Getting into DEEP DIVE mode again.
- The guys talk about how hard it is to rank the songs on the album.
- Summing up the Buffalo Skinners roundtable (episode 53).
- We asked people on the TGD Facebook group to rank the songs on the album, and got 49 responses! These will be revealed after each song along with Tom’s & Svein’s rankings.
- Speakpipe from Lance Eagan.
- Tony Butler’s comments on the album & songs.
Alone – song DEEP DIVE by Tom and Svein
- Likely the first track most of us heard – either as 1st single, and/or opening track on the album.
- The weird “weekly CD” double packaging of singles at the time.
- The opening of the song, also in the context of previous Big Country openings.
- The lyrical themes of the song.
- How a song like this, especially with downtrodden lyrics, might fit into the musical climate at the time.
- How the song ends and outros in general on the album.
- Single performance: how Alone holds up against other singles released by the band, and what the other considerations were.
Speakpipe from Robert Rowden.
Seven Waves – song DEEP DIVE by Svein and Tom
- The title of the song.
- The music comes from Bruce Watson, who put the original instrumental demo on the website release “Hi Yo Tonto… Away!”, released 2001. We play a snippet.
- A song about the end of a relationship – discussed vis-a-vis Stuart’s situation and passages in the song.
- The journey through the bad emotions and alienation toward the conclusion, which is stopping to feel by also stopping to care about anything.
- The biggest clash in BC’s catalogue between happy music and dark lyrics?
- Tom’s favourite guitar solo on the album – vicious, yet beautiful.
Speakpipe from Andy Inkster.
What Are You Working For – song DEEP DIVE by Tom and Svein
- An example of Neil Young’s influence on Big Country, especially lyrically. This marks the start of a style of lyric writing where instead of a singular story or theme, we get a number of very different anecdotes that is intended to add up to a larger point, similar to Young’s “Rocking In the Free World”.
- An example of Big Country changing their sound a bit, while still retaining the things that makes them sound like Big Country.
- A bit of a throwback to Steeltown as far as themes go – picking up the banner on behalf of the small man, unions, and worker’s rights.
The One I Love – song DEEP DIVE by Svein and Tom
- The music for this song comes from Bruce Watson again – the demo was included on “Demology” (a “website only”-release) in December 2000.
- Lyrically yet another relationship song. The desire to be together is there, and even quite strong, but he is prevented by other commitments.
- The harmonizing. Everything is double-tracked, triple layered, filled with dual-guitars – so many interesting things are happening throughout.
- The songs ebbs and tides – there is no guitar solo, but in place of it there is an interesting section which slowly builds, things are added, and it reaches a crescendo into the chorus.
Speakpipe from John Lewis. |