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Help decipher Live Between Us. What's GD singing?
#1

Just wondering if we can complete the list of covers from Gord's rantings on "Live Between Us." I'm interested to know how many of the ad-lib's listed are actually pieces of other songs. Here's what I've got, unknown rants in regular font, and 7 known covers identified by bold numbers:

As of June 4

Grace

- "Sun came up/Shot through the blinds/Today was the day/And I was already behind"

- "Raised on TV/Like so many of you I see around me/

1) Imagine by John Lennon: "Nothing to live or die for/No religion too" (Thanks to Opiated)

- "Everyone around you smiling/Everyone around you stylin'... you've got nothing to worry about"

- "Never really had a place to stray/Too far away/From the boat that brought me here today"

Fully

- "I'm in love with the old world/Please have me back/Please take me back/I'm in love with you old world"

Springtime

- "Only one can hear... Only 60 seconds on the dial... that takes a while" (?) (I know, I know, this one is still around, but I still can't make much out of it.)

Twist

- "Into temptation/You know full well"

- "I'm not that strong/I threw myself into the water/And I'll swim at night across the river"

Gift

- "You should be careful/Of who you walk next to/And you've got to... float the body 'cross the river" (?)

ABAC

2) Every Irrelevance by Gord

Luxury

- "...know so much... this empty hall/There's an empty smell/And the curtains swell/And it's hard to tell/If there was anyone here at all"

Courage

3) Montreal by the boys

New O

4) China Girl by David Bowie (Thanks Opiated)

5) Don't Worry Baby by The Beach Boys: "Don't worry baby, everything will be alright" (Thanks Schaggs)

Daddy

No extra curricular activity

Scared

- "All my friends are gone/And they're out or just on my front lawn/No they were here I swear/They were here..." (I've taken to calling this "All your friends are gone" since it shows up a lot in '96 and '98 )

Blow

No extra curricular activity beyond some groans and Sean Connery/Richard Harris adlib.

Nautical

- "It is all I'd ever do/And it's all I'd ever do... I always did just what you said/And just one time I fucked up: you go away/And just one time I couldn't get up and go away"

6) Temple by Jane Siberry (Thanks Casey)

7) Bad Time To Be Poor by The Rheo's

Where

- "My face was red/I never heard a word you said... I don't know why but I still feel bad/I know there's no way to solve anything/I know there's no way to tell you stay... But if you listen just a little more"
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#2

'nothing to live or die for..no religion too.." that's imagine by lennon...not sure about the raised on tv part though

and new orleans..he's singin china girl by bowie
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#3

opiated Wrote:'nothing to live or die for..no religion too.." that's imagine by lennon...not sure about the raised on tv part though

and new orleans..he's singin china girl by bowie

Score. Off to a good start. Thanks Opes.
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#4

NOIS: He starts with china girl by Bowie, yes, but morphs into "Don't Worry Baby" by the Beach Boys.

"Don't worry baby.... everything will turn out all right"
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#5

Thanks for this thread, Stephen. These are the kinds of things i've been slowing down songs to try and pick out, so it's really cool that you're figuring them out.

Gord starts off Wherewithal by saying "he had the wherewithal, he had the wherewithal...I retired to Florida, as a private citizen!" This album was actually the first time i'd heard the song, and it's the main reason i've always thought the song was about Nixon, not Dawson.
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#6

SoylentGreg Wrote:Thanks for this thread, Stephen. These are the kinds of things i've been slowing down songs to try and pick out, so it's really cool that you're figuring them out.

Gord starts off Wherewithal by saying "he had the wherewithal, he had the wherewithal...I retired to Florida, as a private citizen!" This album was actually the first time i'd heard the song, and it's the main reason i've always thought the song was about Nixon, not Dawson.

Tricky Dick is an interesting angle... although he retired to California... or so he said! Maybe Deep Throat knows for sure. Smile I'll toss the Nixon interpretation into the reference window.
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#7

Hmm...after researching it a bit more, Nixon retired to California, and Dawson resides in Beverly Hills. Neither matches. So maybe the song's about an unknown third Richard?

And I always heard the end of Twist My Arm as: "I knew i'd step into the water/and i'd swim at night, across the river." Probably wrong, though, as I hear the first part as "I don't feel, I don't care, I take my cyanide, and swim with the tide, i'm not a strong swimm-ah"
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#8

SoylentGreg Wrote:Hmm...after researching it a bit more, Nixon retired to California, and Dawson resides in Beverly Hills. Neither matches. So maybe the song's about an unknown third Richard?

This is what I've been able to find so far.

I think it's one of those less literal songs that lets each fan find their own meaning. It's most likely about some none descript Dick, but it sure is fun to speculate!
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#9

At my third Hip concert (1992-11-18 - Fully Completely tour) I distinctly remember GD saying: "This song is about Richard Nixon or Richard Dawson. You decide." So there you go Stephen - find your own meaning.
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#10

cferneyh Wrote:At my third Hip concert (1992-11-18 - Fully Completely tour) I distinctly remember GD saying: "This song is about Richard Nixon or Richard Dawson. You decide." So there you go Stephen - find your own meaning.

Well, we all know how reliable Gord is about intro'ing songs. I've heard him say "Thugs" is about "rabid bunnies," but I'll toss that up on the site since it validates my insanity a lil' bit. Thanks.
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#11

cferneyh Wrote:At my third Hip concert (1992-11-18 - Fully Completely tour) I distinctly remember GD saying: "This song is about Richard Nixon or Richard Dawson. You decide." So there you go Stephen - find your own meaning.

I think it's about Richard II going into exile and then getting murdered (at least that's what happended in Shakespeare's version; I haven't look at any history books on this matter). Richard II was like a TV Star prima donna of a King who got ousted in a palace putsch and decided the slight was so bad that he would go into seclusion and sulk about his woe-is-me twist of fate ... kinda like retiring to Florida as a private citizen.

ct
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#12

Chris Tanz Wrote:
cferneyh Wrote:At my third Hip concert (1992-11-18 - Fully Completely tour) I distinctly remember GD saying: "This song is about Richard Nixon or Richard Dawson. You decide." So there you go Stephen - find your own meaning.

I think it's about Richard II going into exile and then getting murdered (at least that's what happended in Shakespeare's version; I haven't look at any history books on this matter). Richard II was like a TV Star prima donna of a King who got ousted in a palace putsch and decided the slight was so bad that he would go into seclusion and sulk about his woe-is-me twist of fate ... kinda like retiring to Florida as a private citizen.

ct

Very cool, and you can never discount Shakespeare when it comes to Gord.
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#13

Hey,

I made it onto "A Museum After Dark!" :jump That's cool! I still go with the Dawson over the Nixon, but do agree with Stephen that Gord never intends to be taken literally.
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#14

longseason Wrote:Hey,
I made it onto "A Museum After Dark!" :jump

Me too! "It's people", lol! And if the song is about Richard II, why would Gord say that he's "not on TV anymore"? The only thing I don't like about the Nixon theory is that Gord says "I always loved that guy", and Nixon was known for a distinct lack of...charisma, lets say, while Richard Dawson's full of it (Those late night Match Game reruns are still funny).
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#15

Also, after China Girl in NOIS, Gord moves into "Don't worry baby" by the Beach Boys.
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