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. It was a, it's a great song.
[1:41:48] Yeah. I love this song. And right away, the bigger screens, bigger feelings, of course, took me back to pill form on battle of the nudes which was my or almost my mvp track of that one, and yeah i just love the story of him yeah he's following this you know girl maybe into into the bar that he thinks he sees someone he recognizes and then and then he's trying to track her down and can't and he's sitting on the side of the road after and they're like oh don't worry man that you know they'll get it next time thinking that he's upset from the soccer game and he's upset because you can't find the girl. And yeah, just that change in the chorus from like the first chorus, this is not where all hell breaks loose. And then, yeah, I have so much to say about this song, but the chorus just is amazing. And the vocal delivery, the way the intensity builds each, like throughout the song, each time the chorus comes on, it builds a little bit. And then he nails that high note at the end. And yeah, just great, great performance overall, simple, but effective guitar hook.
[1:42:57] Yeah. And, and I agree about Johnny Faye. I knew it was, it was like, before I even knew that he even played on this album, I knew something sounded familiar about this. That's so cool. Yeah. And this is also the one that he does backup vocals on that I left it up. This is the track. Yeah. Okay. Right. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You got, you got, from a musical standpoint, you got a little bit of a synth wash going on and, um, you know, I, I, I'd heard and also saw on, on some, another review that it almost sounds like the strings on it, but it's, it's synth, but it, it gives it kind of a string sound, uh, mid tempo groove builds up. Yeah i don't have much else to add it's a story it's it's a great tune um and uh good placement if we go to sequencing and this one is where it is on the album so yay the uh exchange with the angry guy the exchange where he says fucking guinea bastard talking about the italian player screwing up whatever and then he's told in french to fucking cool it love that delivery so good top yeah great tan all right go ahead.
[1:44:18] I was just going to say, oh, there's the Camaro. There's the Camaro. I was going to say, one of the cool things about this record is there are long songs. And when you get a long song and it kicks ass, like Kirk said earlier, it feels like two minutes. But when you get one that maybe isn't as great, it feels a little longer. And to me, this is the first track on the record that feels a little longer than the 455 that it was listed at. And that's the safest day of the year.
[1:44:46] Craig, where are you? Yeah, it was a bit odd. first and i had wondered if maybe this was like a leftover paola song or something from the 80s the offbeat guitar shots it reminded me of something they might have done he referenced that craig oh bob referenced that really he he says yeah this is just kind of a leftover no way so you hit it yeah no you hit it spot on because yeah it was in one of because i only know a couple of palest interviews i watched okay wow okay uh catchy chorus i thought very very cool like horn shots again tom keenly side and and one lyric that stuck out to me i sell the eggs i don't sit on them yeah that's all about it that's what i had for this one yeah this is a reggae tune you know but reggae a la clash not bob marley if that if that makes sense you know because clash is pretty unique band and they you know of course they did punk they did pop they They did rock and they did reggae. They, you know, they're another band that, that I really appreciate.
[1:45:51] And, and that's, I got that feel, you know, um, but a reggae tune, like we haven't really ever had a reggae tune before from, um, from, from, from Gord. And of course, Ska is, is kind of derivative of elements of reggae in it. So, um, and then this is the song that has the one more coffee and the beer throwback to the, is this nowhere. wear. So Justin, do you have any idea what day is the safest day of the year?
[1:46:21] Do you think he's talking about a specific day or just? I don't know. I would guess that it's a new year's day when everybody's hammered and waking up. I have no idea. Um, musically, this is my least favorite song on the album. Lyrically. It's one of the top selections. Interesting. Uh, the, uh, explain that. Okay. So I'm going to read a few lines here. One more coffee in the bill. Afternoon's white as smoke and zebra wound red. And worn out tradition yellow i hear a garbage truck outside the seal art of its brakes holy fuck the seal art of a garbage truck's brakes and you know exactly what that sounds like yeah it's so cool and and it made me think of you know um i think it was grand bounce there there's lots of references the color craig brought that up and you know right in there you've got white, red, and yellow in a line and a half. Great. Maybe that would have been better with Kirk's folio work. Yeah, but I...
[1:47:32] I didn't need all five minutes of the song. That's for sure. I don't know. It's just repetitive or something. I'm not sure. Yeah. How about you? Yeah, that kind of offbeat guitar shot just goes for the whole song, I think. So it makes it sound a little repetitive. So the next track on the checklist here is In the Field. And this is a different one, I think, again. Something different again. Kirk? West Coast Punk again. Got some jazz, got some soul, got some swing. Jeez. It's a contender for me. It's a contender for me. Again, the variety that you get out of all this.
[1:48:25] It's a solid tune. Solid tune. How about you? Craig? Yeah, this one was similar to, what was it? To Catch the Truth in Feel, I thought. And same thing where it had the guitar and the piano. I liked in the last verse, the guitar drops out and there's a really kind of strange sounding keyboard that replaces it. And I thought that was just a cool little effect. effect um i didn't have too much too much to say about it i like the descending vocal harmonies like in in the field of the background vocals when they're saying in the field and, yeah i wondered if if in the field was referencing maybe like the career of of music but yeah really sure yeah i don't know either i i think you're right on onto something there because he says everyone I love is still alive or not alive yet. I don't have the lyrics right in front of me or I can't find it, but yeah, You know, he does mention rock and roll several times before we rock and roll and start to die. Look at that.
[1:49:39] It's the background vocals where it says, where they go in the field, in the field. The rhythm of that messes me up every time I try to sing it because it changes two or three times. And it's not even the same line to line. Um and at first i thought it was uh triplets or something it's just not it's really not um it changes within the measure it changes within the measure um yeah like it changes where like the entrance point yeah right yeah i noticed that last night too very cool yeah um yeah it's it's definitely a punk song um it starts off and it's you know where you are immediately that's fun This one sounds, the next one, the title sounds like a Beatles track, just the title, but it's called There Goes the Sun. Here Comes the Sun, There Goes the Sun. It might be a direct reference, actually. Yeah, but it also feels like you walked into the bar, it's late at night, got a piano player with a cigarette hanging out. It's just that chill piano vocal.
[1:50:53] I have a note written from a review from someone called it Light Country Fair. And I kind of was like, I guess I could get there. But yeah, last note was Wilco. Oh, I like that comparison. Just um i i kind of love that this is the last song that we'll hear from gord as far as we know.
[1:51:23] Um i wish or i wish i could hear an isolated vocal um you know there's there's times throughout his career where he's talked about using his hotel voice, this is that i mean he is barely singing at some points and um and it really, It gets me in the feels a few times when I've listened to it. I'm just like, ah, shit, he's gone now. There goes the sun being gored. But it's just so wonderfully done. It's sort of minimalist musically. Um it's i think probably the least amount of um instrumentalist credits of any of the songs, um it's just a nice piano it's probably you know brushes on drums um and it's just a nice way to go out we start with brushes on drums and we finish our brushes on drums.
[1:52:30] Oh that was brilliant that is brilliant nice you've been waiting a whole season to say that, and i didn't even know until justin said it yeah right he does play way to hand off the baton there justin stick, And another thing Justin said at the start of this episode was about him wishing Gord could do like a Broadway musical. And this would be the song that would make me think that he could pull it off. Now, I have to say, I feel the same way about this song that Justin felt about Safest Day of the Year. This is musically my least favorite song, but lyrically, I really love it. Vocally, I really love it. Like Gord nails this song that I think if any other artist, If you put any other singer on this song, I don't think I would even play it. That's fair. Because we have learned in Gord we trust. He hasn't steered us wrong yet. And I really do love the lyrics and his performance. But there's something too perfect about the piano.
[1:53:38] And you can tell it was played by, I think I read the person who played piano in this. Is like a composer like i think he maybe was involved in the olympics or something, and he you can tell he's a professional composer in the way that his chords run together and i it's just not my it's just not a style that i enjoy to listen to i found it a little, too much like a yeah i don't know like a broadway i totally know exactly what you're talking about And it's such a juxtaposition from the way that Gord sings this song, because there's almost no rhythm with Gord on a few points where he just kind of blurs words together. You know, he jumps ahead one and a half beats on a couple of words just because he's feeling it. But the piano is so staccato in some points, you know, or it feels like every note's a clean break from the last note.
[1:54:39] Which is not what going and a couple of other things the uh the line the dream cannot be done, reminded me of secret path the wilderness can't be done from don't let this touch you i don't know if it's a direct reference but just reminded me of that and i did like how even though the piano i found to be a little like i said a little clean or a little yeah just not quite to my taste i i like the pedal steel mixed in with that so it just was a nice you know juxtaposition i think that was probably done purposefully and one last note that i i noticed the name chris wise on bass and he's a name that i know from he played he has played in the cult for a number of years now.
[1:55:23] And that you know that bob rock has recorded a number of yeah i did not know that yeah i just picture bob pulling in people over the years just oh hey do you want to play on this track and even probably before he knew it was going to be for gourd because like like we said earlier these were songs that you know gourd asked bob if he had any songs and so a lot of these would have been written prior to them even knowing this was going to be a project, so i just did a quick little search he's played with the cult ozzy osbourne ace freely from kiss fame and the Hollywood vampires. You guys know who they are? Yeah.
[1:56:02] Joe Perry and- Yeah, it's like a super group with, yeah, exactly. Johnny Depp, Joe Perry- Oh, and Alice Cooper, right? Alice Cooper, Joe Perry, Alice Cooper, Johnny Depp, Buck Johnson, Chris Wise. That brings us to the end of Lust for Fanny. So the question that I tend to ask at the end of a track by track breakdown is, do you intend to keep this? And Justin, you're disqualified from this question because you've been sitting on this for the last six months. But do you keep this in your rotation, Kirk? I do.
[1:56:44] I mean, I think I mentioned it on a prior episode, like I can't wait to not have the pressure of this podcast and doing research and taking notes. And I mean, I loved it and I do it all over again in a heartbeat, but I also can't wait for, I mean, maybe organic is a bit of a stretch because we've already done like deep, deep, deep listening. But like, I'm ready for it to just be some good background music. Like when you'd grow up and you get an album and you didn't have to sit there and listen to it intently. And, but then you'd hear it so many times that it just becomes part of your DNA.
[1:57:25] And I, I, I'm so excited about that opportunity because we had such a great foundation with all of these albums. albums, but this one, you know, outside of the music by itself, it's going to be one just because I love the story around it. And I love the relationship, you know, cause I can hear the love in all of the tracks. I can hear the friendship between Gord and, um, and, and Bob Rock and all the various musicians. And, and the fact that this, you know, this was over a decade, essentially that, you know, this took place and just knowing some of the roots of, of some of the music and some of the lyrics. And, um, so, uh, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Where it falls in the, you know, uh, Pantheon of all the Gord albums. I'm not quite sure yet. That's going to take me a bit, but, um, it's, I, I, I'm excited about listening to this, uh, not under pressure.
[1:58:26] Craig? I will definitely keep listening to this album. In fact, I'm going to keep it in the car stereo for a little while still. I'm going to see if the sequencing is an issue or if it's just what I thought earlier, that I just kind of had heard the first few songs more times than the others. I just enjoy hearing these songs. They're just starting to catch my ear. So i feel like if i'm listening on on my apple music it'll be on shuffle and if not i'll, yeah i'm definitely going to come back to this album i think it's there are things that i could nitpick but this isn't meant to be necessarily a cohesive album that was all you know this wasn't written all in one session this wasn't something that happened over a year or two this is like Kirk said, like 10 years. And even at the end, he came back and redid the first song.
[1:59:24] We can't expect it to be a perfectly cohesive album. And I think that it can almost be seen as a strength of the album, the fact that it's not. Because it does go into different places that are interesting, that Gord's Never Gone. Even the last song that I didn't love, of i appreciate it because he was doing something different i don't want to hear, back in black you know 13 times i want to hear a band and you know i love acdc but i want to hear a band progress over time not be stuck in one you know sound for their entire career and and gourd you know as well or better than anyone i can think of has done that and it's just been awesome god Absolutely.
[2:00:10] So Justin, are you coming back to this one? I'm actually going to put it down for a while because I've listened to it so many times in the last couple of weeks because I love it, but I think I've overdone it. But yes, this will definitely stay in my rotation. And I loved it before, before I knew that I was going to be talking about it. Yeah, no, it's, it's definitely, you know, like I said, my daughter listens to a few songs. Of gourd's songs or hip songs or whatever and luster parfait the the song is one that she really likes and i'm so i have to listen to it whether i want to or not, Well, we're going to stick with you, and we're going to get your MVP track. I don't know if it's the moment or let me howl. I think if I was pushed, I would say the moment is a wild place as my MVP. Can't go wrong with that, Justin. Cannot go wrong with that. Craig, we're going to keep Kurt to the end. And give him more time to think of it.
[2:01:24] Yeah, mine, I would say this was probably the easiest choice of any album that we've done. And my pick is Hell Breaks Loose. As soon as that, maybe the second or third time I heard this song, I just, I couldn't help but just like rock. I just want to rock out. that is just so there's something about it just gets me like in a good mood it it like i i was honestly thinking i can't wait to listen to this song with you guys on a road trip you know either to or from kingston i think it's just to be a blast to hear so we got to throw it on a playlist, it's gonna be great kirk the moment of truth the raven and the red tail hawk wow Oh, hop, hop, hop.
[2:02:15] Well, that brings us to the end of this episode, but there's one thing that I want to challenge you on before I see you next. And that is so that, you know, you are going to be required at the final episode to reveal your MVP track of all your MVP tracks. We'll have it. We'll have it chart. Sadly, I think I probably could tell you. I think I probably know them all. Thank you for, yeah, if someone has them compiled and has sent them to us, please. I have them compiled in my brain, I think. DiscoveringDowny at gmail.com. Craig, that means you too. We really had a pleasure joining you today, talking about Lustre Parfait. It was wonderful. And when we next see each other, it will be here in Toronto at the Rec Room on Friday, July 19th. Tickets are on sale at DiscoveringDowny.com. And grab a friend. You know somebody who likes the hip? Bring them along. We got a ton of great silent auction prizes, one of which we alluded to off the top from the Tragically Hip. You're going to have to come to the show to see this one. So there's that.
[2:03:29] On behalf of Craig, Justin, and Kirk, this is JD signing off. Pack up your shit thanks for listening to Discovering Downy to find out more about the show and its host visit DiscoveringDowny.com you can email us at DiscoveringDowny at gmail.com and hey, we're social.
[2:03:50] Music.
