APRIL WINE: DROP YOUR GUNS

Performance @ PNE in Vancouver, 8-24-09

Song factoids:
-As the video demonstrates, this antiwar anthem from the early 70's remains as relevant today as it was when it was written.
-Every site I saw that listed these lyrics have a "misheard error" in the third stanza. Rather than the correct line, "You're the thing in us all, that really ought to be put away," these sites say, "You're the thing in *a song*, that really ought to be put away." Given the context, ask yourself which makes more sense. Viral errors like these demonstrate but one problem in our careless, copy and paste world.

Drop Your Guns
(David Henman)

Look at all the places we been, and look where we are
Something is amiss here cause we never seem to get very far
Now I got a feeling, a plan, some music to sing
And I'm looking for the right words to convey the message we bring

If you can hear it, mmm, I'm gettin' near it, if I can say it
Drop your guns, and raise your hands in the air
You're the one that started all the trouble out there

Grease me, I'm near you, blast me, I'm in your way
You're the thing in us all, that really ought to be put away
Now I got a feeling, a plan, some music to sing
And I'm looking for the right words to convey the message we bring

If you can hear it, I'm gettin' near it, if I can say it
Drop your guns, and raise your hands in the air

Drop your guns, and raise your hands in the air
Drop your guns, and raise your hands in the air
Drop your guns, and raise your hands in the air
Drop your guns, and raise your hands in the air

The Tragically Hip: Fireworks

Performance @ Danforth Music Hall, Toronto, 4-24-09

Song Factoids:
-Clearly this song is about the 1972 hockey Summit Series between Canada and the USSR.
-Trivia you can use at the pub: The Hip's lead singer, Gord Downey is the godson of Harry Sinden, long-time general manager, coach, and president of the Boston Bruins and coach of Team Canada during the 1972 Summit Series.


Fireworks

If there's a goal that everyone remembers it was back in ole' 72
We all squeezed the stick and we all pulled the trigger
And all I remember was sitting beside you
You said you didn't give a fuck about hockey
And I never saw someone say that before
You held my hand and we walked home the long way
You were loosening my grip on Bobby Orr
Isn't it amazing anything's accomplished
When the little sensation gets in your way
The Tragically Hip

Not one ambition whisperin' over your shoulder
Isn't it amazing you can do anything
We hung out together every single moment
Cause that's what we thought married people do
Complete with the grip of artificial chaos
And believing in the country of me and you
Crisis of faith and crisis in the Kremlin
And yea we'd heard all of that before
It's wintertime, the house is solitude with options
And loosening the grip on a fake cold war
Isn't it amazing what you can accomplish
When you don't let the nation get in your way
No ambition whisperin' over your shoulder
Isn't it amazing you can do anything

Next to your comrades in the national fitness program
Caught in some eternal flexed-arm hang
Droppin' to the mat in a fit of laughter
Showed no patience, tolerance or restraint

Fireworks exploding in the distance
Temporary towers soar
Fireworks emulating heaven
Til there are no stars anymore
Fireworks aiming straight at heaven
Temporary towers soar
Til there are no stars shining up in heaven
Til there are no stars anymore
Isn't it amazing what you can accomplish
When the little sensation gets in your way
No ambition whisperin' over your shoulder
Isn't it amazing what you can accomplish, eh
This one thing probably never goes away
I think this one thing is always supposed to stay
This one thing doesn't have to go away

Pearl Jam: World Wide Suicide (with lyrics)

Song Factoids:
-World Wide Suicide is about the Iraq War. Singer Eddie Vedder has said that it was written largely about Pat Tillman.
-It made chart history becoming the first digitally delivered #1 song in Canada's history.

Grateful Dead: Franklin's Tower

Performance @ Radio City 10-31-80:

Song Factoids:
-Wonder what this Grateful Dead second set standard is all about? Here is a long-winded explanation by GD lyricist Robert Hunter.


Franklin's Tower
Lyrics: Robert Hunter
Music: Jerry Garcia, Bill Kreutzmann

In another time's forgotten space
Your eyes looked from your mother's face
Wildflower seed on the sand and stone
May the four winds blow you safely home

Chorus
Roll away the dew
Roll away the dew
Roll away the dew
Roll away the dew

I'll tell you where the four winds dwell
In Franklin's tower there hangs a bell
It can ring, turn night to day
It can ring like fire when you lose your way

[chorus]

God save the child who rings that bell
It may have one good ring, baby, you can't tell
One watch by night, one watch by day
If you get confused, listen to the music play

[chorus]

Some come to laugh their past away
Some come to make it just one more day
Whichever way your pleasure tends
If you plant ice, you're gonna harvest wind

[chorus]

In Franklin's tower the four winds sleep
Like four lean hounds the lighthouse keep
Wildflower seed in the sand and wind
May the four winds blow you home again

[chorus]
[chorus]
[etc]

Strawbs with Sandy Denny: Sail Away to the Sea

Song Factoid: This high quality 60's track can be found on the album Preserves Uncanned: Preserves Uncanned http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preserves Uncanned 

Sail Away to the Sea
(Dave Cousins)

The hands on the clock keep turning round
They point to the time of the day
The time means nothing with you by my side
Though some time I'll be on my way.

Down the road to where I must go
There's nothing between you and me
I'll take a boat down the river my love
And sail away to the sea
I'll sail away to the sea.

What will you take to remember me by
I've no money to buy you a smile
I can't say the words to bid you farewell
So I'll carry them with me a while.

You'll wave goodbye 'till I pass out of sight
As you're waving goodbye for good
I can't even take you part of the way
I only wish that I could.

Peter Gabriel: Solsbury Hill

Song factoids:
-The song uses a 7/4 time signature for the vast majority of the song. The last two measures of each chorus are in 4/4.
-The song is about Peter Gabriel leaving Genesis. But with all the imagery allegory, it can easily be interpreted on many different levels. For an extensive discussion of how some folks interpret the tune, click here.

Solsbury Hill

(Peter Gabriel)

Climbing up on Solsbury Hill
I could see the city light
Wind was blowing, time stood still
Eagle flew out of the night
He was something to observe
Came in close, I heard a voice
Standing stretching every nerve
Had to listen had no choice
I did not believe the information
I just had to trust imagination
My heart going boom boom boom
"Son," he said "Grab your things,
I've come to take you home."

To keep in silence I resigned
My friends would think I was a nut
Turning water into wine
Open doors would soon be shut
So I went from day to day
Tho' my life was in a rut
"Till I thought of what I'd say
Which connection I should cut
I was feeling part of the scenery
I walked right out of the machinery
My heart going boom boom boom
"Hey" he said "Grab your things
I've come to take you home."
(Back home.)

When illusion spin her net
I'm never where I want to be
And liberty she pirouette
When I think that I am free
Watched by empty silhouettes
Who close their eyes but still can see
No one taught them etiquette
I will show another me
Today I don't need a replacement
I'll tell them what the smile on my face meant
My heart going boom boom boom
"Hey" I said "You can keep my things,
They've come to take me home."

There's no reason why this can't be anyone's favourite song. Here's a Live on Lettermen version courtesy of Kyle:   
Peter Gabriel - Solsbury Hill (Live on Letterman) http://kylecrawford.blogspot.com

Led Zeppelin: Kashmir

Song Factoids:
-The song was written over a period of three years, with the lyrics dating back to 1973.
-A concert favourite, it contains many distinctive musical patterns including classical Moroccan, Indian and Middle Eastern music. 

Kashmir

(Page/Plant/Bonham)

Oh, let the sun beat down upon my face, stars fill my dreams
I am a traveler of both time and space, to be where I have been
To sit with elders of the gentle race, this world has seldom seen
They talk of days for which they sit and wait, all will be revealed

Talk and song from tongues of lilting grace, sounds caress my ears
But not a word I heard could I relay, the story was quite clear
Ohh
(Chorus)

Oh, oh
Oh, oh

Oooh, baby I've been flying...Mama, there ain't no denyin'
Oooh yeah, I've been flying, Mama ain't no denyin', no denyin'

All I see turns to brown, as the sun burns the ground
And my eyes fill with sand, as I scan this wasted land
Tryin' to find....Tryin' to find where I've been.

Oh, pilot of the storm that leaves no trace, like thoughts inside a dream
Heed the path that led me to that place, yellow desert stream
My Shangri-La beneath the summer moon, I will return again
Like the dust that lufts high in June, when moving through Kashmir.


Oh, father of the four winds, fill my sails, across the sea of years
With no provision but an open face, along the straits of fear
Ohh
(Chorus)

When I'm on, when I'm on my way, yeah
When I see, when I see the way they stay, yeah

Ooh, yeah-yeah, ooh, yeah-yeah, when I'm down...
Ooh, yeah-yeah, ooh, yeah-yeah, well I'm down, so down
Ooh, my baby, oooh, my baby, let me take you there

Let me take you there
Let me take you there


Here's an excellent review of the 2007 (Celebration Day) live version of this classic Zep song:
Led Zeppelin, 'Kashmir' [Live] – Song Review
http://ultimateclassicrock.com
Led Zeppelin come roaring back to life with the release of this live version of 'Kashmir,' which is the first single from the forthcoming 'Celebration Day'...

Genesis - The Cinema Show

Selling England by the Poundhttp://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selling England by the Pound Studio album by the progressive rock band Genesis , released on 12 October 1973 ... The Cinema Show: "The Cinema Show" is divided into two main ...

Song Factoid:
-The lyrics were at least partially inspired by the T. S. Eliot poem The Waste Land.

The Cinema Show

(Banks/Collins/Gabriel/Hackett/Rutherford)

Home from work our Juliet
Clears her morning meal.
She dabs her skin with pretty smells
Concealing to appeal.
I will make my bed,
She said, but turned to go.
Can she be late for her cinema show?

Romeo locks his basement flat,
And scurries up the stair.
With head held high and floral tie,
A weekend millionaire.
I will make my bed
With her tonight, he cries.
Can he fail armed with his chocolate surprise?

Take a little trip back with father Tiresias,
Listen to the old one speak of all he has lived through.
I have crossed between the poles, for me there's no mystery.
Once a man, like the sea I raged,
Once a woman, like the earth I gave.
But there is in fact more earth than sea.

Take a little trip back with father Tiresias,
Listen to the old one speak of all he has lived through.
I have crossed between the poles, for me there's no mystery.
Once a man, like the sea I raged,
Once a woman, like the earth I gave.
But there is in fact more earth than sea.