canuckeh Wrote:just gimme the news
it can all be lies
exciting over fair
or the right thing at the right time
...
they've got no interest
in a world completely possessed by the human mind
...
Good job but you spelled "innarest" wrong. <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.thehip.com/albums/Man+Machine+Poem/In+A+World+Possessed+By+The+Human+Mind/">http://www.thehip.com/albums/Man+Machin ... uman+Mind/</a><!-- m -->
See: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=innarested">http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.p ... innarested</a><!-- m -->
--
I also like how the video shows him crossing out the "d" in "humand mind" - even though the sound seems to keep it and people do pronounce it that way.
I won't get too into details. But today was a pretty crazy emotional day for my family. We've cared for a foster son for over two years now. We hope to adopt him. There was a trial today to decide guardianship issues re: his birth mom. We were faced with the doorway opening to adoption, or returning him to his mom with an hour or two notice.
I haven't wept when I first heard a Hip song since The Depression Suite. Until today.
Where everything is quiet
A little super-dangerous
In the shadow of the law
And with colours of justice.
It was damn near quiet enough to hear God rustling around in the bushes. I don't know if it's the song or the good news we received at trial today. Or both. But this song gets me.
fingernailsonhull Wrote:I won't get too into details. But today was a pretty crazy emotional day for my family. We've cared for a foster son for over two years now. We hope to adopt him. There was a trial today to decide guardianship issues re: his birth mom. We were faced with the doorway opening to adoption, or returning him to his mom with an hour or two notice.
I haven't wept when I first heard a Hip song since The Depression Suite. Until today.
Where everything is quiet
A little super-dangerous
In the shadow of the law
And with colours of justice.
It was damn near quiet enough to hear God rustling around in the bushes. I don't know if it's the song or the good news we received at trial today. Or both. But this song gets me.
Sounds like a very lucky young boy. Best!
fingernailsonhull Wrote:I won't get too into details. But today was a pretty crazy emotional day for my family. We've cared for a foster son for over two years now. We hope to adopt him. There was a trial today to decide guardianship issues re: his birth mom. We were faced with the doorway opening to adoption, or returning him to his mom with an hour or two notice.
I haven't wept when I first heard a Hip song since The Depression Suite. Until today.
Where everything is quiet
A little super-dangerous
In the shadow of the law
And with colours of justice.
It was damn near quiet enough to hear God rustling around in the bushes. I don't know if it's the song or the good news we received at trial today. Or both. But this song gets me.
Glad it worked out for you Jeff.
fingernailsonhull Wrote:I won't get too into details. But today was a pretty crazy emotional day for my family. We've cared for a foster son for over two years now. We hope to adopt him. There was a trial today to decide guardianship issues re: his birth mom. We were faced with the doorway opening to adoption, or returning him to his mom with an hour or two notice.
I haven't wept when I first heard a Hip song since The Depression Suite. Until today.
Where everything is quiet
A little super-dangerous
In the shadow of the law
And with colours of justice.
It was damn near quiet enough to hear God rustling around in the bushes. I don't know if it's the song or the good news we received at trial today. Or both. But this song gets me.
Beautiful, another reason why I love this band, soundtrack to your life.
direwolf74 Wrote:Killer Whale Tank Wrote:lewismac91 Wrote:The song makes me feel optimistic and melancholy at the same time. I can't get enough of it, feels very heartfelt. Going to try and figure out some of the guitar parts tonight.
Yes, a lot of later Hip songs have that effect on me. 'We Want to be It' is a prime example. They work with a more complicated emotional palette, musically, than they used to.
This is exactly what I love about the last few Hip albums. The fact that they continue to evolve and mature as artists and songwriters after 30+ years together is pretty remarkable when you think about it. Earlier in the thread someone described this song as being "magical", and I couldn't agree more. I moved to a new city last year, and when I heard this song it conjured up all kinds of nostalgic feelings for my hometown and the people I left behind there, and all sorts of memories came flooding back. The song definitely has that wistful/melancholic feel to it, but there's some hopefulness in there as well. When music can take you to those places, that's a pretty powerful thing.
So yea, long story short (too late), I think it's a beautiful song.
It's a funny thing. Most music critics and putative sophisticates have long since dismissed the Hip as an uninteresting, static band that does the same staid thing all the time. Like you, I completely disagree with this; in fact I think it's based on a confusion of the clothes (which are indeed static and boring) with the music. True that the Hip have not been musical chameleons, forever changing genres like Elvis Costello or David Bowie, and have not been highly experimental boundary-pushers. But Downie's writing changes in pretty fundamental ways almost from album to album, and the band's instrumental support has grown MUCH subtler and more emotionally complex, in my opinion, over the years. They really impressed me with NFPA with the way the lyrics, melodies, and musicianship all worked so seamlessly together to be mutually reinforcing. (Sure, that album didn't have the big, epic, magisterial tracks - except for the last one - but it had a lot of mature, potent little songs on it).
On the other side, you've got all those so-called 'fans' left over from the 1990s, who - far from feeling the Hip are static and unchanging - basically ignore or dismiss everything they've done since M@W because it doesn't sound enough like 'classic Hip.'
The Hip have fallen through the cracks: not experimentally 'cool' enough for critics, not static enough for the Classic Rock radio crowd. But I really appreciate the fact that they do indeed continue to make new and vital music that matures as they do. A songwriters, they very much remain living artists, well worth following in my book.
The Hip have definitely changed. For better or worse is up to each person to subjectively assess. I feel like Gord Downie's change has been much more interesting than the rest of the band's transformation. That's not to say that I am a fan of everything Gord does these days. A lot of his solo stuff is quite boring, but there are certainly some home runs from him. Gord's vocal work with the Sadies, his phrasing, is great. It's the rest of The Hip that have become quite stale.
In regards to the new song, I don't want to hear a Broken Social Scene song. I want to listen to a song where there is at least one moment during the song where I can recognize a great contribution from Rob Baker. The guitar work is so non-descript and bland, not to mention the atrocity that is the drum section. The new song sounds like Gord singing over some programmed robotic musicians. I like Gord's vocals and melodic sensibilities on this one. There's definitely potential for a far better song. Where's the passion from the rest of the band? The song doesn't have to be a stadium rocker, but it should at least have a little more than a sparse, repetitive jingle. In some of their better songs, you could instantly recognize the talents of Rob Baker. In the past, he has created a unique sound that I haven't really heard from other lead guitarists. He's not the best guitar player, but his sound was his own. He's lost his sound on recent albums. Sure, people will say there are only so many blues riffs to play, but I'd like to think that Mr. Baker has more left to give.
The best song on the last album was At Transformation. On WATS, it was The Depression Suite. They are drastically different songs. I'm not looking for the same songs over and over. I'm just looking to hear something interesting.
Killer Whale Tank Wrote:The Hip have fallen through the cracks: not experimentally 'cool' enough for critics, not static enough for the Classic Rock radio crowd. But I really appreciate the fact that they do indeed continue to make new and vital music that matures as they do. A songwriters, they very much remain living artists, well worth following in my book.
This.
cortez, I see it a bit differently. Whatever the weaknesses of those records, I quite like the playing on NFPA and WATS. The band is generally 'serving the song,' where the overall effect is the point, rather than being interested individual displays or virtuosity. As I get older, the more I really appreciate that kind of 'get-out-of-the-way' approach to playing.
For instance, the chords on 'Man Machine Poem' (the song) are exactly perfect. Poignant and somehow ambiguous. Nothing more is needed; and therefore nothing more is given. To my mind, that's how it ought to be done. Similarly, the guitar on 'About This Map' is absolutely central to the overall effect of the song. It doesn't get in the way, it just enhances the proceedings. I could point as well to the wonderful 'Morning Moon,' 'Done and Done,' or the slide at the end of 'Honey Please.' And this kind of tact is particularly important when the singer is busting a gut, as Gord was on NFPA.
In short, I don't think BB is especially interested in 'putting his stamp' on songs these days. I think he just tries to respond to the feeling of the track and enhance it.
But then again, I love Nick Lowe records, which you might (?) see as just plain boring. So we may just be coming at things from a completely different aesthetic. Which is fair enough.
(As far as 'classic Hip' goes, I wouldn't particularly point to 'At Transformation,' which is OK, but rather 'Goodnight Attawapiskat,' which is as close to the visceral excitement of the classic Hip formula as the band will ever get again. I'm not sure what more anyone would want, in terms of riffs, drive, anthemic chorus, etc.. That no one seems to single out that song seems to illustrate my standing point that even if the Hip do go back to the older formula, it won't satisfy the 'nostalgia' fan).
Im really enjoying the different ways the song can be taken
My initial understanding was that a 'world possessed by the human mind' was a negative thing- Now I think to live in a world possessed by the human mind is a good thing- or it should be. I read that memory is a theme of the new album. The video to the song depicts a man looking through old notes, sketches, microscopes, his own pen to paper journalling, and projector film. I take it as discovering all these aged forms of communication and realizing that they inspired the mind, heart, and imagination more than what we use to communicate today.
im sure Ill think of something different tomorrow, but I wanted to share that thought. A powerful moment in the video i find is the man's face looking at projector pictures...I see regret. Its pretty moving I find- along with the past tense chorus "and then I hope I..." That looking back, remembering, and hoping you did what you'd want to have done. That general regretful/nostalgic emotion has been touched on before in songs but I don't think it's ever been explored ,and never done this powerfully.
I love riffs, guitars, noise, and rock and roll- but just as much I love to think. Thanks hip.
The short answer's 168 hours ...
That's how much buzz the Hip bought themselves with last week's release of Human Mind. Not even a week's worth actually. And now I suppose it will be two months of dead air until Man Machine Poem is released?
Hang'em upside down till the art falls out,
ct
Chris Tanz Wrote:The short answer's 168 hours ...
That's how much buzz the Hip bought themselves with last week's release of Human Mind. Not even a week's worth actually. And now I suppose it will be two months of dead air until Man Machine Poem is released?
Yup. I currently live in Vancouver and I have yet to even hear the song on the local rock station here. Not that I listen to the radio a lot, but I swear to god, over the last week I've heard that annoying Cage the Elephant song about 100 times, while the only Hip song I've heard them play was "Little Bones".
If I was in charge of managing The Tragically Hip, here's what I would do. There are exactly 9 weeks left until June 17th, and 9 songs left on the album. Why not release a song/week right up until release day just to keep the hype going? You know, like an advent calendar. It would reward the fans for having to wait so goddamn long, and it would keep the band's name in everyone's Facebook news feeds for the next 9 weeks. Just seems like an obvious thing to do in my opinion. Unfortunately the Hip's management still operates like it's 1995 and doesn't seem to have the ability to think outside the box.
Just my two cents.
Friends of mine own an antique store in downtown Kingston where Rob came in a while back and purchased the wind-up clown and a locket for which he said he'd be using them for 'musical' videos in the future - kind of cool! The theme of 'memory' is definitely evident considering these antiques.
direwolf74 Wrote:Chris Tanz Wrote:The short answer's 168 hours ...
That's how much buzz the Hip bought themselves with last week's release of Human Mind. Not even a week's worth actually. And now I suppose it will be two months of dead air until Man Machine Poem is released?
Yup. I currently live in Vancouver and I have yet to even hear the song on the local rock station here. Not that I listen to the radio a lot, but I swear to god, over the last week I've heard that annoying Cage the Elephant song about 100 times, while the only Hip song I've heard them play was "Little Bones".
If I was in charge of managing The Tragically Hip, here's what I would do. There are exactly 9 weeks left until June 17th, and 9 songs left on the album. Why not release a song/week right up until release day just to keep the hype going? You know, like an advent calendar. It would reward the fans for having to wait so goddamn long, and it would keep the band's name in everyone's Facebook news feeds for the next 9 weeks. Just seems like an obvious thing to do in my opinion. Unfortunately the Hip's management still operates like it's 1995 and doesn't seem to have the ability to think outside the box.
Just my two cents.
The Hip just aren't all that commercially relevant anymore, and haven't been since IVL. Your approach is a good one and might drum up a bit of interest, but I doubt it would alter the fundamental equation.
Sometimes a 'veteran' act that has been ignored by the masses for a while will enjoy a brief commercial renaissance; however, there seems to be a fairly random quality to that circumstance, and it doesn't seem to be something you can manufacture, short of, perhaps, going through a long period of releasing nothing (like, 10 years) and thereby generating buzz by the simple fact of your re-uniting to do something new. Another option is to have a near-death scare. Bob Dylan combined both of these dynamics when he unleashed Time Out of Mind and completely rehabilitated his commercial profile. The first does not seem to interest the Hip, and let's hope the second never happens, at least not while the band is still in the prime of life. So my view is that it's close to being a lost cause for the moment. Let's just enjoy the music when it comes.
direwolf74 Wrote:Chris Tanz Wrote:The short answer's 168 hours ...
That's how much buzz the Hip bought themselves with last week's release of Human Mind. Not even a week's worth actually. And now I suppose it will be two months of dead air until Man Machine Poem is released?
Yup. I currently live in Vancouver and I have yet to even hear the song on the local rock station here. Not that I listen to the radio a lot, but I swear to god, over the last week I've heard that annoying Cage the Elephant song about 100 times, while the only Hip song I've heard them play was "Little Bones".
If I was in charge of managing The Tragically Hip, here's what I would do. There are exactly 9 weeks left until June 17th, and 9 songs left on the album. Why not release a song/week right up until release day just to keep the hype going? You know, like an advent calendar. It would reward the fans for having to wait so goddamn long, and it would keep the band's name in everyone's Facebook news feeds for the next 9 weeks. Just seems like an obvious thing to do in my opinion. Unfortunately the Hip's management still operates like it's 1995 and doesn't seem to have the ability to think outside the box.
Just my two cents.
For what it's worth it's getting a ton of play at my station in Kamloops