the world to know why you're doing it right so you write this three paragraph of well just show the effing picture and.Track 1:[1:17:04] Just let it be and and to me it was like gourd crack the the age old this is all you need this is it we don't need to say anything other than these nine words yeah yeah and earlier in the album you know words are birds words are it's you know it's speaking to that power of words and And also, there's another line in the book, I forget which song it is, but when there isn't a next sentence, track four. Yeah, it's almost like sometimes there aren't words, right? Like, the emotion is just there. Yeah this one's a this one is you know the you knew it was coming from the first note of the first song right you know the story before you press play and you finally get there and it hurts worse than you would imagine it would yep this is 140 characters he got it all in one tweet you know and it and it's destroys you it absolutely because you don't need any more yeah.Track 2:[1:18:13] No uh I really like that you can fit that in one tweet uh it's concise it's a call to action and um it wraps up a really fucking powerful and phenomenal record craig early on said this might be his favorite work by gourd downey and that includes all the tragically hit material so fellas it's going to be tough to do this next part but it is tradition in these parts so what do you think about naming your mvp tracks.Track 1:[1:18:51] I'll i'll take a i think to grab on to this this topic quickly um you know i think it's difficult to not choose here here and here as an mvp but i can almost say a co-mvp for me is sun those two um obviously embody so much and and have impacted us and uh so i'll i'll have to stick with here here and here but uh sun is is uh definitely right there for me um.Track 1:[1:19:24] Yeah, it's a tough one. I love this album. Don't let this touch you. I know that the subject matter is something I wish it didn't have to be written, but at the same time, you know, he does it in such an elegant way. It's it's for touching on a topic like this he just it makes you feel so much and and i think the main reason i'm picking it to that is actually not to do with the lyrics it's that that transition i mentioned you have the theremin and then everything changes and it just settles and relaxes and the bass line is just i think that's my musical highlight of the album that that little descending bass line yeah the drums and i love how the drums drop out for a moment and they come back in and it's beautiful that that that whole section is just it makes makes it for me justin what was your your favorite yeah it's also don't let this touch you and on my first run through it was the song that got my attention just musically like only as a rock and roll fan this is a great song long it's just you know musically really really cool and then my experience with um the video.Track 1:[1:20:41] Which totally crushed me and changed everything that I thought I knew about this album and about the story and that's that's the moment for me that that I was like okay I need to read more I need I need to really understand this and um but at the same time I told the whole story too I didn't need don't understand anymore but it was the the push that i was like okay this is worse than what we thought and it was already bad but yeah that's the one yep this has been i'm breaking up all right we've all we've all had our moments today and i think that's a good thing on on several levels right because it is of uh uh it is of a a topic in nature that that should be heartbreaking to anybody and everybody that that comes across it but you know let's hope that it does bring to a sense of hope because we do need to face our our fear and the darkness and that's the best way to to to combat it and and hopefully to make change so i know for me even with the heaviness of the subject again it's uh you know gord has has raised the bar again and in so many ways and on so many levels because you know gourd's message was we're not a canada until we get this figured out and it's going to take 100 years well yeah yeah guess what yeah.Track 2:[1:22:03] Uh then you know no amount of time will fill the void that has been created at the tremendous loss of life and culture, at the hands of people who should have frankly known better. Anything else you guys want to say before we pack up this gear?Track 1:[1:22:29] I just will continue to say how thankful I am to be on this journey with you. And I'm glad we were able to share this today. And we hope that it's insightful for others and that it'll inspire you as well to do your own research and do your own. Thank you all. Yeah, thank you. That's right.Track 2:[1:22:48] Absolutely. Well, that's what we've got for you this week with Gord's fifth record, The Spellbinding Secret Path. Highly recommend getting this record, experiencing the whole multimedia venture. You heard the guys say how it changed their look on on several songs on the record, so it's well worth it. We also want to do a viewing party of the live CBC concert, so stay tuned for that, and that's about it. So on behalf of Craig, Justin, and Kirk, this is JD saying, pick up your shit.

And the Conquering Sun

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 18, 2024 76:42

This week in the pod, the gang is up to their neck in the fantastic effort by Gord and the Sadies. You're gonna want to check this one out!Transcript: Track 1:[0:00] Hey, it's Craig here, and I just wanted to let you know that Christmastime in.Track 1:[0:03] Toronto is coming early this year. Join me and the Discovering Downey crew for the recording of our podcast finale, live at The Rec Room in downtown Toronto on Friday, July 19th. Long Slice Brewing presents A Celebration of Gord Downey, which will include a special in-person interview with Gord's brother, Patrick Downey. Spend the evening listening to your favorite hip tunes provided by the almost hip and help us raise money for the gourd downy fund for brain cancer research with a silent auction featuring incredible items up for grabs visit discoveringdowny.com for tickets or for more information about the event, let's have a toast for charity wickedness and most importantly hope.Track 2:[1:04] DOS Beauty I name my guitar My Beautiful Behor Everybody's coughing here And music's infiltrating work In the most pleasant way It's a system based on silverware Listening's an extrasensory Perception And talking the only psychic thing and I can dress you in my thoughts until you wear them. I've been taking care of my clothes like they're cattle. Try this shirt. It would look so good on you.Track 1:[1:42] Welcome, music lovers. Long Slice Brewery presents Discovering Downy. Hey, it's J.D.Track 2:[1:52] Here, and welcome to Discovering Downey, an 11-part project with a focus on the music and poetry of Mr. Gord Downey. The late frontman of the Tragically Hip gave to the world an extensive solo discography on top of the hip's vocal acrobatics that awed us for years. So far, he's released eight records in total, three of them posthumously. Now listen, you might be the biggest fan of The Hip out there, but have you heard these records? Because I'm an inquisitive podcaster, I enlisted my friends Craig, Justin, and Kirk, giant fans in their own right, to discover Downey with me, JD, as their host. Every week we'll get together and listen to one of Gord's records. We're starting with Coke Machine Glow and working from there in chronological order. We discuss and dissect the album, the production, the lyrics, and we break it down song by song. This week we're going to be talking about Gord's fourth record, and his first and only with the Sadies.Track 3:[2:58] Occurring son kirk from chino how the fuck are things with you buddy jd.Track 6:[3:04] I'm uh i'm back home after a little bit of travel it's been good travel um it's allowed me to really kind of soak this album in so i'm excited talking about it with you boys.Track 3:[3:15] Can you confirm this craig i'm kidding yeah how's it going pretty.Track 4:[3:20] Good yeah also looking forward to talking about this album them and it this one took me a little bit of time to get into but we'll talk about that i have been a little under the weather since the last recording it was about halfway through the last podcast i started feeling something coming on and just won't go away just a cold thankfully but yeah other than that things are well.Track 3:[3:41] Well that's good justin you've been a podcasting machine today are you spent or are you ready to talk shop with me i'm.Track 5:[3:49] Just getting started buddy.Track 3:[3:50] Yeah well let's get into it then and the conquering sun is the album we are discussing this week after three consecutive solo outings with some form of the country of miracles gourd wrote and produced this one with the sadies who had just come from supporting the hip on their world container tour Like so many, this marriage was consummated by the CBC, when the Sadies chose Mr. Downey to collaborate with, as was the program's premise. The Sadies are a Toronto-based and road-tested throughout Canada and beyond, with an original lineup consisting of Travis Goode, Sean Dean, Mike Belotiski, and Dallas Goode, who sadly passed away in 2022. This band, as I mentioned, is road-tested with buckets of swagger and chops for days. But how do you talk about The Conquering Sun? After the loose and improvised feeling of the last three records, this record is tight and economical. With a 30-minute runtime, I had to listen twice to get my walk in.Track 3:[4:55] Of the four records we've listened to so far, this one makes my Olympic podium for rock and roll with a hard-fought bronze medal, which is nothing to shake a stick at unless, of course, you're shaking the stick in a complimentary fashion. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this album. In fact, in my opinion, this record is the closest we get to a sound that is reminiscent of the hip, up and down on this record. The songs are screaming for radio play if only radio had been a factor upon its release in 2014. From the rip of Crater right through Saved, there isn't a missed opportunity on this record. I could go on about how much I like this record, na-na-na-na, blah-blah-blah, etc. You might be curious how I'm literally singing this album's praises, yet I've only ranked it third of four. I promise I'm not damning with faint praise. It's more that I loved the ceiling of the country of miracles, particles and the idea that we don't get a fourth effort from that entity bums me out a little bit so it's hard to go into this one with that ripple of bummed outness influencing me a little more than frankly i'd like but who cares what i think let's check in with the crew craig we'll start with you this week.Track 4:[6:04] Yeah this album like i i mentioned took took a few listens to get into um it's definitely not in you know it's not my favorite of the four we've heard so far but it's really just it's drastically different it just has a different vibe and there are a lot of things I really like about it and I think that my biggest realization is this this is a summer album this is a a nice weather taking a drive in the car putting the windows down this it's that kind of album and for the first couple weeks I didn't have that weather but but just past in the past few days we have and it's just it totally changed my outlook of this this album.Track 3:[6:45] I was on mute. Justin, what are your thoughts overall?Track 5:[6:49] Oh, I needed this one. I needed this album to get my headspace back into this. And I think I'm going to rank this number two so far out of the four. I actually really love this album a lot. And like Craig, it took me a minute to get into it, but something clicked and I have been listening to it at least two or three times a day every day since. And in the car, on my phone, with or without earbuds trying to get the different parts of the sound, and it kicks my ass every time. I really just like this album from start to finish. Every song kind of sounds the same, which makes it sound like one big long song, and I really kind of love that.Track 3:[7:28] Interesting. I can't wait till we break it down. What say you, Kirk from Chino?Track 6:[7:32] Like my brethren here, it took me a while. In fact, it took me a while because it almost felt like a divorce and maybe a bit of an affair Was going on with with our buddy Gord. I was so I.Track 6:[7:48] Immersed into what was happening with the country miracles and like you said in the beginning like the ceiling like i wanted more and i was so ready for more i had the vinyl of this one the last ground bounce i didn't and i listened to it and i knew there was something there but i was angry honestly i was angry because i wanted more as we had mentioned but man did it grow and grow row. I'm not going to rank it right now because every time I rank something, a day or two goes by and something happens. And I realized, oh man, that was, you know, the grand bounce. That was Coke machine glow that, and you know, every album that we've had a chance to listen to has been, I think in every slot, if that makes sense, depending on the time of day or what's going on. And and so again it just brings you back to joy because i didn't dive in when it was happening which of course i'm a little sad about but i'm so excited now that i'm like i'm really loving music discovery again i'm really loving listening to albums i'm really loving i don't care if it's in the car if i'm walking the dog if i'm sitting at work if i'm you know working on something on on the computer and I've got the music going.Track 6:[9:11] Like I have not spent this much time with new music. I say that in quotes because it's obviously not new, but it's new to me, new to us.Track 6:[9:23] And I'm just, I'm loving the ride. That's all I got to say. This one is the last two, I mean, like I'm going to be listening to these forever. And I'm going to try and preach the word and get some people to jump on board because it makes me sad when I look at Spotify or something and I see the honestly and don't jump on me. It's like the limited number of listens to the Gord stuff. I have friends that have put stuff out that have more downloads than that. I'm not saying that in a negative, I'm saying that in a like, that shouldn't be. That shouldn't be, so. Right. My diatribe's over, sorry.Track 3:[10:03] No, no. Well, that's why I was mentioning off the top too too, that it screams for radio play to me. It's very radio-friendly. There's nothing over four minutes. And fucking radio just didn't matter in 2014. So of course we were never going to hear this. Unless we were paying very close attention.Track 6:[10:26] Absolutely.Track 3:[10:27] Clearly we were not.Track 6:[10:28] Absolutely. Radio.Track 5:[10:29] Radio still matters to me. I'm a radio guy. I'm going to tell you that right now. Yeah. Love radio.Track 3:[10:34] Radio doesn't love you back though. That's the problem. Like it's getting stripped down and worn down and these formats, you know, like if you've got a, if you've got a local that you love, then by going to stand with it, right?Track 5:[10:47] Yeah, you're right. We have, we have a, I'm going to sidebar here for just a second. We have a great station here in Southern Vermont, WEQX, which is one of the last great independent alternative rock stations in North America. And they discovered No Rain by Blind Melon. They were the first one to play it. And they just got this great pedigree, and they love to play Gord's solo stuff. From 2020 on, there's been a lot of new Gord solo stuff that's really been great.Track 3:[11:19] Get up. Right.Track 5:[11:20] And it's kind of been hard to not listen ahead during this project. Wow. I don't know if they played any of the stuff from this album, but this would totally fit.Track 4:[11:28] Yeah, we once had a really awesome independent radio station down in Bellingham, Washington, which we could pick up in Vancouver. And they actually, their tagline was something like, we don't play Canadian music because we have to. We play it because it rocks or something along those lines. And they would play The Hip and Rush. and yeah that's the only american station i've heard that that played a ton of the hip and yeah of course about 15 years ago they got whatever bought out by chorus or someone and it's now just yeah yeah your standard rock radio well.Track 3:[12:02] Should we eradicate this problem and educate people on this record go through it track by track are we ready let's.Track 5:[12:10] Go sure yeah.Track 3:[12:12] All right we start with track one side a it's the classic rock tinged crater what did you think of this one mr greg.Track 4:[12:25] My dad uh came to vancouver from new zealand in 1965 to to buy a 65 chevy impala and this song crater is a 1965 chevy impala cruising down the road it's just a great rock and roll track yeah um man that snare drum is yes snare snare yeah it is it is there in the mix yeah definitely i didn't dive into the lyrics at all especially um the songs that were more kind of rocking i i just i was just enjoying them and the only thought i had lyric wise was um almost like an idea of like either you're you're the crater or you're the meter meteor And I was kind of thinking along the lines of there's that not so great Dire Straits song, Heavy Fuel, where he says, you know, sometimes you're the windshield and sometimes you're the bug. And that was kind of the... What i got out of the lyrics on this song.Track 6:[13:25] I i wonder in the lyrics and maybe you guys did further research that i didn't see like how much of it was gord how much of it was the gents from the sadies because i i knew the name the sadies but i honestly until this i had not really you know dove into some of their music and i think in one of our you know communications justin had mentioned that as well like he's doing a lot of listening to the sadies and and i try i you know my listening at first it's this is it's going to sound weird um i did a lot of listening at first obviously like through spotify or whatever else but it wasn't until youtube and i got to see these guys and they're wearing like their nudie suits is what it looks like you know and i just i just saw a bunch of them they had a big exhibit at the you know country music uh hall of fame and they were We're talking about that LA country and, you know, very much a country tinge, but, you know, they're using those hollow body guitars. And anyway, so back to lyrics, like what's the balance between Gord and the Sadie's? Did anyone find anything on that?Track 4:[14:30] My understanding is that they, that the Sadie's wrote the songs and Gord wrote the lyrics that, yeah. And it was recorded apparently over a number of years. This wasn't like an album that was done in one session, which I find surprising because like someone said earlier, it's, it sounds just like a, it's a great album. It, it really sounds like it was just tracked in one day or something. It's yeah, there's a.Track 6:[14:53] There's YouTube has a, uh, interview of, I think the Sadie's had just put an album out. It was like 2010 and Gord was with them and they, you know, obviously had some discussions about their, their time together. And in some of the research it talks about, this has definitely been a long-term type of thing. Great song.Track 5:[15:10] Yeah, there was a CBC fuse in 2007 is what put them together. So it took seven years for this album to come out from that first collaboration. Collaboration I really like the sound.Track 6:[15:21] From a musicianship standpoint ethereal is really the kind of the adjective that came to mind on a lot of the the guitar parts that the Sadie's had you know very much a hollow body type guitar going through either a Fender a lot of reverb I really liked that driving sound I really really liked it it was it was pretty prevalent throughout in my opinion anything.Track 3:[15:43] Else on crater i.Track 5:[15:46] Just yeah i mean this is gourd this is like this is a live show on a record um this one song particularly and he is giving it all he has what at the end of the second verse and if we record any of these songs this is the one i'm doing because this is a this is a screamer and it's so much fun to be it you know we don't want to we don't want to do it we want to be it this song is fun to sing, Yeah. So I also, I downloaded an app because I noticed my foot was tapping a lot faster at the end of the song than the beginning. And I, so I, I downloaded an app and it picks up 13 beats per minute from the start to the finish.Track 4:[16:29] Oh yeah. That's something I'm going to be talking about later. Cause I, it was driving me nuts. One of the songs I was trying to actually figure out what was happening mathematically and yeah. Okay. I'm glad I'm not the only one noticed.Track 6:[16:43] I love that. I love the time changes in a variety of different songs. I put them down in a few notes. But the one thing I really want to say before we dive into any more, long live the guitar solo. And there's quite a few guitar solos on this album, specifically Crater. And they're just, they're solos. They're good solos. And on the other albums, we'll call lead lines, but there's not a lot of solos. And I'm digging that, getting that back, because we haven't had that in the first three.Track 5:[17:15] Oh, yes.Track 3:[17:16] Nice. Well, the next one is sort of the titular track, but not quite. The Conquering Sun does what for you, Justin?Track 5:[17:27] When I look out the window and see Audette's Blue Spruce Farm across the street, That's kind of what I think about. I mean, it's getting on time to plant. And here it is as we record this. It's planting season and working the fugitive dust. Nature, please be good to us. You know, we just had this massively wet spring that wiped out a shit ton of the farms around here. That's, you know, before they even got started. For me, that's part of what this song is. There's also the line, she is more than a conqueror. And I wonder if that's a reference to Gord's wife, Laura, with her recent cancer battle. I don't know when this song was recorded in the timeline of all that, like what year this happened. But I interpreted it as possibly something that could be a reference to defeating the cancer. And the other thing that I really, it was a callback to We Are The Same is when Gord's, his vocal run during hearing, ooh, day is your word, night is the glue. He does that exact same thing in The Depression Suite. That very same run, the change, the pitch, the length, I love it.Track 4:[18:41] Yeah, I caught that too. That's great.Track 6:[18:43] Great song. It was one of those. I think I mentioned on the last time we spoke, there was not a definitive MVP for me. This one has fallen in and out of MVP, and it may fall back in at the end of this recording. morning. But that's one of the things that really showed me this was a great album, but specifically this song. I just felt immersed in it. And like I said earlier, Ethereal, again, another great solo, another great, that sound that the Sadies have. They have, these guys, what are they like six, five, six, six, they look like trees and they might be a buck or five soaking wet and the suits are barely hanging on them and he's just playing this you know telecaster like it's a little tiny you know a small ukulele and they just have this they they just have this presence and like i said it really wasn't until i i started seeing them that i i got the sadie's because when i was listening it didn't hit me as much and i was kind of hoping i don't know if i mentioned this earlier because they were on the world container tour and i was wondering if they were the opening band I didn't find anything that showed them specifically, but when I watch the videos, it doesn't bring a memory or recollection that I saw. I think it was Sam Roberts that opened for a lot of the shows that I saw here in California.Track 5:[20:06] I saw Joel Plaskett as the opener on that tour.Track 6:[20:11] Got it. Got it. Yeah. So I was kind of hoping that they were one of the openers. But you know now i'm really excited that you know just in the last couple of days i would say is really when my attention has gone towards them and when you start hearing and seeing how they crafted these songs together and how they worked so well with gourd and his phrasing and and so yeah love this love this yeah.Track 4:[20:38] The the sadies are actually on tour as we record this and i'm hoping to pick to go down to the the vancouver show uh so you might you might want to look at dates they They might be coming down your way.Track 6:[20:48] I hope so.Track 4:[20:48] Yeah, this song, to me, as soon as I heard it, it reminded me of Nico Case. And Nico Case is someone who's worked with the Sadies. And so it is very much that sort of alt-country vibe on this song. And this was probably the song that drew me in right away. Again, like Kirk said, it was in the contention for my MVP track for sure, which, like you, keeps changing. and yeah it's just just a great feel to this song.Track 3:[21:18] Yeah i couldn't agree more i think we're two for two so far on this record and we're gonna find out that let's go pretty even record it's a pretty even fucking record los angeles times has the aforementioned swagger dripping from it, Kirk, did you like this one as much as I did?Track 6:[25:07] I'm going to say yes, absolutely. But it didn't start out that way. This actually was one of my least favorite tunes after the first couple of passes. I just didn't quite get it. It was just kind of like, it was almost too much swagger at first for me. Because remember, I think we're in a divorce right now. I think this is an affair that's going on. So I'm a little adverse to the song and the album and almost everything because I still have his last, you know, that last record that just moved us all. It was still here. So there was this almost a betrayal, swagger, distaste that I had in the beginning. But listening to it, re-listening to it, listening to it in headphones, listening to it on vinyl, listening to it in the car, listening to it in the plane, listening to it in the hotel. The key changes, like we'd mentioned earlier, just another great solo, just great rock. And, hey, I'm an LA guy. So this one definitely turned and has also filtered through multiple times sometimes on the mvp track side so yeah to me it's three for three and i'm just gonna pre-call it for y'all.Track 4:[26:22] Yeah yeah i found this song to be um i was the same way i found the the progression to be a bit generic at first and so i didn't really love it right away but yeah it really grew and i think what makes it work is that this band is just so tight they're so i mean loose but Yeah, the tempo, you know, picks up and, you know, there's the push and push and pull, but they are such a great band that they can pull off anything. Just a simple strumming pattern and make it sound pro. And there's that thing you mentioned off the top, JD, the blah, blah, blah, et cetera, which I was wondering if, I'm sure you guys were thinking the music at work, live, Gord would do the et cetera thing. Did you find anything lyrically, Justin?Track 5:[27:10] Yeah. So there's a dedication at the end of the lyrics for Walter Van Tilburg Clark, who wrote The Oxbow Incident, among many other works. And that became kind of one of the great Western movies of all time. And it's about, the subject is these cowboys thought that one of their buddies got murdered and that somebody stole their cows. And then they found this group of three people that they thought did it and they hanged them. And then they found out that the guy survived and it wasn't them and you know it was just a big mess so it was it was the oxbow incident and uh yeah so it was a complicated story and but this isn't about the story it's about the author there are a lot of references to lines in the book or the movie but it's you know there's a line he was born and raised and moved away and that's about i think walter van tillberg clark who was born in maine but then his parents moved him to nevada and then he moved to in New York and then he went he was kind of all over the place beyond that I don't know it's, There's one thing that is a bit of a departure, I think, on this album is that the lyrics aren't too deep. There's not a lot of mystery in this album with Gord's lyrics. And I was hoping for more of that, but the research was a little easier than I wanted it to be on this.Track 4:[28:26] That was something I noticed too, is like there didn't seem to be as much to dig into.Track 4:[28:31] And once I kind of got past that and just started enjoying it, I really did grow to appreciate the album a lot more. It's funny that you mentioned the Oxbow incident because number one, a couple of weeks ago i was in la and we did did a couple studio tours and this is one of the movies they actually mentioned i forget if it was warner brothers or universal but it was shot at one of those two places in the next song so one good fast job one of my notes here is oxbow incident because of the line it says art shot said wellman to fonda so wellman the director and uh fonda the the star of the show so um nice kind of a neat little tie and i had no idea that the previous song had that reference so i'm glad you caught that this song i really love and this was the one i was um i found really interesting the the progression you've got like almost like a eight bar blues but then they throw in an extra bar so it's like this nine bar which just throws you off off balance a little bit once you once you hear it a few times it makes perfect sense but there's the lyric about drop you know planes dropping paper and dropping scissors and the chimps becoming regular wizards i think it is. And so that made me think of, there's a couple of Simpsons episode that reference like the infinite monkey theorem.Track 4:[29:46] What is it? Infinite monkeys, or give a monkey a typewriter and let it type for infinity. It would create, you know, Shakespeare. And you know, it would just some ridiculous theory that has, you know, been, you know, criticized heavily, but I wonder if there's something to that.Track 6:[30:03] Sorely discredited.Track 4:[30:05] And I really like, there's the line too about something about forget the commas. This is one good fast job. And it almost made me think of this album that they just like banged off this out. Like, let's not, let's just have fun. Let's just write some songs and let's not take ourselves too seriously. So those are my thoughts.Track 5:[30:23] Well, I think there was some controversy over the name of the band. And there are commas in that band name. And I think that they're just saying, you know, screw it. And like, nobody asked for this. We're just doing it. let us enjoy it. I did see a couple of interviews where Gord and members of the band were like, can we not dissect this? This is just rock and roll.Track 4:[30:44] Yeah.Track 6:[30:46] One thing in watching some of those videos that I had mentioned, the last two songs that we discussed that they had played, it was a Greenbelt Harvest Festival thing show that was on. They had almost every song on there and he was playing with the Sadie's and watching the crowd to me was actually quite entertaining because they just sat there and looked in bewilderment right because I don't know they obviously have probably some relationship with with the hip and who knows if they're early hit people or later hit people or die hard all the way but when Gord does the solo stuff and then if they're not familiar with the Sadie's they just sat there and looked like yeah why don't what are we experiencing here what what's what's going on and bewilderment was the note note that i wrote right.Track 3:[31:34] Right i mean this makes no sense to me fuck okay sorry uh continue.Track 6:[31:42] It man one good fast job and almost back to kind of those punk type roots and that driving rocking it it's uh who i jd like this album has everything and, Also, one thing I wanted to mention, I know we're not through it all, but I think they did a great job of tracking. I really felt good about where all the songs were. I needed Crater to get me going, even though I was still mad and angry, like we mentioned, and then Saved at the end that we'll talk about. It just was like, okay, I got a good, nice, warm hug. Thank you. you um which.Track 5:[32:26] You know what's amazing is there were so many reviews about this album that said it was not cohesive and inconsistent and like what the hell are you talking about and.Track 3:[32:36] Uneven and blah blah.Track 4:[32:37] Blah yeah what.Track 3:[32:38] The hell man agree.Track 4:[32:39] Yeah no that's a reviewer who read that it was you know recorded over many years yeah that's ridiculous like maybe if you gave it one or two listens but even then even the first listen i didn't love it but it sounded like an album yeah Yeah. One more thing about this song though, before, before we move on, I love the middle section. There's like a bridge or maybe even call it a chorus. It only goes to it once the, I had to look, I had to go, I had to laugh. And it's really interesting how they go through it once, then there's that extra bar, like they keep doing, and then they change the chord progression and back off a bit. Like if you listen to the way the, you know, they're the same instruments, but they just back off and the feel changes totally. And it's such a great effect. Rather than ramping up a bridge, they almost like pull back a bit. And that really was unique. And it only happens once. It feels like a chorus to me, but it's right smack dab in the middle of the song. And I think it's two minutes and like 23 seconds or something. And this is definitely one of my favorites.Track 3:[33:43] Yeah, it's a good one. And the next one is a good one as well. It's got to hold the record for the longest title in Gord's solo oeuvre. Kirk mentioned a moment ago that there's a bit of everything on this record. And to me, the beginning of this song, just the very beginning, is shoegazy.Track 5:[34:00] Yes.Track 3:[34:00] Or it goes into a real punk sort of vibe. And it didn't start to break my heart until this afternoon. Justin, what have you got for us?Track 5:[34:09] So the line, we fought like two Irons, really stuck out to me. and it goes with Kirk. I don't know that this was the middle of a divorce. I think Gord is just polyamorous at this point because this project took seven years and in the middle of it, he released the third album, Grand Bounce. So he is just sleeping around. I love the punk, the hard driving, just we're going to beat the fuck out of this song.Track 4:[34:38] My first real positive experience with this song was driving to my show last weekend and it was like i said a nice day i was driving along and to me like i said it's a real good driving album and i was coming up to this i guess it was a school zone but it was a weekend so there's no school and there was a uh a flashing like speed limit sign it was like a happy face and as i'm driving by it's like it turns to a sad face because i guess i was a little bit above the limit i'm not a huge speeder but i found that kind of quite funny especially after the i just just listen to the line what is it um something about driving fast oh yeah drive drive it like we stole it yeah it's a great great line that's right and then later on there's the dishwasher loaded which i love because i i wish i could say that most of my music listening was in the car but i only have about a five minute commute to work so most of my listening is actually doing the dishes and so this is just a great song when you're doing the dishes and and dishwasher loaded it and it really really kind of got you know i.Track 5:[35:40] Had the same experience man that's.Track 4:[35:41] Found it pretty funny and i actually the first time i noticed that lyric i was actually had just put this open i was closing the door of the dishwasher and so it was just it was just perfect it's so funny yeah.Track 5:[35:51] That's amazing oh.Track 4:[35:53] And great harmonies too on the chorus like love those harmonies yeah.Track 6:[35:57] That's one thing you'll notice too when you watch those or or you see them like the the harmony part especially especially after what we had just experienced for the last three albums, you know, with the female voice going back to a male voice backing. I love that element that it brought to it. And I'm just gonna jump into the next song, Budget Shoes. This is one that I think has probably held the number one spot for me. I would say it's not necessarily still there, but it's been there more often than not. And maybe I'm far off on this, but being the American, one of the two Americans that really likes Canadian culture, it brought me back to Kids in the Hall for some reason. In fact, so much so, if you think of the Kids in the Hall intro, I actually looked it up to go hoping it was the sadies like that really would have made my day if it was the sadies that had done that song that's the intro to kids in the hall.Track 4:[39:34] There is there is a connection there and i hope i'm correct here but i believe i read that the dallas good the the younger brother who you know passed away recently who.Track 3:[39:44] Was the drummer.Track 4:[39:44] He he played so so the good family was a was a country family like they had like a family band and and the older brother travis actually played with his band and Dallas being younger he he went more towards punk and I believe it said that his first or one of his first bands was with one of the members of uh Shadowy Men is that the name of the band that does the theme yeah yeah.Track 3:[40:11] Shadowy Men oh.Track 6:[40:12] Wow nice it definitely was reminiscent of that uh the entire song to me is just brilliant and it it gives you I mean it It really just digs deep inside my soul going back to the ethereal. When Gord hits those moments of the desperation vocal that we heard a lot, not only in recording, but live when he was with the hip, that brought such a comfort to me, right? Knowing where the hip is at, knowing where Gord is at, knowing what's coming. Like this is three years prior to his passing. And just so thankful that we get another version of Gord. And that's really what it was to me is we got, we have the hip and we love that. We have these first three albums, but now we have another one. And it was, Justin, you mentioned it in his lyrics. It's like, I'm not trying to confuse anyone here. I got this great band. They've given me this good music and I'm just gonna give it, I'm gonna give it what's coming to me at the moment. so when he does his and i call it a desperation vocal i know exactly what.Track 5:[41:22] You mean when you say it though.Track 3:[41:26] Yeah.Track 5:[41:26] Yep. Yep. So I'm going to ask the Canadians in the room here about budget shoes because I did some research on this as well. And apparently there's a tradition in Canada that finance ministers buy a new pair of shoes before presenting the budget and they wear them on the floor. Or if they're pissed off about it, they don't.Track 4:[41:48] Oh, wow.Track 5:[41:48] And it's this thing that has happened since the 1860s.Track 3:[41:53] Jesus. Do they go bare feet? I mean, listen, I was a political science major, and I've never heard of it before, but that doesn't really mean anything.Track 6:[42:01] As the other American, I agree with what you say full-heartedly. Love it. Love that connection.Track 3:[42:10] Yeah, I think it's great.Track 5:[42:11] It was strange, but interesting. And I don't know if this song is a commentary on politics and that, or if it just works well with... I mean, this song sounds like, you know, we're sleeping in a tent in a winter storm unexpectedly in the middle of the desert, you know, and I've got nice shoes and you don't, you know, and I'm going to keep my feet and you're going to lose them to frostbite. I don't know.Track 4:[42:37] What I was thinking was I was imagining almost like an old Western movie. It's like sweltering hot in the desert. And yeah, they're camping overnight. Night and you know the most iconic thing you'll see in a western is that you know the shot of the cowboy boots and the pan up and and i'm just picturing this you know guy sleeping in his budget you know there's cheap shoes and that's kind of what i do balances on yeah yeah.Track 6:[43:04] Ouch shots fired they're.Track 5:[43:05] A great company and they.Track 6:[43:06] Make a fine shoe thank you we're not sponsored by any of these particular shoe brands yeah i mean budget shoes you talk about the westerns it's almost like a spaghetti western type feel just in that uh the guitar riff as well so.Track 3:[43:26] Oh, that's cool. I felt that, too. I wouldn't have put that together. All right, let's move on. Demand Destruction. Is it just me, Justin, or does this song feel very much like the Tragically Hip? Am I crazy?Track 5:[43:38] No, I don't think you're crazy about that at all. And this song is, I think, Gord kind of putting out his own views. Again, there's a notation at the bottom. The last one, Budget Shoes, was dedicated to Evan S. Connell, who was the author of the book about Custer where the title of The Grand Bounce came from. So that's a continuation. And then this one is dedicated to Dr. Helen Caldicott, who was an Australian physicist and anti-nuclear war advocate. And it just feels like a protest song to me. I really don't have a lot of notes about it. It's just a nice, fun tune. But there's definitely a message in there. And I think it's Gord speaking about, let's not fuck this up. and maybe some reverence for Dr. Caldecott. It says, I'm not a fan, I just like what you do. I don't know. I don't have a whole lot to unpack on this one.Track 3:[44:30] Right. Well, no, I think you unpacked quite a bit. Craig, what have you got for us?Track 4:[44:36] One thing I'll say about this song is I found maybe the snare was a little too biting for me. I found that if you if you were listening quietly it it just jumped right out of the mix to the point where you almost couldn't hear anything else and when you turned it up it just had just a little a tinge too much oh yeah you guys know who who mixed the album yeah so bob rock and i think he did a great job overall but it definitely you know he's known for those big huge drums and i just would have liked a little more balance i thought the snare was just a little peeking out a little bit too much the rest of the album i think it it works but maybe the song is the poppiest.Track 5:[45:17] I think of the of the songs on the album it's certainly.Track 4:[45:20] Radio friendly fairly typical like blues rock sort of yeah um riff at the start yeah.Track 3:[45:25] That's what reminds me it reminds me of something off of road apples you know oh yeah yeah that era.Track 4:[45:31] Yeah great great harmonies again especially in the chorus all.Track 3:[45:34] Right from there we get a change of pace with mandolin and organ off the top of devil enough. Am I right? Was it mandolin Craig?Track 4:[45:44] Um, yeah, I believe so. I need to go back and listen again. Um, yeah, this is the song I referenced earlier that was driving me nuts. Even today I was sitting there tapping my toes, like trying to figure out the time change. And I actually had this like theory about what they were doing with it, you know, how they're getting from one tempo to the next. And then I just realized after a while it's just feel it's all feel. And I won't even get into it, because there are some weird things that happen. And I think it is what Justin mentioned earlier, I think it's just that flexibility of, of like, you know, they're really pushing the tempo, bringing it back quite frequently. And so.Track 4:[46:25] Yeah, if anyone wants to transcribe this drum part for me and send it to me, I would love to see that because I would love to know mathematically how it works, but I'm pretty sure it is just like a feel thing. This was a song that really stuck out to me. I love that time change. Having said all that, it really, the first few times just really struck me. The guitar playing at the end, the sort of Nashville picking at the end is just amazing. There's a few songs that have those great guitar solos. I think often it's Travis, according to the videos I watched, although I believe Dallas will trade off solo sometimes too. There's the line, Streets Ahead, which of course is a song name from Now For Plan A. And I had just actually recently been watching Community. And I'm not sure if you guys know that reference, but there's a, you know, it's like a catchphrase of Chevy Chase's character. And I actually found a, I wondered if it was related and I found an interview where someone asked Gord that question and he's just like, what? He was so like, no, like what are you talking about? Which of course makes sense. I mean, you don't write books. All these songs you're not a prolific writer like gourd if you're if you're.Track 6:[47:36] Spending countless hours.Track 4:[47:39] Binging you know sitcoms with 120 episodes.Track 5:[47:44] Well and gourd gourd's a dan akroyd guy not a chevy chase guy.Track 6:[47:48] Yeah true hey going back to that the ending part craig yes uh you know they almost have a bluegrass feel in some of these instrumental type solos there's There's rock going on against a different instrumentation, which I absolutely love the devil enough to me almost was reminiscent of like your seventies kind of, you know, Barracuda and like the big songs that would have a slow intro and then rock out or go to another slow, but very seventies rock and kind of anthemic type of we're going to switch keys. We're going to switch tempos i very much got that but again going back to the swagger you feel the swagger in in the presentation of the lyrics at least from my perspective with gourd on this loved it loved it.Track 4:[48:43] Yeah there are some um really great songwriting techniques on this album that you can tell you know the sadies are just a pro band i think is it uh one of the guys from blue rodeo i believe was was quoted in the in the barclay book about saying that you know they're the world's greatest rock band and there's the little things like in this song they use the little bars of two to set up you know those changes and just lots of little things like that like an extra bar here an extra bar there it's just some really great little songwriting tricks what did you think justin i.Track 5:[49:14] Just this song you know growing up we only had like 10 or 12 channels on on tv and one of them was tnn the nashville network and so the grand ole opry was was on all the time, because we didn't have a choice. If it wasn't Hockey Night in Canada, it was TNN. And just this song, that run with the picking is really cool. It brought me back to late 80s, early 90s, just watching the hoedown.Track 4:[49:42] Not a country fan, but when I hear a great guitar player like that, though, like a great Nashville player, it really is great. This whole album isn't the type of music I would typically listen to. And I think that's why I gravitate more towards an indie rock feel, like the Battle of the Nudes. But man, this album is really, really solid.Track 6:[50:06] Yeah, it has a good... I mean, I know you guys say you don't like country, and I say it too. But I bet you you'd be surprised about what you do like that's country-esque. And so for me, when I think of country, I get turned away by some of the modern country. although I'm really digging some Chris Stapleton and some of these other guys I'm really digging. But like when I hear country, I think Kenny Rogers, Merle Haggard, I think Willie Nelson, I think, and I think we really do dig, even going back Hank Williams and even a little further, like when the, as you listen to, I love this that we're talking like, oh, we only had 10 channels and whatever else. And I'm going hockey night in Canada and the nashville network you know and throw in a little emma daughter's jug band christmas and that's my childhood and i'm happy and i love all that so i i i get what you're saying but this i mean the sadie's i think alt country i heard earlier from one of you guys that's very much the feel from devil enough you roll into i'm free disarray me justin you you inspired me because i I have the vinyl here with me. And so I quick looked at the bottom and I'm like, okay, I gotta catch this one cause I've missed all the other references that you mentioned. So you got Virginia Woolf, who's listed at the bottom of I'm Free Disarray Me. And when you do your research, you think about stream of consciousness.Track 6:[51:31] And that really, I think, kind of sums up your lyrics in this particular song.Track 6:[51:37] Swagger again it's it's it's it's it's the same but it's not i heard us all say that it's the same but it's not i i i loved where it went with this and it's bringing us down now right because we only have one more song we talked about the track listings and the order and now it's given us getting us i think this is kind of setting us up for saved at least me personally uh what you think craig.Track 4:[52:03] This was the first song that actually popped into my head just out of the blue one morning when i woke up because it took quite a long time for that to happen with this album i was still singing grand bounce songs you know every morning waking up and then one day it was that i was like wow okay and and same one thing i want to mention this is kind of, going off of what you're talking about with vinyl i was listening to this you know doing dishes.Track 4:[52:29] With you know on apple and the amount of times in the last few months of doing this you know this show with you guys listening to music and it glitches for just a second when i'm streaming and it just drives me nuts and so just that was one thing that i just had a note note about that that this album needs to be listened to on cd on on on vinyl anyways that was just a little pet peeve of mine and also the the snare again in this song was just a little a little much for me it was it was it was really up front and i i like loud drums typically in a mix but i just I don't know there there was it's almost like with the snare being that loud I'm missing a bit of the kick drum and speaking of which you guys must have noticed that the the bass players you know playing stand-up I had the thought a few times like I wonder and this is not to take away from what he's doing but I just wonder what it would have sounded like if they if they used an electric bass on this album because I found the bass to be not as prominent as on the last three albums you know there it wasn't sticking i don't think that's just part of the style of this band.Track 6:[53:38] Great i have a question though craig in when i look at the watch the videos oh yeah he has an he has an ampeg like he has a bass amp so he's taking a stand-up bass which traditionally you just mic or go straight into the board and he's he's running it through a traditional rock bass you know pickup bass right in through like the standard road hard ampeg so um so it gives it that good gritty sound but i will agree 100 it's not as prominent and i would like it to be a little bit more only just being a musician but it didn't didn't didn't dissuade me from my love for this album yeah.Track 4:[54:21] Not at all and i think it were like sometimes the best bass players are the ones you don't notice like they're just tight to the to the drummer and that's really all that matters but there was really only a couple times on this album where i where i noticed.Track 6:[54:34] Very accurate Accurate statement.Track 5:[54:36] This, I think, is my MVP. As a kid who was raised on prog, you fall into the song and just let it kind of take over. I don't know. I actually found, weirdly, a karaoke version of this on YouTube.Track 3:[54:52] Really?Track 5:[54:53] An instrumental version of this. No way. And I played the piss out of it just today driving. Driving and uh yeah it's it's really odd that this is the one that's an instrumental track for, yeah but just the phrasing of things lyrically and musically like he's it this doesn't sound like any other song that gourd has has put together as far as i'm concerned i.Track 6:[55:17] Love i love that connection with prog rock justin because you've mentioned that multiple times that that's something you love. And when you said it, I had not placed it until you said it. And I agree with you on that's a great, great, great description of it.Track 5:[55:31] There was a lot of references to the Sadie's covering Pink Floyd in live shows. And I'm like, oh, there it is right there. The song is that.Track 6:[55:42] The next one to the next one to could be, you know, Jim Ladd headset session, listening like with Pink Floyd.Track 3:[55:50] Oh, the next one is gorgeous, I think. It's the first slower tempo song that we have on the record called Saved.Track 5:[58:56] Again, I can't believe that the reviews said this album doesn't make sense because about halfway down, the plane starts to land, right? And every song from halfway on is just you're descending and you land perfectly softly unsaved. And this song also sounds a lot like Coke Machine Glow. And it's just really mellow and it's Gord doing his thing. and i i don't know i love it.Track 6:[59:26] Almost every album i feel like has had a an extended version of coke machine glow track to it i i i love that i i hadn't placed it until you just said that because i felt the same way about some of the other the other albums is there that could be on coke machine glow but you're exactly right and then he continues that theme as it goes almost like the uh like his is the poetry book.Track 3:[59:53] Craig is holding up his notes.Track 4:[59:55] Nobody else can see it. I said the exact same thing. Pattern of Ending solo albums and some hip albums with a track with a much different feel is what I had written.Track 5:[1:00:07] Which goes back to Road Apples.Track 4:[1:00:12] I really love the line the music is so loud that it flaps your pant leg. It reminded me a little bit of Yawning or Snarling. Just the line in that.Track 5:[1:00:23] Thank you. I would hold up my notebook if it wasn't typed out. Because that's exactly what I have to.Track 4:[1:00:30] We are, let's see, as of recording this episode, we are, what time is it there? We're about two and a half hours away from the 10 year anniversary of this album. Of the release of this album.Track 3:[1:00:41] Oh, get the fuck out.Track 4:[1:00:42] Yeah. Wow.Track 3:[1:00:44] Oh, wow.Track 4:[1:00:46] I just had to look it up yesterday. I was like, wow, that's pretty cool.Track 5:[1:00:48] Oh, shit.Track 3:[1:00:48] That is cool. Huh. I normally have them all in my calendar, and I don't have that in my calendar. Huh. Good find. Yeah, it's going to be, yeah.Track 6:[1:01:00] Good find, Craig. Great find.Track 5:[1:01:02] J.D., you have about two and a half hours to make a post.Track 3:[1:01:06] Any more unsaved?Track 5:[1:01:09] I don't know. I didn't pick it apart too much. I loved that imagery of the line, Craig, that you just mentioned. The music is so loud, it flaps your pant leg. And there's a really strange, it's almost not, rhythm to the way that he sings it. It would be really hard to transcribe that onto a, onto a sheet of music.Track 4:[1:01:29] I also enjoyed the, um, the, the, the, they finally played a bit without the drums, you know, like this whole album has been very much like a full band. And I mentioned last week, I believe that one of the strengths of, of country of miracles was that they had so many members that they could all just take a break every once in a while. They didn't feel the need to always fill up every space. This band's the opposite because they're, you know, there's just four of them and they, they, you know, they're very much a typical rock band where everyone's playing all the time and so i actually enjoyed that there was a bit of time at the start of the song without drums no no offense to the drummer um but sometimes you just need a break this.Track 6:[1:02:07] Song to me was the you know that that cup of coffee after dessert or you know the cigarette after sex it was that finisher it was uh it was that we're all in good, good, good company. I love the connection back with Coke Machine Glow. I love the connection back with that changing that ending song. But to me, it was, all right, more so than the others. It was like, okay, here's your big warm hug before whatever comes up next.Track 3:[1:02:39] Oh, I like it. It does feel like a warm hug. It's a very comforting song for me. I don't know why, but it chills me right out. It's a great cigarette after sex. Kirk, I love that. It's really tremendous.Track 5:[1:02:55] It sucks that this album was only a half hour long.Track 3:[1:02:58] I know. It's so strange after The Grand Bounce, which was nearly an hour. But again, these guys are just so efficient and economical.Track 5:[1:03:10] It's one good fast job, baby.Track 3:[1:03:12] That's right.Track 6:[1:03:14] So does- Hey, did you know that that is his second highest played single, or at least versus Spotify when I last checked? Does that not totally blow you away? Like at least if you just look in his Spotify category, I believe it's number two behind like the Chancellor, I think is probably the most sense. But now i'm now i'm gonna look sorry i'm gonna i'm gonna see if i can back my own research.Track 5:[1:03:43] So interestingly i i don't have hard copies of any of these albums so i'm i'm strictly listening on streaming i use the youtube music app i don't really care for the interface on spotify and there is zero existence of this album in that in that space so i had to download band camp and buy the album that way which i was happy to do yeah i love band camp but yeah i had to uh that's the only way I could find this lyrics.Track 6:[1:04:07] All right, gents. I did the research. I was incorrect by two. It's Chancellor, the East wind. Oh, I am lost.Track 4:[1:04:15] That's then one good. Mind blowing.Track 5:[1:04:17] No shit.Track 6:[1:04:18] Number four.Track 4:[1:04:19] Yeah.Track 6:[1:04:20] Like that. It's even in the top five to me over like.Track 4:[1:04:23] You know, it's a great song. These songs that I thought were more well-known. Wow.Track 6:[1:04:29] Thank you.Track 4:[1:04:29] Yeah.Track 6:[1:04:30] It's surprising to me that.Track 3:[1:04:32] Yeah.Track 5:[1:04:33] Well, even, Even the opener on this one, Crater, I mean, it has a great video too.Track 6:[1:04:39] Oh, that's right. That's right. It is a really cool video.Track 4:[1:04:43] So the album art's interesting too. Did you catch that there's the different members of the band on the album? There's probably about these portraits of like, I don't know, 50 people. And if you look carefully, you can find all of the members of the band. I did.Track 6:[1:05:01] I did, absolutely. It's, yeah, on the album.Track 5:[1:05:04] And the artwork and the sound and all that, it kind of reminded me of the Beatles. I don't know why. But there was something about it that was familiar.Track 3:[1:05:16] Beatles-esque.Track 5:[1:05:17] Yeah. Yeah.Track 6:[1:05:20] I could see that. I mean, especially from an artistic standpoint. Yeah. Very much can see that.Track 3:[1:05:26] Yeah.Track 5:[1:05:27] Overall, I was super happy that this was the next thing. And I wish that there had been another one to follow it.Track 3:[1:05:33] So does it stay in your rotation then, Justin?Track 5:[1:05:36] Mm-hmm.Track 3:[1:05:37] Yeah, it does. Craig, how about you?Track 4:[1:05:40] A couple of days ago, I probably would have said maybe not. It's an album I'll definitely pull out here and there. But no, I do think I really am enjoying it lately. And like I said, the turn of the weather really helped. This is, to me, a summer album, not a, I think, come winter, I'll put it away again.Track 5:[1:05:59] End but the i'm sorry but i got it before i forget it right we just had the eclipse as we're recording this and i was stuck in traffic it's a 17 minute commute to get home and it took me 90 minutes so i listened to this album three times on the ride home and it's a great even if you're stopped it's a great album to be in the car.Track 6:[1:06:20] It's going to hit the turntable for me on a fairly regular basis for a while. Like I said, Grand Bounce, I couldn't get it out of my head. And finally, it might even have been an I'm Free Disarray Me, just that very methodical line that came through that turned it for me. Me but i love i i love it absolutely love it in fact i'm i'm probably more excited about digging deeper into the sadies once this whole project is done the sadies and several other canadian bands that i'm not as familiar with that you guys have introduced me to and i'm very thankful for but uh yeah this this one's staying in the rotation if you've got any.Track 3:[1:07:02] Bands that are gore adjacent or canadian indie adjacent uh send them our way discovering downy at gmail.com And we'll be sure to read that email on the air.Track 5:[1:07:18] I will say that as much as I've enjoyed this album, I've also really enjoyed the songs that are not on the album that Gordon and Sadie have played together. The cover of Search and Destroy. Holy shit.Track 3:[1:07:32] Right, you sent that to us a few days ago.Track 5:[1:07:35] That song melted my goddamn face off. It was so good. So good. And it was like 7, 12 in the morning or something. I was like, all right, I'm out of bed now. This is awesome.Track 4:[1:07:45] One of the shows I found online was here in Vancouver at the media club. And I actually remember hearing about it. And I'm just kicking myself that I didn't get to that show. This is like a tiny, tiny, like this is where my original band a number of years ago did our CD release party. And yeah, there's maybe room for 80 to 100 people in there. would have been amazing.Track 3:[1:08:10] Oh damn that.Track 6:[1:08:14] Is definitely i don't have a lot of regrets gentlemen but not seeing any iteration of gourd solo is very much i'm glad video was around because but i would have really really really enjoyed.Track 3:[1:08:28] Seeing that feeling thousand percent live yeah.Track 5:[1:08:32] I go back to that sweaty basement uh in me in massachusetts and like dude i went to those shows all the time and I wasn't there.Track 3:[1:08:39] That's crazy so Justin you've already sort of given this away even though we we you know we tease it throughout the show and typically give it away at the end but we'll start with you and your MVP track.Track 5:[1:08:56] Yeah, it's totally I'm free, disarray me, which took me by surprise, but then it didn't totally. You know, after the way that by, you know, the music that my parents played when I was a kid, this song is just cosmic cowboy, trippy shit.Track 3:[1:09:14] Kirk, how about you?Track 6:[1:09:15] All right. Los Angeles Times.Track 3:[1:09:21] Excellent. I love that pick. I liked your pick too, Justin.Track 5:[1:09:25] That's the hometown.Track 6:[1:09:26] Oh, yeah.Track 5:[1:09:27] That's okay.Track 6:[1:09:28] And it definitely is not one that I would have really settled in on had it not been for our discussion today, honestly. Because almost every song on the album has really fallen into near the top. You know, Conquering Sun, Budget Shoes, I would say, of everything, those definitely hit that number one spot for me multiple times. But Los Angeles Times is the one that just kept coming back, and I just kept feeling, and I kept growing further, enamored with on all fronts. So that's my pick, and I'm sticking to it.Track 3:[1:10:03] Very cool. Craig, you?Track 4:[1:10:06] Yeah, I had a hard time picking a song. And I found, kind of like what Kirk said, there was almost less of a range between the songs I enjoyed and the songs I enjoyed less. They were all in roughly the same region, whereas the other albums, there was some tracks that right away really, really got to another level with me. I think this album maybe doesn't quite have quite the emotion that the first three did, which is usually what hits me when I really love a song. Usually it just grabs me emotionally. And this album didn't have that in the same way. my my go-to song here is is going to be uh it didn't start to break my heart until this afternoon, just just a good good punk rock song yeah just nice just a great yeah great driving tune and.Track 3:[1:11:00] Gets the blood flowing, right? And I agree with you about the previous three records. They're just sort of more raw and improvised feeling.Track 4:[1:11:08] And more range to them, right? This just feels... There was more... Yeah, just... More variety. Yeah, more...Track 3:[1:11:15] Dynamics. Yeah. Yeah.Track 5:[1:11:20] There was a point where critics were really starting to tear Gord and the hip down. Yeah. When this album was coming out. And they were like, all right, we get it. The soup's getting cold. It's the same shit over and over, year after year. The performances are boring. It's not great. And I think, I don't know, but I'm thinking that this album was Gord's big middle finger to those guys. I'm still doing this. He's 50 years old.Track 4:[1:11:49] Can you think of another artist that has done what Gord has done? He's now got three bands that are all so amazing. Yeah, that's right.Track 5:[1:12:01] At the same time.Track 3:[1:12:01] At the same time, yeah, you're right.Track 4:[1:12:03] Yeah, mind-blowing how much high-quality work he put out through his whole career, but especially in this middle chunk here.Track 3:[1:12:12] Well, and if you think about it, this is a perfect segue because beginning in 2012, he started work on the record we're going to talk about next week, which is Secret Path. And that record didn't see the light of day until 2016. 16. So even then with that record, he's assembled the band again, and it's a great band as well. So this guy is just producing at a level presumably around the same time he's doing Luster Parfait. Because he's working with Bob Rock pretty exclusively, right?Track 5:[1:12:49] Right.Track 3:[1:12:50] So, God, just fascinating what we're what we've gotten up to so far i can't wait we are halfway done his records we've got one more studio record and then god damn it three posthumous records uh it's going to be tough to get through those ones guys i know it yep anything else you want to say before we wrap things up i.Track 5:[1:13:15] Don't know i love it man i i love this project i feel like we're a broken record because we're all going to say the same thing and we'd say it every episode But this project has gotten me back into, just like you said, Kirk, discovering new music. Or it's new to me. Right. And I am finding so many new things that I didn't know I didn't know.Track 3:[1:13:35] Right.Track 6:[1:13:37] I'm i have been frightened from the beginning because you know you listen because it's your first time listening to a solo stuff for you know i was frightened every single album that, yeah i was going to be disappointed yeah yep and i just keep finding a new way to be enamored and i don't mind being that easy when it comes to gourd and what's going on uh you know i i we talked about, you know, my, my experience with the hip, you know, having to hear about it from friends and not having that, you know, immediate access to everything. So I'm thoroughly loving the fact that the emotion and the feeling that Gord and the hip, all the musicians he's been involved with on the solo, just keep raising the level. So I'm now just like, I'm, I'm, you know, what I like about this, you guys is you're nervous and worried. Now I'm not nervous and worried. I'm I'm just, I'm excited about listening to what's coming up and I'm so excited.Track 5:[1:14:37] If you, if you enter the, if you enter the room knowing it's going to be a mindfuck when you get there, it's perfect

god love jesus christ american new york spotify california community canada kids washington battle olympic games americans canadian song nature australian radio toronto search mind western holy north america nashville hall of fame night east track saved celebration driving ending mvp beatles vancouver cult spending cd shakespeare rush rock and roll destroy trust in god simpsons infinite found jd pattern conquering bands dynamics hip coke pink floyd los angeles times cbc mm chancellor christmastime accurate willie nelson oilers nudes virginia woolf chino chevy chase bellingham downey swagger kenny rogers dire straits binging fender immersed irons chris stapleton custer hank williams ethereal crater merle haggard barracuda gord uneven tragically hip hockey night in canada occurring yawning sam roberts blind melon rec room no rain repping oxbow bob rock tnn caldecott audette sadies secret path southern vermont sorely snarling joel plaskett helen caldicott streets ahead shadowy men jim ladd road apples evan s connell

And the Conquering Sun

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 18, 2024 76:42

This week in the pod, the gang is up to their neck in the fantastic effort by Gord and the Sadies. You're gonna want to check this one out!Transcript: Track 1:[0:00] Hey, it's Craig here, and I just wanted to let you know that Christmastime in.Track 1:[0:03] Toronto is coming early this year. Join me and the Discovering Downey crew for the recording of our podcast finale, live at The Rec Room in downtown Toronto on Friday, July 19th. Long Slice Brewing presents A Celebration of Gord Downey, which will include a special in-person interview with Gord's brother, Patrick Downey. Spend the evening listening to your favorite hip tunes provided by the almost hip and help us raise money for the gourd downy fund for brain cancer research with a silent auction featuring incredible items up for grabs visit discoveringdowny.com for tickets or for more information about the event, let's have a toast for charity wickedness and most importantly hope.Track 2:[1:04] DOS Beauty I name my guitar My Beautiful Behor Everybody's coughing here And music's infiltrating work In the most pleasant way It's a system based on silverware Listening's an extrasensory Perception And talking the only psychic thing and I can dress you in my thoughts until you wear them. I've been taking care of my clothes like they're cattle. Try this shirt. It would look so good on you.Track 1:[1:42] Welcome, music lovers. Long Slice Brewery presents Discovering Downy. Hey, it's J.D.Track 2:[1:52] Here, and welcome to Discovering Downey, an 11-part project with a focus on the music and poetry of Mr. Gord Downey. The late frontman of the Tragically Hip gave to the world an extensive solo discography on top of the hip's vocal acrobatics that awed us for years. So far, he's released eight records in total, three of them posthumously. Now listen, you might be the biggest fan of The Hip out there, but have you heard these records? Because I'm an inquisitive podcaster, I enlisted my friends Craig, Justin, and Kirk, giant fans in their own right, to discover Downey with me, JD, as their host. Every week we'll get together and listen to one of Gord's records. We're starting with Coke Machine Glow and working from there in chronological order. We discuss and dissect the album, the production, the lyrics, and we break it down song by song. This week we're going to be talking about Gord's fourth record, and his first and only with the Sadies.Track 3:[2:58] Occurring son kirk from chino how the fuck are things with you buddy jd.Track 6:[3:04] I'm uh i'm back home after a little bit of travel it's been good travel um it's allowed me to really kind of soak this album in so i'm excited talking about it with you boys.Track 3:[3:15] Can you confirm this craig i'm kidding yeah how's it going pretty.Track 4:[3:20] Good yeah also looking forward to talking about this album them and it this one took me a little bit of time to get into but we'll talk about that i have been a little under the weather since the last recording it was about halfway through the last podcast i started feeling something coming on and just won't go away just a cold thankfully but yeah other than that things are well.Track 3:[3:41] Well that's good justin you've been a podcasting machine today are you spent or are you ready to talk shop with me i'm.Track 5:[3:49] Just getting started buddy.Track 3:[3:50] Yeah well let's get into it then and the conquering sun is the album we are discussing this week after three consecutive solo outings with some form of the country of miracles gourd wrote and produced this one with the sadies who had just come from supporting the hip on their world container tour Like so many, this marriage was consummated by the CBC, when the Sadies chose Mr. Downey to collaborate with, as was the program's premise. The Sadies are a Toronto-based and road-tested throughout Canada and beyond, with an original lineup consisting of Travis Goode, Sean Dean, Mike Belotiski, and Dallas Goode, who sadly passed away in 2022. This band, as I mentioned, is road-tested with buckets of swagger and chops for days. But how do you talk about The Conquering Sun? After the loose and improvised feeling of the last three records, this record is tight and economical. With a 30-minute runtime, I had to listen twice to get my walk in.Track 3:[4:55] Of the four records we've listened to so far, this one makes my Olympic podium for rock and roll with a hard-fought bronze medal, which is nothing to shake a stick at unless, of course, you're shaking the stick in a complimentary fashion. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this album. In fact, in my opinion, this record is the closest we get to a sound that is reminiscent of the hip, up and down on this record. The songs are screaming for radio play if only radio had been a factor upon its release in 2014. From the rip of Crater right through Saved, there isn't a missed opportunity on this record. I could go on about how much I like this record, na-na-na-na, blah-blah-blah, etc. You might be curious how I'm literally singing this album's praises, yet I've only ranked it third of four. I promise I'm not damning with faint praise. It's more that I loved the ceiling of the country of miracles, particles and the idea that we don't get a fourth effort from that entity bums me out a little bit so it's hard to go into this one with that ripple of bummed outness influencing me a little more than frankly i'd like but who cares what i think let's check in with the crew craig we'll start with you this week.Track 4:[6:04] Yeah this album like i i mentioned took took a few listens to get into um it's definitely not in you know it's not my favorite of the four we've heard so far but it's really just it's drastically different it just has a different vibe and there are a lot of things I really like about it and I think that my biggest realization is this this is a summer album this is a a nice weather taking a drive in the car putting the windows down this it's that kind of album and for the first couple weeks I didn't have that weather but but just past in the past few days we have and it's just it totally changed my outlook of this this album.Track 3:[6:45] I was on mute. Justin, what are your thoughts overall?Track 5:[6:49] Oh, I needed this one. I needed this album to get my headspace back into this. And I think I'm going to rank this number two so far out of the four. I actually really love this album a lot. And like Craig, it took me a minute to get into it, but something clicked and I have been listening to it at least two or three times a day every day since. And in the car, on my phone, with or without earbuds trying to get the different parts of the sound, and it kicks my ass every time. I really just like this album from start to finish. Every song kind of sounds the same, which makes it sound like one big long song, and I really kind of love that.Track 3:[7:28] Interesting. I can't wait till we break it down. What say you, Kirk from Chino?Track 6:[7:32] Like my brethren here, it took me a while. In fact, it took me a while because it almost felt like a divorce and maybe a bit of an affair Was going on with with our buddy Gord. I was so I.Track 6:[7:48] Immersed into what was happening with the country miracles and like you said in the beginning like the ceiling like i wanted more and i was so ready for more i had the vinyl of this one the last ground bounce i didn't and i listened to it and i knew there was something there but i was angry honestly i was angry because i wanted more as we had mentioned but man did it grow and grow row. I'm not going to rank it right now because every time I rank something, a day or two goes by and something happens. And I realized, oh man, that was, you know, the grand bounce. That was Coke machine glow that, and you know, every album that we've had a chance to listen to has been, I think in every slot, if that makes sense, depending on the time of day or what's going on. And and so again it just brings you back to joy because i didn't dive in when it was happening which of course i'm a little sad about but i'm so excited now that i'm like i'm really loving music discovery again i'm really loving listening to albums i'm really loving i don't care if it's in the car if i'm walking the dog if i'm sitting at work if i'm you know working on something on on the computer and I've got the music going.Track 6:[9:11] Like I have not spent this much time with new music. I say that in quotes because it's obviously not new, but it's new to me, new to us.Track 6:[9:23] And I'm just, I'm loving the ride. That's all I got to say. This one is the last two, I mean, like I'm going to be listening to these forever. And I'm going to try and preach the word and get some people to jump on board because it makes me sad when I look at Spotify or something and I see the honestly and don't jump on me. It's like the limited number of listens to the Gord stuff. I have friends that have put stuff out that have more downloads than that. I'm not saying that in a negative, I'm saying that in a like, that shouldn't be. That shouldn't be, so. Right. My diatribe's over, sorry.Track 3:[10:03] No, no. Well, that's why I was mentioning off the top too too, that it screams for radio play to me. It's very radio-friendly. There's nothing over four minutes. And fucking radio just didn't matter in 2014. So of course we were never going to hear this. Unless we were paying very close attention.Track 6:[10:26] Absolutely.Track 3:[10:27] Clearly we were not.Track 6:[10:28] Absolutely. Radio.Track 5:[10:29] Radio still matters to me. I'm a radio guy. I'm going to tell you that right now. Yeah. Love radio.Track 3:[10:34] Radio doesn't love you back though. That's the problem. Like it's getting stripped down and worn down and these formats, you know, like if you've got a, if you've got a local that you love, then by going to stand with it, right?Track 5:[10:47] Yeah, you're right. We have, we have a, I'm going to sidebar here for just a second. We have a great station here in Southern Vermont, WEQX, which is one of the last great independent alternative rock stations in North America. And they discovered No Rain by Blind Melon. They were the first one to play it. And they just got this great pedigree, and they love to play Gord's solo stuff. From 2020 on, there's been a lot of new Gord solo stuff that's really been great.Track 3:[11:19] Get up. Right.Track 5:[11:20] And it's kind of been hard to not listen ahead during this project. Wow. I don't know if they played any of the stuff from this album, but this would totally fit.Track 4:[11:28] Yeah, we once had a really awesome independent radio station down in Bellingham, Washington, which we could pick up in Vancouver. And they actually, their tagline was something like, we don't play Canadian music because we have to. We play it because it rocks or something along those lines. And they would play The Hip and Rush. and yeah that's the only american station i've heard that that played a ton of the hip and yeah of course about 15 years ago they got whatever bought out by chorus or someone and it's now just yeah yeah your standard rock radio well.Track 3:[12:02] Should we eradicate this problem and educate people on this record go through it track by track are we ready let's.Track 5:[12:10] Go sure yeah.Track 3:[12:12] All right we start with track one side a it's the classic rock tinged crater what did you think of this one mr greg.Track 4:[12:25] My dad uh came to vancouver from new zealand in 1965 to to buy a 65 chevy impala and this song crater is a 1965 chevy impala cruising down the road it's just a great rock and roll track yeah um man that snare drum is yes snare snare yeah it is it is there in the mix yeah definitely i didn't dive into the lyrics at all especially um the songs that were more kind of rocking i i just i was just enjoying them and the only thought i had lyric wise was um almost like an idea of like either you're you're the crater or you're the meter meteor And I was kind of thinking along the lines of there's that not so great Dire Straits song, Heavy Fuel, where he says, you know, sometimes you're the windshield and sometimes you're the bug. And that was kind of the... What i got out of the lyrics on this song.Track 6:[13:25] I i wonder in the lyrics and maybe you guys did further research that i didn't see like how much of it was gord how much of it was the gents from the sadies because i i knew the name the sadies but i honestly until this i had not really you know dove into some of their music and i think in one of our you know communications justin had mentioned that as well like he's doing a lot of listening to the sadies and and i try i you know my listening at first it's this is it's going to sound weird um i did a lot of listening at first obviously like through spotify or whatever else but it wasn't until youtube and i got to see these guys and they're wearing like their nudie suits is what it looks like you know and i just i just saw a bunch of them they had a big exhibit at the you know country music uh hall of fame and they were We're talking about that LA country and, you know, very much a country tinge, but, you know, they're using those hollow body guitars. And anyway, so back to lyrics, like what's the balance between Gord and the Sadie's? Did anyone find anything on that?Track 4:[14:30] My understanding is that they, that the Sadie's wrote the songs and Gord wrote the lyrics that, yeah. And it was recorded apparently over a number of years. This wasn't like an album that was done in one session, which I find surprising because like someone said earlier, it's, it sounds just like a, it's a great album. It, it really sounds like it was just tracked in one day or something. It's yeah, there's a.Track 6:[14:53] There's YouTube has a, uh, interview of, I think the Sadie's had just put an album out. It was like 2010 and Gord was with them and they, you know, obviously had some discussions about their, their time together. And in some of the research it talks about, this has definitely been a long-term type of thing. Great song.Track 5:[15:10] Yeah, there was a CBC fuse in 2007 is what put them together. So it took seven years for this album to come out from that first collaboration. Collaboration I really like the sound.Track 6:[15:21] From a musicianship standpoint ethereal is really the kind of the adjective that came to mind on a lot of the the guitar parts that the Sadie's had you know very much a hollow body type guitar going through either a Fender a lot of reverb I really liked that driving sound I really really liked it it was it was pretty prevalent throughout in my opinion anything.Track 3:[15:43] Else on crater i.Track 5:[15:46] Just yeah i mean this is gourd this is like this is a live show on a record um this one song particularly and he is giving it all he has what at the end of the second verse and if we record any of these songs this is the one i'm doing because this is a this is a screamer and it's so much fun to be it you know we don't want to we don't want to do it we want to be it this song is fun to sing, Yeah. So I also, I downloaded an app because I noticed my foot was tapping a lot faster at the end of the song than the beginning. And I, so I, I downloaded an app and it picks up 13 beats per minute from the start to the finish.Track 4:[16:29] Oh yeah. That's something I'm going to be talking about later. Cause I, it was driving me nuts. One of the songs I was trying to actually figure out what was happening mathematically and yeah. Okay. I'm glad I'm not the only one noticed.Track 6:[16:43] I love that. I love the time changes in a variety of different songs. I put them down in a few notes. But the one thing I really want to say before we dive into any more, long live the guitar solo. And there's quite a few guitar solos on this album, specifically Crater. And they're just, they're solos. They're good solos. And on the other albums, we'll call lead lines, but there's not a lot of solos. And I'm digging that, getting that back, because we haven't had that in the first three.Track 5:[17:15] Oh, yes.Track 3:[17:16] Nice. Well, the next one is sort of the titular track, but not quite. The Conquering Sun does what for you, Justin?Track 5:[17:27] When I look out the window and see Audette's Blue Spruce Farm across the street, That's kind of what I think about. I mean, it's getting on time to plant. And here it is as we record this. It's planting season and working the fugitive dust. Nature, please be good to us. You know, we just had this massively wet spring that wiped out a shit ton of the farms around here. That's, you know, before they even got started. For me, that's part of what this song is. There's also the line, she is more than a conqueror. And I wonder if that's a reference to Gord's wife, Laura, with her recent cancer battle. I don't know when this song was recorded in the timeline of all that, like what year this happened. But I interpreted it as possibly something that could be a reference to defeating the cancer. And the other thing that I really, it was a callback to We Are The Same is when Gord's, his vocal run during hearing, ooh, day is your word, night is the glue. He does that exact same thing in The Depression Suite. That very same run, the change, the pitch, the length, I love it.Track 4:[18:41] Yeah, I caught that too. That's great.Track 6:[18:43] Great song. It was one of those. I think I mentioned on the last time we spoke, there was not a definitive MVP for me. This one has fallen in and out of MVP, and it may fall back in at the end of this recording. morning. But that's one of the things that really showed me this was a great album, but specifically this song. I just felt immersed in it. And like I said earlier, Ethereal, again, another great solo, another great, that sound that the Sadies have. They have, these guys, what are they like six, five, six, six, they look like trees and they might be a buck or five soaking wet and the suits are barely hanging on them and he's just playing this you know telecaster like it's a little tiny you know a small ukulele and they just have this they they just have this presence and like i said it really wasn't until i i started seeing them that i i got the sadie's because when i was listening it didn't hit me as much and i was kind of hoping i don't know if i mentioned this earlier because they were on the world container tour and i was wondering if they were the opening band I didn't find anything that showed them specifically, but when I watch the videos, it doesn't bring a memory or recollection that I saw. I think it was Sam Roberts that opened for a lot of the shows that I saw here in California.Track 5:[20:06] I saw Joel Plaskett as the opener on that tour.Track 6:[20:11] Got it. Got it. Yeah. So I was kind of hoping that they were one of the openers. But you know now i'm really excited that you know just in the last couple of days i would say is really when my attention has gone towards them and when you start hearing and seeing how they crafted these songs together and how they worked so well with gourd and his phrasing and and so yeah love this love this yeah.Track 4:[20:38] The the sadies are actually on tour as we record this and i'm hoping to pick to go down to the the vancouver show uh so you might you might want to look at dates they They might be coming down your way.Track 6:[20:48] I hope so.Track 4:[20:48] Yeah, this song, to me, as soon as I heard it, it reminded me of Nico Case. And Nico Case is someone who's worked with the Sadies. And so it is very much that sort of alt-country vibe on this song. And this was probably the song that drew me in right away. Again, like Kirk said, it was in the contention for my MVP track for sure, which, like you, keeps changing. and yeah it's just just a great feel to this song.Track 3:[21:18] Yeah i couldn't agree more i think we're two for two so far on this record and we're gonna find out that let's go pretty even record it's a pretty even fucking record los angeles times has the aforementioned swagger dripping from it, Kirk, did you like this one as much as I did?Track 6:[25:07] I'm going to say yes, absolutely. But it didn't start out that way. This actually was one of my least favorite tunes after the first couple of passes. I just didn't quite get it. It was just kind of like, it was almost too much swagger at first for me. Because remember, I think we're in a divorce right now. I think this is an affair that's going on. So I'm a little adverse to the song and the album and almost everything because I still have his last, you know, that last record that just moved us all. It was still here. So there was this almost a betrayal, swagger, distaste that I had in the beginning. But listening to it, re-listening to it, listening to it in headphones, listening to it on vinyl, listening to it in the car, listening to it in the plane, listening to it in the hotel. The key changes, like we'd mentioned earlier, just another great solo, just great rock. And, hey, I'm an LA guy. So this one definitely turned and has also filtered through multiple times sometimes on the mvp track side so yeah to me it's three for three and i'm just gonna pre-call it for y'all.Track 4:[26:22] Yeah yeah i found this song to be um i was the same way i found the the progression to be a bit generic at first and so i didn't really love it right away but yeah it really grew and i think what makes it work is that this band is just so tight they're so i mean loose but Yeah, the tempo, you know, picks up and, you know, there's the push and push and pull, but they are such a great band that they can pull off anything. Just a simple strumming pattern and make it sound pro. And there's that thing you mentioned off the top, JD, the blah, blah, blah, et cetera, which I was wondering if, I'm sure you guys were thinking the music at work, live, Gord would do the et cetera thing. Did you find anything lyrically, Justin?Track 5:[27:10] Yeah. So there's a dedication at the end of the lyrics for Walter Van Tilburg Clark, who wrote The Oxbow Incident, among many other works. And that became kind of one of the great Western movies of all time. And it's about, the subject is these cowboys thought that one of their buddies got murdered and that somebody stole their cows. And then they found this group of three people that they thought did it and they hanged them. And then they found out that the guy survived and it wasn't them and you know it was just a big mess so it was it was the oxbow incident and uh yeah so it was a complicated story and but this isn't about the story it's about the author there are a lot of references to lines in the book or the movie but it's you know there's a line he was born and raised and moved away and that's about i think walter van tillberg clark who was born in maine but then his parents moved him to nevada and then he moved to in New York and then he went he was kind of all over the place beyond that I don't know it's, There's one thing that is a bit of a departure, I think, on this album is that the lyrics aren't too deep. There's not a lot of mystery in this album with Gord's lyrics. And I was hoping for more of that, but the research was a little easier than I wanted it to be on this.Track 4:[28:26] That was something I noticed too, is like there didn't seem to be as much to dig into.Track 4:[28:31] And once I kind of got past that and just started enjoying it, I really did grow to appreciate the album a lot more. It's funny that you mentioned the Oxbow incident because number one, a couple of weeks ago i was in la and we did did a couple studio tours and this is one of the movies they actually mentioned i forget if it was warner brothers or universal but it was shot at one of those two places in the next song so one good fast job one of my notes here is oxbow incident because of the line it says art shot said wellman to fonda so wellman the director and uh fonda the the star of the show so um nice kind of a neat little tie and i had no idea that the previous song had that reference so i'm glad you caught that this song i really love and this was the one i was um i found really interesting the the progression you've got like almost like a eight bar blues but then they throw in an extra bar so it's like this nine bar which just throws you off off balance a little bit once you once you hear it a few times it makes perfect sense but there's the lyric about drop you know planes dropping paper and dropping scissors and the chimps becoming regular wizards i think it is. And so that made me think of, there's a couple of Simpsons episode that reference like the infinite monkey theorem.Track 4:[29:46] What is it? Infinite monkeys, or give a monkey a typewriter and let it type for infinity. It would create, you know, Shakespeare. And you know, it would just some ridiculous theory that has, you know, been, you know, criticized heavily, but I wonder if there's something to that.Track 6:[30:03] Sorely discredited.Track 4:[30:05] And I really like, there's the line too about something about forget the commas. This is one good fast job. And it almost made me think of this album that they just like banged off this out. Like, let's not, let's just have fun. Let's just write some songs and let's not take ourselves too seriously. So those are my thoughts.Track 5:[30:23] Well, I think there was some controversy over the name of the band. And there are commas in that band name. And I think that they're just saying, you know, screw it. And like, nobody asked for this. We're just doing it. let us enjoy it. I did see a couple of interviews where Gord and members of the band were like, can we not dissect this? This is just rock and roll.Track 4:[30:44] Yeah.Track 6:[30:46] One thing in watching some of those videos that I had mentioned, the last two songs that we discussed that they had played, it was a Greenbelt Harvest Festival thing show that was on. They had almost every song on there and he was playing with the Sadie's and watching the crowd to me was actually quite entertaining because they just sat there and looked in bewilderment right because I don't know they obviously have probably some relationship with with the hip and who knows if they're early hit people or later hit people or die hard all the way but when Gord does the solo stuff and then if they're not familiar with the Sadie's they just sat there and looked like yeah why don't what are we experiencing here what what's what's going on and bewilderment was the note note that i wrote right.Track 3:[31:34] Right i mean this makes no sense to me fuck okay sorry uh continue.Track 6:[31:42] It man one good fast job and almost back to kind of those punk type roots and that driving rocking it it's uh who i jd like this album has everything and, Also, one thing I wanted to mention, I know we're not through it all, but I think they did a great job of tracking. I really felt good about where all the songs were. I needed Crater to get me going, even though I was still mad and angry, like we mentioned, and then Saved at the end that we'll talk about. It just was like, okay, I got a good, nice, warm hug. Thank you. you um which.Track 5:[32:26] You know what's amazing is there were so many reviews about this album that said it was not cohesive and inconsistent and like what the hell are you talking about and.Track 3:[32:36] Uneven and blah blah.Track 4:[32:37] Blah yeah what.Track 3:[32:38] The hell man agree.Track 4:[32:39] Yeah no that's a reviewer who read that it was you know recorded over many years yeah that's ridiculous like maybe if you gave it one or two listens but even then even the first listen i didn't love it but it sounded like an album yeah Yeah. One more thing about this song though, before, before we move on, I love the middle section. There's like a bridge or maybe even call it a chorus. It only goes to it once the, I had to look, I had to go, I had to laugh. And it's really interesting how they go through it once, then there's that extra bar, like they keep doing, and then they change the chord progression and back off a bit. Like if you listen to the way the, you know, they're the same instruments, but they just back off and the feel changes totally. And it's such a great effect. Rather than ramping up a bridge, they almost like pull back a bit. And that really was unique. And it only happens once. It feels like a chorus to me, but it's right smack dab in the middle of the song. And I think it's two minutes and like 23 seconds or something. And this is definitely one of my favorites.Track 3:[33:43] Yeah, it's a good one. And the next one is a good one as well. It's got to hold the record for the longest title in Gord's solo oeuvre. Kirk mentioned a moment ago that there's a bit of everything on this record. And to me, the beginning of this song, just the very beginning, is shoegazy.Track 5:[34:00] Yes.Track 3:[34:00] Or it goes into a real punk sort of vibe. And it didn't start to break my heart until this afternoon. Justin, what have you got for us?Track 5:[34:09] So the line, we fought like two Irons, really stuck out to me. and it goes with Kirk. I don't know that this was the middle of a divorce. I think Gord is just polyamorous at this point because this project took seven years and in the middle of it, he released the third album, Grand Bounce. So he is just sleeping around. I love the punk, the hard driving, just we're going to beat the fuck out of this song.Track 4:[34:38] My first real positive experience with this song was driving to my show last weekend and it was like i said a nice day i was driving along and to me like i said it's a real good driving album and i was coming up to this i guess it was a school zone but it was a weekend so there's no school and there was a uh a flashing like speed limit sign it was like a happy face and as i'm driving by it's like it turns to a sad face because i guess i was a little bit above the limit i'm not a huge speeder but i found that kind of quite funny especially after the i just just listen to the line what is it um something about driving fast oh yeah drive drive it like we stole it yeah it's a great great line that's right and then later on there's the dishwasher loaded which i love because i i wish i could say that most of my music listening was in the car but i only have about a five minute commute to work so most of my listening is actually doing the dishes and so this is just a great song when you're doing the dishes and and dishwasher loaded it and it really really kind of got you know i.Track 5:[35:40] Had the same experience man that's.Track 4:[35:41] Found it pretty funny and i actually the first time i noticed that lyric i was actually had just put this open i was closing the door of the dishwasher and so it was just it was just perfect it's so funny yeah.Track 5:[35:51] That's amazing oh.Track 4:[35:53] And great harmonies too on the chorus like love those harmonies yeah.Track 6:[35:57] That's one thing you'll notice too when you watch those or or you see them like the the harmony part especially especially after what we had just experienced for the last three albums, you know, with the female voice going back to a male voice backing. I love that element that it brought to it. And I'm just gonna jump into the next song, Budget Shoes. This is one that I think has probably held the number one spot for me. I would say it's not necessarily still there, but it's been there more often than not. And maybe I'm far off on this, but being the American, one of the two Americans that really likes Canadian culture, it brought me back to Kids in the Hall for some reason. In fact, so much so, if you think of the Kids in the Hall intro, I actually looked it up to go hoping it was the sadies like that really would have made my day if it was the sadies that had done that song that's the intro to kids in the hall.Track 4:[39:34] There is there is a connection there and i hope i'm correct here but i believe i read that the dallas good the the younger brother who you know passed away recently who.Track 3:[39:44] Was the drummer.Track 4:[39:44] He he played so so the good family was a was a country family like they had like a family band and and the older brother travis actually played with his band and Dallas being younger he he went more towards punk and I believe it said that his first or one of his first bands was with one of the members of uh Shadowy Men is that the name of the band that does the theme yeah yeah.Track 3:[40:11] Shadowy Men oh.Track 6:[40:12] Wow nice it definitely was reminiscent of that uh the entire song to me is just brilliant and it it gives you I mean it It really just digs deep inside my soul going back to the ethereal. When Gord hits those moments of the desperation vocal that we heard a lot, not only in recording, but live when he was with the hip, that brought such a comfort to me, right? Knowing where the hip is at, knowing where Gord is at, knowing what's coming. Like this is three years prior to his passing. And just so thankful that we get another version of Gord. And that's really what it was to me is we got, we have the hip and we love that. We have these first three albums, but now we have another one. And it was, Justin, you mentioned it in his lyrics. It's like, I'm not trying to confuse anyone here. I got this great band. They've given me this good music and I'm just gonna give it, I'm gonna give it what's coming to me at the moment. so when he does his and i call it a desperation vocal i know exactly what.Track 5:[41:22] You mean when you say it though.Track 3:[41:26] Yeah.Track 5:[41:26] Yep. Yep. So I'm going to ask the Canadians in the room here about budget shoes because I did some research on this as well. And apparently there's a tradition in Canada that finance ministers buy a new pair of shoes before presenting the budget and they wear them on the floor. Or if they're pissed off about it, they don't.Track 4:[41:48] Oh, wow.Track 5:[41:48] And it's this thing that has happened since the 1860s.Track 3:[41:53] Jesus. Do they go bare feet? I mean, listen, I was a political science major, and I've never heard of it before, but that doesn't really mean anything.Track 6:[42:01] As the other American, I agree with what you say full-heartedly. Love it. Love that connection.Track 3:[42:10] Yeah, I think it's great.Track 5:[42:11] It was strange, but interesting. And I don't know if this song is a commentary on politics and that, or if it just works well with... I mean, this song sounds like, you know, we're sleeping in a tent in a winter storm unexpectedly in the middle of the desert, you know, and I've got nice shoes and you don't, you know, and I'm going to keep my feet and you're going to lose them to frostbite. I don't know.Track 4:[42:37] What I was thinking was I was imagining almost like an old Western movie. It's like sweltering hot in the desert. And yeah, they're camping overnight. Night and you know the most iconic thing you'll see in a western is that you know the shot of the cowboy boots and the pan up and and i'm just picturing this you know guy sleeping in his budget you know there's cheap shoes and that's kind of what i do balances on yeah yeah.Track 6:[43:04] Ouch shots fired they're.Track 5:[43:05] A great company and they.Track 6:[43:06] Make a fine shoe thank you we're not sponsored by any of these particular shoe brands yeah i mean budget shoes you talk about the westerns it's almost like a spaghetti western type feel just in that uh the guitar riff as well so.Track 3:[43:26] Oh, that's cool. I felt that, too. I wouldn't have put that together. All right, let's move on. Demand Destruction. Is it just me, Justin, or does this song feel very much like the Tragically Hip? Am I crazy?Track 5:[43:38] No, I don't think you're crazy about that at all. And this song is, I think, Gord kind of putting out his own views. Again, there's a notation at the bottom. The last one, Budget Shoes, was dedicated to Evan S. Connell, who was the author of the book about Custer where the title of The Grand Bounce came from. So that's a continuation. And then this one is dedicated to Dr. Helen Caldicott, who was an Australian physicist and anti-nuclear war advocate. And it just feels like a protest song to me. I really don't have a lot of notes about it. It's just a nice, fun tune. But there's definitely a message in there. And I think it's Gord speaking about, let's not fuck this up. and maybe some reverence for Dr. Caldecott. It says, I'm not a fan, I just like what you do. I don't know. I don't have a whole lot to unpack on this one.Track 3:[44:30] Right. Well, no, I think you unpacked quite a bit. Craig, what have you got for us?Track 4:[44:36] One thing I'll say about this song is I found maybe the snare was a little too biting for me. I found that if you if you were listening quietly it it just jumped right out of the mix to the point where you almost couldn't hear anything else and when you turned it up it just had just a little a tinge too much oh yeah you guys know who who mixed the album yeah so bob rock and i think he did a great job overall but it definitely you know he's known for those big huge drums and i just would have liked a little more balance i thought the snare was just a little peeking out a little bit too much the rest of the album i think it it works but maybe the song is the poppiest.Track 5:[45:17] I think of the of the songs on the album it's certainly.Track 4:[45:20] Radio friendly fairly typical like blues rock sort of yeah um riff at the start yeah.Track 3:[45:25] That's what reminds me it reminds me of something off of road apples you know oh yeah yeah that era.Track 4:[45:31] Yeah great great harmonies again especially in the chorus all.Track 3:[45:34] Right from there we get a change of pace with mandolin and organ off the top of devil enough. Am I right? Was it mandolin Craig?Track 4:[45:44] Um, yeah, I believe so. I need to go back and listen again. Um, yeah, this is the song I referenced earlier that was driving me nuts. Even today I was sitting there tapping my toes, like trying to figure out the time change. And I actually had this like theory about what they were doing with it, you know, how they're getting from one tempo to the next. And then I just realized after a while it's just feel it's all feel. And I won't even get into it, because there are some weird things that happen. And I think it is what Justin mentioned earlier, I think it's just that flexibility of, of like, you know, they're really pushing the tempo, bringing it back quite frequently. And so.Track 4:[46:25] Yeah, if anyone wants to transcribe this drum part for me and send it to me, I would love to see that because I would love to know mathematically how it works, but I'm pretty sure it is just like a feel thing. This was a song that really stuck out to me. I love that time change. Having said all that, it really, the first few times just really struck me. The guitar playing at the end, the sort of Nashville picking at the end is just amazing. There's a few songs that have those great guitar solos. I think often it's Travis, according to the videos I watched, although I believe Dallas will trade off solo sometimes too. There's the line, Streets Ahead, which of course is a song name from Now For Plan A. And I had just actually recently been watching Community. And I'm not sure if you guys know that reference, but there's a, you know, it's like a catchphrase of Chevy Chase's character. And I actually found a, I wondered if it was related and I found an interview where someone asked Gord that question and he's just like, what? He was so like, no, like what are you talking about? Which of course makes sense. I mean, you don't write books. All these songs you're not a prolific writer like gourd if you're if you're.Track 6:[47:36] Spending countless hours.Track 4:[47:39] Binging you know sitcoms with 120 episodes.Track 5:[47:44] Well and gourd gourd's a dan akroyd guy not a chevy chase guy.Track 6:[47:48] Yeah true hey going back to that the ending part craig yes uh you know they almost have a bluegrass feel in some of these instrumental type solos there's There's rock going on against a different instrumentation, which I absolutely love the devil enough to me almost was reminiscent of like your seventies kind of, you know, Barracuda and like the big songs that would have a slow intro and then rock out or go to another slow, but very seventies rock and kind of anthemic type of we're going to switch keys. We're going to switch tempos i very much got that but again going back to the swagger you feel the swagger in in the presentation of the lyrics at least from my perspective with gourd on this loved it loved it.Track 4:[48:43] Yeah there are some um really great songwriting techniques on this album that you can tell you know the sadies are just a pro band i think is it uh one of the guys from blue rodeo i believe was was quoted in the in the barclay book about saying that you know they're the world's greatest rock band and there's the little things like in this song they use the little bars of two to set up you know those changes and just lots of little things like that like an extra bar here an extra bar there it's just some really great little songwriting tricks what did you think justin i.Track 5:[49:14] Just this song you know growing up we only had like 10 or 12 channels on on tv and one of them was tnn the nashville network and so the grand ole opry was was on all the time, because we didn't have a choice. If it wasn't Hockey Night in Canada, it was TNN. And just this song, that run with the picking is really cool. It brought me back to late 80s, early 90s, just watching the hoedown.Track 4:[49:42] Not a country fan, but when I hear a great guitar player like that, though, like a great Nashville player, it really is great. This whole album isn't the type of music I would typically listen to. And I think that's why I gravitate more towards an indie rock feel, like the Battle of the Nudes. But man, this album is really, really solid.Track 6:[50:06] Yeah, it has a good... I mean, I know you guys say you don't like country, and I say it too. But I bet you you'd be surprised about what you do like that's country-esque. And so for me, when I think of country, I get turned away by some of the modern country. although I'm really digging some Chris Stapleton and some of these other guys I'm really digging. But like when I hear country, I think Kenny Rogers, Merle Haggard, I think Willie Nelson, I think, and I think we really do dig, even going back Hank Williams and even a little further, like when the, as you listen to, I love this that we're talking like, oh, we only had 10 channels and whatever else. And I'm going hockey night in Canada and the nashville network you know and throw in a little emma daughter's jug band christmas and that's my childhood and i'm happy and i love all that so i i i get what you're saying but this i mean the sadie's i think alt country i heard earlier from one of you guys that's very much the feel from devil enough you roll into i'm free disarray me justin you you inspired me because i I have the vinyl here with me. And so I quick looked at the bottom and I'm like, okay, I gotta catch this one cause I've missed all the other references that you mentioned. So you got Virginia Woolf, who's listed at the bottom of I'm Free Disarray Me. And when you do your research, you think about stream of consciousness.Track 6:[51:31] And that really, I think, kind of sums up your lyrics in this particular song.Track 6:[51:37] Swagger again it's it's it's it's it's the same but it's not i heard us all say that it's the same but it's not i i i loved where it went with this and it's bringing us down now right because we only have one more song we talked about the track listings and the order and now it's given us getting us i think this is kind of setting us up for saved at least me personally uh what you think craig.Track 4:[52:03] This was the first song that actually popped into my head just out of the blue one morning when i woke up because it took quite a long time for that to happen with this album i was still singing grand bounce songs you know every morning waking up and then one day it was that i was like wow okay and and same one thing i want to mention this is kind of, going off of what you're talking about with vinyl i was listening to this you know doing dishes.Track 4:[52:29] With you know on apple and the amount of times in the last few months of doing this you know this show with you guys listening to music and it glitches for just a second when i'm streaming and it just drives me nuts and so just that was one thing that i just had a note note about that that this album needs to be listened to on cd on on on vinyl anyways that was just a little pet peeve of mine and also the the snare again in this song was just a little a little much for me it was it was it was really up front and i i like loud drums typically in a mix but i just I don't know there there was it's almost like with the snare being that loud I'm missing a bit of the kick drum and speaking of which you guys must have noticed that the the bass players you know playing stand-up I had the thought a few times like I wonder and this is not to take away from what he's doing but I just wonder what it would have sounded like if they if they used an electric bass on this album because I found the bass to be not as prominent as on the last three albums you know there it wasn't sticking i don't think that's just part of the style of this band.Track 6:[53:38] Great i have a question though craig in when i look at the watch the videos oh yeah he has an he has an ampeg like he has a bass amp so he's taking a stand-up bass which traditionally you just mic or go straight into the board and he's he's running it through a traditional rock bass you know pickup bass right in through like the standard road hard ampeg so um so it gives it that good gritty sound but i will agree 100 it's not as prominent and i would like it to be a little bit more only just being a musician but it didn't didn't didn't dissuade me from my love for this album yeah.Track 4:[54:21] Not at all and i think it were like sometimes the best bass players are the ones you don't notice like they're just tight to the to the drummer and that's really all that matters but there was really only a couple times on this album where i where i noticed.Track 6:[54:34] Very accurate Accurate statement.Track 5:[54:36] This, I think, is my MVP. As a kid who was raised on prog, you fall into the song and just let it kind of take over. I don't know. I actually found, weirdly, a karaoke version of this on YouTube.Track 3:[54:52] Really?Track 5:[54:53] An instrumental version of this. No way. And I played the piss out of it just today driving. Driving and uh yeah it's it's really odd that this is the one that's an instrumental track for, yeah but just the phrasing of things lyrically and musically like he's it this doesn't sound like any other song that gourd has has put together as far as i'm concerned i.Track 6:[55:17] Love i love that connection with prog rock justin because you've mentioned that multiple times that that's something you love. And when you said it, I had not placed it until you said it. And I agree with you on that's a great, great, great description of it.Track 5:[55:31] There was a lot of references to the Sadie's covering Pink Floyd in live shows. And I'm like, oh, there it is right there. The song is that.Track 6:[55:42] The next one to the next one to could be, you know, Jim Ladd headset session, listening like with Pink Floyd.Track 3:[55:50] Oh, the next one is gorgeous, I think. It's the first slower tempo song that we have on the record called Saved.Track 5:[58:56] Again, I can't believe that the reviews said this album doesn't make sense because about halfway down, the plane starts to land, right? And every song from halfway on is just you're descending and you land perfectly softly unsaved. And this song also sounds a lot like Coke Machine Glow. And it's just really mellow and it's Gord doing his thing. and i i don't know i love it.Track 6:[59:26] Almost every album i feel like has had a an extended version of coke machine glow track to it i i i love that i i hadn't placed it until you just said that because i felt the same way about some of the other the other albums is there that could be on coke machine glow but you're exactly right and then he continues that theme as it goes almost like the uh like his is the poetry book.Track 3:[59:53] Craig is holding up his notes.Track 4:[59:55] Nobody else can see it. I said the exact same thing. Pattern of Ending solo albums and some hip albums with a track with a much different feel is what I had written.Track 5:[1:00:07] Which goes back to Road Apples.Track 4:[1:00:12] I really love the line the music is so loud that it flaps your pant leg. It reminded me a little bit of Yawning or Snarling. Just the line in that.Track 5:[1:00:23] Thank you. I would hold up my notebook if it wasn't typed out. Because that's exactly what I have to.Track 4:[1:00:30] We are, let's see, as of recording this episode, we are, what time is it there? We're about two and a half hours away from the 10 year anniversary of this album. Of the release of this album.Track 3:[1:00:41] Oh, get the fuck out.Track 4:[1:00:42] Yeah. Wow.Track 3:[1:00:44] Oh, wow.Track 4:[1:00:46] I just had to look it up yesterday. I was like, wow, that's pretty cool.Track 5:[1:00:48] Oh, shit.Track 3:[1:00:48] That is cool. Huh. I normally have them all in my calendar, and I don't have that in my calendar. Huh. Good find. Yeah, it's going to be, yeah.Track 6:[1:01:00] Good find, Craig. Great find.Track 5:[1:01:02] J.D., you have about two and a half hours to make a post.Track 3:[1:01:06] Any more unsaved?Track 5:[1:01:09] I don't know. I didn't pick it apart too much. I loved that imagery of the line, Craig, that you just mentioned. The music is so loud, it flaps your pant leg. And there's a really strange, it's almost not, rhythm to the way that he sings it. It would be really hard to transcribe that onto a, onto a sheet of music.Track 4:[1:01:29] I also enjoyed the, um, the, the, the, they finally played a bit without the drums, you know, like this whole album has been very much like a full band. And I mentioned last week, I believe that one of the strengths of, of country of miracles was that they had so many members that they could all just take a break every once in a while. They didn't feel the need to always fill up every space. This band's the opposite because they're, you know, there's just four of them and they, they, you know, they're very much a typical rock band where everyone's playing all the time and so i actually enjoyed that there was a bit of time at the start of the song without drums no no offense to the drummer um but sometimes you just need a break this.Track 6:[1:02:07] Song to me was the you know that that cup of coffee after dessert or you know the cigarette after sex it was that finisher it was uh it was that we're all in good, good, good company. I love the connection back with Coke Machine Glow. I love the connection back with that changing that ending song. But to me, it was, all right, more so than the others. It was like, okay, here's your big warm hug before whatever comes up next.Track 3:[1:02:39] Oh, I like it. It does feel like a warm hug. It's a very comforting song for me. I don't know why, but it chills me right out. It's a great cigarette after sex. Kirk, I love that. It's really tremendous.Track 5:[1:02:55] It sucks that this album was only a half hour long.Track 3:[1:02:58] I know. It's so strange after The Grand Bounce, which was nearly an hour. But again, these guys are just so efficient and economical.Track 5:[1:03:10] It's one good fast job, baby.Track 3:[1:03:12] That's right.Track 6:[1:03:14] So does- Hey, did you know that that is his second highest played single, or at least versus Spotify when I last checked? Does that not totally blow you away? Like at least if you just look in his Spotify category, I believe it's number two behind like the Chancellor, I think is probably the most sense. But now i'm now i'm gonna look sorry i'm gonna i'm gonna see if i can back my own research.Track 5:[1:03:43] So interestingly i i don't have hard copies of any of these albums so i'm i'm strictly listening on streaming i use the youtube music app i don't really care for the interface on spotify and there is zero existence of this album in that in that space so i had to download band camp and buy the album that way which i was happy to do yeah i love band camp but yeah i had to uh that's the only way I could find this lyrics.Track 6:[1:04:07] All right, gents. I did the research. I was incorrect by two. It's Chancellor, the East wind. Oh, I am lost.Track 4:[1:04:15] That's then one good. Mind blowing.Track 5:[1:04:17] No shit.Track 6:[1:04:18] Number four.Track 4:[1:04:19] Yeah.Track 6:[1:04:20] Like that. It's even in the top five to me over like.Track 4:[1:04:23] You know, it's a great song. These songs that I thought were more well-known. Wow.Track 6:[1:04:29] Thank you.Track 4:[1:04:29] Yeah.Track 6:[1:04:30] It's surprising to me that.Track 3:[1:04:32] Yeah.Track 5:[1:04:33] Well, even, Even the opener on this one, Crater, I mean, it has a great video too.Track 6:[1:04:39] Oh, that's right. That's right. It is a really cool video.Track 4:[1:04:43] So the album art's interesting too. Did you catch that there's the different members of the band on the album? There's probably about these portraits of like, I don't know, 50 people. And if you look carefully, you can find all of the members of the band. I did.Track 6:[1:05:01] I did, absolutely. It's, yeah, on the album.Track 5:[1:05:04] And the artwork and the sound and all that, it kind of reminded me of the Beatles. I don't know why. But there was something about it that was familiar.Track 3:[1:05:16] Beatles-esque.Track 5:[1:05:17] Yeah. Yeah.Track 6:[1:05:20] I could see that. I mean, especially from an artistic standpoint. Yeah. Very much can see that.Track 3:[1:05:26] Yeah.Track 5:[1:05:27] Overall, I was super happy that this was the next thing. And I wish that there had been another one to follow it.Track 3:[1:05:33] So does it stay in your rotation then, Justin?Track 5:[1:05:36] Mm-hmm.Track 3:[1:05:37] Yeah, it does. Craig, how about you?Track 4:[1:05:40] A couple of days ago, I probably would have said maybe not. It's an album I'll definitely pull out here and there. But no, I do think I really am enjoying it lately. And like I said, the turn of the weather really helped. This is, to me, a summer album, not a, I think, come winter, I'll put it away again.Track 5:[1:05:59] End but the i'm sorry but i got it before i forget it right we just had the eclipse as we're recording this and i was stuck in traffic it's a 17 minute commute to get home and it took me 90 minutes so i listened to this album three times on the ride home and it's a great even if you're stopped it's a great album to be in the car.Track 6:[1:06:20] It's going to hit the turntable for me on a fairly regular basis for a while. Like I said, Grand Bounce, I couldn't get it out of my head. And finally, it might even have been an I'm Free Disarray Me, just that very methodical line that came through that turned it for me. Me but i love i i love it absolutely love it in fact i'm i'm probably more excited about digging deeper into the sadies once this whole project is done the sadies and several other canadian bands that i'm not as familiar with that you guys have introduced me to and i'm very thankful for but uh yeah this this one's staying in the rotation if you've got any.Track 3:[1:07:02] Bands that are gore adjacent or canadian indie adjacent uh send them our way discovering downy at gmail.com And we'll be sure to read that email on the air.Track 5:[1:07:18] I will say that as much as I've enjoyed this album, I've also really enjoyed the songs that are not on the album that Gordon and Sadie have played together. The cover of Search and Destroy. Holy shit.Track 3:[1:07:32] Right, you sent that to us a few days ago.Track 5:[1:07:35] That song melted my goddamn face off. It was so good. So good. And it was like 7, 12 in the morning or something. I was like, all right, I'm out of bed now. This is awesome.Track 4:[1:07:45] One of the shows I found online was here in Vancouver at the media club. And I actually remember hearing about it. And I'm just kicking myself that I didn't get to that show. This is like a tiny, tiny, like this is where my original band a number of years ago did our CD release party. And yeah, there's maybe room for 80 to 100 people in there. would have been amazing.Track 3:[1:08:10] Oh damn that.Track 6:[1:08:14] Is definitely i don't have a lot of regrets gentlemen but not seeing any iteration of gourd solo is very much i'm glad video was around because but i would have really really really enjoyed.Track 3:[1:08:28] Seeing that feeling thousand percent live yeah.Track 5:[1:08:32] I go back to that sweaty basement uh in me in massachusetts and like dude i went to those shows all the time and I wasn't there.Track 3:[1:08:39] That's crazy so Justin you've already sort of given this away even though we we you know we tease it throughout the show and typically give it away at the end but we'll start with you and your MVP track.Track 5:[1:08:56] Yeah, it's totally I'm free, disarray me, which took me by surprise, but then it didn't totally. You know, after the way that by, you know, the music that my parents played when I was a kid, this song is just cosmic cowboy, trippy shit.Track 3:[1:09:14] Kirk, how about you?Track 6:[1:09:15] All right. Los Angeles Times.Track 3:[1:09:21] Excellent. I love that pick. I liked your pick too, Justin.Track 5:[1:09:25] That's the hometown.Track 6:[1:09:26] Oh, yeah.Track 5:[1:09:27] That's okay.Track 6:[1:09:28] And it definitely is not one that I would have really settled in on had it not been for our discussion today, honestly. Because almost every song on the album has really fallen into near the top. You know, Conquering Sun, Budget Shoes, I would say, of everything, those definitely hit that number one spot for me multiple times. But Los Angeles Times is the one that just kept coming back, and I just kept feeling, and I kept growing further, enamored with on all fronts. So that's my pick, and I'm sticking to it.Track 3:[1:10:03] Very cool. Craig, you?Track 4:[1:10:06] Yeah, I had a hard time picking a song. And I found, kind of like what Kirk said, there was almost less of a range between the songs I enjoyed and the songs I enjoyed less. They were all in roughly the same region, whereas the other albums, there was some tracks that right away really, really got to another level with me. I think this album maybe doesn't quite have quite the emotion that the first three did, which is usually what hits me when I really love a song. Usually it just grabs me emotionally. And this album didn't have that in the same way. my my go-to song here is is going to be uh it didn't start to break my heart until this afternoon, just just a good good punk rock song yeah just nice just a great yeah great driving tune and.Track 3:[1:11:00] Gets the blood flowing, right? And I agree with you about the previous three records. They're just sort of more raw and improvised feeling.Track 4:[1:11:08] And more range to them, right? This just feels... There was more... Yeah, just... More variety. Yeah, more...Track 3:[1:11:15] Dynamics. Yeah. Yeah.Track 5:[1:11:20] There was a point where critics were really starting to tear Gord and the hip down. Yeah. When this album was coming out. And they were like, all right, we get it. The soup's getting cold. It's the same shit over and over, year after year. The performances are boring. It's not great. And I think, I don't know, but I'm thinking that this album was Gord's big middle finger to those guys. I'm still doing this. He's 50 years old.Track 4:[1:11:49] Can you think of another artist that has done what Gord has done? He's now got three bands that are all so amazing. Yeah, that's right.Track 5:[1:12:01] At the same time.Track 3:[1:12:01] At the same time, yeah, you're right.Track 4:[1:12:03] Yeah, mind-blowing how much high-quality work he put out through his whole career, but especially in this middle chunk here.Track 3:[1:12:12] Well, and if you think about it, this is a perfect segue because beginning in 2012, he started work on the record we're going to talk about next week, which is Secret Path. And that record didn't see the light of day until 2016. 16. So even then with that record, he's assembled the band again, and it's a great band as well. So this guy is just producing at a level presumably around the same time he's doing Luster Parfait. Because he's working with Bob Rock pretty exclusively, right?Track 5:[1:12:49] Right.Track 3:[1:12:50] So, God, just fascinating what we're what we've gotten up to so far i can't wait we are halfway done his records we've got one more studio record and then god damn it three posthumous records uh it's going to be tough to get through those ones guys i know it yep anything else you want to say before we wrap things up i.Track 5:[1:13:15] Don't know i love it man i i love this project i feel like we're a broken record because we're all going to say the same thing and we'd say it every episode But this project has gotten me back into, just like you said, Kirk, discovering new music. Or it's new to me. Right. And I am finding so many new things that I didn't know I didn't know.Track 3:[1:13:35] Right.Track 6:[1:13:37] I'm i have been frightened from the beginning because you know you listen because it's your first time listening to a solo stuff for you know i was frightened every single album that, yeah i was going to be disappointed yeah yep and i just keep finding a new way to be enamored and i don't mind being that easy when it comes to gourd and what's going on uh you know i i we talked about, you know, my, my experience with the hip, you know, having to hear about it from friends and not having that, you know, immediate access to everything. So I'm thoroughly loving the fact that the emotion and the feeling that Gord and the hip, all the musicians he's been involved with on the solo, just keep raising the level. So I'm now just like, I'm, I'm, you know, what I like about this, you guys is you're nervous and worried. Now I'm not nervous and worried. I'm I'm just, I'm excited about listening to what's coming up and I'm so excited.Track 5:[1:14:37] If you, if you enter the, if you enter the room knowing it's going to be a mindfuck when you get there, it's perfect

god love jesus christ american new york spotify california community canada kids washington battle olympic games americans canadian song nature australian radio toronto search mind western holy north america nashville hall of fame night east track saved celebration driving ending mvp beatles vancouver cult spending cd shakespeare rush rock and roll destroy trust in god simpsons infinite found jd pattern conquering bands dynamics hip coke pink floyd los angeles times cbc mm chancellor christmastime accurate willie nelson oilers nudes virginia woolf chino chevy chase bellingham downey swagger kenny rogers dire straits binging fender immersed irons chris stapleton custer hank williams ethereal crater merle haggard barracuda gord uneven tragically hip hockey night in canada occurring yawning sam roberts blind melon rec room no rain repping oxbow bob rock tnn caldecott audette sadies secret path southern vermont sorely snarling joel plaskett helen caldicott streets ahead shadowy men jim ladd road apples evan s connell

And the Conquering Sun

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 10, 2024 76:42

This week in the pod, the gang is up to their neck in the fantastic effort by Gord and the Sadies. You're gonna want to check this one out!Transcript: Track 1:[0:00] Hey, it's Craig here, and I just wanted to let you know that Christmastime in.Track 1:[0:03] Toronto is coming early this year. Join me and the Discovering Downey crew for the recording of our podcast finale, live at The Rec Room in downtown Toronto on Friday, July 19th. Long Slice Brewing presents A Celebration of Gord Downey, which will include a special in-person interview with Gord's brother, Patrick Downey. Spend the evening listening to your favorite hip tunes provided by the almost hip and help us raise money for the gourd downy fund for brain cancer research with a silent auction featuring incredible items up for grabs visit discoveringdowny.com for tickets or for more information about the event, let's have a toast for charity wickedness and most importantly hope.Track 2:[1:04] DOS Beauty I name my guitar My Beautiful Behor Everybody's coughing here And music's infiltrating work In the most pleasant way It's a system based on silverware Listening's an extrasensory Perception And talking the only psychic thing and I can dress you in my thoughts until you wear them. I've been taking care of my clothes like they're cattle. Try this shirt. It would look so good on you.Track 1:[1:42] Welcome, music lovers. Long Slice Brewery presents Discovering Downy. Hey, it's J.D.Track 2:[1:52] Here, and welcome to Discovering Downey, an 11-part project with a focus on the music and poetry of Mr. Gord Downey. The late frontman of the Tragically Hip gave to the world an extensive solo discography on top of the hip's vocal acrobatics that awed us for years. So far, he's released eight records in total, three of them posthumously. Now listen, you might be the biggest fan of The Hip out there, but have you heard these records? Because I'm an inquisitive podcaster, I enlisted my friends Craig, Justin, and Kirk, giant fans in their own right, to discover Downey with me, JD, as their host. Every week we'll get together and listen to one of Gord's records. We're starting with Coke Machine Glow and working from there in chronological order. We discuss and dissect the album, the production, the lyrics, and we break it down song by song. This week we're going to be talking about Gord's fourth record, and his first and only with the Sadies.Track 3:[2:58] Occurring son kirk from chino how the fuck are things with you buddy jd.Track 6:[3:04] I'm uh i'm back home after a little bit of travel it's been good travel um it's allowed me to really kind of soak this album in so i'm excited talking about it with you boys.Track 3:[3:15] Can you confirm this craig i'm kidding yeah how's it going pretty.Track 4:[3:20] Good yeah also looking forward to talking about this album them and it this one took me a little bit of time to get into but we'll talk about that i have been a little under the weather since the last recording it was about halfway through the last podcast i started feeling something coming on and just won't go away just a cold thankfully but yeah other than that things are well.Track 3:[3:41] Well that's good justin you've been a podcasting machine today are you spent or are you ready to talk shop with me i'm.Track 5:[3:49] Just getting started buddy.Track 3:[3:50] Yeah well let's get into it then and the conquering sun is the album we are discussing this week after three consecutive solo outings with some form of the country of miracles gourd wrote and produced this one with the sadies who had just come from supporting the hip on their world container tour Like so many, this marriage was consummated by the CBC, when the Sadies chose Mr. Downey to collaborate with, as was the program's premise. The Sadies are a Toronto-based and road-tested throughout Canada and beyond, with an original lineup consisting of Travis Goode, Sean Dean, Mike Belotiski, and Dallas Goode, who sadly passed away in 2022. This band, as I mentioned, is road-tested with buckets of swagger and chops for days. But how do you talk about The Conquering Sun? After the loose and improvised feeling of the last three records, this record is tight and economical. With a 30-minute runtime, I had to listen twice to get my walk in.Track 3:[4:55] Of the four records we've listened to so far, this one makes my Olympic podium for rock and roll with a hard-fought bronze medal, which is nothing to shake a stick at unless, of course, you're shaking the stick in a complimentary fashion. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this album. In fact, in my opinion, this record is the closest we get to a sound that is reminiscent of the hip, up and down on this record. The songs are screaming for radio play if only radio had been a factor upon its release in 2014. From the rip of Crater right through Saved, there isn't a missed opportunity on this record. I could go on about how much I like this record, na-na-na-na, blah-blah-blah, etc. You might be curious how I'm literally singing this album's praises, yet I've only ranked it third of four. I promise I'm not damning with faint praise. It's more that I loved the ceiling of the country of miracles, particles and the idea that we don't get a fourth effort from that entity bums me out a little bit so it's hard to go into this one with that ripple of bummed outness influencing me a little more than frankly i'd like but who cares what i think let's check in with the crew craig we'll start with you this week.Track 4:[6:04] Yeah this album like i i mentioned took took a few listens to get into um it's definitely not in you know it's not my favorite of the four we've heard so far but it's really just it's drastically different it just has a different vibe and there are a lot of things I really like about it and I think that my biggest realization is this this is a summer album this is a a nice weather taking a drive in the car putting the windows down this it's that kind of album and for the first couple weeks I didn't have that weather but but just past in the past few days we have and it's just it totally changed my outlook of this this album.Track 3:[6:45] I was on mute. Justin, what are your thoughts overall?Track 5:[6:49] Oh, I needed this one. I needed this album to get my headspace back into this. And I think I'm going to rank this number two so far out of the four. I actually really love this album a lot. And like Craig, it took me a minute to get into it, but something clicked and I have been listening to it at least two or three times a day every day since. And in the car, on my phone, with or without earbuds trying to get the different parts of the sound, and it kicks my ass every time. I really just like this album from start to finish. Every song kind of sounds the same, which makes it sound like one big long song, and I really kind of love that.Track 3:[7:28] Interesting. I can't wait till we break it down. What say you, Kirk from Chino?Track 6:[7:32] Like my brethren here, it took me a while. In fact, it took me a while because it almost felt like a divorce and maybe a bit of an affair Was going on with with our buddy Gord. I was so I.Track 6:[7:48] Immersed into what was happening with the country miracles and like you said in the beginning like the ceiling like i wanted more and i was so ready for more i had the vinyl of this one the last ground bounce i didn't and i listened to it and i knew there was something there but i was angry honestly i was angry because i wanted more as we had mentioned but man did it grow and grow row. I'm not going to rank it right now because every time I rank something, a day or two goes by and something happens. And I realized, oh man, that was, you know, the grand bounce. That was Coke machine glow that, and you know, every album that we've had a chance to listen to has been, I think in every slot, if that makes sense, depending on the time of day or what's going on. And and so again it just brings you back to joy because i didn't dive in when it was happening which of course i'm a little sad about but i'm so excited now that i'm like i'm really loving music discovery again i'm really loving listening to albums i'm really loving i don't care if it's in the car if i'm walking the dog if i'm sitting at work if i'm you know working on something on on the computer and I've got the music going.Track 6:[9:11] Like I have not spent this much time with new music. I say that in quotes because it's obviously not new, but it's new to me, new to us.Track 6:[9:23] And I'm just, I'm loving the ride. That's all I got to say. This one is the last two, I mean, like I'm going to be listening to these forever. And I'm going to try and preach the word and get some people to jump on board because it makes me sad when I look at Spotify or something and I see the honestly and don't jump on me. It's like the limited number of listens to the Gord stuff. I have friends that have put stuff out that have more downloads than that. I'm not saying that in a negative, I'm saying that in a like, that shouldn't be. That shouldn't be, so. Right. My diatribe's over, sorry.Track 3:[10:03] No, no. Well, that's why I was mentioning off the top too too, that it screams for radio play to me. It's very radio-friendly. There's nothing over four minutes. And fucking radio just didn't matter in 2014. So of course we were never going to hear this. Unless we were paying very close attention.Track 6:[10:26] Absolutely.Track 3:[10:27] Clearly we were not.Track 6:[10:28] Absolutely. Radio.Track 5:[10:29] Radio still matters to me. I'm a radio guy. I'm going to tell you that right now. Yeah. Love radio.Track 3:[10:34] Radio doesn't love you back though. That's the problem. Like it's getting stripped down and worn down and these formats, you know, like if you've got a, if you've got a local that you love, then by going to stand with it, right?Track 5:[10:47] Yeah, you're right. We have, we have a, I'm going to sidebar here for just a second. We have a great station here in Southern Vermont, WEQX, which is one of the last great independent alternative rock stations in North America. And they discovered No Rain by Blind Melon. They were the first one to play it. And they just got this great pedigree, and they love to play Gord's solo stuff. From 2020 on, there's been a lot of new Gord solo stuff that's really been great.Track 3:[11:19] Get up. Right.Track 5:[11:20] And it's kind of been hard to not listen ahead during this project. Wow. I don't know if they played any of the stuff from this album, but this would totally fit.Track 4:[11:28] Yeah, we once had a really awesome independent radio station down in Bellingham, Washington, which we could pick up in Vancouver. And they actually, their tagline was something like, we don't play Canadian music because we have to. We play it because it rocks or something along those lines. And they would play The Hip and Rush. and yeah that's the only american station i've heard that that played a ton of the hip and yeah of course about 15 years ago they got whatever bought out by chorus or someone and it's now just yeah yeah your standard rock radio well.Track 3:[12:02] Should we eradicate this problem and educate people on this record go through it track by track are we ready let's.Track 5:[12:10] Go sure yeah.Track 3:[12:12] All right we start with track one side a it's the classic rock tinged crater what did you think of this one mr greg.Track 4:[12:25] My dad uh came to vancouver from new zealand in 1965 to to buy a 65 chevy impala and this song crater is a 1965 chevy impala cruising down the road it's just a great rock and roll track yeah um man that snare drum is yes snare snare yeah it is it is there in the mix yeah definitely i didn't dive into the lyrics at all especially um the songs that were more kind of rocking i i just i was just enjoying them and the only thought i had lyric wise was um almost like an idea of like either you're you're the crater or you're the meter meteor And I was kind of thinking along the lines of there's that not so great Dire Straits song, Heavy Fuel, where he says, you know, sometimes you're the windshield and sometimes you're the bug. And that was kind of the... What i got out of the lyrics on this song.Track 6:[13:25] I i wonder in the lyrics and maybe you guys did further research that i didn't see like how much of it was gord how much of it was the gents from the sadies because i i knew the name the sadies but i honestly until this i had not really you know dove into some of their music and i think in one of our you know communications justin had mentioned that as well like he's doing a lot of listening to the sadies and and i try i you know my listening at first it's this is it's going to sound weird um i did a lot of listening at first obviously like through spotify or whatever else but it wasn't until youtube and i got to see these guys and they're wearing like their nudie suits is what it looks like you know and i just i just saw a bunch of them they had a big exhibit at the you know country music uh hall of fame and they were We're talking about that LA country and, you know, very much a country tinge, but, you know, they're using those hollow body guitars. And anyway, so back to lyrics, like what's the balance between Gord and the Sadie's? Did anyone find anything on that?Track 4:[14:30] My understanding is that they, that the Sadie's wrote the songs and Gord wrote the lyrics that, yeah. And it was recorded apparently over a number of years. This wasn't like an album that was done in one session, which I find surprising because like someone said earlier, it's, it sounds just like a, it's a great album. It, it really sounds like it was just tracked in one day or something. It's yeah, there's a.Track 6:[14:53] There's YouTube has a, uh, interview of, I think the Sadie's had just put an album out. It was like 2010 and Gord was with them and they, you know, obviously had some discussions about their, their time together. And in some of the research it talks about, this has definitely been a long-term type of thing. Great song.Track 5:[15:10] Yeah, there was a CBC fuse in 2007 is what put them together. So it took seven years for this album to come out from that first collaboration. Collaboration I really like the sound.Track 6:[15:21] From a musicianship standpoint ethereal is really the kind of the adjective that came to mind on a lot of the the guitar parts that the Sadie's had you know very much a hollow body type guitar going through either a Fender a lot of reverb I really liked that driving sound I really really liked it it was it was pretty prevalent throughout in my opinion anything.Track 3:[15:43] Else on crater i.Track 5:[15:46] Just yeah i mean this is gourd this is like this is a live show on a record um this one song particularly and he is giving it all he has what at the end of the second verse and if we record any of these songs this is the one i'm doing because this is a this is a screamer and it's so much fun to be it you know we don't want to we don't want to do it we want to be it this song is fun to sing, Yeah. So I also, I downloaded an app because I noticed my foot was tapping a lot faster at the end of the song than the beginning. And I, so I, I downloaded an app and it picks up 13 beats per minute from the start to the finish.Track 4:[16:29] Oh yeah. That's something I'm going to be talking about later. Cause I, it was driving me nuts. One of the songs I was trying to actually figure out what was happening mathematically and yeah. Okay. I'm glad I'm not the only one noticed.Track 6:[16:43] I love that. I love the time changes in a variety of different songs. I put them down in a few notes. But the one thing I really want to say before we dive into any more, long live the guitar solo. And there's quite a few guitar solos on this album, specifically Crater. And they're just, they're solos. They're good solos. And on the other albums, we'll call lead lines, but there's not a lot of solos. And I'm digging that, getting that back, because we haven't had that in the first three.Track 5:[17:15] Oh, yes.Track 3:[17:16] Nice. Well, the next one is sort of the titular track, but not quite. The Conquering Sun does what for you, Justin?Track 5:[17:27] When I look out the window and see Audette's Blue Spruce Farm across the street, That's kind of what I think about. I mean, it's getting on time to plant. And here it is as we record this. It's planting season and working the fugitive dust. Nature, please be good to us. You know, we just had this massively wet spring that wiped out a shit ton of the farms around here. That's, you know, before they even got started. For me, that's part of what this song is. There's also the line, she is more than a conqueror. And I wonder if that's a reference to Gord's wife, Laura, with her recent cancer battle. I don't know when this song was recorded in the timeline of all that, like what year this happened. But I interpreted it as possibly something that could be a reference to defeating the cancer. And the other thing that I really, it was a callback to We Are The Same is when Gord's, his vocal run during hearing, ooh, day is your word, night is the glue. He does that exact same thing in The Depression Suite. That very same run, the change, the pitch, the length, I love it.Track 4:[18:41] Yeah, I caught that too. That's great.Track 6:[18:43] Great song. It was one of those. I think I mentioned on the last time we spoke, there was not a definitive MVP for me. This one has fallen in and out of MVP, and it may fall back in at the end of this recording. morning. But that's one of the things that really showed me this was a great album, but specifically this song. I just felt immersed in it. And like I said earlier, Ethereal, again, another great solo, another great, that sound that the Sadies have. They have, these guys, what are they like six, five, six, six, they look like trees and they might be a buck or five soaking wet and the suits are barely hanging on them and he's just playing this you know telecaster like it's a little tiny you know a small ukulele and they just have this they they just have this presence and like i said it really wasn't until i i started seeing them that i i got the sadie's because when i was listening it didn't hit me as much and i was kind of hoping i don't know if i mentioned this earlier because they were on the world container tour and i was wondering if they were the opening band I didn't find anything that showed them specifically, but when I watch the videos, it doesn't bring a memory or recollection that I saw. I think it was Sam Roberts that opened for a lot of the shows that I saw here in California.Track 5:[20:06] I saw Joel Plaskett as the opener on that tour.Track 6:[20:11] Got it. Got it. Yeah. So I was kind of hoping that they were one of the openers. But you know now i'm really excited that you know just in the last couple of days i would say is really when my attention has gone towards them and when you start hearing and seeing how they crafted these songs together and how they worked so well with gourd and his phrasing and and so yeah love this love this yeah.Track 4:[20:38] The the sadies are actually on tour as we record this and i'm hoping to pick to go down to the the vancouver show uh so you might you might want to look at dates they They might be coming down your way.Track 6:[20:48] I hope so.Track 4:[20:48] Yeah, this song, to me, as soon as I heard it, it reminded me of Nico Case. And Nico Case is someone who's worked with the Sadies. And so it is very much that sort of alt-country vibe on this song. And this was probably the song that drew me in right away. Again, like Kirk said, it was in the contention for my MVP track for sure, which, like you, keeps changing. and yeah it's just just a great feel to this song.Track 3:[21:18] Yeah i couldn't agree more i think we're two for two so far on this record and we're gonna find out that let's go pretty even record it's a pretty even fucking record los angeles times has the aforementioned swagger dripping from it, Kirk, did you like this one as much as I did?Track 6:[25:07] I'm going to say yes, absolutely. But it didn't start out that way. This actually was one of my least favorite tunes after the first couple of passes. I just didn't quite get it. It was just kind of like, it was almost too much swagger at first for me. Because remember, I think we're in a divorce right now. I think this is an affair that's going on. So I'm a little adverse to the song and the album and almost everything because I still have his last, you know, that last record that just moved us all. It was still here. So there was this almost a betrayal, swagger, distaste that I had in the beginning. But listening to it, re-listening to it, listening to it in headphones, listening to it on vinyl, listening to it in the car, listening to it in the plane, listening to it in the hotel. The key changes, like we'd mentioned earlier, just another great solo, just great rock. And, hey, I'm an LA guy. So this one definitely turned and has also filtered through multiple times sometimes on the mvp track side so yeah to me it's three for three and i'm just gonna pre-call it for y'all.Track 4:[26:22] Yeah yeah i found this song to be um i was the same way i found the the progression to be a bit generic at first and so i didn't really love it right away but yeah it really grew and i think what makes it work is that this band is just so tight they're so i mean loose but Yeah, the tempo, you know, picks up and, you know, there's the push and push and pull, but they are such a great band that they can pull off anything. Just a simple strumming pattern and make it sound pro. And there's that thing you mentioned off the top, JD, the blah, blah, blah, et cetera, which I was wondering if, I'm sure you guys were thinking the music at work, live, Gord would do the et cetera thing. Did you find anything lyrically, Justin?Track 5:[27:10] Yeah. So there's a dedication at the end of the lyrics for Walter Van Tilburg Clark, who wrote The Oxbow Incident, among many other works. And that became kind of one of the great Western movies of all time. And it's about, the subject is these cowboys thought that one of their buddies got murdered and that somebody stole their cows. And then they found this group of three people that they thought did it and they hanged them. And then they found out that the guy survived and it wasn't them and you know it was just a big mess so it was it was the oxbow incident and uh yeah so it was a complicated story and but this isn't about the story it's about the author there are a lot of references to lines in the book or the movie but it's you know there's a line he was born and raised and moved away and that's about i think walter van tillberg clark who was born in maine but then his parents moved him to nevada and then he moved to in New York and then he went he was kind of all over the place beyond that I don't know it's, There's one thing that is a bit of a departure, I think, on this album is that the lyrics aren't too deep. There's not a lot of mystery in this album with Gord's lyrics. And I was hoping for more of that, but the research was a little easier than I wanted it to be on this.Track 4:[28:26] That was something I noticed too, is like there didn't seem to be as much to dig into.Track 4:[28:31] And once I kind of got past that and just started enjoying it, I really did grow to appreciate the album a lot more. It's funny that you mentioned the Oxbow incident because number one, a couple of weeks ago i was in la and we did did a couple studio tours and this is one of the movies they actually mentioned i forget if it was warner brothers or universal but it was shot at one of those two places in the next song so one good fast job one of my notes here is oxbow incident because of the line it says art shot said wellman to fonda so wellman the director and uh fonda the the star of the show so um nice kind of a neat little tie and i had no idea that the previous song had that reference so i'm glad you caught that this song i really love and this was the one i was um i found really interesting the the progression you've got like almost like a eight bar blues but then they throw in an extra bar so it's like this nine bar which just throws you off off balance a little bit once you once you hear it a few times it makes perfect sense but there's the lyric about drop you know planes dropping paper and dropping scissors and the chimps becoming regular wizards i think it is. And so that made me think of, there's a couple of Simpsons episode that reference like the infinite monkey theorem.Track 4:[29:46] What is it? Infinite monkeys, or give a monkey a typewriter and let it type for infinity. It would create, you know, Shakespeare. And you know, it would just some ridiculous theory that has, you know, been, you know, criticized heavily, but I wonder if there's something to that.Track 6:[30:03] Sorely discredited.Track 4:[30:05] And I really like, there's the line too about something about forget the commas. This is one good fast job. And it almost made me think of this album that they just like banged off this out. Like, let's not, let's just have fun. Let's just write some songs and let's not take ourselves too seriously. So those are my thoughts.Track 5:[30:23] Well, I think there was some controversy over the name of the band. And there are commas in that band name. And I think that they're just saying, you know, screw it. And like, nobody asked for this. We're just doing it. let us enjoy it. I did see a couple of interviews where Gord and members of the band were like, can we not dissect this? This is just rock and roll.Track 4:[30:44] Yeah.Track 6:[30:46] One thing in watching some of those videos that I had mentioned, the last two songs that we discussed that they had played, it was a Greenbelt Harvest Festival thing show that was on. They had almost every song on there and he was playing with the Sadie's and watching the crowd to me was actually quite entertaining because they just sat there and looked in bewilderment right because I don't know they obviously have probably some relationship with with the hip and who knows if they're early hit people or later hit people or die hard all the way but when Gord does the solo stuff and then if they're not familiar with the Sadie's they just sat there and looked like yeah why don't what are we experiencing here what what's what's going on and bewilderment was the note note that i wrote right.Track 3:[31:34] Right i mean this makes no sense to me fuck okay sorry uh continue.Track 6:[31:42] It man one good fast job and almost back to kind of those punk type roots and that driving rocking it it's uh who i jd like this album has everything and, Also, one thing I wanted to mention, I know we're not through it all, but I think they did a great job of tracking. I really felt good about where all the songs were. I needed Crater to get me going, even though I was still mad and angry, like we mentioned, and then Saved at the end that we'll talk about. It just was like, okay, I got a good, nice, warm hug. Thank you. you um which.Track 5:[32:26] You know what's amazing is there were so many reviews about this album that said it was not cohesive and inconsistent and like what the hell are you talking about and.Track 3:[32:36] Uneven and blah blah.Track 4:[32:37] Blah yeah what.Track 3:[32:38] The hell man agree.Track 4:[32:39] Yeah no that's a reviewer who read that it was you know recorded over many years yeah that's ridiculous like maybe if you gave it one or two listens but even then even the first listen i didn't love it but it sounded like an album yeah Yeah. One more thing about this song though, before, before we move on, I love the middle section. There's like a bridge or maybe even call it a chorus. It only goes to it once the, I had to look, I had to go, I had to laugh. And it's really interesting how they go through it once, then there's that extra bar, like they keep doing, and then they change the chord progression and back off a bit. Like if you listen to the way the, you know, they're the same instruments, but they just back off and the feel changes totally. And it's such a great effect. Rather than ramping up a bridge, they almost like pull back a bit. And that really was unique. And it only happens once. It feels like a chorus to me, but it's right smack dab in the middle of the song. And I think it's two minutes and like 23 seconds or something. And this is definitely one of my favorites.Track 3:[33:43] Yeah, it's a good one. And the next one is a good one as well. It's got to hold the record for the longest title in Gord's solo oeuvre. Kirk mentioned a moment ago that there's a bit of everything on this record. And to me, the beginning of this song, just the very beginning, is shoegazy.Track 5:[34:00] Yes.Track 3:[34:00] Or it goes into a real punk sort of vibe. And it didn't start to break my heart until this afternoon. Justin, what have you got for us?Track 5:[34:09] So the line, we fought like two Irons, really stuck out to me. and it goes with Kirk. I don't know that this was the middle of a divorce. I think Gord is just polyamorous at this point because this project took seven years and in the middle of it, he released the third album, Grand Bounce. So he is just sleeping around. I love the punk, the hard driving, just we're going to beat the fuck out of this song.Track 4:[34:38] My first real positive experience with this song was driving to my show last weekend and it was like i said a nice day i was driving along and to me like i said it's a real good driving album and i was coming up to this i guess it was a school zone but it was a weekend so there's no school and there was a uh a flashing like speed limit sign it was like a happy face and as i'm driving by it's like it turns to a sad face because i guess i was a little bit above the limit i'm not a huge speeder but i found that kind of quite funny especially after the i just just listen to the line what is it um something about driving fast oh yeah drive drive it like we stole it yeah it's a great great line that's right and then later on there's the dishwasher loaded which i love because i i wish i could say that most of my music listening was in the car but i only have about a five minute commute to work so most of my listening is actually doing the dishes and so this is just a great song when you're doing the dishes and and dishwasher loaded it and it really really kind of got you know i.Track 5:[35:40] Had the same experience man that's.Track 4:[35:41] Found it pretty funny and i actually the first time i noticed that lyric i was actually had just put this open i was closing the door of the dishwasher and so it was just it was just perfect it's so funny yeah.Track 5:[35:51] That's amazing oh.Track 4:[35:53] And great harmonies too on the chorus like love those harmonies yeah.Track 6:[35:57] That's one thing you'll notice too when you watch those or or you see them like the the harmony part especially especially after what we had just experienced for the last three albums, you know, with the female voice going back to a male voice backing. I love that element that it brought to it. And I'm just gonna jump into the next song, Budget Shoes. This is one that I think has probably held the number one spot for me. I would say it's not necessarily still there, but it's been there more often than not. And maybe I'm far off on this, but being the American, one of the two Americans that really likes Canadian culture, it brought me back to Kids in the Hall for some reason. In fact, so much so, if you think of the Kids in the Hall intro, I actually looked it up to go hoping it was the sadies like that really would have made my day if it was the sadies that had done that song that's the intro to kids in the hall.Track 4:[39:34] There is there is a connection there and i hope i'm correct here but i believe i read that the dallas good the the younger brother who you know passed away recently who.Track 3:[39:44] Was the drummer.Track 4:[39:44] He he played so so the good family was a was a country family like they had like a family band and and the older brother travis actually played with his band and Dallas being younger he he went more towards punk and I believe it said that his first or one of his first bands was with one of the members of uh Shadowy Men is that the name of the band that does the theme yeah yeah.Track 3:[40:11] Shadowy Men oh.Track 6:[40:12] Wow nice it definitely was reminiscent of that uh the entire song to me is just brilliant and it it gives you I mean it It really just digs deep inside my soul going back to the ethereal. When Gord hits those moments of the desperation vocal that we heard a lot, not only in recording, but live when he was with the hip, that brought such a comfort to me, right? Knowing where the hip is at, knowing where Gord is at, knowing what's coming. Like this is three years prior to his passing. And just so thankful that we get another version of Gord. And that's really what it was to me is we got, we have the hip and we love that. We have these first three albums, but now we have another one. And it was, Justin, you mentioned it in his lyrics. It's like, I'm not trying to confuse anyone here. I got this great band. They've given me this good music and I'm just gonna give it, I'm gonna give it what's coming to me at the moment. so when he does his and i call it a desperation vocal i know exactly what.Track 5:[41:22] You mean when you say it though.Track 3:[41:26] Yeah.Track 5:[41:26] Yep. Yep. So I'm going to ask the Canadians in the room here about budget shoes because I did some research on this as well. And apparently there's a tradition in Canada that finance ministers buy a new pair of shoes before presenting the budget and they wear them on the floor. Or if they're pissed off about it, they don't.Track 4:[41:48] Oh, wow.Track 5:[41:48] And it's this thing that has happened since the 1860s.Track 3:[41:53] Jesus. Do they go bare feet? I mean, listen, I was a political science major, and I've never heard of it before, but that doesn't really mean anything.Track 6:[42:01] As the other American, I agree with what you say full-heartedly. Love it. Love that connection.Track 3:[42:10] Yeah, I think it's great.Track 5:[42:11] It was strange, but interesting. And I don't know if this song is a commentary on politics and that, or if it just works well with... I mean, this song sounds like, you know, we're sleeping in a tent in a winter storm unexpectedly in the middle of the desert, you know, and I've got nice shoes and you don't, you know, and I'm going to keep my feet and you're going to lose them to frostbite. I don't know.Track 4:[42:37] What I was thinking was I was imagining almost like an old Western movie. It's like sweltering hot in the desert. And yeah, they're camping overnight. Night and you know the most iconic thing you'll see in a western is that you know the shot of the cowboy boots and the pan up and and i'm just picturing this you know guy sleeping in his budget you know there's cheap shoes and that's kind of what i do balances on yeah yeah.Track 6:[43:04] Ouch shots fired they're.Track 5:[43:05] A great company and they.Track 6:[43:06] Make a fine shoe thank you we're not sponsored by any of these particular shoe brands yeah i mean budget shoes you talk about the westerns it's almost like a spaghetti western type feel just in that uh the guitar riff as well so.Track 3:[43:26] Oh, that's cool. I felt that, too. I wouldn't have put that together. All right, let's move on. Demand Destruction. Is it just me, Justin, or does this song feel very much like the Tragically Hip? Am I crazy?Track 5:[43:38] No, I don't think you're crazy about that at all. And this song is, I think, Gord kind of putting out his own views. Again, there's a notation at the bottom. The last one, Budget Shoes, was dedicated to Evan S. Connell, who was the author of the book about Custer where the title of The Grand Bounce came from. So that's a continuation. And then this one is dedicated to Dr. Helen Caldicott, who was an Australian physicist and anti-nuclear war advocate. And it just feels like a protest song to me. I really don't have a lot of notes about it. It's just a nice, fun tune. But there's definitely a message in there. And I think it's Gord speaking about, let's not fuck this up. and maybe some reverence for Dr. Caldecott. It says, I'm not a fan, I just like what you do. I don't know. I don't have a whole lot to unpack on this one.Track 3:[44:30] Right. Well, no, I think you unpacked quite a bit. Craig, what have you got for us?Track 4:[44:36] One thing I'll say about this song is I found maybe the snare was a little too biting for me. I found that if you if you were listening quietly it it just jumped right out of the mix to the point where you almost couldn't hear anything else and when you turned it up it just had just a little a tinge too much oh yeah you guys know who who mixed the album yeah so bob rock and i think he did a great job overall but it definitely you know he's known for those big huge drums and i just would have liked a little more balance i thought the snare was just a little peeking out a little bit too much the rest of the album i think it it works but maybe the song is the poppiest.Track 5:[45:17] I think of the of the songs on the album it's certainly.Track 4:[45:20] Radio friendly fairly typical like blues rock sort of yeah um riff at the start yeah.Track 3:[45:25] That's what reminds me it reminds me of something off of road apples you know oh yeah yeah that era.Track 4:[45:31] Yeah great great harmonies again especially in the chorus all.Track 3:[45:34] Right from there we get a change of pace with mandolin and organ off the top of devil enough. Am I right? Was it mandolin Craig?Track 4:[45:44] Um, yeah, I believe so. I need to go back and listen again. Um, yeah, this is the song I referenced earlier that was driving me nuts. Even today I was sitting there tapping my toes, like trying to figure out the time change. And I actually had this like theory about what they were doing with it, you know, how they're getting from one tempo to the next. And then I just realized after a while it's just feel it's all feel. And I won't even get into it, because there are some weird things that happen. And I think it is what Justin mentioned earlier, I think it's just that flexibility of, of like, you know, they're really pushing the tempo, bringing it back quite frequently. And so.Track 4:[46:25] Yeah, if anyone wants to transcribe this drum part for me and send it to me, I would love to see that because I would love to know mathematically how it works, but I'm pretty sure it is just like a feel thing. This was a song that really stuck out to me. I love that time change. Having said all that, it really, the first few times just really struck me. The guitar playing at the end, the sort of Nashville picking at the end is just amazing. There's a few songs that have those great guitar solos. I think often it's Travis, according to the videos I watched, although I believe Dallas will trade off solo sometimes too. There's the line, Streets Ahead, which of course is a song name from Now For Plan A. And I had just actually recently been watching Community. And I'm not sure if you guys know that reference, but there's a, you know, it's like a catchphrase of Chevy Chase's character. And I actually found a, I wondered if it was related and I found an interview where someone asked Gord that question and he's just like, what? He was so like, no, like what are you talking about? Which of course makes sense. I mean, you don't write books. All these songs you're not a prolific writer like gourd if you're if you're.Track 6:[47:36] Spending countless hours.Track 4:[47:39] Binging you know sitcoms with 120 episodes.Track 5:[47:44] Well and gourd gourd's a dan akroyd guy not a chevy chase guy.Track 6:[47:48] Yeah true hey going back to that the ending part craig yes uh you know they almost have a bluegrass feel in some of these instrumental type solos there's There's rock going on against a different instrumentation, which I absolutely love the devil enough to me almost was reminiscent of like your seventies kind of, you know, Barracuda and like the big songs that would have a slow intro and then rock out or go to another slow, but very seventies rock and kind of anthemic type of we're going to switch keys. We're going to switch tempos i very much got that but again going back to the swagger you feel the swagger in in the presentation of the lyrics at least from my perspective with gourd on this loved it loved it.Track 4:[48:43] Yeah there are some um really great songwriting techniques on this album that you can tell you know the sadies are just a pro band i think is it uh one of the guys from blue rodeo i believe was was quoted in the in the barclay book about saying that you know they're the world's greatest rock band and there's the little things like in this song they use the little bars of two to set up you know those changes and just lots of little things like that like an extra bar here an extra bar there it's just some really great little songwriting tricks what did you think justin i.Track 5:[49:14] Just this song you know growing up we only had like 10 or 12 channels on on tv and one of them was tnn the nashville network and so the grand ole opry was was on all the time, because we didn't have a choice. If it wasn't Hockey Night in Canada, it was TNN. And just this song, that run with the picking is really cool. It brought me back to late 80s, early 90s, just watching the hoedown.Track 4:[49:42] Not a country fan, but when I hear a great guitar player like that, though, like a great Nashville player, it really is great. This whole album isn't the type of music I would typically listen to. And I think that's why I gravitate more towards an indie rock feel, like the Battle of the Nudes. But man, this album is really, really solid.Track 6:[50:06] Yeah, it has a good... I mean, I know you guys say you don't like country, and I say it too. But I bet you you'd be surprised about what you do like that's country-esque. And so for me, when I think of country, I get turned away by some of the modern country. although I'm really digging some Chris Stapleton and some of these other guys I'm really digging. But like when I hear country, I think Kenny Rogers, Merle Haggard, I think Willie Nelson, I think, and I think we really do dig, even going back Hank Williams and even a little further, like when the, as you listen to, I love this that we're talking like, oh, we only had 10 channels and whatever else. And I'm going hockey night in Canada and the nashville network you know and throw in a little emma daughter's jug band christmas and that's my childhood and i'm happy and i love all that so i i i get what you're saying but this i mean the sadie's i think alt country i heard earlier from one of you guys that's very much the feel from devil enough you roll into i'm free disarray me justin you you inspired me because i I have the vinyl here with me. And so I quick looked at the bottom and I'm like, okay, I gotta catch this one cause I've missed all the other references that you mentioned. So you got Virginia Woolf, who's listed at the bottom of I'm Free Disarray Me. And when you do your research, you think about stream of consciousness.Track 6:[51:31] And that really, I think, kind of sums up your lyrics in this particular song.Track 6:[51:37] Swagger again it's it's it's it's it's the same but it's not i heard us all say that it's the same but it's not i i i loved where it went with this and it's bringing us down now right because we only have one more song we talked about the track listings and the order and now it's given us getting us i think this is kind of setting us up for saved at least me personally uh what you think craig.Track 4:[52:03] This was the first song that actually popped into my head just out of the blue one morning when i woke up because it took quite a long time for that to happen with this album i was still singing grand bounce songs you know every morning waking up and then one day it was that i was like wow okay and and same one thing i want to mention this is kind of, going off of what you're talking about with vinyl i was listening to this you know doing dishes.Track 4:[52:29] With you know on apple and the amount of times in the last few months of doing this you know this show with you guys listening to music and it glitches for just a second when i'm streaming and it just drives me nuts and so just that was one thing that i just had a note note about that that this album needs to be listened to on cd on on on vinyl anyways that was just a little pet peeve of mine and also the the snare again in this song was just a little a little much for me it was it was it was really up front and i i like loud drums typically in a mix but i just I don't know there there was it's almost like with the snare being that loud I'm missing a bit of the kick drum and speaking of which you guys must have noticed that the the bass players you know playing stand-up I had the thought a few times like I wonder and this is not to take away from what he's doing but I just wonder what it would have sounded like if they if they used an electric bass on this album because I found the bass to be not as prominent as on the last three albums you know there it wasn't sticking i don't think that's just part of the style of this band.Track 6:[53:38] Great i have a question though craig in when i look at the watch the videos oh yeah he has an he has an ampeg like he has a bass amp so he's taking a stand-up bass which traditionally you just mic or go straight into the board and he's he's running it through a traditional rock bass you know pickup bass right in through like the standard road hard ampeg so um so it gives it that good gritty sound but i will agree 100 it's not as prominent and i would like it to be a little bit more only just being a musician but it didn't didn't didn't dissuade me from my love for this album yeah.Track 4:[54:21] Not at all and i think it were like sometimes the best bass players are the ones you don't notice like they're just tight to the to the drummer and that's really all that matters but there was really only a couple times on this album where i where i noticed.Track 6:[54:34] Very accurate Accurate statement.Track 5:[54:36] This, I think, is my MVP. As a kid who was raised on prog, you fall into the song and just let it kind of take over. I don't know. I actually found, weirdly, a karaoke version of this on YouTube.Track 3:[54:52] Really?Track 5:[54:53] An instrumental version of this. No way. And I played the piss out of it just today driving. Driving and uh yeah it's it's really odd that this is the one that's an instrumental track for, yeah but just the phrasing of things lyrically and musically like he's it this doesn't sound like any other song that gourd has has put together as far as i'm concerned i.Track 6:[55:17] Love i love that connection with prog rock justin because you've mentioned that multiple times that that's something you love. And when you said it, I had not placed it until you said it. And I agree with you on that's a great, great, great description of it.Track 5:[55:31] There was a lot of references to the Sadie's covering Pink Floyd in live shows. And I'm like, oh, there it is right there. The song is that.Track 6:[55:42] The next one to the next one to could be, you know, Jim Ladd headset session, listening like with Pink Floyd.Track 3:[55:50] Oh, the next one is gorgeous, I think. It's the first slower tempo song that we have on the record called Saved.Track 5:[58:56] Again, I can't believe that the reviews said this album doesn't make sense because about halfway down, the plane starts to land, right? And every song from halfway on is just you're descending and you land perfectly softly unsaved. And this song also sounds a lot like Coke Machine Glow. And it's just really mellow and it's Gord doing his thing. and i i don't know i love it.Track 6:[59:26] Almost every album i feel like has had a an extended version of coke machine glow track to it i i i love that i i hadn't placed it until you just said that because i felt the same way about some of the other the other albums is there that could be on coke machine glow but you're exactly right and then he continues that theme as it goes almost like the uh like his is the poetry book.Track 3:[59:53] Craig is holding up his notes.Track 4:[59:55] Nobody else can see it. I said the exact same thing. Pattern of Ending solo albums and some hip albums with a track with a much different feel is what I had written.Track 5:[1:00:07] Which goes back to Road Apples.Track 4:[1:00:12] I really love the line the music is so loud that it flaps your pant leg. It reminded me a little bit of Yawning or Snarling. Just the line in that.Track 5:[1:00:23] Thank you. I would hold up my notebook if it wasn't typed out. Because that's exactly what I have to.Track 4:[1:00:30] We are, let's see, as of recording this episode, we are, what time is it there? We're about two and a half hours away from the 10 year anniversary of this album. Of the release of this album.Track 3:[1:00:41] Oh, get the fuck out.Track 4:[1:00:42] Yeah. Wow.Track 3:[1:00:44] Oh, wow.Track 4:[1:00:46] I just had to look it up yesterday. I was like, wow, that's pretty cool.Track 5:[1:00:48] Oh, shit.Track 3:[1:00:48] That is cool. Huh. I normally have them all in my calendar, and I don't have that in my calendar. Huh. Good find. Yeah, it's going to be, yeah.Track 6:[1:01:00] Good find, Craig. Great find.Track 5:[1:01:02] J.D., you have about two and a half hours to make a post.Track 3:[1:01:06] Any more unsaved?Track 5:[1:01:09] I don't know. I didn't pick it apart too much. I loved that imagery of the line, Craig, that you just mentioned. The music is so loud, it flaps your pant leg. And there's a really strange, it's almost not, rhythm to the way that he sings it. It would be really hard to transcribe that onto a, onto a sheet of music.Track 4:[1:01:29] I also enjoyed the, um, the, the, the, they finally played a bit without the drums, you know, like this whole album has been very much like a full band. And I mentioned last week, I believe that one of the strengths of, of country of miracles was that they had so many members that they could all just take a break every once in a while. They didn't feel the need to always fill up every space. This band's the opposite because they're, you know, there's just four of them and they, they, you know, they're very much a typical rock band where everyone's playing all the time and so i actually enjoyed that there was a bit of time at the start of the song without drums no no offense to the drummer um but sometimes you just need a break this.Track 6:[1:02:07] Song to me was the you know that that cup of coffee after dessert or you know the cigarette after sex it was that finisher it was uh it was that we're all in good, good, good company. I love the connection back with Coke Machine Glow. I love the connection back with that changing that ending song. But to me, it was, all right, more so than the others. It was like, okay, here's your big warm hug before whatever comes up next.Track 3:[1:02:39] Oh, I like it. It does feel like a warm hug. It's a very comforting song for me. I don't know why, but it chills me right out. It's a great cigarette after sex. Kirk, I love that. It's really tremendous.Track 5:[1:02:55] It sucks that this album was only a half hour long.Track 3:[1:02:58] I know. It's so strange after The Grand Bounce, which was nearly an hour. But again, these guys are just so efficient and economical.Track 5:[1:03:10] It's one good fast job, baby.Track 3:[1:03:12] That's right.Track 6:[1:03:14] So does- Hey, did you know that that is his second highest played single, or at least versus Spotify when I last checked? Does that not totally blow you away? Like at least if you just look in his Spotify category, I believe it's number two behind like the Chancellor, I think is probably the most sense. But now i'm now i'm gonna look sorry i'm gonna i'm gonna see if i can back my own research.Track 5:[1:03:43] So interestingly i i don't have hard copies of any of these albums so i'm i'm strictly listening on streaming i use the youtube music app i don't really care for the interface on spotify and there is zero existence of this album in that in that space so i had to download band camp and buy the album that way which i was happy to do yeah i love band camp but yeah i had to uh that's the only way I could find this lyrics.Track 6:[1:04:07] All right, gents. I did the research. I was incorrect by two. It's Chancellor, the East wind. Oh, I am lost.Track 4:[1:04:15] That's then one good. Mind blowing.Track 5:[1:04:17] No shit.Track 6:[1:04:18] Number four.Track 4:[1:04:19] Yeah.Track 6:[1:04:20] Like that. It's even in the top five to me over like.Track 4:[1:04:23] You know, it's a great song. These songs that I thought were more well-known. Wow.Track 6:[1:04:29] Thank you.Track 4:[1:04:29] Yeah.Track 6:[1:04:30] It's surprising to me that.Track 3:[1:04:32] Yeah.Track 5:[1:04:33] Well, even, Even the opener on this one, Crater, I mean, it has a great video too.Track 6:[1:04:39] Oh, that's right. That's right. It is a really cool video.Track 4:[1:04:43] So the album art's interesting too. Did you catch that there's the different members of the band on the album? There's probably about these portraits of like, I don't know, 50 people. And if you look carefully, you can find all of the members of the band. I did.Track 6:[1:05:01] I did, absolutely. It's, yeah, on the album.Track 5:[1:05:04] And the artwork and the sound and all that, it kind of reminded me of the Beatles. I don't know why. But there was something about it that was familiar.Track 3:[1:05:16] Beatles-esque.Track 5:[1:05:17] Yeah. Yeah.Track 6:[1:05:20] I could see that. I mean, especially from an artistic standpoint. Yeah. Very much can see that.Track 3:[1:05:26] Yeah.Track 5:[1:05:27] Overall, I was super happy that this was the next thing. And I wish that there had been another one to follow it.Track 3:[1:05:33] So does it stay in your rotation then, Justin?Track 5:[1:05:36] Mm-hmm.Track 3:[1:05:37] Yeah, it does. Craig, how about you?Track 4:[1:05:40] A couple of days ago, I probably would have said maybe not. It's an album I'll definitely pull out here and there. But no, I do think I really am enjoying it lately. And like I said, the turn of the weather really helped. This is, to me, a summer album, not a, I think, come winter, I'll put it away again.Track 5:[1:05:59] End but the i'm sorry but i got it before i forget it right we just had the eclipse as we're recording this and i was stuck in traffic it's a 17 minute commute to get home and it took me 90 minutes so i listened to this album three times on the ride home and it's a great even if you're stopped it's a great album to be in the car.Track 6:[1:06:20] It's going to hit the turntable for me on a fairly regular basis for a while. Like I said, Grand Bounce, I couldn't get it out of my head. And finally, it might even have been an I'm Free Disarray Me, just that very methodical line that came through that turned it for me. Me but i love i i love it absolutely love it in fact i'm i'm probably more excited about digging deeper into the sadies once this whole project is done the sadies and several other canadian bands that i'm not as familiar with that you guys have introduced me to and i'm very thankful for but uh yeah this this one's staying in the rotation if you've got any.Track 3:[1:07:02] Bands that are gore adjacent or canadian indie adjacent uh send them our way discovering downy at gmail.com And we'll be sure to read that email on the air.Track 5:[1:07:18] I will say that as much as I've enjoyed this album, I've also really enjoyed the songs that are not on the album that Gordon and Sadie have played together. The cover of Search and Destroy. Holy shit.Track 3:[1:07:32] Right, you sent that to us a few days ago.Track 5:[1:07:35] That song melted my goddamn face off. It was so good. So good. And it was like 7, 12 in the morning or something. I was like, all right, I'm out of bed now. This is awesome.Track 4:[1:07:45] One of the shows I found online was here in Vancouver at the media club. And I actually remember hearing about it. And I'm just kicking myself that I didn't get to that show. This is like a tiny, tiny, like this is where my original band a number of years ago did our CD release party. And yeah, there's maybe room for 80 to 100 people in there. would have been amazing.Track 3:[1:08:10] Oh damn that.Track 6:[1:08:14] Is definitely i don't have a lot of regrets gentlemen but not seeing any iteration of gourd solo is very much i'm glad video was around because but i would have really really really enjoyed.Track 3:[1:08:28] Seeing that feeling thousand percent live yeah.Track 5:[1:08:32] I go back to that sweaty basement uh in me in massachusetts and like dude i went to those shows all the time and I wasn't there.Track 3:[1:08:39] That's crazy so Justin you've already sort of given this away even though we we you know we tease it throughout the show and typically give it away at the end but we'll start with you and your MVP track.Track 5:[1:08:56] Yeah, it's totally I'm free, disarray me, which took me by surprise, but then it didn't totally. You know, after the way that by, you know, the music that my parents played when I was a kid, this song is just cosmic cowboy, trippy shit.Track 3:[1:09:14] Kirk, how about you?Track 6:[1:09:15] All right. Los Angeles Times.Track 3:[1:09:21] Excellent. I love that pick. I liked your pick too, Justin.Track 5:[1:09:25] That's the hometown.Track 6:[1:09:26] Oh, yeah.Track 5:[1:09:27] That's okay.Track 6:[1:09:28] And it definitely is not one that I would have really settled in on had it not been for our discussion today, honestly. Because almost every song on the album has really fallen into near the top. You know, Conquering Sun, Budget Shoes, I would say, of everything, those definitely hit that number one spot for me multiple times. But Los Angeles Times is the one that just kept coming back, and I just kept feeling, and I kept growing further, enamored with on all fronts. So that's my pick, and I'm sticking to it.Track 3:[1:10:03] Very cool. Craig, you?Track 4:[1:10:06] Yeah, I had a hard time picking a song. And I found, kind of like what Kirk said, there was almost less of a range between the songs I enjoyed and the songs I enjoyed less. They were all in roughly the same region, whereas the other albums, there was some tracks that right away really, really got to another level with me. I think this album maybe doesn't quite have quite the emotion that the first three did, which is usually what hits me when I really love a song. Usually it just grabs me emotionally. And this album didn't have that in the same way. my my go-to song here is is going to be uh it didn't start to break my heart until this afternoon, just just a good good punk rock song yeah just nice just a great yeah great driving tune and.Track 3:[1:11:00] Gets the blood flowing, right? And I agree with you about the previous three records. They're just sort of more raw and improvised feeling.Track 4:[1:11:08] And more range to them, right? This just feels... There was more... Yeah, just... More variety. Yeah, more...Track 3:[1:11:15] Dynamics. Yeah. Yeah.Track 5:[1:11:20] There was a point where critics were really starting to tear Gord and the hip down. Yeah. When this album was coming out. And they were like, all right, we get it. The soup's getting cold. It's the same shit over and over, year after year. The performances are boring. It's not great. And I think, I don't know, but I'm thinking that this album was Gord's big middle finger to those guys. I'm still doing this. He's 50 years old.Track 4:[1:11:49] Can you think of another artist that has done what Gord has done? He's now got three bands that are all so amazing. Yeah, that's right.Track 5:[1:12:01] At the same time.Track 3:[1:12:01] At the same time, yeah, you're right.Track 4:[1:12:03] Yeah, mind-blowing how much high-quality work he put out through his whole career, but especially in this middle chunk here.Track 3:[1:12:12] Well, and if you think about it, this is a perfect segue because beginning in 2012, he started work on the record we're going to talk about next week, which is Secret Path. And that record didn't see the light of day until 2016. 16. So even then with that record, he's assembled the band again, and it's a great band as well. So this guy is just producing at a level presumably around the same time he's doing Luster Parfait. Because he's working with Bob Rock pretty exclusively, right?Track 5:[1:12:49] Right.Track 3:[1:12:50] So, God, just fascinating what we're what we've gotten up to so far i can't wait we are halfway done his records we've got one more studio record and then god damn it three posthumous records uh it's going to be tough to get through those ones guys i know it yep anything else you want to say before we wrap things up i.Track 5:[1:13:15] Don't know i love it man i i love this project i feel like we're a broken record because we're all going to say the same thing and we'd say it every episode But this project has gotten me back into, just like you said, Kirk, discovering new music. Or it's new to me. Right. And I am finding so many new things that I didn't know I didn't know.Track 3:[1:13:35] Right.Track 6:[1:13:37] I'm i have been frightened from the beginning because you know you listen because it's your first time listening to a solo stuff for you know i was frightened every single album that, yeah i was going to be disappointed yeah yep and i just keep finding a new way to be enamored and i don't mind being that easy when it comes to gourd and what's going on uh you know i i we talked about, you know, my, my experience with the hip, you know, having to hear about it from friends and not having that, you know, immediate access to everything. So I'm thoroughly loving the fact that the emotion and the feeling that Gord and the hip, all the musicians he's been involved with on the solo, just keep raising the level. So I'm now just like, I'm, I'm, you know, what I like about this, you guys is you're nervous and worried. Now I'm not nervous and worried. I'm I'm just, I'm excited about listening to what's coming up and I'm so excited.Track 5:[1:14:37] If you, if you enter the, if you enter the room knowing it's going to be a mindfuck when you get there, it's perfect

god love jesus christ american new york spotify california community canada kids washington battle olympic games americans canadian song nature australian radio toronto search mind western holy north america nashville hall of fame night east track saved celebration driving ending mvp beatles vancouver cult spending cd shakespeare rush rock and roll destroy trust in god simpsons infinite found jd pattern conquering bands dynamics hip coke pink floyd los angeles times cbc mm chancellor christmastime accurate willie nelson oilers nudes virginia woolf chino chevy chase bellingham downey swagger kenny rogers dire straits binging fender immersed irons chris stapleton custer hank williams ethereal crater merle haggard barracuda gord uneven tragically hip hockey night in canada occurring yawning sam roberts blind melon rec room no rain repping oxbow bob rock tnn caldecott audette sadies secret path southern vermont sorely snarling joel plaskett helen caldicott streets ahead shadowy men jim ladd road apples evan s connell

Bonus: Introduce Yerself - Josh Finlayson

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 7, 2024 92:12

This week on our Friday bonus episode the boys sit down with Josh Finlayson to pick his brain on working with Gord and creating the wonderful music they did together inside and outside the Country of Miracles.Transcript:Track 2:[0:17] Hey, it's JD here, and we're back again for a special bonus episode here on Discovering Downey. This is a really exciting one to share this week. It is with Josh Finlayson, who you've got to admit was one of Gord's shadows during his solo career and really extended that friendship onward into just a wonderful partnership. Partnership i won't waste too much of your time going into details because the boys craig justin and kirk are sitting around the table right now with mr finlayson and they are amped to get this interview into your ear holes i will say one more thing though we are getting very excited about our event july 19th tickets are on sale at discovering downy.com get them while you can they are 30 $30 for a ticket or $50 for a pair or hey, if you've got a group of friends that want to come out, you can save big bucks and get 10 tickets for $200. That's $20 a ticket or $10 off the single price. We've got some fantastic prizes that we are getting ready to announce for the silent auction. And of course, you'll see the almost hip and our special interview with Patrick Downey on the finale of Discovering Downey. Before we get into the interview, I'm going to spin a special track for you. This is the Sky Diggers, of which Josh Finlayson is in, along with Andy Mays and several others. They are going to get into some Sky Diggers talk in this conversation, no doubt. So let's listen to their version or rendition of Depression Suite before we head into the interview with Mr. Finlayson. See you on the other side.Track 7:[5:27] Welcome everyone to a very special episode of Discovering Downey. My name is Kirk Lane and I'm going to be here with our good buddies Justin St. Louis and Craig out in Vancouver. We're really excited today to have a very special guest, Mr. Josh Van Laysen from, well, from the Sky Diggers, I think is well most of you will know him from. But in regards to this adventure, Josh was very involved with several of Gord's solo albums that we have been discussing here on the pod. And uh we're just really excited to have him on board and just really talk about the his musical journey and and then obviously how it relates with his experience with with gourd solo projects not only with the recorded albums but also from a live perspective so um we've got lots of uh interesting topics and things we want to talk about and we're really thankful that he took took some time to join us today so welcome josh.Track 5:[6:28] Thank you thanks for having me yeah.Track 7:[6:31] I mean i guess i want to start with something that was recent and you had a pretty uh looked like a pretty good bill recently in a gig in toronto with uh with with your band the sky diggers and the sadies and paul and was band so i i think the group would love to hear a little bit about how that that went and and some of the other shows that you guys have been able to do together.Track 5:[6:54] Well we uh we um we played at a venue in toronto called the concert hall which is which is a venue that it's a it's actually a masonic hall and was built i'm not sure when i'm i'm assuming probably, late 1800s early 1900s it's right it's very close to young young and bluer um it's right downtown but it was used as a venue uh in the 60s um it was uh it wasn't the concert hall at that point it was called uh something else it just escapes me right now but i know led zeppelin played there like early days one of their first uh shows in toronto and many other acts you know like it's a pretty storied venue I saw I saw the stray cats there I saw it admit like that would have been 1982 Wow I know the the English beat played there the jam REM like tons of bands played there in the in the 80s and into the 90s there was the the hip did a.Track 5:[8:09] I think at the end of the Up to Here tour, they did a show there. And then they did three shows at the beginning of Road Apples. And I remember those shows. I was at at least two of them. And they were amazing shows, very memorable.Track 5:[8:30] And we actually had a show scheduled there in 1995 and had to postpone it. But it's a long story, but we had to reschedule it. And then it closed for a long time. It stopped. It was actually leased by a television station up here, and they filmed live television events there. So it stopped being a venue. And it just reopened, I think, in the fall of last year. And a friend of ours is booking the room. And so we thought it would be great to play there. It's about a 1,200-seat room. It's not huge, but it's a very cool room. And so we asked Paul Langlois, who we'd done four or five shows with in March and April of this year, shows that had been rescheduled in the fall. He fell and broke.Track 5:[9:28] A few ribs in the fall um and then we also asked the sadies to join us and the sadies are, uh old friends as well so it was a it was a very special night it's a great venue it was uh it's a lot of fun it's a great sounding venue it looks great and uh we did a bunch of collaborations as we had done with paul and uh i you know we've known the sadies for since they started actually Actually, I met Travis and got to know Travis when he was playing with his dad's band, the Good Brothers, in the early 90s. When this guy Deere started playing, we did some shows with the Good Brothers. And that's how I got to know Travis before he joined his brother Dallas in the 80s with Sean Dean and Mike Belitsky. And yeah, so that's kind of the background of that. I did lots of collaborations with the 80s and with Paul.Track 7:[10:22] We did.Track 5:[10:23] Some hip songs we uh did some covers uh yeah it was fun good night i.Track 7:[10:29] I really love seeing uh as we've gone through this like the connection that many of the canadian bands have and and the the gigs they do together and then the projects that they do together and and i that's been really great to me to see that community and uh i mean i guess you see it a little down down here in the States, but not to the extent that I think you guys have been doing it. And it's been really exciting to see all that and be a part of that. Let's go back to the beginning and you and your musical journey. If you wanna give us just a bit of a history, like when you started out, what really got you into music? And then talk to us a little bit about, as you'd mentioned, many of the other bands that you've been a part of, The Hip and Gord, and how that relationship formed.Track 5:[11:18] Um okay well i i was born and raised in toronto i'm the youngest of three boys um and everyone in my family played music uh and my i have two older brothers um my eldest brother's a music teacher he was a classical guitar player uh and my middle brother was uh he played piano at a pretty high level so i was and my mom played piano my dad played a little bit but had a very eclectic and very cool record collection uh so there's always music around and uh that was a big part of my uh you know i don't think i really understood at the time how enriching that experience was like it was just always around um and because my older brothers played i i just assume that anyone could play, you know what I mean? It was almost a strange thing. It's like sports a little bit. When you're the younger brother, you're always trying to keep up and, you know, you just, you think any idiot can do it because if they can do it, you can do it. So, um, I think I had this sense of, uh.Track 5:[12:30] There's a bit of fearlessness in it and it sort of coincided with an era of I'm 60 years old so you know I was in high school in the late 70s and finished high school in 1982 so I kind of came out up through that post-punk punk and post-punk era of music where it was all very DIY and people you know started bands as I did just joining them you You didn't have to play all that well.Track 5:[13:03] You just had to think you were playing well. And that was a good start. So, you know, I played in various outfits and eventually got recruited at the end of my high school year. At that time, Ontario still had a grade 13.Track 5:[13:24] And so in that year, a friend of mine, he was a musician that had played in a band that was kind of popular in our high school. And he had that band had uh uh ended and he kind of recruited me he said i want you to play bass in this band and uh i thought okay i mean i would i'd have just played guitar i'd never played bass but i thought sure i'll give it a whirl and that was sort of at the end of it was april of um, of the final year of school we started doing a bunch of gigs and kind of had this a bit of a built-in audience because he had he had been doing it for a while and we made a plan to the following fall of 1982 uh to uh move over to london england and you know have uh uh see what our uh see if we could find any luck doing that uh and uh and in fact i was just talking about at the concert hall we we did a show in the fall in i think october of 1982 which gave us the money to buy our plane texas to move over to uh to london and uh oh wow nice years and uh.Track 5:[14:41] You know that was an experience unto itself i said you know i was there for a couple of years it was you know like uh we ended up in brixton which was a which was a pretty uh rough part of town there have been a lot of riots there and race riots and um it was but over in the uk you can and a lot of europe you can squat which is basically paying no rent uh and uh so we did that we found a way to exist on very little money you know uh and stayed there and it was a great education you know i always refer to it as my university education really it was a good life education and a good musical one too um i lived it was all a lot of it was west indian uh and i lived above uh the squad i lived in was uh right above this great record store called desmond's hip city which ultimately became one of our our recordings and the song is about that not experienced living in Brixton with this band.Track 5:[15:49] And that sort of ran its course. When I moved back, I had heard about a mutual friend who I didn't know, but we had a mutual friend and this would have been 1985. He, was he was putting together his own home studio and in 1985 that was unusual you know like studios were still fairly um difficult to it was it was expensive to record it was uh but he had a he had an i think a half inch 16 track uh machine and he worked in a music store and he had he had a big uh you know a big plan to start a record label and it was all very cool and i thought well you know i'd like to do this i had done a bit of recording in the uk and um you know i knew that that was sort of the way forward with any anything so i i when i came back to canada to toronto i uh.Track 5:[16:50] Um you know i connected with him we rented a house and built a studio in the house and i mean And truthfully, we smoked a huge amount of marijuana, and I don't know, I spent a lot of time looking for the tape measure, as I recall. But we did, as a carpenter, I make a good musician, so I wouldn't be misleading you if I was trying to tell you that the studio we built had anything to do with me. But out of that experience, Andy Mays, who I grew up with, who's the singer and this guy, he and I reconnected. He had played in a band. He's a few years older than I am, but he played in a band and we had done some shows with him before we moved over to London. And we started hanging out and playing and playing with Wayne Stokes, who was the guy that owned the studio. Wayne drummed on our first couple of records before he left the band. And uh and that was really you know that was from sort of 86 to about uh 88 1988 we we started the band um and we did a residency in toronto a weekly monday night residency which eventually led to our, our first record deal with enigma records which was based in culver city in la just as It's, you know, part of L.A.Track 5:[18:18] And that record had a song on it called I Will Give You Everything, which kind of launched us into, you know, into having a career. And, you know, it's still a song that has been good to us. You know, like it's been used in lots of movies, and it's still a song people want to hear, and still a song I love playing. From there, when our first record came out, we did some shows with many bands, but one of which was The Hip.Track 5:[18:52] Uh we're i was just saying this the shows we did with paul we went back and forth introducing, paul's band and he would introduce us and uh and we were our last show with him was in ottawa, and uh our first show our first tour with the hip the first shows with the airport in montreal and Ottawa and that was 1990 1990 uh and that was 34 years ago and that was the first time we met and at that time uh Paul and Gord Downey were living in Toronto so you know they were they were just that was the tail end up to here and they were playing you know bigger rooms you know like and they had up to here sort of raised them up they often I think refer to that as their first record they had an EP before that.Track 5:[19:50] But that was I think they felt that was their first real offering as a recording and at the end of that tour we did with them they went in down to New Orleans and recorded.Track 5:[20:04] Road Apples and you know Gord and I at that, you know, and Paul, I mean, we all became friends and Gord and I in particular kind of hit it off and, you know, for whatever reason, as you do with, with friends and we, uh, you know, we kept in touch and those days we used to write letters to, uh, before email and, uh, texting. Um, and then Paul eventually a couple of years later moved back to Kingston and Gord stayed in Toronto and that was uh but we were both bands we were busy you know we were touring uh working musicians and not around a lot uh so you know our our time together was limited uh but but always uh great and and eventually led up to what became Coke Machine Shinglo, which, you know, there's sort of a story in that too. He, he wanted, we were looking to do, find a way to do a project together. Um, but the reality is that he, he had written a bunch of songs and the, and the hip, you know, they wrote as a collective, especially in those days. And, and that changed eventually Gord wrote more on his own and, um, and brought songs in and then he would write with them. It did evolve.Track 5:[21:27] And so he had written most of the songs from Coke Machine Glow he had written on his own. And eventually, he just decided, yeah, I should just make a record. And I think part of it was also.Track 5:[21:46] Besides myself, he didn't know a lot of musicians in Toronto, you know, because he was away a lot. He had a young family at that sort of by the mid, his daughter, Will, was born, I think around 96, 95. And so, you know, when he was home, you know, that was obviously a big part of his life. And I think he wanted to connect with the artistic community in Toronto. And Coke Machine Glow became the opportunity for him to do that. Which is why it's a pretty eclectic record eclectic musicians there's and he also wanted to explore the spoken word stuff which is a part of that record and and the uh uh and battle of the nudes as well it was sort of extended into that uh that record so um yeah i don't know that sort of gives you a bit of a an overview yeah.Track 7:[22:41] No we appreciate that and you know we just recently Obviously, having discussions on each of the albums, Coke Machine Glow specifically, it was such a discussion. We actually had to split up our discussion into two parts because there was so much to talk about. And again, because it was good for us to really take that in as that first offering from Gord and his solo effort. You have a producer credit on on that particular album and and the next one and then and then as mentioned I think as we go into the grand bounce that was Chris talk to us a little bit about that process and and and working with Gord and and how uh how that process went from either writing or recording or or things of that nature definitely we had our own discussions about it but it would It would be great to hear directly from the source on how some of that came about.Track 5:[23:41] Well... You know initially we were you know that we were trying to find a way into make a making a collaborative record but you know he had written these songs and um and at some point it was just like you know what like you should just do a solo record um because these.Track 5:[24:01] Songs he knew that uh they weren't going to be used in the in the hip and not because they weren't good songs but because their process was very much as a collective they would write songs together that was their that was how they did it gourd at that point uh gourd was pretty much writing all the words and uh um and they were they were you know playing they they would come up with the music and they that was just their process and um so you know we had these songs and and eventually it just became apparent that we should we should make uh the record and so we had he had had this cool little home studio set up you know this is 10 years after what i was talking about earlier and it was a like a digital i think it was a d80 da88 machine and a little board and so we were recording on that and um and then you know but realizing that neither of us were particularly good engineers and the hip had just mixed their record trouble at the hen house and I think Stephen Drake mixed that record and and he's a terrific talented mixer and a great musician and so Gord.Track 5:[25:24] Gord thought, you know, maybe we should get Stephen to engineer the session and the three of us will operate as co-producers.Track 5:[25:34] And which is what happened. So Stephen ended up coming and Gord really wanted to make the record in Toronto. Again, it was the sense of I'm living here. I've lived here for, I mean, at that point, it was probably over 10 years. Um and he had you know he had his his group of friends uh and artistic friends had grown just through meeting through you know through the hip but he thought you know if i if i do this project i can include them and i can uh um you know just sort of put down some roots in that in this community because at that point you know his creative outlet was the band and he would typically go to Kingston to to write songs and or to record and obviously all the road work they were doing so it was a you know at the time it was an attempt for him to put some roots down in in the city with other artists and other collaborators Gord was a very.Track 5:[26:44] Ambitious creatively is very ambitious and very always looking to evolve always looking to grow and and be influenced and inspired by other people so on that record you know we went in um you know the the idea was uh like initially it it uh the band was kevin hearn was there for kevin had just um he he just had leukemia and he had just he had like a bone marrow transplant and he was just in the recovering stage of that um and i'd met kevin before that but but you know um so but he was only available for a few days because he was going out with uh bare-necked ladies they were uh he was just joining back into the band and going out on tour um and uh.Track 5:[27:55] Don Kerr owned the studio with Dale Morningstar that we recorded at. It was called the gas station. And it was this cool old warehouse building down around King and Dufferin. It was on the top floor, all these open windows, really great view of the city. It's sort of looking south towards the lake through the exhibition in Toronto. And it just had a great vibe to it. And and don played a lot with ron sexsmith and ron was just about to make a record with steve earl in nashville his uh i think the record was blue boy and steve really wanted uh don to play on the record and to sing on it because he had seen don he's seen ron and don was playing with him and he loved their singing together and he loved his playing and a lot of ron's records at that point had been done in L.A.Track 5:[28:57] And their bands were put together for them. They're great sounding records, but Steve wanted Don to play on this record. So Don was only available the first couple of days, as was Kevin. And then Dave Clark, who at that point had played in the Rheostatics and left, was asked to come in and do the drumming. And Dale was just sort of around the studio to help as the assistant engineer, but he ended up playing on most of it. And then Julie Dwaran was asked to come and play on the record. She had sung on a number of hip songs and played in a band called Eric's Trip, who the hip had toured with.Track 5:[29:45] And then there was all these, like Travis Good played on the record. Travis at this point, I was talking about him. We had become good friends and he's a great musician and I thought, well, I want to invite Travis. And Gord, that's when he first met him. So this would have been 1999. As you know, the Sadies went on to make a record and do some touring with Gord as well. And they were very tight. And Travis played on Away Is Mine, the last record that Gord did that I, you know, we wrote together, um, and recorded at the bathhouse. Um, and so, and I, and then there was Adam McGaughan, who's a filmmaker who Gord had met, you know, really through the hip, but, you know, through, uh, maybe he used some hip song in a, in a movie. I can't remember the, uh, um, the connection, but he can.Track 4:[30:38] Yeah. Courage was used in the suite her after by Sarah Polly saying it.Track 5:[30:45] Right, okay. So, you know, he's another Toronto artist and Gord had met him. And so, you know, one of the, one of the, these sort of agendas of Coke Machine Glow and when it was trying to find a way to get into it because the, you know, Gord also released a book of poetry with Coke Machine Glow, but he wanted, he wanted to find a way to do spoken word stuff, which he had done. Yeah, you got it. He had done, you know, often at hip shows he was doing. He did a lot of those, like I know at Woodstock, someone was telling me all that was televised and he was reciting a lot of the Coke Machine Glow poems and a lot of the songs throughout pieces of, you know, instrumentals or whatever through that live show, as he was doing throughout that tour, I'm sure. And so he wanted to find a way to make the leap where he could do the spoken word stuff but you know of course the biggest potential obstacle was that it would be pretentious sounding so that was sort of the way that's that was this challenge.Track 5:[32:08] A couple of things ended up happening. One was that Adam Egoyan, who was a classical guitar player, when he grew up, he played classical guitar. So he brought down his classical guitar, and Gord asked him to just come up with some music, like pieces, little instrumental pieces. So he started playing, and the rest of us started improvising around those pieces. And Gord either would do the spoken word stuff.Track 5:[32:39] With us or we would find sort of this cool little section where it was it was just working and then he would use it and do do the spoken stuff the word stuff over that there was also a couple of there's a great I think it's I think it's the first first song on the record is accordion and pump organ and it's yarrow servinic who was the accordion player and the cowboy junkies and my neighbor uh at the time i invited him down and dale was playing the pump organ and um and it had it had this sort of uh, hinterlands who who kind of this funky weird kind of uh sound to it you know like it it uh and uh and it just somehow it worked you know like it was kind of charming and quirky and very much you know it was very much intended to be not it would have been a failure if it had been like a tragically hit record you know and you know because that would have you.Track 5:[33:52] They were doing that already, and Gord was doing that. This was an opportunity for him to expand his artistic palette, you know, and to challenge himself to be challenged, and challenge the other people around him. And so, you know, I think in that sense it was successful because it was very different. It was like a serious left turn. uh and i think you know from my memory people's reaction to it was like wow i didn't expect this and it's not it's not like the tragically hip which it wasn't and it wasn't meant to be um and i think it you know for a lot of hip fans it was like a real curiosity head scratcher and i think for people that weren't necessarily hip fans it was like wow i didn't expect this from gourd and it's cool and it's different and uh so you know it wasn't uh and really we just in the end we we uh we didn't we mostly toured in the states i think we maybe did one show in canada on that record um and uh and that was cool too because we were playing in a lot of smaller venues and it was a pretty eclectic band and it was a lot of fun.Track 5:[35:18] And it led in fairly quickly to what became, because he had written more songs, and a lot of those songs ended up on Battle of the Nudes. And at that point, the gas station had moved over to Toronto Island into this artscape, into this cool artistic community. Coke Machine Glow was the last record that was made at the Gas Nation. And I think it was 10 days that we made it in.Track 4:[35:50] I'm curious how different the two recording sessions were between Coke Machine Glow and Battle of the Nudes. Because in my mind, they sound very similar in that they sound like a band jamming, whereas the first one sounds like it's a little more acoustic, stick whereas the second one's like a full-on full-on band a little more you know experience under your belt was the actual were the actual sessions quite different.Track 5:[36:15] Um well uh one of the things that happened with uh so the gas station was uh it had you know it was a studio but um it didn't it had decent gear but it didn't have great gear and so what ended up happening was At that point, the hip had started to accumulate gear for the bathhouse, which was their studio in Bath, Ontario. And he brought up, there was a knave board and a bunch of microphones that he brought up and used it as, and we used his DA-88 machine I mentioned earlier. So it was eight tracks. We had eight tracks to use. so you know we could put as many mics into those eight tracks as we wanted it but and it was recorded live and it was acoustic and part of that was that you know when he and i were working on those songs initially before steven got involved it was typically two acoustic guitars and gordon had a very unique rhythm you know he always said he dropped he he played he strummed guitar like a drummer you know but his time was good you know he had great time uh he just did not strum like most guitar players he just you know it was not and i think part of that was singing and you know his phrasing was very unique too so there's a lot of syncopation going on.Track 5:[37:45] And um so initially that process was me kind of playing a more conventional rhythm which just gave the two acoustic guitars this fuller, kind of richer, solid bass. And then when Don and Dave drummed, that gave us another type of foundation. And then Steve and Drake played bass for most of that record. He played other things, too. And I think I played bass maybe on a song or two, but maybe Julie Dwarne played bass on something. But that was kind of the way it went and Stephen recorded it he had this nice gear and we used the DA-88 machine and we did a few overdubs like Paul Langlois came and sang on two or three songs and.Track 5:[38:41] And so that was an overdub. Travis Good was an overdub. Man, there was a couple of others, but I don't remember. But by the time we did Battle of the Nudes, we had done a lot of shows. And at that point, I was playing half the show on bass. Stephen didn't play in the live band.Track 5:[39:02] Partially because he was in Vancouver and he was doing other stuff. It was more of a practical decision than anything from my memory. And uh and i played guitar and julie and i and then at that point john press who's often referred to as dr p had also joined the band and those guys the dinner is around dale john press and dave clark and then myself and julie and uh and gordon uh and we did we did a couple festivals that summer we played like the edmonton folk festival but most of the shows were down in the in the states um and then when we went and recorded uh the gas station and moved to a portable on toronto island an old school uh school portable i don't know if you guys are familiar with with that phenomenon but in ontario they used to have their like boxes and they would be i guess it was It's just at schools, instead of adding, putting additions on schools, they'd have these boxes that would, you know, you'd walk out to your portable, your classroom. It was like a, it was like a cabin, you know, for lack of a better word. Obviously, it had electricity.Track 5:[40:18] But that's where the gas station moved into. And Dale recorded that. He recorded, I'd say, half of that record and mixed half of it or a third of it. And we also went to the bathhouse and recorded the bathhouse at that point. And a bunch of it was mixed there as well. Again, I'd have to look at the credits to sort of know what was done. And, you know, Gord was very taken with Dale. Dale was a very unconventional musician and very eclectic.Track 5:[41:00] And Gord loved that. You know, he loved that. He was just so outside. And Dave Clark is also a real free spirit. And John Pratt is an excellent, excellent musician, but also a free spirit, you know. So it was just it was a very different energy and even for me like it was like wow what a this is a total fucking trip you know this band can you know anything can happen at any point in time and i think gordon liked that you know like it was just it was um unpredictable and fun and uh, and yeah i think it was just and not to say that it wasn't fun in the hip it was just different and And it was exploring a different part of who he could be and his songs and his creative process. You know, that was a big part of it. So I don't know, Craig, if that answers your question, but...Track 4:[41:57] Yeah, yeah. And did you find your role in the band evolved over the years? Watching some of the live videos on doing our research, I noticed, you know, maybe a bit of a shift to playing some more bass near the end. How did you feel about your role and how it changed?Track 5:[42:15] I mean, it was really more the bass became, you know, I mean, I had played bass often on Scottie's records and the band I moved to England with, I played bass in that band. So it was not an instrument that I was unfamiliar with. And I was pretty comfortable on it. and uh and julie and i would swap uh run those first two tours and really even all the tours like she would play bass on certain songs i'd play uh guitar there's certain songs on that we toured with on coke machine glow like something like vancouver divorce i played always played acoustic as it was gore playing you know there's this cool uh interplay of the two acoustic guitars this sort of galloping feel, and Julie played this great solid bass part in that song, and Trick Rider, stuff like that. I always played acoustic on those songs, but then from Battle of the Nudes, and certainly when we did the Grand Bounce, I played almost, I think I played only bass. I don't know that I played any guitar, except for maybe, uh, uh, hello again, my friend. I'm to see you again. The East wind.Track 4:[43:37] So speaking of that song, from what I can tell, I believe there's like five guitars on that track. Does that sound right?Track 5:[43:44] If not more. You know, like it was, yeah, when the band kicks in, yeah, it was like a guitar orchestra, as I recall. It was a ton of good. I think Gord had his kids in there playing acoustic guitar. Yeah, that was for sure. Sure. And when we did it live too, I think I started playing acoustic and then it was like the guy and Rick Nielsen and Cheap Trick, you know, started playing acoustic at the beginning and then I'd, you know, Billy Ray would grab the guitar and I'd start playing bass. It was a bit silly, really.Track 5:[44:24] So I think it did just sort of evolve, Greg, I guess, really. But, you know, um dr pete was a great place bass player julie was a great bass player it was really not you know it wasn't like i'm the bass player and you know like no one else could play it was just the way it i love playing bass with dave clark drumming like he was dave is he's got a great command of many feels and uh and it was a you know the band really evolved too and and you know When you talk about the production stuff, it was also a natural. When we started, it was really Gord and I and then bringing Stephen in. But it was all very collaborative. There was no one saying, you have to do this. Gord was not that type of person. I mean, he would like something or not like it. But he was not the kind of person that would say, we're doing it this way. That was not really his MO you know like he was more into discovering what something could be rather than laying out like.Track 5:[45:36] Here's the here's where you're doing that it wasn't it wasn't like that at all rarely i mean he might have an idea that he wants to chase down you would try and do that which is of course cool but he was very open to suggestions and pursuing things and uh um and the more outside often the better he was attracted to often the diamond in the rough too you know he could see something in an idea i often couldn't you know which i always admired you know like you could see there was something there and he would keep he would keep pursuing it um and he he was very dogged that way and very persistent so.Track 6:[46:19] It seemed like you know you keep mentioning evolution and the band and um it seemed like the band took on a more significant role than just gourd downy this This is Gord Downie's band. And the name changed from The Goddamn Band to Country of Miracles. And then that even became more prevalent with The Grand Bounce. So did you guys bring songs to him? Or was it?Track 5:[46:45] Well, certainly, again, the spoken word pieces were often collaborative pieces. But the bulk of the songs were his songs. He and I maybe worked on some stuff. and I might suggest stuff in other situations. Maybe there would have been a co-writing. But for me, it was just like, these are your songs. You should, you know, like, I don't.Track 5:[47:11] You know like the uh they're great you know and you it was it you know he was at that point he was saying okay i'm putting my name on this i'm doing this book of poetry it was you know of course like any solo thing any songwriter any book of poetry there's there's a certain.Track 5:[47:31] Audacity to it all too right like it's uh and um there were collaborations on especially the first two records but by the by the time we did the grand bounce gordon had written these songs and that and there was you know it had been like four or five years before in between the grand bounce and um the battle of the nudes so he had collected more songs and i was aware of all these songs because we would still hang out and i'd come over we'd record them maybe but he had they were pretty finished songs and that you know he had gained a lot of confidence from making those first two records and he the story my my memory of um the chris walla connection was that the hip did a um there in pemberton just north ukraine there was a big festival there it would have been probably 2008 or 9 and i think tom patty was on the bill death cap for cutie were definitely on the bill because Chris sought out Gord they were on the bill he sought Gord out and said I'm a huge fan but I.Track 5:[48:42] Love your solo records, he knew them he had, Gord I think was a bit taken back and he thought wow this guy this is cool and he just as Gord did he was great at, you know, connecting with people and, um, and staying in touch with them. And, and I think in the back of his mind, he thought, man, you know, it'd be cool if, you know, cause at that point, I think Chris was just about to leave Death Cab for Cutie and he wanted to, he wanted to be a producer and kind of strike out on his own.Track 5:[49:15] And, uh, Gord thought, well, maybe it'd be cool to get him to produce the record and we'll do it at the bathhouse, which is what we did in 2010, I think.Track 5:[49:25] 2009 i can't remember the year now uh we spent you know it was august we spent i think three weeks at the bathhouse like the prime time of the year to be in southern ontario you know beautiful weather all the um the bounty of the you know the farming uh all the fruits and vegetables are coming uh and you know we spent and it was it was an amazing that was such a fun record not that the other records were not fun to make but you know we would start gordon had you know i think there's 12 14 songs on the record and we would do one song a day and we'd get up and he'd teach it to us and we start playing it and you know you know we get up around 10 in the morning and uh you know eventually you start working on the stuff and it would just the song would evolve all chris would make suggestions as we did it and then by the end of the day we'd find a um you know we it might be quick it might be a bit slower and take a few uh twists and turns but every day we got something cool down every day we got something that ended up on the record there's maybe one or two songs that didn't end up on the record but it was that was a you know i thought chris was amazing with everyone, because everyone, you know.Track 5:[50:48] Had made a lot of records at that point. And, you know, Dale produced records.Track 5:[50:55] But Gord was really good at, you know, Even choosing Chris, Chris sort of recognized everyone's strengths and their weaknesses and really empowered everyone into that. I just thought he was really great.Track 5:[51:14] That record I also love. It's a very different record. It was nice. I was mostly just a bass player on that record, but I love that.Track 5:[51:24] The opportunity to do that. And it was, again, you know, it wasn't his advice, but it was advice that I got from somewhere else. But, you know, the advice was play the gig you're playing, not the gig you think you should be playing. Just do what people are asking you to do and be the best version of that person you can be. And that was always a great thing about working with gourd like he he totally empowered you to be yourself and you know if he didn't like it or he didn't get it he would say but it wouldn't be like that sucks and i hate it and uh it would be you know we just find another way uh to, wherever that would be. It would just evolve. That was, again, a really great quality. And again, I think Chris Walla deserves a lot of credit for that record because he really kind of recognized everything. He was kind of the puppet master to a certain degree as well, really making sure that sorry.Track 7:[52:44] To interrupt yeah i just we had when we had our discussion about that about the grand bounce it was uh it was really felt like a band album and i think after i would imagine after you guys had done not only the two albums prior but you know playing together live and then having someone come in and being able to kind of shepherd that it it really came through i i think for me and i I think for us as a group, when we discussed it and, and it was, it was, I think we even talked about it when we, when we went over that particular album, like we were kind of bummed that we wanted the next, the fourth album. And I wonder if you could talk a little bit about that. Like what, what was that? Uh, was there discussions about that or?Track 5:[53:31] Yes um you know they're they're um so we we made i think it was 2010 we made the record in 2011 we toured we did a we did a bunch of summer shows um and we did some shows in the states but this that tour the grand bounce tour was almost exclusively canadian and um, And we did a bunch of summer festivals. And then we did a cross-country. We went coast to coast. So it was a pretty ambitious undertaking. It was not, you know, because Gord hadn't toured a lot as a solo act. It wasn't, you know, he hadn't really developed the, it wasn't the hip, right? And so it wasn't unsuccessful.Track 5:[54:17] But it's an expensive thing. You've got a tour bus. You've got a band. And, you know, it's expensive to, you know, with the hip, it was a different thing.Track 5:[54:27] And they could charge a different amount of money and it was just more established.Track 5:[54:32] So I think, I don't think the record was a disappointment for Gord. But I think the reality of taking a band out and touring and the costs of that were, I think that was maybe a bit sobering. I don't think he was unhappy with the you know the way the band played or or even the attendance or any of that i just think it was like you know it's it's not uh it's it it's it's more of an investment and i think it was like okay well where where do i go what do i do with this do i mean do i make another record like this and i you know he wasn't someone to repeat a process right that's the other thing like it was you know i can't say enough about working with chris was great and i thought he really brought out the best in everyone there he's really positive guy really understood everyone's kind of quirkiness and strengths and uh but so you know what happened was i think gourd we made that record and then was now for plan a that came next and then but but then what I what I remember because he he sent me we were talking about the songs from the secret path so the secret path was recorded in 2013 and.Track 5:[55:58] He had finished it and mixed it at that point. So he had this idea, and I think you probably know the story of this. So his brother Mike had found this CBC radio interview that was talking about a Maclean's article from 1966 that talked about Shani Wenjack.Track 5:[56:19] And Gord heard the documentary on the CBC and read the the mclean's article and sort of got very drawn to the story and you know he ended up writing you know again if you've watched any of the secret path stuff uh you know he wrote 10 poems and uh and that became the 10 songs for the secret path you know he ended up going there uh because he had a place just on in prince prince edward county just it was about a half hour's drive from the bathhouse and um he would come to the bathhouse and kevin drew from broken social scene where he was making a lot of records there and he kind of got to know kevin a bit and kevin said kevin uh was very much involved with arts and crafts he helped establish that label and i think he said well let's make a record and gourd had these songs and that's how that record was made so he finished it but i don't think gourd really knew what to do with the record and and my memory is more from nile spencer who was the engineer the house engineer at uh at the bathhouse i don't think gourd was i don't think he really talked about what that record was about out to any great extent i mean it was clearly a record.Track 5:[57:44] That was about a very heavy subject and he would have made rough you know he.Track 5:[57:51] Would have had some explanations for it but i don't i think he was very mindful about you know i'm not sure this is my story to tell um and uh.Track 5:[58:03] And I remember him sending it to me. They mixed it in like December of 2013. And he sent it to me early in January and just said, yeah, I did this. And I want you to hear it. And it's cool. And then he sat on it. He didn't know what to do with it. He had also been writing and recording songs with Pop Rock.Track 5:[58:32] Uh, since, um, after we are the same the hip record which led into uh the grand bounce and then you know spilled over into um the time that he he recorded um the secret path so he was doing a lot of stuff so when you say you know like it would have been cool to do another uh record uh with with the uh the country miracles and in that sense i i think it would have been but it wasn't like he was uh not doing it he was busy doing a lot of different things and and and that was very much you know he was loving all of that it wasn't like he wasn't saying oh i i will never do this again i you know but i think there's a lot of things going on and uh and and he was still being very productive and very creative. And then he got sick towards the end of 2015.Track 5:[59:33] At that point, you know, I mean, you know the story. I don't need to go through it. But, you know, he knew that he wanted, obviously, to do the last hip tour, but he knew he wanted to get the Secret Path record out. It was finished. But the graphic novel was another opportunity to provide an educational tour or for what the residential schools were in Canada. And, you know, these were things, I mean, these were things that we, Gordon and I, talked about a lot. I mean, we grew up being so ignorant of what had really happened in this country. And this was an opportunity to kind of pull the lid back a little bit and to have a discussion about that.Track 5:[1:00:22] And, you know, it's amazing. You know, like it just, you know, his illness and the attention that was brought to the hip tour and then consequently to the secret path project was kind of overwhelming, you know, like it was quite incredible to be in that sort of in the center of that, to be around him and to see the impact that it's had all of it. You know I mean like even with the hip tour you know like if you were in this country if you were if you were not a tragically hip fan you would you'd be touched by that story I mean who hasn't been uh impacted by a family member a friend who's had cancer and the story was just so incredibly touching and moving you didn't have to be a fan to be touched or moved by that story And then, you know, and then to carry on to do the, you know, the shows that he did for The Secret Path was, you know, that was amazing. I know I'm sort of going on to another subject now.Track 5:[1:01:29] Um, so just, yeah, I'm just kind of trying to bridge that time, time gap, you know, there was a, there was a lot going on for him. And, um, and you know, I think if the opportunity, if he had, if he hadn't gotten sick, I'm sure we would have made another recording, you know, I'm sure that would have happened. Maybe it would have been a different producer. Maybe it would have been something different, you know, like me was, uh, he was constantly doing things, you know, he was always working. Like he was, that was, you know, he was like a shark that way. He was always moving, you know, like he, very much part of his makeup, his DNA.Track 4:[1:02:11] So you were a part of the Secret Path live band.Track 5:[1:02:14] Yeah.Track 4:[1:02:15] And what was the lead up to that? Like, like the rehearsals, I know it seemed maybe Gord was, you know, he was quite sick at that time. were you guys you know were you ever worried that it it wouldn't work out or was there any hesitation.Track 5:[1:02:33] Well i think you know i even with the hip tour like i think you know when i mean i saw gourd all three you know from when he got sick and which was like november late october early November of 2015, he had his first operation, I think it was November, mid-November that year, and then it was a long recovery, and then he ended up having a second operation, and then, you know, went through radiation, and, you know, all the treatment that he did, so you know i saw him through a lot of that you know i you know i'd go over on a regular basis there's a time when the treatments were so he was sleeping a lot because you know they fucking kicked the shit out of you you know when he decided he wanted to do the the hip tour and you know i mean i think everyone i i mean there's it's all documented and you know in that uh show I mean, of course, everyone was concerned, could he do it? But, you know, man, the guy was a fucking force. Like, he was so strong physically and mentally. Like, he just, he was so determined to do it. And it was incredible, you know. I'm sure, Craig, you saw one of those shows, or, you know, like, it was a remarkable.Track 4:[1:04:00] I was at the two Vancouver shows. Justin was at the Ottawa show, actually, the second last one.Track 5:[1:04:06] Um, yeah, I mean, it, it, uh, I mean, to answer your question, was there concern for sure, especially for the secret past stuff, because he had never sung it beyond the recordings that he had done and when he wrote them. So as opposed to the, you know, the hip stuff where, you know, there's sort of a motor, uh, memory muscle that, you know, it's just, uh, but, you know, it's amazing like the brain is an incredible thing and you know gourd's short-term memory was impacted there were certain things that he struggled with but you know the music was it was pretty amazing what he was and he definitely made mistakes he definitely you know and it would could be counting in or waiting in it sir but we found out ways to make use or accommodate that and i I mean, it was amazing.Track 5:[1:04:58] Yes, there was concern that maybe it won't work, but it did, you know. And, you know, also, you know, Gord was not like, he could come in early on a verse when he was perfectly well. I mean, he was not a, those imperfections he often made work. You know, he adopted this philosophy, but, you know, what he used to say for a show to be interesting something something has to happen that neither the audience or the performer expects so a mistake can turn into a um an opportunity yeah and he often uh something happens and it's like okay here's my opportunity to make something of it not like not fucking freak out or fall apart and i mean that's a you know if you're a a seasoned performer, you understand that, you know, yeah, you don't have, I mean, everyone fucks up. I mean, that happens. So, yeah, I mean, it was... For all the shows we did with the secret pass stuff, there were very few mistakes. I don't think he made any more mistakes than anyone else made. Let me put it that way.Track 4:[1:06:14] Yeah, I know the show that's online is incredible. It is one of the best concerts that I've seen. I've actually made Kirk and Justin promise not to watch it yet. So we're going to watch it together one day online, I think. and it's so good. Yeah.Track 7:[1:06:35] Thank you, Justin. That's been something especially after we did the episode about the secret path and all the research we did. So yeah, when we had our recording of the secret path, that was one thing we had to make a little pack that we were going to wait. We're going to try and do a live stream of it, but it's been very difficult. Obviously watching some of the great documentary pieces that were done about the entire secret path project. And as you mentioned um you know where that kind of came in the timeline and and then obviously the it was recorded and then there was a few years break i think before it was released but um yeah we're we're very excited about seeing that that particular show and craig has has talked very highly of it so we're pretty excited to see that for sure yeah.Track 5:[1:07:23] Well it's very heavy you know it's It's not a, you know, and as it's meant to be, you know, it's a very heavy story. There's a lot to it. And it's being delivered by a guy that is well aware of his timeline, you know. And this was a part of his legacy that he was very aware that he he could have a positive impact you know any I think you personally really changed the conversation in this country and and I still see it you know I'm still very, I'm still involved with the Danny Wenjack fund and I'm actually doing a school event out of Vancouver next week next.Track 4:[1:08:17] Are you serious craig oh man craig's a teacher i'm a teacher i use it every year um, and uh i yeah so i watch that show every no no no go ahead i alternate between i'm sorry i was just gonna say i i go through every song with with the class and you know we talk and it's amazing every year there's like another another layer something else that someone will will see and we we talk a little bit about this artistic representation of this, of this boy's story and how it, it relates to the much larger, you know, issues that go back, you know, the things that we weren't taught when we were in school and it's, it's been really eyeopening and, and every year it's just a highlight of, of, of the year. A lot of students remember it years later. It's been really impactful and it's a way for me to dig into this topic that I, you know as a middle-aged white guy don't have a you know a personal connection to it gives me a way to sort of dive into this difficult material in a genuine way and students really appreciate that that um they can tell i mean i know i.Track 5:[1:09:28] Know it's in over 6300 classrooms across canada, the secret path and i know over 8 000 teachers are teaching that and i think really what's happening now is that they need to expand on the curriculum they need to build on it like the secret path has been a great introduction of course and it's a great tool but you can't teach the same thing over and over again you can't read the same book and expect you know so i think that's partially where they're at with it uh and that's a good problem to have.Track 5:[1:10:02] But you know it's it's just learning a truth that is important and a part of our history in this country that's important because you know as a canadian who spent a lot of time in the states you know i find that we are very we can be very sanctimonious and self-righteous about how fucking awesome we are and how our shit doesn't smell but you know and and you know.Track 5:[1:10:28] Canadians are the first to look down south and say well you know at least we're not fucked up like they are look at their medical system look at look at whatever you know like it's you know and and you know our shit stinks too and we you know we i just think this has been such an amazing opportunity to see how impactful uh this is and you know what's so interesting is that it's really ultimately not about gourd like and that was sort of his that was what was so incredible about this like he knew that he's he's telling the story and his illness and his celebrity and the connection to the hip were leveraging the the attention towards this but he knew that this was much bigger than him you know i i was just talking to the the guy that's organizing the uh event i'm doing out in uh in vancouver and he was saying yeah he's a huge hit fan big music fan and he's saying you know like a lot of these young kids don't know who the tragically hip are and it sort of breaks his heart you know because uh or doesn't they don't know who gourd downey is but they know the secret path and it's so interesting and truthfully it's really what it is the important part of the story is the truth of why that story had to be told and And I think Gord would be kind of smiling about that right now.Track 5:[1:11:54] I know with the graphic novel, I recall vividly him saying, in his mind...Track 5:[1:12:02] The graphic novel and the music could be played for grade fives. You know, that was sort of his target audience. That's good age. This could have a good impact. I mean, I think it's become much broader than that. And as you said, Craig, it became, you know, there are many layers to it and there's a lot to it. You know, with a lot of Gord stuff, it's very interpretive and very, you know you can really peel back the layers on it so i think that makes them happy and i know for me on a personal level to be able to they these are uh called uh artist ambassador that's part of the downey one jack artist ambassador program so i go i go into the schools and i'm introduced and i'm you know i knew gourd and i talk a little bit about my uh relationship with him and the connection to the secret path and i go around and i look at the work that the students do and i talk to them and i just it you know it fills my heart to know that i'm still connected to gourd through this project and all the other stuff i did but this was this was a special opportunity for him to leave his own legacy but not about him but the legacy of something that he felt.Track 5:[1:13:26] He felt like it's a story that needed to be told and it's a conversation that needed to be had.Track 7:[1:13:32] One thing that I was able to share with the guys yesterday, my middle daughter graduated from a local university out here, Cal State University, Northridge. And before the ceremony began, they actually had a recorded message from the indigenous tribe from the area saying, prior to the university being built. And they had partnered with them. And the leadership of the tribe actually sent out a blessing as well as a song to the university and to the graduates and to those of us that were there. And I was there with my mom, my 81 year old mom. And I'd been sharing a lot of the secret path story with her and, you know, gave her the graphic novel to read. And we talk about it because I go over and visit quite regularly. And we both were so taken aback as Americans, because we're aware of our ugly past, and we're aware how bad we stink down here. And too often, we don't get the opportunity to really recognize it and bring it to the forefront as much as we could. And for us, that was fantastic, especially after our discussion with this group about secret path to see something in the United States. And I've been to many graduations, and I've been to many events and whatnot. And that was quite literally the first time I had ever seen anything like that done in the recognition.Track 7:[1:14:50] And it really, it, it warmed our heart that it was, it's about time, of course, but it's going to take those like Gord and that project and what you guys did, um, obviously in what you're continuing to do to, to bring that recognition. So that was just, it was really great and timely. And I know Justin has spent some time i'm doing some research as well about about uh um some of the indigenous issues in the history and whatnot and it's been great for us as you know americans to have that open discussion as well and uh so we really appreciate you sharing that with us because that that was uh it was definitely emotional for us going through the secret path and having that discussion and and as as craig had mentioned you know us middle-aged white guys you know trying to pretend for a second that we We know what happened and what they're going through. The awareness, I think, was really important for us and to be able to discuss that. So definitely appreciate you sharing that with us.Track 5:[1:15:51] Yeah, yeah. I mean, I just read something or saw an interview recently and just talking about colonialism. And, you know, like, you know, our history is that is kind of the history of the world. I mean, it's not any more North American than it is. It happened in China 7,000 years ago. It continues that. You know, you can't change what has happened, but you can acknowledge what's happened. And, you know, what's amazing is, you know, I know, I mean, my mom is almost 94. for. You know, a lot of the discussions with her and people of her generation about First Nations people here was that, oh, you know, we give them so much and we give them money and they you know, there's all these sort of false narratives about.Track 5:[1:16:45] And, you know, she's just repeating things that she's hearing, right? So this is what happens. Like, you hear something enough, and it becomes the truth. You know, like, you know, and I mean, that's sort of the sad reality of politics these days as well. You get a message just fucking repeatedly all the time. And then before you know it, you're saying it yourself somehow. You're believing it. It's so weird. It's so fucked up. The truth is often difficult to accept and to acknowledge, and it's not just about being white and privileged.Track 5:[1:17:24] Which of course we are, or I am, I won't speak for you guys, but it's about being honest about what has happened. And the history is not as it often is. It's told through the eyes of the people that have been the beneficiaries of it. And this has been an amazing journey for me. I've ended up doing many different projects. And that's what I was doing with Kevin Hearn today. We do this collaboration with Chief Stacey LaForme, who's just retired, but was the elected chief of the Mississaugas of the First Credit. And he's a poet as well. And we did a collaboration with him when the 615 bodies were discovered in Kamloops. He wrote a poem and Kevin and I put some music to it and inserted his voice through that as well. I'll send it to you, Kirk. It's a very, very powerful thing. And we've done a bunch of performances with him and we're doing something with him in June again.Track 5:[1:18:36] And it's, you know, again, it's like it's just this ongoing dialogue and this process of, you know, realizing that people are people, you know. And it's very powerful to share these collaborations and these stories. And, you know, I mean, Greg, you're seeing it every day. I see it every once in a while when I go into these schools. But these young kids are hearing these stories. So they're not, they're not, they're hearing these stories firsthand. They acknowledge and accept what happened. So they're not denying it. They're not pretending it didn't happen. They weren't, as what was Gore's line, trained to ignore it.Track 5:[1:19:22] It's such a fucking good line. And that was, again, that's sort of the righteousness of our thing is, you know, if you just put it out of your mind, well, then you don't have, and you don't think about it, then it's not your problem.Track 5:[1:19:36] And, you know, lo and behold, it was, you know, like there's a very dark history to our relationship with the First Nations people in this country. And you know what's amazing is i remember travis good talking about this when he was touring with his dad's band the good brothers in the 80s and early 90s late you know mid to late 80s he'd go over to holland and they would be saying you know what's up with your country you fucking treat the natives like shit what's with the residential schools he had no idea you know like me he was sort of you know and he learned about it from another country you know like it's always amazing how you know where we can be so uh oblivious and ignorant of our own truth i know i i did i'm kind of on a bit of a rant but it was a very and still is a very moving part of uh that relationship uh with gourd and and very one i'm so i'm just so i'm so proud of him for finding the creative courage to to to make that record and then you know like just so blown away by his courage for sure but his tenacity to get it out there and to go out and do those shows that was uh that was a.Track 5:[1:20:59] Remarkable thing including the hip tour i don't i don't they're not one i don't see one is more exclusive than the other i just think.Track 5:[1:21:09] It was a remarkable feat to watch him go through that.Track 7:[1:21:12] Absolutely and and uh you know this whole project as we'd mentioned has been great for us as as tragically hip fans and already having an appreciation and a love for gordon and what he's done and the band had done and a

The Grand Bounce

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 3, 2024 112:16

This week on the pod, the gang settles in to the project and describes their experience with Gord's 3rd solo release, The Grand Bounce.Transcript:Track 1:[0:01] Hey, it's Justin. You know and love us on the Discovering Downey podcast, right? So come hang out with us in person for the finale. Join us for Long Slice Brewing Presents, a celebration of Gord Downey at The Rec Room in downtown Toronto on Friday, July 19th. Craig is coming from Vancouver. Kirk is coming from LA. I'm driving from Vermont. And JD is like walking down the street or wherever he lives in Toronto. Tickets are available now on our website at discovererndowney.com. And when you get your tickets, that means you can come hang out with us and our very special guest, Patrick Downey. And you can bid on some incredibly cool silent auction items, all while jamming along with tragically hip cover band The Almost Hip. And most importantly, helping us raise money for the Gord Downey Fund for Brain Cancer Research. Crack open a long slice, put on some Gord tunes, take a journey with us on Discovering Downey, and then crack open another long slice on July 19th and hang out with us in the 6th. I always wanted to sound cool and say that. For more information, follow us on all the socials and visit DiscoveringDowny.com. Cheers.Track 2:[1:23] Thanksgiving. Victims and their victim-ears sit down to Turkey hungry for punishment full of mercury fullimate, serene after the screaming. Grace makes the mouth make shapes it's never made before. We give thanks for the poetry we read and write all day. For freeing us to drink with impunity a toast to no punishment replaces Amen. The prayer is swallowed away for the silence and the quiet carving serene after the was screaming, a little violent, but turkey nevertheless.Track 1:[2:08] Welcome, music lovers. Long Slice Brewery presents Discovering Downey.Track 2:[2:16] Hey, it's J.D. here and welcome back to Discovering Downey. This is an 11-part opus with a focus on Mr. Gord Downey, the late frontman of the Tragically Hip, but somebody who also gave to the world an extensive solo discography. Eight records in total. But have you heard them? That was what I sought out when I enlisted my friends Craig, Justin, and Kirk to discover Downey. These three are giant Tragically Hip fans, but they had little to no exposure with Gord's solo oeuvre. So every week, we get together and listen to one of the records in chronological order and see what we think. Did we miss out? Or did we make the right choice? We're going to find out on Discovering Downey. This week, we're going to dive into Gord's third solo release. This, with The Country of Miracles, it is the grand bounce. Now let's go to the team.Track 1:[3:27] Justin St. Louis, how are you doing this week? Week i'm worn out man and uh i'm ready for this thing to to take over my life tonight and just be back in the normal and enjoy the music and enjoy talking about it with you guys love it yeah kirk where are you headed off to next yeah actually heading off to the big apple nyc i'm uh going to be chaperoning my uh my youngest and they're going to be performing at carnegie so very proud pops Pops. And, uh, we just got back from a really cool trip in Memphis and Nashville and they did really, you know, they did fantastic there. So I've been surrounded by music and, um, that's inspired me, but I'm gonna, you know, concur with Justin and say, I'm definitely looking forward to a discussion about this album. I mean, uh, it's been a pretty cool journey so far, but this, I think this is gonna, this album is going to spark a pretty good conversation in my opinion. So, but doing well and looking forward to traveling again. It'll be interesting for sure. Craig, how are things on the left coast, motherfucker?Track 1:[4:36] Not too bad. Just got back from a family trip to Disneyland that was six years in the making. We tried it, you know, in 2020 and it didn't work out. And so we finally made it down with the kids and spent a few days in LA at the end of the trip and was lucky enough to have Kirk from Chino drive all the way out to LAX and we hooked up for.Track 1:[4:59] Little conversation and yeah, it was cool. It was a good time. Yeah. So first time meeting in person, which was a great night. It was really cool. Yep. No, it worked out actually great. I just got back from that trip with a choir that I'd mentioned and then, uh, hadn't seen my mom in a bit and she was actually staying, um, uh, doing some pet sitting at a house in garden Grove that had some good memories. So it kind of was a half, half the distance to LAX. So it worked out perfect to go and meet you and and i appreciated uh appreciated you giving up some time from your family for a little bit to have a good conversation so and i know it'll carry over tonight well this week on discovering downey we're here to discuss and dissect the june 2010 released from gord and his band the country of miracles consisting of the usual suspects canadian musicians oh.Track 2:[5:48] Man i'm gonna butcher this julie duaron right is that right yeah so she's on vocals guitar and bass then there is gourd's frequent collaborator josh finlayson.Track 1:[6:02] Dale morningstar on lead guitar dave clark on drums and dr p on keyboards chris walla a former member of death cab for cutie turned the knobs on this release but where do you start with the grand bounce it's been seven years and three albums since Gord's last outing, and The Country of Miracles sounds as though they've been chomping at the bit to jam with Gord yet again. This album, to me, is a band album as much as it is a Gord solo affair. As a result, it sounds more cohesive than the previous two releases. While it rarely reaches the heights of Battle of the Nudes, it is a remarkably consistent effort. It's worth noting that the songs on The Grand Bounce seem more structured and maybe even more thought out as three to four minute rock songs that are reminiscent of Gord's day job, The Tragically Hip. There's an energy on this record that's palpable. Perhaps it's the shorthand of working with the same band for three consecutive records?Track 2:[6:58] I'm not sure, but it's there. Now, once we get into the songs on this 50 minute, 13 song opus.Track 1:[7:06] It's tough not to get caught up in the sonic presence that Walla brings to the table. There's a depth to the maturity, And I'll use the term again, a cohesiveness that wasn't as pronounced on the prior two efforts. While the grand bounce is a perfectly fine listen, it's only after letting it grow on you. For me, it sat growing on me since I did the fully and completely podcast. And that to me is when it shows its real prowess, creating earworms and hooks that reel you in and invite you over for dinner just to hang out with the music.Track 1:[7:40] But what do our friends Craig, Justin, and Kirk have to say about the Grand Bounce? Let's not waste any more time and get right to them. Kirk from Chino, talk to me about your first experience with the Grand Bounce. Yeah, well, after we had finished up talking about Battle of the Nudes, I had had some travel for work, and then I was getting some other stuff ready for a very busy week. So I didn't get to jump on to a listen right away. I mean, it was a number of days. But I was doing a walk at night and, you know, cool walk with the dog and had it in my AirPods. And just right away, I was really taken by it. I really felt the maturity of it, you know, very reminiscent of what you had mentioned, JD, in your lead up to, you know, the discussion about the album is it just had a maturity to it. The band, it felt like a band album, exactly what you said. and I, as much as I loved the first two albums, I just felt a comfort. Like the whole time I've listened to this album, which is, I don't know, maybe 15, 20 times at this point, it just, it's a warm blanket to me. It's like, it now is okay.Track 1:[8:57] It's okay, I can like Gord Downie as a solo artist. You know, I just had a great experience with it. I really, really loved it. I could spend a lot of time talking, but I want to hear what the other guys have to say about it. Well, Craig, what do you think? Yeah, this was really a grower for me. I wasn't sure when I first put this on. I didn't think I would like it as much as I do. And overall, I really love this album. I have maybe a couple of critiques, which we'll get to later. Later but my my journey with this album actually goes back to 2015 when you may remember jd that we had a bunch of target stores open in canada in whenever 2010 maybe and they only lasted about four or five years and they went went under and when they were closing down they had cds on sale for five dollars you can get any it could get any cd and i happened upon the grand balance and And actually the next album we'll be doing next week and pick those both up for five bucks. And they sat on open for many years and I just opened them for this podcast. So I I'm lucky enough to have an actual podcast.Track 1:[10:05] Physical copy and the liner notes that came in them so i may be able to offer a few little nuggets um one i would just want to mention off the top chris walla is actually mentioned as a member when it says the country of miracles are and it lists all the members plus him so i believe he was playing guitar on wow much of the album wow very cool some of those videos he was playing so that i'm not surprised by that and i love that thank you for sharing because this is actually the only album that I couldn't get. I tried to get vinyl of everything, but I don't have a CD. So everything has been streaming or online.Track 1:[10:41] And I watched several videos with interviews and he talked specifically about the inlet, the vocal or the lyrics. And you just showed a picture of it, Craig, and it's not the standard sizing that you normally get. So I appreciate you sharing that. That was pretty cool. And I think also what I learned with this album is again, just to trust Trust, you know, Gord, you know, you may not like it right away, but give this album a good listen if you haven't before. It took longer to grow on me than the other two, but highly recommended. Yeah i think a good strategy with this record is to listen the fuck out of it for like two or three days and then put it on the shelf for a week and then pick it up and there's something like kirk was saying that's comforting about it you come back to it and you're like whoa this is really fucking way more hooky than i imagined when i first listened to it but let's uh talk to our friend mr st louis what do you say on the matter of discovering downey v the grand bounce So I also had the word warmth written down, and I did take your strategy, JD, of I listened to it probably 10 times. I started immediately after recording our last episode, which is how I had done the previous. I was like, okay, this is not Battle of the Nudes.Track 1:[12:04] And I immediately heard what I thought was Bob rock sound. But then I realized this isn't Bob rock sound and neither were those other two albums. This is the era that Gord was in with the hip and all of the Bob rock haters probably owe him an apology because this is the type of stuff that Gord was writing at that time. And so it did feel familiar and it did feel comforting and it did feel warm and I liked it. I also, you know, during this time, um, when the album came out i was listening to kings of leon and mumford and sons and stuff like that and there's a lot of that in this in this sound and i you know i was a uh death cab for cutie fan at the time and you know postal service and all that stuff i mean so it was very contemporary for for when it came out and it felt like it belonged in that 2010 range but.Track 1:[12:58] For me, it was a big letdown after Battle of the Nudes, because that album was so damn good. And because we didn't have seven years between recording these episodes for our musical tastes to change, it was like, whoa, this is a massive shift from what we had just digested into this new album. I don't hate it, but I don't think I love it.Track 1:[13:20] Wow. Yeah. I don't see it as such a massive shift. It's going to be interesting as we get into the track by track. Should we do that now, gentlemen? Let's go for it. Let's do it. Okay, the first track on the record is a great one for me in the sense that winter has ended. But when I think about winter, I think about that. I think about Gord standing on the edge of Riverdale Park and having somebody discuss this east wind with him, this strong east wind that blows in and is very cold. And we're going to hear from Craig first on this one. So, Craig, what do you think of the east wind? This is the one song off the album I was familiar with. I had seen maybe a video, I'd heard it quite a few times, and I love it. I think it's a great opener. I want to point something out really quickly that you guys wouldn't necessarily know without the liner notes, but there are Roman numerals, one through four, throughout the album. And at first I thought maybe it was to do with the record I thought maybe the four-sided record which it is, I looked it up but the.Track 1:[14:29] There's three songs per side on the records, and it doesn't quite jive with the numbers in the booklet. So what I think is, I've come up with a little story around, this isn't a concept album by any means, but it's definitely got a story to it. And so I've actually listed what I think the story is about, and I think section one is about a move. And so you've probably done the research too and and gourd at the time was moving up to glenora on the um on the great one of the great lakes so this this first section i think all the songs kind of relate to moving uh the east wind maybe not as much but also interestingly enough the east wind is the only song that doesn't have lyrics printed out in the booklet and i'm not really sure why that would be what yeah so there's a quote at the top it does say the the quote about the east wind is the laziest wind, but right under that is track two. And if you saw some of the video research or YouTube, he talked about it was a neighbor who was a farmer who was describing the east wind, the laziest wind.Track 1:[15:40] So I found that very interesting, Craig, when you proposed the theory of the story. Because I could think to several of the different interviews and different discussions about different songs and how he's definitely pinpointing some real life things that are happening. Like you mentioned the move and, and, uh, obviously some discussions about relationships and, and then he's got his kids involved in some of these songs too. So you may be onto something, my friend. Another theory theory I have is that maybe this song is meant to be like a little bit of an introduction sort of before the story starts. And maybe that's why it didn't have the lyrics in here or maybe it's a misprint who knows, but the song itself musically is, is great. Uh, very much a band jamming again, like we're used to from the previous two albums, but just more layering, more production.Track 1:[16:30] I really love how the guitars are layered. From my count, there's five guitar players on this track, including one who I couldn't find any mention of anywhere on the internet. Someone named Edgar Lewis played guitar, and I believe he plays the guitar at the end, the little guitar melody, the sort of New Order style melody at the end. I couldn't find anything about who he might be. The name Edgar, of course, made me think of Gord's middle name. So not sure if there's a connection there. But yeah, I could not track this person down online. Anybody out there knows who Edgar, what his name is? I apologize. What's his name again? Edgar Lewis or Louie.Track 1:[17:10] Edgar Louie. If you know who Edgar Louie is, shoot us an email at discoveringdowneyatgmail.com. I wonder if he's an acquaintance of Chris Swala. Possibly. Although they did record in Kingston, so it would have been quite the trip for one little guitar melody. But yeah, maybe he was someone working in the studio. Maybe he's a friend of the band or who knows. But yeah, the Chris Walla production is very noticeable on this song. The way things are, you know, I think Gord even mentions in an interview, he just keeps layering things every few bars and very evident. The drums are a good example of this in the song. They come in kind of lightly, but they're still pretty intense. And then the toms come in, and you've got that really almost tribal beat for the first few bars once the whole band kicks in. And then you get just sort of a regular beat. But it's always driving forward. There's always momentum with the drums. It's always picking up momentum right through the end of the song and really strong playing all together. Such a solid song. I think the second part of that build, when I first heard it, was like, oh, this is sort of like maybe some of the tone that was on Battle of the Newts, where it was kind of subdued and subdued.Track 1:[18:31] Just there. And then there's this massive sound, which really works. I do love the song a lot. And I believe you that there's five guitars in it. Um, cause if you have earbuds in and turn it up, you, you feel it. Yeah. And while the chords are quite simple, when you really listen, there's actually a lot going on, even with Gord's guitar. And I feel like on this album, he has matured as a player. You can tell, you know, he's got another seven years of experience and we never did really talk about on the previous episodes his guitar playing but when he first started playing guitar in the hip it was a bizarre thing to watch his strumming patterns it was so awkward to watch him as a guitar player and i'm not even sure he was really too much in the mix back in the early days but he has grown so much as a guitar player he's playing a lot in open tunings i believe i've read that open c was his favorite so i think a lot of the songs on this album or an open C. I noticed in the videos he was playing a Tele for much of this session rather than acoustic.Track 1:[19:33] And yeah, there is a lot of subtleties to the guitar playing, even though it's basically two chords through the whole song. I was going to mention, Craig, and we've all obviously did our research and saw the YouTube, but the bathhouse sessions when they were recording. And, and I'm honestly, it's like, it's a question to this group. They, they were all isolated, but they were all playing live. And you had mentioned how much he was playing guitar. And in the, that little six part series, I loved how Gord was so committed to playing guitar, as you had mentioned. Like there was typically when you're recording an album like you want to do the the vocal and the guitar separately and he was nope i'm going to do it together because the guitar strumming was creating some of the cadence of the vocals and and i loved how or i felt like that was demonstrated there so i think that's a great point that you brought up craig that he was really focused on that playing yeah that makes this album easier to sing to we had mentioned whether i don't remember if it was on air or off air, but we had all had trouble singing along with the first two albums. And this one is much more poppy and rhythm driven. And I think you're absolutely right, Kirk, that him playing the guitar as he sings and it's in every take really kind of made that happen. I also did notice if you, it's really low in the mix, but when this track first starts, somebody says, no more takes.Track 1:[21:01] Like, we have to do it this time, you know? I really, I picked up on that and I enjoyed it, especially after watching that six part series. I'm gonna jump on your story theme, Craig, and Moon Over Glenora.Track 1:[21:14] The next song on the album.Track 1:[24:18] I absolutely love this song right and he talks about the ferry ride and that really goes along when you think of the east wind and being off the lake and then now talking about the ferry, uh justin what'd you think about this song oh man this song solidified my crush on julie this is, such a great track and the duet through every word and then the live performances of this song that i I was able to find on the, on the hips now for plan a record, there's one lyric that's, we don't want to do it. We want to be it talking about the music and they are absolutely the music while they're playing the song. And it's just a lot of fun. And it's like a, it's like going to a club show, which it probably was. I really did love the song. And for me, the ferry ride across Lake Champlain is just a part of life here when you're going over to New York and it just, just talking about the spotlight, finding the ice in the water. I've been on that ferry and the song is really, I think, about two people falling in love, not knowing that they're falling in love. And they're kind of bickering and arguing about it. And they get outside in the ferry and it's cold and it's terrible and you got to stay warm, so let's complain about something.Track 1:[25:29] And they talk about the wolf and they've killed the wolf by the end of the ferry ride. You know um it's the the imagery is really cool and the dead lake right isn't that the last the ocean is dead the ocean is dead yeah yeah it's a great little song i really do love it but i think the star is julie and this really she's fantastic yeah i uh story-wise i actually had almost the opposite thought to me it was maybe um a couple falling out of love and maybe this is the the cracks are starting to show. Like maybe it's not totally fractured yet. And again, I'm not saying that this is about Gord or, you know, I don't know too much about his personal life, but I do know parts of this are inspired obviously by true events, you know, the move to Glenora. Did anyone watch the interview with Gord with Kim Mitchell? If you guys even know who that is? Yeah, I did. Do you know who he is?Track 1:[26:26] Well i had to look it up i didn't know who he was immediately and i got confused because it was that little two-part interview and he had mentioned something about being and i think like saint paul minnesota and it threw me off because it said toronto but then in the second part they they confirmed they were talking in toronto um the one thing sorry and i hopefully i don't derail your thought but the one thing that i loved on that particular interview is the reverence that gordon had for that particular guy so i definitely had to look him up you know to see the songs that he was involved with and and he was uh you know as he mentioned in that he's a hero so sorry go ahead i just wanted to bring him up because he's a you know a classic canadian artist i'm wearing my my cancon shirt here and uh he was definitely a a big part of you know the music scene here in in the 80s and 90s i guess i brought it up because um this was a song that he mentioned really loving that you know kim really loved it also i found it really interesting I'd never heard this before, but Gord references a song that the two of them wrote together.Track 1:[27:29] And by the sounds of it, it's a song that was never released. So it sounds like Kim Mitchell had a song he wrote and then Gord wrote the words too. And so there may be an unreleased song out there, or maybe if a listener's heard this or has any idea how to track this down, I'd love to hear it. So that was my only thing I wanted to add. Oh, and also Dale does some really really cool guitar, little shots on, on this sort of beat two and four. And then he does these little muted scrub scrubs. I'm not even sure how to.Track 1:[27:58] How to put in words what that sound is i'm you know what i mean kind of like a pick almost like a pick slide into the the bends i mean i don't know it it's almost it's a it's a technique it's not it's a rhythmic pattern that he's doing yeah and with with some notes in there but they're sort of muted but anyways i thought that added some nice accent but i agree with with you justin that julie really steals the show on this one it's such a good song on many of the songs on this album that combination of voice, to me, that was what I had mentioned earlier about how much I enjoyed this album, is when you feel that the band is now a band and you feel that connection. But we are so used to hearing Gord as part of the hip and that amazing combination of vocals that he has, you know, with Paul and then obviously with the guitar phrasing and how the hip is the hip and you can hear that. And I think with the vocals that he has with her on many of these albums, but especially on this particular album and several of these songs, to me, that really solidified like, okay, this is a great combination of musicians that are doing fantastic things. So I so appreciated this song.Track 1:[29:19] Another, Gord has that ability to do like an upbeat rhythm and kind of like Pascal's Submarine that we talked about in the last album, where it's kind of a dark subject, but it's a very upbeat song. So I really felt that with this particular song. I couldn't help but think, as he said, the ocean is, as they were repeating, the ocean is dead at the end. I was just thinking about all the water songs that Gord has and how water must be his Roman empire. There are a couple things that come up on this album over and over. Water is one, color is another.Track 1:[29:57] Um, and day and night is a third thing. There was a fourth, I can't remember right now, but there was some definite themes through the entire album. Kirk, what did you think when you first heard as a mover? What I loved specifically about as a mover is the buildup. I think Justin may have referenced in, in some of the, those interviews where, um, how the production was every four bars, you got to get something new. So this really was uh okay you know you get the train feeling that's going on it's that moving it's the transformation it's the sorry not transformation but him him relocating to glenora as we'd mentioned now we're going into this as a mover and you know this these lyrics not just specifically for this song but for for this all album and i think in one of our messages together.Track 1:[30:53] It was hard to pin down some connections on some of these there there are some that are that are there but I agree with that that that guidance on that so as a mover to me loved it you know the sarcasm hey baby want to kiss closes it out with that that that particular theme and it's It's a driving, great rhythmic song. Another thing that was clear in my memory in some of the interviews that we got to see was he was so excited about this album in that it was genre-less, right? You can't just say it's a country album. You can't just say it's a pop album. You can't just say it's a jazz album. It has a little bit of everything. And he even talked about touring for this particular album, that they were doing a bunch of festivals and that they were jazz festival, a pop festival, a rock festival. It was different. So he was pretty proud of that fact. And I got that feeling with that as a mover. Justin, what was your take on the song? So I found a note somewhere that when Gord was writing this album, he was reading a book about Custer. And the title of the album, The Grand Bounce refers to a phrase that was coined during the Custer's involvement, whatever, in the 1860s. Whenever they deserted the cavalry, they called it the Grand Bounce. And desertion and moving and all this stuff really tie in together and –.Track 1:[32:22] This song is kind of what really sparked my thinking about that. Like, you know, this is, there's something happening here and yes, the, the train, you feel like you're on a train as soon as the song starts. And, um, it's definitely a different sound. This song is way different than anything that Gord had put out previously. And I know, again, I, it, it kind of rubbed me the wrong way a little bit. I mean, I've, I've come into all this with an open mind, but it was like, what is he trying to do here? It didn't, the production of this album, And the sound of the songs just did not match up with the first two albums. And this doesn't even match up with anything else that's on this album. And my first reaction was, is he trying too hard with this song to sound different? But it certainly has grown on me. But the theme of moving and desertion and the grand bounce itself, this song tied the album title together for me. Craig, what do you think? In the lyrics, you've got the wife, you know, not wanting to move and you've got the kids wanting to move all that, you know, wanting to go everywhere. And he says he's in the middle, he's got no opinion. So I kind of like that tension in here. I also love the line where he rhymes pressure and less sure. Oh, and he does it in this low register the second time through?Track 1:[33:44] I'm even less sure. And when he says it, he's almost talking it. It's so great. Yeah. And I know I mentioned to you guys in text that when I first heard this song, I was not a fan.Track 1:[33:58] And JD, you were a bit surprised by that. And then it just grew and grew and grew on me. Like more than any other song on the album. I love the song now. I really was not a fan at first. Just love the whole feel of it. And the little drum shuffle with the brushes. And i think what i didn't like at first was just the chorus there was something weird about just those words as a mover it's just not very smooth sounding it doesn't roll off yeah and so that that kind of bothered me at first but really it's whatever feelings i had about it have totally changed now i think it's totally yeah it's a really cool song i was with you that you know At first, I just didn't like it. But then I remembered the song is now 14 years old. And when it came out, I was listening to Mumford & Sons and I was into that sound. And this could be on one of their albums.Track 1:[34:50] And I had to force myself to transport back to that time period. And I would have loved the song back then. And also the, you know, the title as a, as a mover, it made me think like a double meaning could be like a mover is also a dancer. And the next song we have is the dance and its disappearance. And this was another song that I didn't love at first. It's still not one of my favorites on the album, but once I read the lyrics, once I got into the CD booklet and started trying to figure out what it was about, I started to appreciate it a lot more. And so I just want to read you this quick quote in the booklet. There's a quote from Crystal Pite, who I believe is a dancer. And she writes.Track 1:[35:38] It is an extreme expression of the present, a perfect metaphor for life. And it goes on. Once I kind of got what that phrase meant, it just started making sense. And when you watch the live videos of this song, every single performance of this, Gord has something to say about people in the audience with their cell phones. And he's very appreciative when there's not too many people with their cell phones. And he talks about, if you're filming this on a cell phone, you're getting 10% of the experience. Put it away.Track 1:[36:08] And there was one show in Victoria and I wrote down what he said. He says, you like that things disappear as they're happening. I don't see any phones in the air trying to capture 10%. Your brain can handle it. Let it resonate. Let it sink in. Wait till tomorrow, the day after, it'll be all right. Yeah. And I love that message. Yeah, me too.Track 1:[36:26] Fuck. Kirk? This song, when I first heard it, and we've had this discussion on some of the other albums, You know, can this be a hip song? And that opening little riff on this particular song was very hip-like. And there was another interview that I had looked up, I think Alan Cross was his name. And he had even had mentioned that on this particular, he wrote simply a hip-like song. So I think that was one thing that I appreciated is there was not any fear anymore. Like, it's okay because I am the guy who writes the stuff for the hip. So there's going to be songs that sound hip like, and I think he embraced it. But I think that I, the thing that I loved about this, and as I mentioned on the other songs and you guys as well is the, the harmonies with, with, with Julie on this, like that's okay. This is Gord Downie. This is that sound where with the hip it's, this is what I sound like when I sing with Paul or whoever's doing the backup. And I believe that he really captured that in this album, but that song as well. So that was one thing that I noted in my research on this particular song. I think this is my favorite tune on the record.Track 1:[37:41] Gord had that theme, let it disappear into the night and let it happen, use it up. That is a decades-long theme in whatever he's done, and I love the message. I also love the word a squirrel. Holy crap. What a great way to convey that you can't settle down. My mind a squirrel. Holy crap. Did anyone else look up Sudbury yellow? Speaking of colors, I mentioned earlier that color is a huge theme throughout the whole thing. Also tying into the cover art, which was actually a painting by Gord Downie himself. So I think art was much on his mind during the recording of this album. And there is different mentions of colours in so many different songs. So Sudbury Yellow references the colour of the staircase at Sudbury Hall in England. And when you look up a picture of it, it's a very striking yellow. It's actually pretty neat to look up. And also another great So he rhymes the word orange with door hinge. Yeah. Blood orange with door hinge. Yeah. That's great. And I did notice the color theme throughout this and, and art is again, a decades long theme with, with Gordon. And there are many more examples through and we'll get to that.Track 1:[38:57] Well, let's stick with you, Justin, and move forward to The Hard Canadian. When I think of this song, I always, I can close my eyes and I picture, this is going to be lost on the two Americans, I apologize, but I picture Relic from The Beachcombers as The Hard Canadian.Track 1:[39:16] Beachcombers was a CBC show based in the West Coast, and there were some hard-living fishermen type, and there was one character who was sort of a scoundrel, and his name was Relic, And he just looked like a hard Canadian. He looks like the lyrics to this song. But Justin, what do you think of the hard Canadian?Track 1:[39:34] So I had two trains of thought on this. And one was that I thought Gord might have been singing about himself and just the fuck you today kind of thing. But I also thought it was about the weather, maybe in the winter. And go out to the plains and it's brutal out there. And the hard Canadian weather doesn't care about you. You know, and yeah, so the hard Canadian in my weather theory is the hard Canadian don't give a damn about you. What's a windswept face to the elusive presence of the sun to the hard Canadian? Like, you know, it's winter all the time in some places. It's dark all the time in some places, you know, north of 60, right? And it's the line, whether he's just mean or willfully dense, like the weather is controlling itself. self. It was like Mother Nature or whatever is doing this on purpose to test you. Let's see if you come out the other side. Again, the art theme, there's the quote, and it's in quotations from life nothing to death nothing, refers to a piece of art by Frank Stella, which is, forgive my Spanish here, but de la nada vida a la nada muerte. Is that how you'd say it? But that's what it translates to, from life nothing to death nothing. And it's this massive piece of art that's It's very 1965 looking and it's just another theme in there. And I don't know how it ties in other than it's a.Track 1:[40:59] You know, foreboding dark quote. That's just my, I don't know. That's my interpretation of it. But you know, Gord obviously was going through some stuff too. And, and it, it felt like this was almost a third person narrative of a first person point of view. There was two songs on the album that I'm familiar with. The hard Canadian is the first time I heard it. I had definitely had heard it before, but had not, you know, process that it was not a hip song. I think I thought it was like a deep cut hip song or something when I heard it years ago. But the other one is, and I know we'll talk about it, The Night Is Forgetting.Track 1:[41:36] He would sing it when he would do hip songs. He would sing some of his gourd songs. So when I read that story or heard about that story, I'm like, I know I've heard that song before when they played out here in LA or whatever. So, but anyway, the hard Canadian, what he had mentioned was it was Mike, Mike Clattenberg trailer park boys. That's that, that's it's one of the series that I haven't watched. I've watched letter Kenny and I've watched, you know, several other Canadian, but I have not watched the trailer park boys. And he had mentioned that it was one of the guys I guess is one of the creators and he's like yeah I got this new thing and it's hard Canadian it's dope and and so when I'd heard that description I immediately thought of like if you guys are familiar with letter Kenny like Wayne is he's hard Canadian it's just gonna smoke a you know go out and smoke and have a puppers have a dart yeah having a dart exactly so that that was the imagery that I got from it I want to point out that this is the first song in section number two lyrically in the lyric booklet.Track 1:[42:39] And I just noticed that there's a quote here from Walter von Tilburg Clark, night is like a room. It makes the little things in your head too important. And I just realized that's the second verse of the East wind. And then I glanced forward section three has the lyric from the third verse. So the lyrics from the East wind are in here, but they're, they're heading each sections. And so in my mind, and they're quotes from other authors. Is that what it is? Yeah. It was, um, he said that song was made up of the East wind I'm talking about was made up of quote, like three quotes that he, that he loved. And I had seen that somewhere. Yes. And so the hard Canadian to me is like what JD said, like I'm picturing like a relic type. I had a baseball coach when I was a kid who he's this older guy and he always had like this about one inch left of a, of a homemade smoke. And, uh, and that, that line where he says, takes a puff of puff of nothing and pick something from his tongue. Like I just picture Mr. Heller, my baseball coach who, you know, for four years, you know, first 10 minutes of practice, you don't wear a glove. You're, you're passing the baseball just with bare hands and, and just thinking back to those, those times, there was another line that I want to bring up the silences.Track 1:[43:55] He don't listen to them. Do you think that's a reference to Pascal? Maybe that's interesting. Uh, I hadn't thought that, But because I'm thinking now my mind is a squirrel and I, I'm almost thinking this is about, you know, that, that, you know, rural Canadian, um, you know, like a relic type. And in my mind, Gord is trying to say maybe that, that there's more, more to that person than, than maybe meets the eye. I don't be so quick to judge when he says he, he blurs the image, drags his brush through the wet pigment. To me that line saying you know don't be so quick to judge the hard canadian well right at the end he mentions remembering someone too and that's absolutely you know makes sense and i know a lot of hard frenchmen that are from quebec that have been through hell and you get down to it and they're just you know beautiful soft men inside but you got to get through seven layers of onion to get there.Track 1:[44:56] And that really ties perfectly into the next song, which is Gone.Track 1:[48:41] Because it has a very similar story behind it, which I'll get into it a little bit. But Kirk, what were your thoughts on Gone? Yeah, no, I love that you actually had mentioned that you're going to get into more of the meaning of it. Because I have some thoughts and ideas, but what I really wanted to talk about on this particular one, from the musician side, that I absolutely loved about it is – I'll give the note that I wrote. And I can't remember exactly who it was that mentioned it to Gord, but he said it sounded like a moose in the distance.Track 1:[49:16] And when you listen to this tune, which is a beautiful tune, another great example of the harmonies, it's another one where you just hear the range of Gord's vocals that are just phenomenal and how he can cover the spectrum with that. But the fact that Dale Morningstar was using a theremin and had several different layers of the theremin recorded on that and you hear it. And then when you get confirmation of it, you go back and listen to it and you go, oh, wow. Right. Because there's only a few songs out there that we all know and love that have the theremin. Right. There's only what the Beach Boys and Led Zeppelin or the, you know, have have really pulled it off. So it's cool to see them jump out from a musician standpoint, musicianship standpoint.Track 1:[50:05] The other thing that I wanted to mention before, and I definitely want to hear Craig's thoughts on the meaning of it, was that Gord had mentioned in one of his interviews that this and I think The Night Is Forgetting, he called it the grandma and the grandpa. So he'd had these songs for a long time and he'd matured with them. And so I think that that anticipation of so much time between the two albums, but then having songs that came, you know, at different points along the way. And I just felt like this one had, it had marinated and it was, what was presented was what had, he had settled on, because I think that happens anyone who's done music creation. You're, you write it with a thought, a producer takes a look at it, an engineer takes a look at it, the rest of the band, and it becomes something different.Track 1:[50:55] Anyway, Craig, your thoughts on some of the meaning behind it. In the booklet, there's a quote from a Polish writer named Bruno Schultz. And it says, He had not been rooted in any woman's heart. He could not merge with any reality and was therefore condemned to float eternally on the periphery of life in half real regions on the margins of existence. And apparently this was in reference to his own father. So again, coming out of the last song, it seems to kind of tie into that idea of, at the end of The Hard Canadian, where there's someone he was remembering. So this idea of, there's actually the lyric in the song, gone and feeling half real on the edge of your life. And that ties directly to that quote. quote musically the bridge that there's a building bridge with uh julie singing backup and.Track 1:[51:48] Really really great songwriting and this was another song that really grew on me it's just such a catchy kind of fun fun song uh justin what did you think no i loved it right from the beginning it yeah it builds and it starts really slow and then it gets really slow again in the middle and it's quiet. I didn't dive too deeply into the lyrics, but there's definitely, you know, this is a life story kind of thing. And maybe at the end of it. Yeah. I just, I really love the way the song made me feel and that's only surface deep, but sometimes that's all you need in a song. And I don't know, I could listen to this one over and over. And I have. Okay. Kirk, how about the drowning machine? What are your thoughts there? I think we have another nautical disaster, could we call it, on this next song? Yeah, yeah. Through Drowning Machine. Drowning Machine. Until I actually looked it up, I didn't really know what it was talking about. But apparently, the Drowning Machine is like a common name for a weir, which is a low head dam, which if you've seen pictures of them, basically what happens is the water just cycles. And just if you get if you end up going over one of these dams you're.Track 1:[53:02] Pretty much not getting out and so gourd had apparently read a story about um about some girls being saved from the the bow river in alberta and um there was actually i i kind of looked up this this bow river and there's this this notorious um spot on the river where where i believe it said had 14 deaths in 30 years and they actually had a there one story there was there was actually a boom across so if you if you're totally out of you know if you miss all the signs and you you keep going down you can grab on to this boom at one point a storm had washed it washed it away and so a couple of men died in in i believe 2007 because the the boom had been washed out and so finally they did some construction and they and they have now made it into uh an area called the Harvey, this is called the Harvey passage. And apparently people go there to do white water rafting. And there's actually two kind of, um, passages that go through now two channels, uh, at different levels of, you know, for, for different levels of experience, um, for, for rafters. I had, I had done some research on the, um, Glenora song and there's a very treacherous river that it's like, Hey, don't go there, fly over it.Track 1:[54:20] And this reminded me of, reading about that, it reminded me of Niagara Falls, just the immense force of the water at the bottom. And you're not going to get out of there if you go over the falls.Track 1:[54:37] We had a deer camp when I was a kid on the Huntington Gorge here in Vermont. And there's a plaque with a list of 30 or so names of all the people that have died in the gorge. And our deer camp was the spot where the state police would fish the bodies out of the river every time there was one that ended up there you know we we couldn't get to the to the camp because they would use the front porch to be their their base of operations oh yeah wild and i i have to say at the end um there is some lead guitar at the end by dale that really at this point in the album when I was, especially on first listen, when I wasn't totally jiving with some of the earlier tracks, this song was the one that immediately I loved, like right off the bat. And hearing that guitar when Dale finally cuts loose and really leans into that dissonance, I felt like, okay, I'm starting to get this. And Kirk, what did you think of this? Yeah, I am fascinated, obviously, with Gord's fascination with water and the nautical side of things. But again, I think this song was just another great example of their time together and how they really... And I don't know if you guys noticed this.Track 1:[55:58] I don't think they played this on that six-part one, but I really enjoyed that it wasn't like a monarchy. You know, it wasn't Gord was given direction. It was everyone was involved. And I really loved the different parts that you would see with Chris Swala and his just subtle, nice guy production tips. So, um, I really love that interaction of, of how now that they've been done.Track 1:[56:25] A couple albums together and now it had been a little bit. And I also read something about how, yeah, they wanted to definitely get that indie vibe and they definitely wanted to have a variety of different styles of music, but how they also, you know, they're also very accomplished musicians and they've spent some time with some big bands and have played in some pretty, pretty big arena. So they could bring that to the songwriting and, and, and, and the music within this. So, and I really felt that too, moving into Yellow Days, which was the next one.Track 1:[1:00:51] I love this tune. This tune to me, and maybe I'm hearing something wrong, but there was almost kind of like a jazz bossa nova, just a real kind of amazing groove to it. And I also loved hearing about the story about Josie Dye, I think was her name. And they had had a passing at a festival way back when, when I think she was a hip fan and he was just walking around and that that that's That's actually part of the lyrics in this particular tune. But I love this song. He talks about it in some of the interviews and the descriptions about just the Canadian summers and how much the Canadians love that summer, but it goes by so quick.Track 1:[1:01:36] And so they're really just trying to make the most of every time they have good weather and they have a good moment and also keeping with Craig's color theme, which I love that you brought that up and along with the storytelling that's going on uh you know this is the here we are and and enjoying that summertime and almost reminiscent of them recording this album right for the two weeks i think in august and in 09 so justin did you dig this song yeah because we have the same summer and winter pattern that that you guys would up north today you know inside baseball we're not recording this in the summer when this is coming out we're recording it well before and it was the first warm day this year and I wore shorts and it was only 61 degrees outside. It was very windy. I shouldn't have had shorts on. But you take those moments and you wrap your life around them when you can get them. And 61 felt like 81 today. And I know the Canada gray because we have that here. It's Canada gray. Even as it's warm today, it's Canada gray outside. And just the imagery of it is wonderful. wonderful yeah and i mentioned the earlier the you know the theme of of days and nights so you know that's very obvious here uh and going into the next song and um.Track 1:[1:02:53] A couple of things, Kirk, when you were saying, you know, that beat at the start, I had the same thing. I was actually trying last night to figure out what type of beat this really was. The word that came to my mind was Calypso, but then I looked it up and it was not correct. But like this South American, like it's something I've heard. Bossa Nova was what came to my mind. So, you know, Calypso Bossa Nova, it's definitely a Caribbean feel. And, you know, the fact that it's on a Gord album, you know, again, just really talks to, you know, we had your hardcore on the last one and now we're doing Calypso Bossa Nova, you know, jazz type stuff. It's brilliant in my opinion. It reminded me of my grandmother's organ, you know, had those big tab buttons that there's a there's a pre-programmed beat and it's really bad not that the song's bad but on the organ it is yeah kirk your story about the you know everyone you know in this you know having so few.Track 1:[1:03:54] Summer days in certain parts of canada it reminds me of back in 96 my band was was in winnipeg we were playing you know this show at a you know the club that all the you know the all the decent bands played at and so we were really excited about playing this this club and uh it was on a weekend we thought like this is great and it turns out it was the the long weekend in august and everyone in town leaves for the for the lakes and there was nobody in town like not just for our show but anywhere it was just bizarre so those are the the yellow days of winnipeg well let's Let's continue on with you, Craig. Keep this wagon wheel going and talk about Night is Forgetting, which is a great title. Yeah. So, so again, the day, day and night theme and we go from yellow days and tonight is forgetting.Track 1:[1:04:46] And it was really bugging me this song because I'm like, I know that I know this song and I couldn't figure it out. And then I felt so stupid a week ago when I actually looked in my, on my phone and I had the hip version of this, which is from about, I think 2005, it was just a single. As far as I know, it was just released out of nowhere. It was, uh, I think it was left over from in between evolution. Okay. So, so I did have it. So I definitely been listening to it, you know, in the past, but it never was a song that, that interested me very much. So this one again, grew on me. I think I prefer this version now. It's, it's a little more upbeat. I love the piano. So, so shout out to Dr. P, John Press, who I don't think we mentioned last, last episode, but he is such a great player. I actually looked him up last night. I couldn't find too much about him online.Track 1:[1:05:38] And he is so tasteful. He never overplays until this is like, it was almost like someone said to me, you know, just, just let loose. And you can actually see, I'm sure you guys saw on the, on the bathhouse videos, you can see him rehearsing this on his own, kind of coming up with a part and man, he nails those, those runs. It's very impressive. It's so good. So I wrote, or I heard, and I could have definitely stole it, but I heard piano flurries. And that's exactly what it sounds like as a piano flurry when it starts driving. That's exactly what my note says. Yeah, piano flurries. And the one line that stuck out with me or to me was the dew drops on the luminous veil. And I know he mentioned this in the Alan Cross interview and the luminous veil being the suicide barriers they put up on the Bloor Street street viaduct in Toronto. I guess it was a place where there was just mass amounts of suicides, just 500 suicides and they finally put up this barrier.Track 1:[1:06:41] It's a 10 minute walk from my house, the Luminous Vale. When you guys come here, I'll show you the Luminous Vale. At night, it's very pretty, but in sort of a, I don't even know, like an eerie way because Because the sections that hold the guy wires up all look like crosses. Yeah, it's heavy, man. And so my last thing about this song, in one of the interviews, Gord, he mentions that he read a quote from, I believe, Thomas Jefferson saying something about war is forgetting another country's resources.Track 1:[1:07:19] And he said, I just replaced war with night. On the hip version of this, he actually does sing war is forgetting in the last chorus. us. So he changes that for this version. But I was actually looking up quotes from Jefferson last night. I didn't find anything that resembled such an idea. So if any listeners know what he was referencing here, I'd love to hear from you. So when Gord passed, there was an interview on some news, whatever, with Ron McLean from the CBC, or I don't know if he's the CBC anymore, more, but I knew him from Hockey Night in Canada growing up. And what I think was a quote that Gord said, but I've never been able to find it attributed to Gord, was, night takes the chances, day the reward. I love that quote. And he wrote an op-ed about Gord's passing that included that line as well. And it's just a beautiful line. And I sort of.Track 1:[1:08:19] Think of myself with my work that way. I sleep three hours a night just because that's how my body works. And I'm up till one in the morning and then I get up at 5.30. But I also love that forgetting and forgetting are really just a great sound in the song that can be interpreted in any possible way. Yes, I love that part of it. And as I mentioned earlier, this was one of the songs that I know I had heard before. And honestly, until I just recently had either read or heard that it was a hip song or that it was used on a couple of hip shows, I feel 100% positive that one of the shows that I saw, they played this. I haven't gone back and look at all the set list yet, but I feel pretty confident of that. So yeah. But just love the musicality of the song. I mean, that's the only thing I would add is just the musicality is insane. I have created this little thing that I've called Gord's Annunciation Era, where he's got a section of his career with a hip where he absolutely nails every letter in every word. And think of the lonely end of the rink, and it's a very hard – and this song is a great example of that. You know he says every letter in every word in every phrase and it's just a it's very distinct this this section of maybe eight or ten years of his career whether it's with the hip or solo.Track 1:[1:09:46] And I just love how he really makes his body be an instrument with words. And also the line, he says, weird undercurrent, we're undercurrent. And again, another reference to water in a way, but just thought that was a neat little turn of phrase there. Yeah, he's so good at that. And he changes just little tiny tweaks throughout this album in many different songs with words and lyrics and how he, it sounds the same on first two or three listens. And then you realize, oh no, this is a completely different set of words. Christmastime in Toronto, he did that too on the last album. And at the very end of this song, I love how he's singing over and over. Night is forgetting and then forgetting. And then there's one time when they totally phrase it differently. There's pauses.Track 1:[1:10:37] Do you know what I mean? I mean, the very last line, I think it is just a neat little, I love songs that have just one little quirk like that. Yes, yes, absolutely. You know what? It really goes back to, I'll be leaving you or I'll be leaving you tonight. I mean, right from the beginning, right? It's just a really cool trick that he's always done. Well, another, one of the other tricks that he's famous for is invoking his children and lullabying them. The next song, Moon Show Your Lashes, to me is just the process of writing some of these lullabies and things about his children. That's what it means to me. Mr. St. Louis, how about you? I took it as his battle with insomnia, you know, which is also a common theme throughout his career.Track 1:[1:11:25] And yes, I definitely picked up on the thing. Like, you know, there's a, there's a book that my wife and I love called go the fuck to sleep, you know, talking about your kids, like just give us a break, man. And tonight, in fact, before we recorded, my daughter was taking a bath and she's trying to speak Spanish and she's yelling it and asking my wife questions in the other room in Spanish. And I walked in and Linda looks up at me and whispers, she needs to shut the fuck up. You know, just those moments of give it a rest, kid. But I think that it could be interpreted either way that like, yeah, he's talking about his kids. Like just, okay, relax. We get it. moon slow your lashes.Track 1:[1:12:09] But, you know, I think, The way that I took it was more of Gord by the lamp with a notepad trying to come up with the next song and wondering, you know, there's the line, what must he think? And no more, I think he thinks. And kind of judging himself or his work before it's even completed and just not being able to reconcile that. For what it's worth, I love the lyrics in this song. I friggin' hate the tune. I hate this song.Track 1:[1:12:39] It's so annoying. And I don't know what it is about it. And it's such an earworm. And it's the one I can't get out of my head. I can't stand the song. Get out of here. Wow. Actually just blown away by what Justin said, because I absolutely love the tune. Me too. And I think it's that 2010s, as you mentioned, you know, like there's such a massive influence from all of them individually as artists, but obviously Death Cab and that influence, but I think what they were listening to at the time. And so I mentioned that I really liked this album. So, you know, there's, there's no real duds on it for me. So, I mean, there's little things of course that I could critique, but to me, this particular album and, and, and even this song like this, this one's really up there. For me you know i'm still trying to decide what's going to be my favorite song from this and it's the first time that i didn't know instantaneously i particularly i enjoyed you know again just how it made me feel it gave me that that just that cool this is where we're at in this this time in music like it was it was it had it has some heavy lyrics but it it's i mean not crazy heavy but it was an upbeat song, I think, overall. So I appreciated it. So there was a story, Gord, in one of the interviews online I found.Track 1:[1:14:01] Talks about a radio essay he was listening to by, by someone named Neil McDonald. And he was talking about a woman who would go up to a place called high level Alberta. So when they, when he says high level in the, in the book, in, in, in the song, I had noticed in the booklet, it was capitalized. So it actually is a place up in Northern Alberta. And this woman would go up to um, Northern Alberta and, um, make, make some money. You can probably imagine how she's making her money and, and she would do this in order to support her kids. And, uh, and then when she got back to her kids, I just want to want to hold and smell. And another crazy example of how Gord writes these like incredibly upbeat, like you hear it and you fall in love with it because it makes you feel good, but it's dark AF.Track 1:[1:14:52] It's just got some real, real, real just black undertones in some of it, but the music just keeps you going. And that line that says, when, not if, after, when I get out of high level, when, not if. Yeah. And forget the, in the bridge, I think it is the forget the hawks, jaguars, the knife lickers and creeps. And yeah, it just really changed my perspective of the song and and yeah that that juxtaposition between the the sort of cute music and the dark lyrics some some more themes of um you know burgundy the color burgundy dance dance so again dance is the the one earlier that i was forgetting when i was talking about themes so themes on this album water you've got day and night you've got color and you've got dance and this song has a couple of those things in it and and to me it was like you know the things we do for our family oh like i like i said i i really love the story in the song and the lyrics and trying to figure out what i think i thought but just the tune i can't do it i don't know why man i'm sorry i'm i'm i'm not totally crazy about this song uh it's not my lead i'm actually we passed by my my least favorite without me saying but but to me um The Hard Canadian is the weak link on this album. To me, it's just a... Oh, wow. Yeah, it's just... I think it's the chord progression has just so been done before. Yeah, I'm not in love with it either. And that's the one song that I was familiar with on this album. This song, I wasn't too much of a fan of at first, but I do really like it now. It has grown on me, especially I think hearing that story. Well, are we ready to jump into Retrace?Track 1:[1:20:11] This song, my note, it just says vocally amazing. That's the note I have.Track 1:[1:20:18] I'm sure there's an amazing meaning behind the whole song. I really don't care. I just want to hear Gord sing the main line. I retrace my steps. And it just puts me in this amazing, wonderful, just warm place like we talked about in the beginning. And even Gord in some of his interviews talked about how the process and these songs were company to him. And that's what I felt with this retrace, this tune. And again, another great pairing from harmonies and also great build. And also, as we'd mentioned before, where that whole theory of every four bars coming up with something new, the retrace song, it definitely had additions and installations to create this. I just, yeah, maybe I'm dating myself, but I don't know if you guys are familiar with the band, the Smithereens.Track 1:[1:21:17] Kind of had a Smithereens vibe to it. Had a Lou Reed vibe to it. I know that there'

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Coke Machine Glow part 2

Play Episode Listen Later May 28, 2024 61:50

This week on the show, jD, Craig, Justin, and Kirk wrap up Coke Machine Glow and pick their MVP tracks. Join us won't you?Transcript:Track 1:[0:56] Minneapolis hotel room. Here I sit, cool as a garage, writing by lightning. I don't mean lightning as a metaphor for inspiration. I mean lighting. Intermittent lightning. By lightning really turning it on. A lightning-powered hotel room. It's the most lightning I've ever seen in one room.Track 2:[1:19] Welcome, music lovers. Long Slice Brewery presents Discovering Downey.Track 3:[1:28] Hey, it's J.D. here, and I'm joined, as I am every week, by my pals Craig, Justin, and Kirk from Chino. While our love for the hip unites us, it's Gord's solo ventures that remain uncharted for our trio. Hence, I've gathered this team of enthusiasts to delve into the musical repertoire of the enigmatic frontman of the tragically hip, the late Gord Downie. Come along with us on this exploration as we navigate through his albums one by one in chronological order, embarking on our quest of discovering Downey. This is the second of two parts of our gang covering Gord's first solo record, Coke Machine Glow. If you listened to part one, we discussed the album as a whole and then got into a song by song breakdown. Down on this episode we'll pick up where we left off with a song that has to be about cottage country doesn't it well in my head it is craig why don't you kick things off with your thoughts on black flies right.Track 4:[2:31] Away what hit me was the laminar flow line because i was at that show and i'm not sure if this was something that he did all through the the roadside attraction the first tour that I saw. But the Vancouver show or the Seabird Island show in 1993, I believe.Track 4:[2:50] Um maybe 94 93 um he goes off on this rant about the laminar flow and you can actually find it online too and uh and he's talking about you know it's the flow of liquid and he's sort of talking about the crowd and the movement of the crowd and this was my first hip show we're talking i'm not sure how many thousands of people there are 20 000 this wave of people and this is like the early hip fans right this is this is roadside a partying crowd yep and it was this it was in the In the middle of nowhere. That's your first hip show? Huge. Wow. Yeah, huge. Yeah, just in the middle of a forest, really. And, you know, just like you see on the videos with, like, Canadian flags and drunk, you know, jock types. And I was quite young. I think I was 18 at the time. And not really knowing how to take gourd. Like, I loved the hip at the time. Like, I think fully completely. I'd either just come out or was about to. Loved that album. Loved, you know, the band since up to here. And at one point, and you can actually see it in this video, he starts getting angry with someone in the crowd saying, don't look at them, look at me. Like, you know, referencing, you know, the other band members. And he was obviously joking, but at the time I had no clue. He just looked, I was like, this guy really is starved for attention because not only does he sing all the songs and he's talking in between all the songs, he's talking over top of the guitar solos. And at first I didn't know how to take that. I thought it was really...Track 4:[4:15] It was really jarring for me being a musician and, and I was kind of thinking, what are the other bandmates think of this? Like he's, um, of course over the years you get to, you come to appreciate that and, and know it's just a part of the act. Right. But, but yeah, that, um, don't look at, don't look at them. Look at me.Track 4:[4:32] You have to find the clip. It's so good. It's called laminar flow. Find it on YouTube. It's so funny. My friend, I went to the show with who I still am in contact with. He would always talk about the laminar flow and I didn't remember it really. And then he, He, a few years ago, pointed out the video to me and I'm like, oh yeah, I do remember that trim. Gord had the big beard at the time. He had the almost like pajamas on. And when the pajama top came off, he had the Save the Human shirt on, which I actually saw in one of the videos for this album. So he brought the shirt back out for Coke Machine Glow. And the timing of that wouldn't have been too far removed from the Killer Whale time. Probably not, yeah. I don't remember him doing that. But again, I was young and it was craziness. It was it was a fun fun time see the bull moose checking out another drac, like sorry that was the highlight i made from from a lyrical standpoint and then you know from a musical standpoint and i think i also read about this um it's pretty prevalent where they're strumming the piano strings and they brought a mic and recorded it and just love that love that like what's that and uh they decide to bring bring bring in the bring in the mic and record the track so on to lofty pines all right let's go to lofty pines where paul langlois shows up and makes uh an appearance one of two appearances.Track 4:[5:59] On this record to provide his sublime backing vocals god damn is this guy good.Track 4:[10:46] I think it was a week or so ago, I took a trip up north. I think you guys know about. And I was driving back and it was, it was raining and which we don't get a lot of rain. We don't get a lot of anything in California other than the sun. So, you know, when it's raining out, it's a big deal. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember listening as I was driving and buddy I was with was, you know, was, I think he was taking a nap or working on something. And I remember going, the mood, you know, my mood was, okay, I got a long drive. And, uh, there was kind of like a monotonous monotony that had been coming from song after song after song, because this is typically slower than that hip stuff, um, that, that I was used to. Um and and i know that they made a conscious effort or at least gordon made a conscious effort to keep the hip away from this right like i read as well like they didn't they didn't want to record anywhere that the hip had recorded they didn't want to use any of the gear but then paul who's right his that's his long longest friend or buddy for sure yeah yeah and then he comes in and and And he's on another tune as well, I believe, on this album.Track 4:[12:06] But you hear that, and for me, driving, I was just, I got that like, okay, thank you. Thank you for giving me a little just reconnection. I know this is Gord, but I also know that Gord is that kind of heartbeat and pulse and provides the lyrics to. And I liked having that friend along, me personally. Um and uh and i couldn't you know i couldn't get the you know twin peaks type lofty pine uh connection correlation uh going there not not that i was you know fully into the twin peaks world or whatnot but yeah so uh that's what i had for my some of my notes the the lines that are in french i was hoping for something revealing and it's literally just i was born for the heat we can't, I was hoping one of you guys would research that. I was too lazy. They, my only note for this song. Yeah. If you could see my notebooks, just better call Paul. Cause he's, um, he just is so effortless. I just picture Gord being in the studio. Like, ah, yeah, I can't quite get the sound I'm going for here. And.Track 4:[13:16] Calls up Paul and he just comes in and, you know, smoke hanging out of his mouth. He just rips off one take and that's how I, it's just so effortless. You can just tell by the, you know, he's just sang with Gord for so long, sung, sang with Gord for so long that he, he just knows what to do. I guarantee it was one take and he was done. Yeah. Again, it gave me that, uh, just, uh, the combination is something that, that, That definitely fills you up.Track 4:[13:42] When I was doing the research as well on the French part, the first thing that came up was, I want to say a province in Quebec, but it was like a lake chalet.Track 4:[13:53] So that's where I was going at first and then obviously did a little deeper and found out. No, not quite, but thought we were referencing something there at one point. Well, I mean, that could be. There's a lot of lofty pines in Quebec and a lot of lakes. So you never know. The Lofty Pine Hotel was in cottage country in Ontario until I don't even know when. Like, not that, like, pretty recently. So, to me, I hear this song and...Track 4:[14:26] It's like one of those, it sounds sticky. It sounds muggy. It's like one of those August nights in the city where, you know, it's extra hot because air conditioners are spitting out hot heat. Like the city's just got this almost dense air that you're walking through. The cool side of your pillow is sweating, you know? That's the kind of heat.Track 4:[14:50] And they're just daydreaming about getting up to the cottage. Just getting the fuck out of dodge and going to the cottage dreaming of those lofty pines i don't know that's that's sort of what i get from it so just a real quick note building on what you just said about it's so freaking hot and the spectacular part in the lyrics and there's a matchbook or whatever that falls like we needed something hotter right yes you know and here's matches you know i didn't get that but yeah totally what do you believe he's referring to in the uh i give the editor my pitch a series on the cultural wealth uh about the era of catalogs and lists i just think he's good at creating protagonists uh i think it's like a protagonist of this song um like but i but i guess i'm very literal yeah don't don't make me say hitler again no i don't i think this is i don't know literal more literal you know but he's proven to not do that so often that it seems like not likely but that's how like he's answering a question that we haven't asked you know let's go to the next track which is boy bruised by butterfly shake I really didn't have anything to say about the song for a while.Track 4:[16:14] And then I listened to it, um, actually just today. And it kind of came to me that this is.Track 4:[16:21] Somewhere between consciousness and unconsciousness or life and death somewhere in the middle um you know he he references someone was crying i as i lay in the dirt i could hear their hearts breaking but i wasn't even hurt so that's kind of like i'm slipping away and i don't feel anything sort of thing that's just how i interpreted the line i came across um something just by chance glancing through the cd booklet last night um and there's a little article it says bruised by a butterfly chase and it looks like um it's actually photocopied from a newspaper it says four-year-old andrew herrit holds his winnie the pooh blanket at a hospital in halifax the kentville boy survived a 20 meter fall from a cliff at blommadon provincial park while chasing butterflies during a family outing so it could be very literally about a boy down down down falling yeah exactly yeah it made so much sense when i read that so yeah there's an extra song and i didn't get to listen to it yet but is it this it's it is down down down yeah it's the same lyrics yeah yeah and i guess that makes sense the grass felt so good and there's they're talking about he didn't have shoes so that makes sense that it's a four-year-old um the day was so blue i must have tripped i don't know do i remember falling away nothing that i hold on to and not being afraid so that's when you're that young you probably don't have much.Track 4:[17:46] Memory of it as an adult and especially i would assume there's some trauma there and justin though i i.Track 4:[17:53] Mean just your your first explanation that that in between um before we.Track 4:[18:00] Heard the story like you took me there and i think musically it does as well like my notes are the guitar like you know guitar is prevalent in some of these other songs but you don't hear.Track 4:[18:12] Guitar lines and guitar melodies as much and there's some very clear guitar work going on here both acoustic and electric which you also don't really get a lot of in in these songs or you know the song is almost poppy yeah it's super radio absolutely and i thought it could be a hip song yeah yeah you know those and i guess obviously see that could be true to anything, but change up some of the instrumentation, change up some of the tempo and, and, uh, yeah, yeah, you're definitely in hip territory. Definitely hip territory. Let's go to mystery, a sonic soundscape. Yeah. And, and it really is, it starts off in, in that sonic soundscape world and then goes to the spoken word. Sorry, a bit of humor. You know, one of my favorite flicks is, so I married an ax murderer and turn off the base. It's your rollers. The soccer game is on somewhere.Track 4:[19:13] There's a soccer game. and uh being being you know the background with that i i at a loss in the sense of that that journey that gourd's going through and and doing some research and finding you know with with the book of poetry that came out uh that he was you know it was not received from the poetry world as it were um and yeah it was yeah they they it was not received from a it's like oh this is just you know and they made the joke of oh yeah what what are you going to do give bob dylan a a pulitzer or uh you know uh it it's just it's that being someone that's written songs before and and And I can't say that I've written poetry, but it's very much frowned upon to have, you know, they said, you know, Jim Morrison killed that. So why is anybody else doing it? And so then the counter argument goes.Track 4:[20:17] Well, yeah, it sells well because of who Gord is and what he does and how he moves people. And then what came afterwards was, yeah, in the libraries and in the bookstores, there was a lot more people in the poetry section than had ever been there before. So what are you trying to do? Are you trying to be completely inclusive or exclusive? And does the inclusivity then start damaging the art? I'm of the belief and the ilk that you need people to dive into both lyrics, dive into poetry, dive into the spoken word side. So, yeah, sorry, I digress. And this is just coming off the song Poets on Phantom Power, which in live shows, he's sort of, don't tell me what the poets are doing. I don't want to know. I don't care about the poets. Or it could be perceived that way, whether he meant that or not.Track 4:[21:21] I know from a musical standpoint, this song gave me vibes of, of the rain song by Led Zeppelin. And I know it sounds nothing like it, but if you listen, and it took me a while to figure out what it was, but if you listen to the bass notes, he's playing really high in the register and it just gives that cascading feel of, of the rain song. And, um, yeah. And, and near the end too, he's playing up the neck on the bass and it's just some really nice playing. Yeah, I have avant-garde. I would imagine that the Dinner is Ruined gang had a heavy influence on this. Yeah, and this is the other Adam McGaughan track as well. So that guitar you hear, the little classical guitar, that's McGaughan. Ah, cool. Sorry, help me understand, not being as familiar outside of in the research, does he hold a special place in a Canadian heart?Track 4:[22:14] Um adam mcgoyne he was a filmmaker i i can't say i'm an expert on him but he's um he had a movie called the sweet hereafter which was very well received i believe it won awards and actually i believe uh didn't sarah harmer sing i think a version of courage on the soundtrack sarah polly sarah polly right right yes yeah well i'll have to do a little more research and check some of that that out justin were you familiar at all only from reading the never-ending present book had i had i heard the name no anything else on mystery uh only that the the phantom power outtake version is so drastically different and also equally amazing it is so yes the one on phantom power is so dark and so so moody and i have here a note that it's almost like a more depressing version of landslide by fleetwood mac it's just haunting oh yeah yeah yes like i mean they're wildly different but so funny they share the same dna ultimately what's i think what's funny is that the version that's on the phantom power re-release would have been recorded two years before this so this is reimagining this is part two yeah it makes you wonder is it just that he really loved the words and he you know the track got cut for whatever reason just didn't fit in maybe with the album and he it was something he really wanted to put out there and And, you know, I'm glad he did. I love both versions.Track 4:[23:43] Okay, next up, we get a song of 3-4. It's got a country-ish little tinge to it.Track 4:[23:50] And that's Elaborate. Elaborate.Track 4:[29:10] I imagine cowboys after having driven cattle across the plains, just sitting around a fire, drinking a beer, you know, and somebody's got a guitar and then somebody works out a mandolin three minutes into the song, you know, but it's about, it's about death. It's about somebody's sick, somebody's dying, has cancer. And in the poem version in the book, the title also has a parenthetical Toronto No. 2, which Music at Work has the song Toronto No. 4, which is about Gord's grandmother dying. So there's a common thread there. I don't know. It is very much a end of the day.Track 4:[29:51] Things are happening and they may not be coming to us. Yeah, I have a tough time hearing this, knowing what we know about what happened to Gord. Like, I can't help but hear it through that filter, and it makes it difficult to listen to for me. Yeah, I had the same thing, JD. It felt to me like a song that was meant to have a little bit of, I don't want to say humor, but a bit of lightheartedness to it in a way. But then knowing what we know... What happened with Gord, it definitely changes the way you hear it. Interestingly, my head went to Now for Plan A instead of Gord's own diagnosis. And also, I'm not sure if you guys heard this at all, but again, I'm less of a lyric guy, more of a music guy. The mandolin solo comes in, a little mandolin melody, and it reminds me so much of Neil Diamond's Play Me. And I swear, if you listen to it, you'll know what I mean. It's so funny. It doesn't quite go in the same place, but it's very close. Yeah. Great tune. And at the end, they're kind of going on for a while. And then Gord kind of clears his throat, like as if to say, come on, wrap it up, boys. I have that in my notes. So JD, if we're going on too long, just clear your throat and we'll know it's time to wrap up. No, not at all.Track 4:[31:11] One thing that I picked up on, which is a timestamp on this album, is Gord mentions cell phone. And a lot of bands in the late 90s, early 2000s for just like a three or four year period mentioned cell phones because that's when they came out. We didn't have cell phones before 98, 99. And if we did, they were in a bag that weighed 30 pounds. So I thought it was interesting that cell phone was topical for their 2000s. It's a country song. You said it. It's a country tune. That's my first note is country tune. And then you hear the guitar tremolo, that ringing, that just doing single notes and it's just ringing. And then the mandolin. But yeah, you're talking about modern topics on a cowboy song, on a country tune. There's also a great live version of this I found. It's the black and white. It's like a full concert that someone's put on YouTube. There's this pretty epic Gord rant on it. And he's talking about stem cell research and the Pope. And it's worth a watch for sure.Track 4:[32:18] And he actually, and he dedicates the song to Dave Bedini, which I found interesting from Reostatics. He's still alive. So I don't, I don't know why he just says, you know, the songs for, for Dave. I wonder if he went through a battle with a family member. Yeah. Possibly maybe, maybe a mutual acquaintance or yeah. Who knows? The beauty of the beauty of where, where we're being taken on this, this particular album is, is pretty incredible yeah and then you go into frigging a polka right with you're possessed.Track 4:[32:52] Yeah yeah i did not expect that coming i'm just like you're hearing all these songs that are very kind of melancholy yeah you know outside of canada geese that that that has a little bit of drive to it yeah you're another two man yeah and then now for two but if you guys know um have you.Track 4:[33:11] You guys seen spinal tap i'm guessing oh of course okay so my mind went right to you know yeah yeah the the nigel and david uh st hubbins their first song the you know the dune duga dune dune dune walking down the railroad track to get dune dune dune dune wait for my babe to bring me back um that's where my mind went but um funnily enough my my daughter picked this song out uh we were in the car listening to the cd and she wanted to pick a song so she went through the the track listing and she picked you're possessed because uh her favorite hip song is you're not the ocean this is my 11 year old daughter and so she loved the spelling of of year and uh she put this song on and her reading of it like the i told her what what i was thinking and she said this sounds to me like emmett otter, and i'm not sure if there's a ref i can see kirk knows what i'm talking about so here's a quick Oh my gosh. We could just be finished right now.Track 4:[34:09] I grew up in a small town called Peachland in the Okanagan in BC. A small town. We had maybe, I don't know, a couple thousand people when I lived there. And we had two channels. We had channel four, CBC, and channel nine, CTV. And there was no cable company in town. But on the outskirts of town was a large satellite dish, like a huge satellite dish that someone put there and uh and so the whole town got free hbo for years like pirated stolen hbo i'm talking like five six seven years and uh let's go every you know three months you'd come home turn on hbo and it'd be scrambled and so that it would be all down for a couple days until they repositioned the satellite and so every christmas time and you know this is early 80s Emma Daughter's Jug Band Christmas would come on HBO.Track 4:[34:59] And to me, I just thought this was a thing that everyone knew. And as I got older and I found a DVD copy in a bargain bin at Zeller's or something, I started talking about this show to people and no one...Track 4:[35:14] Except for the people i know from peachland know this show and it is it's a jim henson production from about 1977 it's and it's like it's a cult classic it's just paul williams yeah, and to me yeah that's what my daughter said and i was like yeah that's that's it this is this is a jug band you know with a tuba instead of a jug t-shirts i have stickers i um am on the verge of learning river bottom nightmare band to cover with our band um right christmas does not happen in the Lane household. I'm the same way. Emmett Otter's plays. We have, you know, obviously the DVD copy. And in fact, it's a running joke. Sorry, JD and Justin, if you haven't seen it, but like anything that's $50, Craig, $50, that's a lot of money. So my whole family, anything that's 50 bucks, the first response is $50. Yeah, yeah. Or yeah, anytime we have mashed potatoes, just mashed potatoes i love mashed potatoes hey yeah man how are you doing catching anything good today sorry guys so jd and justin you haven't seen that christmas your life will will begin begin to exist afterwards so let's let's change the focus for episode two please the music is so good and it's this christmas story doesn't once mention you know religion jesus it doesn't once Once mentioned Santa.Track 4:[36:44] And it's the best Christmas show you'll ever see. It's so sweet. Huh. The music. Yeah, it's just, it's amazing. It tears me up every time. And I love that connection that your daughter has to this song, Craig. I mean, that's, I really did start welling up. Not only finding someone that loves him and Otter, but that she made that connection. Yeah, it's really cool. That's fantastic. Yeah. Fantastic. And of course, Paul's back singing the backups here. And I have to ask, have you guys been to Boston? They mentioned Lansdowne Street, Fenway Park. I'm guessing Lansdowne is. So that's where Fenway Park is. And that's my only note on this song was just after that, he says, no one's going to hurt me like you did. Well, he's talking about the Red Sox. He's totally talking about Bill Buckner missing the catch or the grounder in 1986 to throw it away. Maybe, or I watched a live version of this as well. And he tells a story and I don't remember all the details, but he tells a story about a fight with his brother, Patrick. So yeah, I'm not, I'm not sure if it could be, you know, a brotherly story. Well, and Patrick was the sound guy for the garden where the Bruins play and the Celtics play.Track 4:[37:57] Um, and of course the, um, Harry Sinden, the Bruins coach was the godfather. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. yeah sure he wore the sweater in um courage in the video for wow yeah this is a great great tune i mean just in all of it you know you've got the spoken word stuff you've got uh some of the melancholy stuff and and and then boom you know you get this boom boom and and the solos uh.Track 4:[38:28] Yeah we're at a pool party in 1946 and uh and also quick canadian tie-in um another i know j uh jd you know the other canadian classic with a tuba can you you know what i'm talking about i don't off the top we talked about this spirit of the west and if venice is sinking oh my god like tuba part yeah yeah so the only two songs i can think of featuring a tuba i'm sure there are others but it last i checked there weren't that many bands featuring a tuba not enough every irrelevance i spoke a lot already on this last one but i can i just share my experience with this one because so i'm doing doing dishes i'm often listening to um music or podcasts when i'm doing dishes and and uh i'm listening to this song and i'm just getting into it's just this beautiful like instrumental sounding song. I love the tremolo guitar.Track 4:[39:22] And I was just thinking, okay, this is probably, maybe there's no words on here. And I was really digging it and thinking, okay, I like this. I like this choice of an instrumental near the end of the album. And then all of a sudden Gord starts singing and just this beautiful melody. And then the snare comes in halfway through the verse and I'm just like elevating. I'm just like my mood. And what I thought of later when I was thinking of how to explain this was the Vince McMahon meme, you know, the levels of Vince McMahon's like elation. And so I'm like- Which doesn't play so well now.Track 4:[40:01] And level one, that's the instrumental. Level two, Vince is the singing. And then all of a sudden he hits me with, catharsis my arses is capable of more flesh and i'm like oh it's the line from from the from the live album and you know um and then i'm just like loving this song and all of a sudden the there's the piano and so i'm all of a sudden on fourth level vince and just when i think i can't love the song anymore that trumpet comes in at the end and it is so tasty just the the muted trumpet tasteful perfect like the both the piano and the trumpet play just enough they don't overplay and i just love this song who did the horns it wasn't this from another can't think of his name though is it andy mays i'd have to look at that i i don't that sounds familiar yeah yeah well i'm pretty sure that's who he's talking about an emperor penguin as well right like the first two lines yeah yeah tony or trump that was my other thought yeah i like the tony yeah there's There's another line that I can't remember which live show it's in. It might even be from the live between this album, but it's leading into a head by a century. He talks about adolescence in essence is all about trust. And that, that line pops up in here.Track 4:[41:20] Um, I don't think he mentions adolescence in this song, but yeah, I'm looking at the credit. So does Andy Mays, is it? That's what I thought. Yeah. Yeah. Nice job, JD. And one thing, um, did you guys notice in the, uh, in the credits to this album it's very specific it mentions the type of guitar being played by each member the type you know the types of drums and um and it very clearly says that gourd was playing on a gut string guitar which is you know the old old style string made of you know, animal guts basically yeah and it just gives a way different um you know timbre.Track 4:[41:57] I like the echo on the snare on this particular and, and it sounded like a standup bass. I'm not sure if it was a standup bass. It was just the way the notes were played. Um, but you know, I, I have a jazz reference obviously in my notes. So yeah, I agree. Craig musically, it was phenomenal. And then, then again, you're not quite sure we're going to get a spoken word or, and then you get the, you know, the beautiful, the beautiful voice and the beautiful, uh, song. Hmm.Track 4:[42:28] It's it's definitely one of the best ones on the on the record i think i i love the song i'm i'm a big fan as well i i love when he leaves little breadcrumbs in in a what seems to be like an improv rant or a throwaway rant not that any of them are throwaway but you you turn it turns out that it's been a line in his notebook for five years prior and it's got six underlines under it you know like god damn it i'm going to use this line somewhere down the line yeah when it presents i'm going to rhyme catharsis that's right i've got this great lyric i'm gonna use it sometime you know and uh i think that's so cool he's so talented let's just go right now to insomniacs of the world, good night.Track 4:[43:56] Thank you. I can see the line of your reserve, I can contemplate it from here, there's no need for breathlessness when we're so far apart. I can see us writhing in a phone booth or laid back in the dewy grass of our youth and gathering our sweetnesses and wishing on the never-ending sun.Track 4:[48:05] So, the research that I saw, this was supposed to be the name of the album? Does that jive with what anyone else saw? Yeah, that checks out. Yeah, that's what I heard. And then um again capping it off with you know more of a spoken word and just straight up i can see the line of your brassiere i can contemplate it from here there's no need for breathlessness when we're so far apart i know um one thing i noticed was um.Track 4:[48:42] What I picture here is, is there's a point where he starts recapping some lyrics from some other songs. I know he brings up the Fenway park again. And what I think this is, is, is recordings of Gord in the middle of the night, grabbing his tape recorder when he's got a melody going through his head. And he's kind of singing because it almost sounds like he trails off. Sometimes he doesn't always have the full melody melody developed. And I think this might be his like audio journal, like little excerpts.Track 4:[49:09] Wow. listen to it again i i swear i'm i'm very quite confident in this that's amazing that and a perfect bookend as well to to star star painters just um bookends the album the spoken word on both sides the sort of um i don't know that's i think it's an organ this time not an accordion but a similar sound and oh and julie uh dwaron is pocketed or is credited with with playing the a pocket trumpet so just a just basically a tiny trumpet shakespeare pops up in in some of the hip works and there's that um if i could sleep there's a chance i could dream which is from hamlet um he changes it a bit because it's perchance and shakespeare right so it's it's interesting yeah right this line yes arguably the most notable line that shakespeare ever wrote and changes it and keeps it the same but just that little word change like what what does that mean what is that all about and more to the point and it's the elephant in the room, is the version from phantom power.Track 4:[50:20] Where do you guys stand on those two versions? Can you enjoy them both? Can they both be your children? Or if I asked you to make a selfish choice, which one would you choose as a preference? I can't answer it because I don't know the one from Phantom Power as well. That's cheating, but okay. But I do remember. It sure is. That means I just don't love one of my children, right? Right. Um, I do remember him screaming the line at live shows and in some performances. I had heard that reference and, and heard a scene that reference for in some. Yeah. My preference is, is this one. I, I, I really like this, this version of it. One thing that I really is so amazing about this song is it lulls you like you're ready to until the crash. Yeah. That's the same thing. Massive cymbal crash. Yes. Oh God, I love it. I love that so much.Track 4:[51:25] And fast forward to the final album that the hit put out, Man Machine Poem, and there's the song Insomnia. Insomnia. Which was supposed to be Insomnia. Yep. And if you read the liner notes in that, Insomnia is scratched out in every line. And I don't know what that means, but interesting.Track 4:[51:44] Well, I think the whole record is interesting. what did you guys think overall is an experience with the record and uh after you tell me that what is your mvp track and you have to pick one this time justin i'm gonna go first i'll make it easy because i think i've already referenced it and and and it it's you know probably unlikely but But Star Painters was my, and again, it's the lyric. It's that line. Like anytime I hear that line, whether I'm walking the dog and I listen to it or if I'm driving and I hear it, you know, the scaffolding. Scaffolding.Track 4:[52:29] The scaffolding is in its place. The Star Painters are taking over now. And then your anesthesiologist tonight is washing up and on her way. So for me, it was that line. And I think it's because, again, I wanted to separate and I'm glad that I had the wherewithal to be able to go. I wasn't looking for hip light. I was looking for Gore Downey. And, and you didn't, I, it's me personally. And I think we even mentioned it with, with the book ending with the spoken word, you were going to get Gord Downie and you were in a, not just, you're not just going to get the energy that we know and from the hip, but you know, that he's going to take all these, these amazing musicians that were part of obviously his career.Track 4:[53:20] His musical background that, that, that created the hip and that he's going to give them that opportunity for them to get together. And then just when you hear the story about how they recorded it and where they recorded it and, uh, you know, meshing that together at the same time, he's, he's, he's, he's writing, you know, he's putting out the book along with it. So I'm, I mean, yeah, a little bit of criticisms on some of the recording maybe techniques and could have used a few more mics here and there. But that's just, I guess, the musician in me. But overall, I can understand why it was what I would assume mostly fairly well received. And again, I know there's a lot of hip fans that weren't even going to give it a chance. And then the song that I chose as my MVP kind of pushed him away from the get-go, at least for me. So, yeah, I'm...Track 4:[54:22] I'm glad I found the hip or maybe I should say the hip found me and I'm glad I didn't give up on them. And, uh, you know, the energy and, and the feeling that Gord always gave me when I, uh, had the great chance to see, uh, see the band and see him. And even when I met him, I actually, I wore this shirt on purpose. This is the shirt that I was wearing when I met Gord backstage house of blues Anaheim. It's a harley davidson shirt with big letters hd and the ac are masked with a canadian flag, yeah and this i got this up in vancouver on a trip when i went up there i fancied myself i was going to be a harley rider one of these days and and still don't have a bike um but went through that phase and uh i wore this shirt because i felt like i needed to because i'm you know go see the hip. And, uh, and this is the first thing he said, he just goes, that's a really nice shirt, man.Track 4:[55:23] And he shook my hand and, and, uh, and there was just this gentleness about him. And, uh, you know, I was starstruck and I don't typically get that. I mean, I'm, I'm in a business where I meet people all the time and I'm in LA and Hollywood and, and, and done all that, but this guy is different. And it was a moment where I definitely paused and couldn't put together a whole lot of words. I didn't know that I was necessarily going to meet him. I wore this in honor of that moment and taking this journey with you guys. So I am so excited because I think this was a great start.Track 4:[56:07] Outside, I've heard a little bit of some Secret Path. I absolutely had not heard anything from any of the other albums outside of Coke Machine Glow, and again, a little bit from Secret Path. So I'm just, I'm really jazzed, right? Because I get to dig, you know, we get to dig deeper into this individual that's just, wow, he's pretty special. And you could see, you know, the impact that he's had on so many. So I'm excited about this journey and I'm picking that song and I'm sticking to it. Nice. Craig, how about you?Track 4:[56:45] Well, being one of those hip fans who took a bit of a break around this time, and not that I completely abandoned them, I think for me, I was just at an age where I was just exploring so much music. I was in school for music, so I was being bombarded by classical music and music from all through the ages. And on top of that, I was getting into a lot of more experimental music. And I just started drifting away from not just the hip, but all the bands I had been listening to in the 90s. And, you know, a lot of those bands I did come back to, some I didn't, but I came back to the hip big time, kind of the mid 2000s or, you know, yeah, around 2006, probably. And um and so for me i this is an album i never gave a chance i'd heard you know a couple songs here and there chancellor and vancouver divorce i think but um i'd never listened to the whole thing and wow i'm i'm so grateful for this opportunity to do this it's just i love this album i i put it up there with with you know some of those great hip albums and um my my um mvp track is every irrelevance i again i explained already the vince mcmahon meme um that that was me during this song just i by the end i was just you know spent lying down with the smoke.Track 4:[58:14] Justin uh it's sentimental for me with it's trick rider um because my daughter is six um and And I build bike ramps for her, you know, and, and then tell her don't ride so fast off that bike ramp. I just built you, you know, and, um, don't ask me to explain. Um, and, Yeah, I just, that's, it drives, you know, it really, yeah, I don't know. I love that song for different reasons. I also really love Canada Geese just because it's a sweet rock song. And I know, I just like what I like. I grew up on Yes and listening to 22-minute opuses that were way beyond what a 13-year-old kid should be listening to. So, I get weird stuff and I get out there stuff, but I also just love rock and roll.Track 4:[59:06] And, uh, you know, that's a, that's a pretty good rock and roll song. I, and I'm going to echo you guys that I'm super excited for this platform. Um, because as a kid in the States who had the secret about the hip, you know, my last name is St. Louis. So everybody thought I was Canadian and I was a Montreal Canadians fan. So everybody, you know, they'd pick on me. And then I talk about the tragically hip, which was in the periphery, you know, nobody, nobody listened to it, but they'd at least heard of them. And then be like, Oh, that's who the hell is that? Why are you listening to that? And it's stupid. Well, now I can finally celebrate it and talk about it, you know, and, and I'm Canadian for the next eight weeks. Oh, that's great. Eh? Yeah.Track 4:[59:49] Well, this has been a great deal of fun.Track 4:[59:55] This Saturday afternoon. You'll be listening to this on a Monday, of course. If you have anything you want to shout out to us, please send us an email. We would love to hear from you. The email is discoveringdowney at gmail.com. That's discoveringdowney at gmail.com. You can also find a link on our website, discoveringdowney.com, and there's a link to email us right from there, which makes it easy peasy. So it's been a blast doing this with you guys this week. I'm really looking forward to where we go and learning more. I am a somebody who has listened to all the records, and I've listened to them on a number of occasions, but I have a very poor short-term memory, and it's tough to recall them sometimes. Times so it's been really fun going through this and listening the shit out of this record and then getting to talk about it with somebody it's like a book club so i had a lot of fun and if you like what you heard send us an email discovering downy at gmail.com we'd love to hear from you, and on behalf of kirk craig and justin pick up your shit.Track 1:[1:01:13] Thanks for listening to Discovering Downey. To find out more about the show and its host, visit DiscoveringDowney.com. You can email us at DiscoveringDowney at gmail.com. And hey, we're social.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/fully-and-completely/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Coke Machine Glow part 2

Play Episode Listen Later May 28, 2024 61:50

This week on the show, jD, Craig, Justin, and Kirk wrap up Coke Machine Glow and pick their MVP tracks. Join us won't you?Transcript:Track 1:[0:56] Minneapolis hotel room. Here I sit, cool as a garage, writing by lightning. I don't mean lightning as a metaphor for inspiration. I mean lighting. Intermittent lightning. By lightning really turning it on. A lightning-powered hotel room. It's the most lightning I've ever seen in one room.Track 2:[1:19] Welcome, music lovers. Long Slice Brewery presents Discovering Downey.Track 3:[1:28] Hey, it's J.D. here, and I'm joined, as I am every week, by my pals Craig, Justin, and Kirk from Chino. While our love for the hip unites us, it's Gord's solo ventures that remain uncharted for our trio. Hence, I've gathered this team of enthusiasts to delve into the musical repertoire of the enigmatic frontman of the tragically hip, the late Gord Downie. Come along with us on this exploration as we navigate through his albums one by one in chronological order, embarking on our quest of discovering Downey. This is the second of two parts of our gang covering Gord's first solo record, Coke Machine Glow. If you listened to part one, we discussed the album as a whole and then got into a song by song breakdown. Down on this episode we'll pick up where we left off with a song that has to be about cottage country doesn't it well in my head it is craig why don't you kick things off with your thoughts on black flies right.Track 4:[2:31] Away what hit me was the laminar flow line because i was at that show and i'm not sure if this was something that he did all through the the roadside attraction the first tour that I saw. But the Vancouver show or the Seabird Island show in 1993, I believe.Track 4:[2:50] Um maybe 94 93 um he goes off on this rant about the laminar flow and you can actually find it online too and uh and he's talking about you know it's the flow of liquid and he's sort of talking about the crowd and the movement of the crowd and this was my first hip show we're talking i'm not sure how many thousands of people there are 20 000 this wave of people and this is like the early hip fans right this is this is roadside a partying crowd yep and it was this it was in the In the middle of nowhere. That's your first hip show? Huge. Wow. Yeah, huge. Yeah, just in the middle of a forest, really. And, you know, just like you see on the videos with, like, Canadian flags and drunk, you know, jock types. And I was quite young. I think I was 18 at the time. And not really knowing how to take gourd. Like, I loved the hip at the time. Like, I think fully completely. I'd either just come out or was about to. Loved that album. Loved, you know, the band since up to here. And at one point, and you can actually see it in this video, he starts getting angry with someone in the crowd saying, don't look at them, look at me. Like, you know, referencing, you know, the other band members. And he was obviously joking, but at the time I had no clue. He just looked, I was like, this guy really is starved for attention because not only does he sing all the songs and he's talking in between all the songs, he's talking over top of the guitar solos. And at first I didn't know how to take that. I thought it was really...Track 4:[4:15] It was really jarring for me being a musician and, and I was kind of thinking, what are the other bandmates think of this? Like he's, um, of course over the years you get to, you come to appreciate that and, and know it's just a part of the act. Right. But, but yeah, that, um, don't look at, don't look at them. Look at me.Track 4:[4:32] You have to find the clip. It's so good. It's called laminar flow. Find it on YouTube. It's so funny. My friend, I went to the show with who I still am in contact with. He would always talk about the laminar flow and I didn't remember it really. And then he, He, a few years ago, pointed out the video to me and I'm like, oh yeah, I do remember that trim. Gord had the big beard at the time. He had the almost like pajamas on. And when the pajama top came off, he had the Save the Human shirt on, which I actually saw in one of the videos for this album. So he brought the shirt back out for Coke Machine Glow. And the timing of that wouldn't have been too far removed from the Killer Whale time. Probably not, yeah. I don't remember him doing that. But again, I was young and it was craziness. It was it was a fun fun time see the bull moose checking out another drac, like sorry that was the highlight i made from from a lyrical standpoint and then you know from a musical standpoint and i think i also read about this um it's pretty prevalent where they're strumming the piano strings and they brought a mic and recorded it and just love that love that like what's that and uh they decide to bring bring bring in the bring in the mic and record the track so on to lofty pines all right let's go to lofty pines where paul langlois shows up and makes uh an appearance one of two appearances.Track 4:[5:59] On this record to provide his sublime backing vocals god damn is this guy good.Track 4:[10:46] I think it was a week or so ago, I took a trip up north. I think you guys know about. And I was driving back and it was, it was raining and which we don't get a lot of rain. We don't get a lot of anything in California other than the sun. So, you know, when it's raining out, it's a big deal. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember listening as I was driving and buddy I was with was, you know, was, I think he was taking a nap or working on something. And I remember going, the mood, you know, my mood was, okay, I got a long drive. And, uh, there was kind of like a monotonous monotony that had been coming from song after song after song, because this is typically slower than that hip stuff, um, that, that I was used to. Um and and i know that they made a conscious effort or at least gordon made a conscious effort to keep the hip away from this right like i read as well like they didn't they didn't want to record anywhere that the hip had recorded they didn't want to use any of the gear but then paul who's right his that's his long longest friend or buddy for sure yeah yeah and then he comes in and and And he's on another tune as well, I believe, on this album.Track 4:[12:06] But you hear that, and for me, driving, I was just, I got that like, okay, thank you. Thank you for giving me a little just reconnection. I know this is Gord, but I also know that Gord is that kind of heartbeat and pulse and provides the lyrics to. And I liked having that friend along, me personally. Um and uh and i couldn't you know i couldn't get the you know twin peaks type lofty pine uh connection correlation uh going there not not that i was you know fully into the twin peaks world or whatnot but yeah so uh that's what i had for my some of my notes the the lines that are in french i was hoping for something revealing and it's literally just i was born for the heat we can't, I was hoping one of you guys would research that. I was too lazy. They, my only note for this song. Yeah. If you could see my notebooks, just better call Paul. Cause he's, um, he just is so effortless. I just picture Gord being in the studio. Like, ah, yeah, I can't quite get the sound I'm going for here. And.Track 4:[13:16] Calls up Paul and he just comes in and, you know, smoke hanging out of his mouth. He just rips off one take and that's how I, it's just so effortless. You can just tell by the, you know, he's just sang with Gord for so long, sung, sang with Gord for so long that he, he just knows what to do. I guarantee it was one take and he was done. Yeah. Again, it gave me that, uh, just, uh, the combination is something that, that, That definitely fills you up.Track 4:[13:42] When I was doing the research as well on the French part, the first thing that came up was, I want to say a province in Quebec, but it was like a lake chalet.Track 4:[13:53] So that's where I was going at first and then obviously did a little deeper and found out. No, not quite, but thought we were referencing something there at one point. Well, I mean, that could be. There's a lot of lofty pines in Quebec and a lot of lakes. So you never know. The Lofty Pine Hotel was in cottage country in Ontario until I don't even know when. Like, not that, like, pretty recently. So, to me, I hear this song and...Track 4:[14:26] It's like one of those, it sounds sticky. It sounds muggy. It's like one of those August nights in the city where, you know, it's extra hot because air conditioners are spitting out hot heat. Like the city's just got this almost dense air that you're walking through. The cool side of your pillow is sweating, you know? That's the kind of heat.Track 4:[14:50] And they're just daydreaming about getting up to the cottage. Just getting the fuck out of dodge and going to the cottage dreaming of those lofty pines i don't know that's that's sort of what i get from it so just a real quick note building on what you just said about it's so freaking hot and the spectacular part in the lyrics and there's a matchbook or whatever that falls like we needed something hotter right yes you know and here's matches you know i didn't get that but yeah totally what do you believe he's referring to in the uh i give the editor my pitch a series on the cultural wealth uh about the era of catalogs and lists i just think he's good at creating protagonists uh i think it's like a protagonist of this song um like but i but i guess i'm very literal yeah don't don't make me say hitler again no i don't i think this is i don't know literal more literal you know but he's proven to not do that so often that it seems like not likely but that's how like he's answering a question that we haven't asked you know let's go to the next track which is boy bruised by butterfly shake I really didn't have anything to say about the song for a while.Track 4:[16:14] And then I listened to it, um, actually just today. And it kind of came to me that this is.Track 4:[16:21] Somewhere between consciousness and unconsciousness or life and death somewhere in the middle um you know he he references someone was crying i as i lay in the dirt i could hear their hearts breaking but i wasn't even hurt so that's kind of like i'm slipping away and i don't feel anything sort of thing that's just how i interpreted the line i came across um something just by chance glancing through the cd booklet last night um and there's a little article it says bruised by a butterfly chase and it looks like um it's actually photocopied from a newspaper it says four-year-old andrew herrit holds his winnie the pooh blanket at a hospital in halifax the kentville boy survived a 20 meter fall from a cliff at blommadon provincial park while chasing butterflies during a family outing so it could be very literally about a boy down down down falling yeah exactly yeah it made so much sense when i read that so yeah there's an extra song and i didn't get to listen to it yet but is it this it's it is down down down yeah it's the same lyrics yeah yeah and i guess that makes sense the grass felt so good and there's they're talking about he didn't have shoes so that makes sense that it's a four-year-old um the day was so blue i must have tripped i don't know do i remember falling away nothing that i hold on to and not being afraid so that's when you're that young you probably don't have much.Track 4:[17:46] Memory of it as an adult and especially i would assume there's some trauma there and justin though i i.Track 4:[17:53] Mean just your your first explanation that that in between um before we.Track 4:[18:00] Heard the story like you took me there and i think musically it does as well like my notes are the guitar like you know guitar is prevalent in some of these other songs but you don't hear.Track 4:[18:12] Guitar lines and guitar melodies as much and there's some very clear guitar work going on here both acoustic and electric which you also don't really get a lot of in in these songs or you know the song is almost poppy yeah it's super radio absolutely and i thought it could be a hip song yeah yeah you know those and i guess obviously see that could be true to anything, but change up some of the instrumentation, change up some of the tempo and, and, uh, yeah, yeah, you're definitely in hip territory. Definitely hip territory. Let's go to mystery, a sonic soundscape. Yeah. And, and it really is, it starts off in, in that sonic soundscape world and then goes to the spoken word. Sorry, a bit of humor. You know, one of my favorite flicks is, so I married an ax murderer and turn off the base. It's your rollers. The soccer game is on somewhere.Track 4:[19:13] There's a soccer game. and uh being being you know the background with that i i at a loss in the sense of that that journey that gourd's going through and and doing some research and finding you know with with the book of poetry that came out uh that he was you know it was not received from the poetry world as it were um and yeah it was yeah they they it was not received from a it's like oh this is just you know and they made the joke of oh yeah what what are you going to do give bob dylan a a pulitzer or uh you know uh it it's just it's that being someone that's written songs before and and And I can't say that I've written poetry, but it's very much frowned upon to have, you know, they said, you know, Jim Morrison killed that. So why is anybody else doing it? And so then the counter argument goes.Track 4:[20:17] Well, yeah, it sells well because of who Gord is and what he does and how he moves people. And then what came afterwards was, yeah, in the libraries and in the bookstores, there was a lot more people in the poetry section than had ever been there before. So what are you trying to do? Are you trying to be completely inclusive or exclusive? And does the inclusivity then start damaging the art? I'm of the belief and the ilk that you need people to dive into both lyrics, dive into poetry, dive into the spoken word side. So, yeah, sorry, I digress. And this is just coming off the song Poets on Phantom Power, which in live shows, he's sort of, don't tell me what the poets are doing. I don't want to know. I don't care about the poets. Or it could be perceived that way, whether he meant that or not.Track 4:[21:21] I know from a musical standpoint, this song gave me vibes of, of the rain song by Led Zeppelin. And I know it sounds nothing like it, but if you listen, and it took me a while to figure out what it was, but if you listen to the bass notes, he's playing really high in the register and it just gives that cascading feel of, of the rain song. And, um, yeah. And, and near the end too, he's playing up the neck on the bass and it's just some really nice playing. Yeah, I have avant-garde. I would imagine that the Dinner is Ruined gang had a heavy influence on this. Yeah, and this is the other Adam McGaughan track as well. So that guitar you hear, the little classical guitar, that's McGaughan. Ah, cool. Sorry, help me understand, not being as familiar outside of in the research, does he hold a special place in a Canadian heart?Track 4:[22:14] Um adam mcgoyne he was a filmmaker i i can't say i'm an expert on him but he's um he had a movie called the sweet hereafter which was very well received i believe it won awards and actually i believe uh didn't sarah harmer sing i think a version of courage on the soundtrack sarah polly sarah polly right right yes yeah well i'll have to do a little more research and check some of that that out justin were you familiar at all only from reading the never-ending present book had i had i heard the name no anything else on mystery uh only that the the phantom power outtake version is so drastically different and also equally amazing it is so yes the one on phantom power is so dark and so so moody and i have here a note that it's almost like a more depressing version of landslide by fleetwood mac it's just haunting oh yeah yeah yes like i mean they're wildly different but so funny they share the same dna ultimately what's i think what's funny is that the version that's on the phantom power re-release would have been recorded two years before this so this is reimagining this is part two yeah it makes you wonder is it just that he really loved the words and he you know the track got cut for whatever reason just didn't fit in maybe with the album and he it was something he really wanted to put out there and And, you know, I'm glad he did. I love both versions.Track 4:[23:43] Okay, next up, we get a song of 3-4. It's got a country-ish little tinge to it.Track 4:[23:50] And that's Elaborate. Elaborate.Track 4:[29:10] I imagine cowboys after having driven cattle across the plains, just sitting around a fire, drinking a beer, you know, and somebody's got a guitar and then somebody works out a mandolin three minutes into the song, you know, but it's about, it's about death. It's about somebody's sick, somebody's dying, has cancer. And in the poem version in the book, the title also has a parenthetical Toronto No. 2, which Music at Work has the song Toronto No. 4, which is about Gord's grandmother dying. So there's a common thread there. I don't know. It is very much a end of the day.Track 4:[29:51] Things are happening and they may not be coming to us. Yeah, I have a tough time hearing this, knowing what we know about what happened to Gord. Like, I can't help but hear it through that filter, and it makes it difficult to listen to for me. Yeah, I had the same thing, JD. It felt to me like a song that was meant to have a little bit of, I don't want to say humor, but a bit of lightheartedness to it in a way. But then knowing what we know... What happened with Gord, it definitely changes the way you hear it. Interestingly, my head went to Now for Plan A instead of Gord's own diagnosis. And also, I'm not sure if you guys heard this at all, but again, I'm less of a lyric guy, more of a music guy. The mandolin solo comes in, a little mandolin melody, and it reminds me so much of Neil Diamond's Play Me. And I swear, if you listen to it, you'll know what I mean. It's so funny. It doesn't quite go in the same place, but it's very close. Yeah. Great tune. And at the end, they're kind of going on for a while. And then Gord kind of clears his throat, like as if to say, come on, wrap it up, boys. I have that in my notes. So JD, if we're going on too long, just clear your throat and we'll know it's time to wrap up. No, not at all.Track 4:[31:11] One thing that I picked up on, which is a timestamp on this album, is Gord mentions cell phone. And a lot of bands in the late 90s, early 2000s for just like a three or four year period mentioned cell phones because that's when they came out. We didn't have cell phones before 98, 99. And if we did, they were in a bag that weighed 30 pounds. So I thought it was interesting that cell phone was topical for their 2000s. It's a country song. You said it. It's a country tune. That's my first note is country tune. And then you hear the guitar tremolo, that ringing, that just doing single notes and it's just ringing. And then the mandolin. But yeah, you're talking about modern topics on a cowboy song, on a country tune. There's also a great live version of this I found. It's the black and white. It's like a full concert that someone's put on YouTube. There's this pretty epic Gord rant on it. And he's talking about stem cell research and the Pope. And it's worth a watch for sure.Track 4:[32:18] And he actually, and he dedicates the song to Dave Bedini, which I found interesting from Reostatics. He's still alive. So I don't, I don't know why he just says, you know, the songs for, for Dave. I wonder if he went through a battle with a family member. Yeah. Possibly maybe, maybe a mutual acquaintance or yeah. Who knows? The beauty of the beauty of where, where we're being taken on this, this particular album is, is pretty incredible yeah and then you go into frigging a polka right with you're possessed.Track 4:[32:52] Yeah yeah i did not expect that coming i'm just like you're hearing all these songs that are very kind of melancholy yeah you know outside of canada geese that that that has a little bit of drive to it yeah you're another two man yeah and then now for two but if you guys know um have you.Track 4:[33:11] You guys seen spinal tap i'm guessing oh of course okay so my mind went right to you know yeah yeah the the nigel and david uh st hubbins their first song the you know the dune duga dune dune dune walking down the railroad track to get dune dune dune dune wait for my babe to bring me back um that's where my mind went but um funnily enough my my daughter picked this song out uh we were in the car listening to the cd and she wanted to pick a song so she went through the the track listing and she picked you're possessed because uh her favorite hip song is you're not the ocean this is my 11 year old daughter and so she loved the spelling of of year and uh she put this song on and her reading of it like the i told her what what i was thinking and she said this sounds to me like emmett otter, and i'm not sure if there's a ref i can see kirk knows what i'm talking about so here's a quick Oh my gosh. We could just be finished right now.Track 4:[34:09] I grew up in a small town called Peachland in the Okanagan in BC. A small town. We had maybe, I don't know, a couple thousand people when I lived there. And we had two channels. We had channel four, CBC, and channel nine, CTV. And there was no cable company in town. But on the outskirts of town was a large satellite dish, like a huge satellite dish that someone put there and uh and so the whole town got free hbo for years like pirated stolen hbo i'm talking like five six seven years and uh let's go every you know three months you'd come home turn on hbo and it'd be scrambled and so that it would be all down for a couple days until they repositioned the satellite and so every christmas time and you know this is early 80s Emma Daughter's Jug Band Christmas would come on HBO.Track 4:[34:59] And to me, I just thought this was a thing that everyone knew. And as I got older and I found a DVD copy in a bargain bin at Zeller's or something, I started talking about this show to people and no one...Track 4:[35:14] Except for the people i know from peachland know this show and it is it's a jim henson production from about 1977 it's and it's like it's a cult classic it's just paul williams yeah, and to me yeah that's what my daughter said and i was like yeah that's that's it this is this is a jug band you know with a tuba instead of a jug t-shirts i have stickers i um am on the verge of learning river bottom nightmare band to cover with our band um right christmas does not happen in the Lane household. I'm the same way. Emmett Otter's plays. We have, you know, obviously the DVD copy. And in fact, it's a running joke. Sorry, JD and Justin, if you haven't seen it, but like anything that's $50, Craig, $50, that's a lot of money. So my whole family, anything that's 50 bucks, the first response is $50. Yeah, yeah. Or yeah, anytime we have mashed potatoes, just mashed potatoes i love mashed potatoes hey yeah man how are you doing catching anything good today sorry guys so jd and justin you haven't seen that christmas your life will will begin begin to exist afterwards so let's let's change the focus for episode two please the music is so good and it's this christmas story doesn't once mention you know religion jesus it doesn't once Once mentioned Santa.Track 4:[36:44] And it's the best Christmas show you'll ever see. It's so sweet. Huh. The music. Yeah, it's just, it's amazing. It tears me up every time. And I love that connection that your daughter has to this song, Craig. I mean, that's, I really did start welling up. Not only finding someone that loves him and Otter, but that she made that connection. Yeah, it's really cool. That's fantastic. Yeah. Fantastic. And of course, Paul's back singing the backups here. And I have to ask, have you guys been to Boston? They mentioned Lansdowne Street, Fenway Park. I'm guessing Lansdowne is. So that's where Fenway Park is. And that's my only note on this song was just after that, he says, no one's going to hurt me like you did. Well, he's talking about the Red Sox. He's totally talking about Bill Buckner missing the catch or the grounder in 1986 to throw it away. Maybe, or I watched a live version of this as well. And he tells a story and I don't remember all the details, but he tells a story about a fight with his brother, Patrick. So yeah, I'm not, I'm not sure if it could be, you know, a brotherly story. Well, and Patrick was the sound guy for the garden where the Bruins play and the Celtics play.Track 4:[37:57] Um, and of course the, um, Harry Sinden, the Bruins coach was the godfather. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. yeah sure he wore the sweater in um courage in the video for wow yeah this is a great great tune i mean just in all of it you know you've got the spoken word stuff you've got uh some of the melancholy stuff and and and then boom you know you get this boom boom and and the solos uh.Track 4:[38:28] Yeah we're at a pool party in 1946 and uh and also quick canadian tie-in um another i know j uh jd you know the other canadian classic with a tuba can you you know what i'm talking about i don't off the top we talked about this spirit of the west and if venice is sinking oh my god like tuba part yeah yeah so the only two songs i can think of featuring a tuba i'm sure there are others but it last i checked there weren't that many bands featuring a tuba not enough every irrelevance i spoke a lot already on this last one but i can i just share my experience with this one because so i'm doing doing dishes i'm often listening to um music or podcasts when i'm doing dishes and and uh i'm listening to this song and i'm just getting into it's just this beautiful like instrumental sounding song. I love the tremolo guitar.Track 4:[39:22] And I was just thinking, okay, this is probably, maybe there's no words on here. And I was really digging it and thinking, okay, I like this. I like this choice of an instrumental near the end of the album. And then all of a sudden Gord starts singing and just this beautiful melody. And then the snare comes in halfway through the verse and I'm just like elevating. I'm just like my mood. And what I thought of later when I was thinking of how to explain this was the Vince McMahon meme, you know, the levels of Vince McMahon's like elation. And so I'm like- Which doesn't play so well now.Track 4:[40:01] And level one, that's the instrumental. Level two, Vince is the singing. And then all of a sudden he hits me with, catharsis my arses is capable of more flesh and i'm like oh it's the line from from the from the live album and you know um and then i'm just like loving this song and all of a sudden the there's the piano and so i'm all of a sudden on fourth level vince and just when i think i can't love the song anymore that trumpet comes in at the end and it is so tasty just the the muted trumpet tasteful perfect like the both the piano and the trumpet play just enough they don't overplay and i just love this song who did the horns it wasn't this from another can't think of his name though is it andy mays i'd have to look at that i i don't that sounds familiar yeah yeah well i'm pretty sure that's who he's talking about an emperor penguin as well right like the first two lines yeah yeah tony or trump that was my other thought yeah i like the tony yeah there's There's another line that I can't remember which live show it's in. It might even be from the live between this album, but it's leading into a head by a century. He talks about adolescence in essence is all about trust. And that, that line pops up in here.Track 4:[41:20] Um, I don't think he mentions adolescence in this song, but yeah, I'm looking at the credit. So does Andy Mays, is it? That's what I thought. Yeah. Yeah. Nice job, JD. And one thing, um, did you guys notice in the, uh, in the credits to this album it's very specific it mentions the type of guitar being played by each member the type you know the types of drums and um and it very clearly says that gourd was playing on a gut string guitar which is you know the old old style string made of you know, animal guts basically yeah and it just gives a way different um you know timbre.Track 4:[41:57] I like the echo on the snare on this particular and, and it sounded like a standup bass. I'm not sure if it was a standup bass. It was just the way the notes were played. Um, but you know, I, I have a jazz reference obviously in my notes. So yeah, I agree. Craig musically, it was phenomenal. And then, then again, you're not quite sure we're going to get a spoken word or, and then you get the, you know, the beautiful, the beautiful voice and the beautiful, uh, song. Hmm.Track 4:[42:28] It's it's definitely one of the best ones on the on the record i think i i love the song i'm i'm a big fan as well i i love when he leaves little breadcrumbs in in a what seems to be like an improv rant or a throwaway rant not that any of them are throwaway but you you turn it turns out that it's been a line in his notebook for five years prior and it's got six underlines under it you know like god damn it i'm going to use this line somewhere down the line yeah when it presents i'm going to rhyme catharsis that's right i've got this great lyric i'm gonna use it sometime you know and uh i think that's so cool he's so talented let's just go right now to insomniacs of the world, good night.Track 4:[43:56] Thank you. I can see the line of your reserve, I can contemplate it from here, there's no need for breathlessness when we're so far apart. I can see us writhing in a phone booth or laid back in the dewy grass of our youth and gathering our sweetnesses and wishing on the never-ending sun.Track 4:[48:05] So, the research that I saw, this was supposed to be the name of the album? Does that jive with what anyone else saw? Yeah, that checks out. Yeah, that's what I heard. And then um again capping it off with you know more of a spoken word and just straight up i can see the line of your brassiere i can contemplate it from here there's no need for breathlessness when we're so far apart i know um one thing i noticed was um.Track 4:[48:42] What I picture here is, is there's a point where he starts recapping some lyrics from some other songs. I know he brings up the Fenway park again. And what I think this is, is, is recordings of Gord in the middle of the night, grabbing his tape recorder when he's got a melody going through his head. And he's kind of singing because it almost sounds like he trails off. Sometimes he doesn't always have the full melody melody developed. And I think this might be his like audio journal, like little excerpts.Track 4:[49:09] Wow. listen to it again i i swear i'm i'm very quite confident in this that's amazing that and a perfect bookend as well to to star star painters just um bookends the album the spoken word on both sides the sort of um i don't know that's i think it's an organ this time not an accordion but a similar sound and oh and julie uh dwaron is pocketed or is credited with with playing the a pocket trumpet so just a just basically a tiny trumpet shakespeare pops up in in some of the hip works and there's that um if i could sleep there's a chance i could dream which is from hamlet um he changes it a bit because it's perchance and shakespeare right so it's it's interesting yeah right this line yes arguably the most notable line that shakespeare ever wrote and changes it and keeps it the same but just that little word change like what what does that mean what is that all about and more to the point and it's the elephant in the room, is the version from phantom power.Track 4:[50:20] Where do you guys stand on those two versions? Can you enjoy them both? Can they both be your children? Or if I asked you to make a selfish choice, which one would you choose as a preference? I can't answer it because I don't know the one from Phantom Power as well. That's cheating, but okay. But I do remember. It sure is. That means I just don't love one of my children, right? Right. Um, I do remember him screaming the line at live shows and in some performances. I had heard that reference and, and heard a scene that reference for in some. Yeah. My preference is, is this one. I, I, I really like this, this version of it. One thing that I really is so amazing about this song is it lulls you like you're ready to until the crash. Yeah. That's the same thing. Massive cymbal crash. Yes. Oh God, I love it. I love that so much.Track 4:[51:25] And fast forward to the final album that the hit put out, Man Machine Poem, and there's the song Insomnia. Insomnia. Which was supposed to be Insomnia. Yep. And if you read the liner notes in that, Insomnia is scratched out in every line. And I don't know what that means, but interesting.Track 4:[51:44] Well, I think the whole record is interesting. what did you guys think overall is an experience with the record and uh after you tell me that what is your mvp track and you have to pick one this time justin i'm gonna go first i'll make it easy because i think i've already referenced it and and and it it's you know probably unlikely but But Star Painters was my, and again, it's the lyric. It's that line. Like anytime I hear that line, whether I'm walking the dog and I listen to it or if I'm driving and I hear it, you know, the scaffolding. Scaffolding.Track 4:[52:29] The scaffolding is in its place. The Star Painters are taking over now. And then your anesthesiologist tonight is washing up and on her way. So for me, it was that line. And I think it's because, again, I wanted to separate and I'm glad that I had the wherewithal to be able to go. I wasn't looking for hip light. I was looking for Gore Downey. And, and you didn't, I, it's me personally. And I think we even mentioned it with, with the book ending with the spoken word, you were going to get Gord Downie and you were in a, not just, you're not just going to get the energy that we know and from the hip, but you know, that he's going to take all these, these amazing musicians that were part of obviously his career.Track 4:[53:20] His musical background that, that, that created the hip and that he's going to give them that opportunity for them to get together. And then just when you hear the story about how they recorded it and where they recorded it and, uh, you know, meshing that together at the same time, he's, he's, he's, he's writing, you know, he's putting out the book along with it. So I'm, I mean, yeah, a little bit of criticisms on some of the recording maybe techniques and could have used a few more mics here and there. But that's just, I guess, the musician in me. But overall, I can understand why it was what I would assume mostly fairly well received. And again, I know there's a lot of hip fans that weren't even going to give it a chance. And then the song that I chose as my MVP kind of pushed him away from the get-go, at least for me. So, yeah, I'm...Track 4:[54:22] I'm glad I found the hip or maybe I should say the hip found me and I'm glad I didn't give up on them. And, uh, you know, the energy and, and the feeling that Gord always gave me when I, uh, had the great chance to see, uh, see the band and see him. And even when I met him, I actually, I wore this shirt on purpose. This is the shirt that I was wearing when I met Gord backstage house of blues Anaheim. It's a harley davidson shirt with big letters hd and the ac are masked with a canadian flag, yeah and this i got this up in vancouver on a trip when i went up there i fancied myself i was going to be a harley rider one of these days and and still don't have a bike um but went through that phase and uh i wore this shirt because i felt like i needed to because i'm you know go see the hip. And, uh, and this is the first thing he said, he just goes, that's a really nice shirt, man.Track 4:[55:23] And he shook my hand and, and, uh, and there was just this gentleness about him. And, uh, you know, I was starstruck and I don't typically get that. I mean, I'm, I'm in a business where I meet people all the time and I'm in LA and Hollywood and, and, and done all that, but this guy is different. And it was a moment where I definitely paused and couldn't put together a whole lot of words. I didn't know that I was necessarily going to meet him. I wore this in honor of that moment and taking this journey with you guys. So I am so excited because I think this was a great start.Track 4:[56:07] Outside, I've heard a little bit of some Secret Path. I absolutely had not heard anything from any of the other albums outside of Coke Machine Glow, and again, a little bit from Secret Path. So I'm just, I'm really jazzed, right? Because I get to dig, you know, we get to dig deeper into this individual that's just, wow, he's pretty special. And you could see, you know, the impact that he's had on so many. So I'm excited about this journey and I'm picking that song and I'm sticking to it. Nice. Craig, how about you?Track 4:[56:45] Well, being one of those hip fans who took a bit of a break around this time, and not that I completely abandoned them, I think for me, I was just at an age where I was just exploring so much music. I was in school for music, so I was being bombarded by classical music and music from all through the ages. And on top of that, I was getting into a lot of more experimental music. And I just started drifting away from not just the hip, but all the bands I had been listening to in the 90s. And, you know, a lot of those bands I did come back to, some I didn't, but I came back to the hip big time, kind of the mid 2000s or, you know, yeah, around 2006, probably. And um and so for me i this is an album i never gave a chance i'd heard you know a couple songs here and there chancellor and vancouver divorce i think but um i'd never listened to the whole thing and wow i'm i'm so grateful for this opportunity to do this it's just i love this album i i put it up there with with you know some of those great hip albums and um my my um mvp track is every irrelevance i again i explained already the vince mcmahon meme um that that was me during this song just i by the end i was just you know spent lying down with the smoke.Track 4:[58:14] Justin uh it's sentimental for me with it's trick rider um because my daughter is six um and And I build bike ramps for her, you know, and, and then tell her don't ride so fast off that bike ramp. I just built you, you know, and, um, don't ask me to explain. Um, and, Yeah, I just, that's, it drives, you know, it really, yeah, I don't know. I love that song for different reasons. I also really love Canada Geese just because it's a sweet rock song. And I know, I just like what I like. I grew up on Yes and listening to 22-minute opuses that were way beyond what a 13-year-old kid should be listening to. So, I get weird stuff and I get out there stuff, but I also just love rock and roll.Track 4:[59:06] And, uh, you know, that's a, that's a pretty good rock and roll song. I, and I'm going to echo you guys that I'm super excited for this platform. Um, because as a kid in the States who had the secret about the hip, you know, my last name is St. Louis. So everybody thought I was Canadian and I was a Montreal Canadians fan. So everybody, you know, they'd pick on me. And then I talk about the tragically hip, which was in the periphery, you know, nobody, nobody listened to it, but they'd at least heard of them. And then be like, Oh, that's who the hell is that? Why are you listening to that? And it's stupid. Well, now I can finally celebrate it and talk about it, you know, and, and I'm Canadian for the next eight weeks. Oh, that's great. Eh? Yeah.Track 4:[59:49] Well, this has been a great deal of fun.Track 4:[59:55] This Saturday afternoon. You'll be listening to this on a Monday, of course. If you have anything you want to shout out to us, please send us an email. We would love to hear from you. The email is discoveringdowney at gmail.com. That's discoveringdowney at gmail.com. You can also find a link on our website, discoveringdowney.com, and there's a link to email us right from there, which makes it easy peasy. So it's been a blast doing this with you guys this week. I'm really looking forward to where we go and learning more. I am a somebody who has listened to all the records, and I've listened to them on a number of occasions, but I have a very poor short-term memory, and it's tough to recall them sometimes. Times so it's been really fun going through this and listening the shit out of this record and then getting to talk about it with somebody it's like a book club so i had a lot of fun and if you like what you heard send us an email discovering downy at gmail.com we'd love to hear from you, and on behalf of kirk craig and justin pick up your shit.Track 1:[1:01:13] Thanks for listening to Discovering Downey. To find out more about the show and its host, visit DiscoveringDowney.com. You can email us at DiscoveringDowney at gmail.com. And hey, we're social.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/gettinghiptothehip/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Coke Machine Glow part 2