Killer Whale Tank Wrote:Save the Planet got dropped from setlists early for the obvious reason that it sucks :mrgreen:
Chris Tanz, is that a certain jadedness about this 'Weakest Link' process setting in - ?
Some just like to suck the fun outta everything
Vote the planet
Sleep's beckoning from the depths
From the cracks and from the crevices
Join the army of ghosts
The murmurs in the mist
Sleep plunging into deeper debt
Into bunkers and black minarets
On geyser of ink
A morning voice faint and yet
Despite some of its fantastic lyrics, I never cared much for the tune itself.
3 votes for Thompson girl? Surprising. While I'd never expect it to be one of the last songs standing, nearly 10% of votes as weakest track on the album seems harsh to me.
If I had chosen fireworks instead of Planet, the numbers would be:
Rules 13
Membership 8
Planet 7
Fireworks 6
Have always had a soft spot for the somber rules. Of course its never going to be the star of a setlist (maybe its best spot would be to open an encore) but its perfect in my headphones on a rainy day. Or alone in the car cursing lousy luck.
Moof_Milker Wrote:First album since Up To Here where the first choice pick wasn’t easy. Hmmm. “The Rules,” I love you - some classic Gord lines, I especially love this one:
“Salesman said this vacuum's guaranteed
It could suck an ancient virus from the sea
It could put the dog out of a job...”
...but you ARE the weakest link, goodbye!
That verse was always one of my favourites as well. The type of lyric that got even better with age for me upon learning Gord's father Edgar was a travelling (sales)man. The only recent examples I can think of where a Hip lyric may have gained more gravitas was the final line from "Scared," and hearing throwing off glass may not have been about curling, but: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://www.upi.com/Archives/1997/07/23/Canadians-react-strongly-to-hate-attack/8081869630400/">https://www.upi.com/Archives/1997/07/23 ... 869630400/</a><!-- m --> , but I digress.
To dig a little deeper on the Rules final verse, I also loved how the vacuum (night) was foreshadowed, and the closer "Could make traffic stop so little thoughts can safely get across" ties in SO perfectly with the opening verse.
The Rules: a beautiful thing. Certainly an under-appreciated Tragically Hip song. Perhaps it would have been a "stronger link" on one of Gord's solo albums.
cochise Wrote:Killer Whale Tank Wrote:Save the Planet got dropped from setlists early for the obvious reason that it sucks :mrgreen:
Chris Tanz, is that a certain jadedness about this 'Weakest Link' process setting in - ?
Some just like to suck the fun outta everything
Are you kidding me ... I'm loving it!
My potted predictions are more cheerleading than anything else.
ct
Someone vote for Save the Planet plz
carebread Wrote:Someone vote for Save the Planet plz
Constitutions of granite can't save Save the Planet ...
Moof_Milker Wrote:I picked "The Rules" ...maybe because of its tone - light, airy, little wistful perhaps? Nothing wrong with that...but compared to other songs it sounds maybe less important...if that makes sense.
For me it's the lack of any discernible hook. The melody just kind of plods along with the lyrics.
Chris Tanz Wrote:carebread Wrote:Someone vote for Save the Planet plz
Constitutions of granite can't save Save the Planet ...
*applause. :lol: :lol: :lol:
I seem to be in the minority but Escape just doesn’t do anything for me. It’s not one of my favorite tracks on PP
"Escape" is certainly a good song, but overrated among Hip fans IMHO - it seems to be one of those "deep cuts" that hard-core fans occasionally rally behind for inscrutable reasons. So I hear where you're coming from, Srb718.
There are two deep cuts on Phantom Power that get out-sized love, Escape and Emperor. Of the two, I think Emperor is much more deserving of the adulation and if it happens to come down to these two I will have no problem ticking off the box for Escape.
There's a whole lotta casual treason in these last few posts.
potsie Wrote:There are two deep cuts on Phantom Power that get out-sized love, Escape and Emperor. Of the two, I think Emperor is much more deserving of the adulation and if it happens to come down to these two I will have no problem ticking off the box for Escape.
I love Emperor, not because it's an overlooked "deep cut" to be somehow cherished for that reason, but because I find the portrait of family devotion, sandwiched between verses of wry parental grumbling, very moving. That line "their women are swimming in from half an ocean away" gets me every time. "Don't sound so detached, this is you and me..."
The way Gord deals with these issues, which are always in danger of turning into treacle, is amazing. Emperor penguin as metaphor - awesome.
Killer Whale Tank Wrote:potsie Wrote:There are two deep cuts on Phantom Power that get out-sized love, Escape and Emperor. Of the two, I think Emperor is much more deserving of the adulation and if it happens to come down to these two I will have no problem ticking off the box for Escape.
I love Emperor, not because it's an overlooked "deep cut" to be somehow cherished for that reason, but because I find the portrait of family devotion, sandwiched between verses of wry parental grumbling, very moving. That line "their women are swimming in from half an ocean away" gets me every time. "Don't sound so detached, this is you and me..."
The way Gord deals with these issues, which are always in danger of turning into treacle, is amazing. Emperor penguin as metaphor - awesome.
Loving it simply because it's overlooked would be rather hollow reasoning. From 1998 until 2006, when my first son was born, I would have put Escape ahead of Emperor. I've always the enjoyed the metaphor of Emperor, and while I could appreciate it, I could never truly identify with it. Once I had kids and entered my thirties, the song took on a deeper resonance for me. I think it's a love song or more specifically a "song about love", which starts by describing the uncomplicated and devoted love one has for a child (penguin egg) in the beginning, and finishes with the more complicated love one can have for a partner/spouse. The first verse echos the feeling any young parent has... the kids are making a racket, creating messes, and it's sometimes just a matter of trying to see it through to the end of the day. The last verse describes the basis of many a faltering relationship; it requires work to keep it going, and emperor penguins understand that.
In addition, "Spartan antarctican walk" is a beautiful phrase, and that guitar solo at the end is soaring. Just a fantastic song, deep cut or not.