"Circle of Steel" is a real bruiser. I first heard it after my mother bought Gord's Gold back in 76 (I was 10). I was familiar with all of his hits through the radio, but I was struck by the landscapes of all those numbers I hadn't heard before--especially Circle of Steel. It's a song that has stuck with me, even moreso when I finally became a father.
"Deck the Halls was the song they played in the flat next door where they shout all day."
"A child is born to a welfare case where the rats run around like they own the place."
"The sun hits the handle of her heirloom cup."
I will always be moved by this utterly relentless song. It is one of the most evocative things I have ever heard--a Dickensian gem.
I have to go hug my boy now.
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