[cochise]

This album took some time to grow on me, but there are some beautiful nuggets on there.

I loved "At Transformation" when I first heard it and felt it was the most "early Hip" sounding song since Vaccination Scar. This gave me high hopes for the album, but it seemed that AT was the "odd" song out on the album with the remainder being closer to the WATS and WC vibe. Not that I didn't like it, it just wasn't what I expected and it took some time to grow on me.

That being said, I think "We Want To Be It" is just an incredible song. I know I have read that Gord said this was written before his wife's cancer diagnosis, but I just find that hard to believe, The song just strikes such an emotional chord to me. The lines "Tick, tick, tick, the smartest guy in the room, might as well be on the moon, or in his tower or his tomb, 'Cause all I'm hearing is you" just perfectly sums up that numb feeling of hearing bad news from a doctor. Very powerful imagery here. Plus the line "When you thought all my dreams sucked, I was just happy you gave a fuck" is classic Gord too.

Overall, the album lands in the middle/bottom of the pack for me. Not in my top 10, but not my least favourite either.

On a side note, does anyone else ever think of the tv show Community whenever they hear Streets Ahead? I always wondered if that's where Gord got the idea for the song. Community was such a twisted sense of humour show, it just seemed to me like something Gord probably would have watched.

[andrew sharpe]

Plus the line "When you thought all my dreams sucked, I was just happy you gave a f**k" is classic Gord too.

I always struggle with that one...to me if you think someone's dreams suck then you don't give a fuck...

[Killer Whale Tank]

The point is that she is *engaged* with him and his dreams. She cares even as she disagrees with his goals.

I'm not denying that the narrator's position is pathetic. But the line makes sense.

[SRK]

I'm on the record as saying this is by far my least favourite hip album, and the only thing any of the boys ever put out that I actively dislike. I remember seeing them at Ottawa bluesfest in 2011, which was when I heard streets ahead and we want to be it for the first time, both of which left me cold...mainly on account of neither of them having a discernible tune, and screamo gord being in full effect. Never really got past that, although I loved 'at transformation' when it first came out. I listened to the whole album on the way home from a (Jack white?) show in montreal the night it came out and got progressively angrier the more I heard. There was just...nothing there. Aside from attiwapiskat, I can't remember a single thing about 50% of the album, despite having heard it at least 10 times. And I'm clearly in the minority, since I despise (the song) man machine poem...it was a perfect platform for gord to scream away.

Ugh.

[edgoffin]

I know lots people hated this tour, but the U.S. shows I saw in Rochester and Syracuse we're fantastic (not sure about the OP opinion on Syracuse...needless to say I have a different opinion of the show, as I thought it was great) and are at or near the top of the 22 Hip shows I've seen.

I don't think I ever really gave my own opinion on the show, other than the people I brought we're so-so on it (it was too bad it was their only time seeing the band) and I thought it was a bit too loud for the venue -- there was some serious audio saturation happening at times, which then maybe left Gord really pushing the vocals. Could have just been a matter of where our seats were located, but one of the band newbies to this day only remembers Gord yelling through songs. I more remember being excited to see Eldorado, first time in a long time, and it was a pretty solid set list.

I saw 4 shows on this tour, I never hated any of them and I maybe lucked out on some set lists, but it was definitely not as memorable as any past tour. As for Syracuse, was the least memorable of any of the many times I made the trek to see a show in that city. The IVL show at the Landmark would be in my top 10 all time shows.

I do remember leaving that night wondering what was next for the band, which is partially what motivated me to go see a few more shows. I was not a fan of WATS, and while I liked NFPA, the band (or maybe more Gord) seemed a bit more tired, and a bit less interested, than in past years. I can still say I never saw an off-night for the band, but I think there was a lot going on that possibly made this tour more of a grind.

[edgoffin]

the band (or maybe more Gord) seemed a bit more tired, and a bit less interested, than in past years. I can still say I never saw an off-night for the band, but I think there was a lot going on that possibly made this tour more of a grind.

...I'll also quote myself, and say some of these impressions have definitely been influenced over time and knowing how history plays out. I did feel at the time the band was possibly coming to some sort of conclusion, and then the FC anniversary shows made me think that was even more of a possibility.

[andrew sharpe]

The point is that she is *engaged* with him and his dreams. She cares even as she disagrees with his goals.

I'm not denying that the narrator's position is pathetic. But the line makes sense.

I guess...it still seems inconsistent and not very poetic. Thinking someone's dreams suck subverts the romance of "We don't want to do it, we want to be it."

[Killer Whale Tank]

But notice - it's in the past tense. "When you thought...I was just happy..." There's a story being told in the song, and those lines refer to the earlier stages of the relationship.

[edgoffin]

But notice - it's in the past tense. "When you thought...I was just happy..." There's a story being told in the song, and those lines refer to the earlier stages of the relationship.

That's why I started thinking about it as a breakup song -- when the marketing narrative of the record was chemo and recovery, I was thinking "drip, drip, drip" had something to do with treatment, but now I think the drip, drip, drip is decay or falling apart while the narrator tries to ignore it. The "drip" is the reality to his perception.

[cochise]

But notice - it's in the past tense. "When you thought...I was just happy..." There's a story being told in the song, and those lines refer to the earlier stages of the relationship.

That's why I started thinking about it as a breakup song -- when the marketing narrative of the record was chemo and recovery, I was thinking "drip, drip, drip" had something to do with treatment, but now I think the drip, drip, drip is decay or falling apart while the narrator tries to ignore it. The "drip" is the reality to his perception.

Always interesting to hear how some songs can be interpreted in so many different ways. I always took this song as complete opposite to that, I always felt this song was more about the incredible strength and bond in a relationship.

As I mentioned earlier, I know Gord said the song was written before his wife's diagnosis, But the line "The Smartest Guy In The Room, might as well be on the moon, or in his tower or his tomb, cause all I'm hearing is you", I just picture a couple getting this bad news from a doctor, that numb feeling and not being able to think about anything else but that other person".

Plus the line "all our friends gave us a week, we're still happening as we speak" I took as being together through thick and thin, even beyond points where others would not have made it through.

Not saying I am right obviously, just the way I always heard the song.

[edgoffin]

Always interesting to hear how some songs can be interpreted in so many different ways. I always took this song as complete opposite to that, I always felt this song was more about the incredible strength and bond in a relationship.

As I mentioned earlier, I know Gord said the song was written before his wife's diagnosis, But the line "The Smartest Guy In The Room, might as well be on the moon, or in his tower or his tomb, cause all I'm hearing is you", I just picture a couple getting this bad news from a doctor, that numb feeling and not being able to think about anything else but that other person".

Plus the line "all our friends gave us a week, we're still happening as we speak" I took as being together through thick and thin, even beyond points where others would not have made it through.

Not saying I am right obviously, just the way I always heard the song.

I never had really thought of it as a breakup song until the past year or so. But the way I now interpret it is as either a perception or memory countered by today's reality. For example:

Perception: And all our friends gave us a week
Reality: Drip, drip (a positive memory, we overcome but in reality it's falling part)
Perception: And we're still happening as we speak
Reality: Drip, drip (it's falling part slowly)

Mostly I was stuck on what the words drip, drip, drip meant, I equated it with a negative and then started to think about dripping as "slowly falling apart or decaying". So there had been a bond and strength, but it was falling apart. Add in there the anger that Gord seemed to channel live in the drip, drip, drip. That's my sort of bleak, dark view on the song.

The beauty of poetry is we can all have different readings, and know that likely none of them are what the authored intended.

[Killer Whale Tank]

That richness is part of what makes it a terrific song.

For my part, I think the song isn't about a relationship failing or succeeding per se; it's about fighting to keep the relationship from failing. We WANT to "be it." That doesn't mean we ARE it. That's what the struggle is.

"Drip drip" works as that water torture of time, corroding the relationship, but the aspiration remains intact by the end of the song, and so does the relationship itself: WE'RE STILL HAPPENING AS WE SPEAK being one of my favourite lines in late-era Hip, just the passion with which its delivered and the defiance it conveys.

The song gives us no final resolution. It could go either way. But we know it's not, and won't be easy.

That's the reason why Gord's "extreme" vocal is so effective in this song. The lyrics call forth that intensity.

[edgoffin]

"Drip drip" works as that water torture of time, corroding the relationship, but the aspiration remains intact by the end of the song, and so does the relationship itself.

I just go straight to the dark place and says it's corroded.

[andrew sharpe]

For my part, I think the song isn't about a relationship failing or succeeding per se; it's about fighting to keep the relationship from failing. We WANT to "be it." That doesn't mean we ARE it. That's what the struggle is.

I didn't take do/we as being time lapsed...I took it as forcefully executing a task VS immersing yourself in something. I seem to remember GD using this line to also describe his band's approach to performing. They don't want to just go out there and play, they want to BE the performance, all encompassing, unconsciously committed. In the context of the song I think he's using it to describe how he wants the relationship to be...not two people going through the motions, two people wholly and fully (and completely) involved in each other's lives and thoughts and existence.

I wonder if we'd be interpreting this song in a negative way if the songwriter's marriage hadn't failed? We're still happening as we speak erases any negative connotations I might have. I don't hear drip, drip as anything other than the medicine...he's bringing her back to life.

Just another opinion (of course).

[Killer Whale Tank]

andrew sharpe, I'm not sure we disagree that much on this lyric. There's some tension in the lyric between the *aspiration* (to be it) and the reality (we want to be it...implying it doesn't happen automatically). That's what gives the song its edge. I guess I come between you and edgofinn in terms of how much optimism I hear in there. He hears it as a eulogy for a failed relationship, you hear it as a pean of praise to flourishing love, I hear it as a song that's ultimately optimistic but deeply informed by the knowledge that it could all collapse, and how much work and will is required to make the aspiration a reality.

Musically, there is one thing that's always bothered me about this song. The final bars coming out of the chorus seem unfinished to me.

"WE WANT TO BEEEEE IT, DRIP DRIP DRIP" is followed by this "mmmmmm..." from Gord. It sounds limp to me, like he's trying to think of a way to resolve the chorus more satisfactorily. I'd like a musical exclamation mark, but get only an ellipsis. It doesn't ruin the song by any means, but it's sort of unsatisfying.

Does anyone else feel this way?