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Old 08-08-2005, 08:59 AM   #1
sleeping GIANT
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I've found myself listening lately to APPT. I had kind of dismissed the CD, and I still think it's the weakest of all GL's works. A quick, personal evaluation before my question:

Drifters: great melody, great refrain (one of the best of all), but the wording is kind of clunky, and the rhyme scheme in the stanzas is defective to missing.

My Little Love: Love the idea, but the melody is boring and repetitive.

Ringneck Loon: Again, good concept, poor execution.

I Used to Be a Country Singer: Not GL's work, and it shows, but an OK song. Listen to the emotion in GL's voice when he sings "and my voice is almost gone"--a little too close?

Boathouse--Quite frankly, one of the weakest GL songs ever.

A Painter Passing Through--Good, not great song, and very biographical.

On Yonge Street--Not as weak as Boathouse, but little to recommend it.

Red Velvet--Again, not a GL song, but he does a nice job on it. His vocals seem the strongest on this song, almost back to 70's-80s.

Uncle Toad Said--Cute.

That leaves "Much to My Surprise", which is the one song that really has caught my attention. The more I listen to it, the more I like it and get out of it. The metaphors are kind of tricky, but I love the feeling of frustration regarding how hard the search for love is, and how close some people come and still can't find it (the repetition of "almost"; phrases like "they were all checked out for a wild blue sea/till someone cried "hit the deck"; the two schemers who were "like two ships and they sailed right by/each other in the dark), all juxtaposed with the surprise at the contentment of love found ("it is so strange to be right now/having you on my knee/much to my surprise"). I find the song both incredibly melancholy (how many failures to successes?), and very tender at the same time.
Excellent song, but I have one big question:
"Wouldn't you like to be right now/Out where the actors play?/So much for your disguise". I don't see what this means or how it fits in to the context of the song. I'm sure some of you out there can give some insight.

Thanks,
DQ
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Old 08-08-2005, 08:59 AM   #2
Don Quixote
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I've found myself listening lately to APPT. I had kind of dismissed the CD, and I still think it's the weakest of all GL's works. A quick, personal evaluation before my question:

Drifters: great melody, great refrain (one of the best of all), but the wording is kind of clunky, and the rhyme scheme in the stanzas is defective to missing.

My Little Love: Love the idea, but the melody is boring and repetitive.

Ringneck Loon: Again, good concept, poor execution.

I Used to Be a Country Singer: Not GL's work, and it shows, but an OK song. Listen to the emotion in GL's voice when he sings "and my voice is almost gone"--a little too close?

Boathouse--Quite frankly, one of the weakest GL songs ever.

A Painter Passing Through--Good, not great song, and very biographical.

On Yonge Street--Not as weak as Boathouse, but little to recommend it.

Red Velvet--Again, not a GL song, but he does a nice job on it. His vocals seem the strongest on this song, almost back to 70's-80s.

Uncle Toad Said--Cute.

That leaves "Much to My Surprise", which is the one song that really has caught my attention. The more I listen to it, the more I like it and get out of it. The metaphors are kind of tricky, but I love the feeling of frustration regarding how hard the search for love is, and how close some people come and still can't find it (the repetition of "almost"; phrases like "they were all checked out for a wild blue sea/till someone cried "hit the deck"; the two schemers who were "like two ships and they sailed right by/each other in the dark), all juxtaposed with the surprise at the contentment of love found ("it is so strange to be right now/having you on my knee/much to my surprise"). I find the song both incredibly melancholy (how many failures to successes?), and very tender at the same time.
Excellent song, but I have one big question:
"Wouldn't you like to be right now/Out where the actors play?/So much for your disguise". I don't see what this means or how it fits in to the context of the song. I'm sure some of you out there can give some insight.

Thanks,
DQ
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Old 08-08-2005, 12:08 PM   #3
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You have got to be kidding! Boathouse is a GREAT rocking song with very cool lyrics!!!

Ringneck Loon plays through my brain over and over, love the melody, the lyrics help me stay resigned to my boring work week...

My Little Love -- some very touching lyrics, swingin' tune
my little love movin in my soul
my little love who will never turn cold
It doesnt matter if I aint shaved
it doesnt matter if I aint behaved
my little love you been on my side
helpin me keep turnin the tide
Havin a hard time livin right now
havin a hard time showin ya how

Don Quixote, give these songs a chance to grow on you (since they didn't knock you dead right away) I promise you won't regret it!!!

This whole album is a great response to that uneducated lunkhead critic who thinks that all GL songs sound the same...
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Old 08-08-2005, 03:42 PM   #4
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Hey DQ, there were quite a few of his songs that didn't strike me right away. As a matter of fact, I'm listening to one right now ("Circle of Steel"). I know you're not a newbie GL lover, but, just keep listening to it, without skipping the ones you don't care for. I do that. After about the 4th to 10th listening, yeah, they grow on me. They may never become some of my favorites, like Don Quixote or Seven Island Suite, but, they get "up" on the chart with me. Now, I can listen to Sundown without skipping any tunes. Regarding APPT, at first listen, some of the songs could be dismissed as silly (Uncle Toad) or of not much value (Boathouse), but, after awhile, they all carve out their own special place in my heart.
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Old 08-08-2005, 04:46 PM   #5
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Although I don't have APPT, I am kind of apprehensive at this moment because I feel the same way about Waiting for You, which I got in the mail 3 or 4 days ago.

I love, love 6 of the 10 songs on there, but I feel that I am going to have to keep listening to the other 4 and see if my opinion changes for the better (The 4 songs being "Welcome To Try," "I'll Prove My Love," "Wild Strawberries," "I'd Rather Press On,")...there's nothing terrible about those 4 though, honestly.

Maybe I am trying to accustom myself to his changed voice here too, I guess.

I loved "Only Love Would Know" and "Drink Yer Glasses Empty" so much that they brought tears to my eyes. I loved the remaining songs too. I of course forgive the guy if he cannot score a home run after every album, after all this IS his 18th or so album :D :D and I think his health might have been worsening at this time in his life? I do not know.
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Old 08-08-2005, 04:46 PM   #6
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Although I don't have APPT, I am kind of apprehensive at this moment because I feel the same way about Waiting for You, which I got in the mail 3 or 4 days ago.

I love, love 6 of the 10 songs on there, but I feel that I am going to have to keep listening to the other 4 and see if my opinion changes for the better (The 4 songs being "Welcome To Try," "I'll Prove My Love," "Wild Strawberries," "I'd Rather Press On,")...there's nothing terrible about those 4 though, honestly.

Maybe I am trying to accustom myself to his changed voice here too, I guess.

I loved "Only Love Would Know" and "Drink Yer Glasses Empty" so much that they brought tears to my eyes. I loved the remaining songs too. I of course forgive the guy if he cannot score a home run after every album, after all this IS his 18th or so album :D :D and I think his health might have been worsening at this time in his life? I do not know.
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Old 08-08-2005, 07:16 PM   #7
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As you may remember my telling you, I first bought Dream Street Rose -- that was put out around, what, 1980? His voice was pretty much the same as the last time I'd heard it on the radio. The next time I heard his voice was on the DVD of Live In Reno -- WHOAAAAAA!!! Took me back, you might say! Not to the past, I might add! Took me back a few paces! O.K., O.K., he's older by 20 years, I don't sound the same as I did 20 years ago, either. (And, no, his health problems were after the Reno DVD and after APPT.) So, I listened, and listened, and, hey, it's Gord....so... you just gotta love him, ya know??! I do admit to not caring for Red Velvet. Very country-ish, a little too "yahoo" for me. (He didn't write it. Another Canadian legend, Ian Tyson, did. Nothing against Ian, it's just not my style.) The four songs you listed are, I assume, the ones you didn't care for so much. They are, actually, some of my favorites on that album. As a matter of fact, the last few of his concerts he's opened with "Welcome to Try!" The thing I love about that one, I'll Prove My Love, and I'd Rather Press On, are that he's speaking as a mature man, after many, many of life's experiences have gone under his belt. (No pun intended there, folks, hahaha -- Brink, stop laughing!) ANYway.. as I way saying, those songs are written as the Voice of Experience. I just love a man of experience, don't you? He's so wise, and yet, you can tell, he's lightened up about life. Especially in Wild Strawberries. At first I thought that song was just plain silly. But, I thought about it, and what was so bad about that? The guy has written the most heart-wrenchingly beautiful ballads and soul-searching songs for years -- he's entitled to a silly one. I think it's his way of letting us all know that he, too, has lightened up in his life. Which is a good thing. After all, you probably know what his life has been like. He's lived life in the fast lane, that's for sure. Nothing wrong with a walk in the forest looking for some wild strawberries wearing your polka dot underwear, LOL!! I dont' remember if you mentioned how old you are, but, I have to say, being my age, almost 47, my desires, thoughts and feelings are very different from when I was 27. To which I'm very grateful for Father Time. Wouldn't go back there for any money. I think Gord's happy where he's at now. Whoo-hoo, practically a treatise here, eh? Well, looking forward to your response!
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Old 08-08-2005, 08:03 PM   #8
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Sheryl,

I whole-heartedly agree with your expressions...give me a man of wisdom and experience any day!

Gord's voice reflects the fact that here is a man who has lived (and is still living) a very full life, who has had his ups and downs, and experienced every bit of the words he has so beautifully written. You hear it in his voice, see it in his face, and read it in his eyes.

Here is a storyteller, a songsmith, someone who knows about what he sings...and his voice as it is now only adds to the story, and to the telling.

Mouse
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Old 08-08-2005, 08:07 PM   #9
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I have to agree with Watchman. WFY is probably, if I absolutely had to commit, my favorite GL album. APPT, I got during the last year of a long term relationship. Busy busy busy, and couldn't really get into the album, I was disappointed on first listen,so I shelved it. A year or so later, on my own, needing music that had no bearing or reference to my past, I had APPT and an album by Counting Crows. I listened to APPT endlessly,it was a relief to have something that I hadn't shared with anyone else. That album became my saving grace in a way. Love Drifters, Much to My Surprise, even Ringneck Loon. Took me longer to get into the ones that he didn't write, but APPT definitely made it's mark with me. Took awhile, but now I love it and relate it with a time of growing stronger on my own.
"It feels real good to be stranded on my own"
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Old 08-08-2005, 08:26 PM   #10
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Yeah baby. Hearing you in FM. No one says it better than he does.
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Old 08-09-2005, 09:53 AM   #11
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To bjb and others--I have listened to APPT dozens and dozens of times, and don't give my opinion lightly or without thought, so I don't think anything you say will change my opinion of the songs. It does not mean, of course, that I am "right"--De gustibus non disputandum est, after all, and I respect your tastes as well.

Now that the "feeding frenzy" on my critique of APPT has subsided, is there anyone who can answer my question about "Much to My Surprise"?

Thanks,
DQ
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Old 08-09-2005, 02:48 PM   #12
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When I acquired that CD in 2002,it was (naturally)a lot different than I expected. I assumed it would be as deep as "Waiting For You" but it took a great while before I could appreciate the songs.

My favorites on this rank this way:

1.Drifters
2.Much To My Surprise
3.A Painter Passing Through
4.Red Velvet
5.Boathouse
6.My Little Love
7.On Yonge Street
8.I Used To Be A Country Singer
9.Ring Neck Loon
10.Uncle Toad Said (Nothing personal,not too crazy about the title.)
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Old 08-09-2005, 08:22 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally posted by Don Quixote:
Now that the "feeding frenzy" on my critique of APPT has subsided
Thanks,
DQ
I was feeding? In a frenzy? Odd, I don't feel like I've eaten...
As to your question, I suppose Watchman answered it as well, probably better than I would have been able to.
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Old 08-10-2005, 01:46 AM   #14
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It's been a while, Don Q. You've got the old Rez a-ponderin' here.

A-ponderin' is good.

I find myself a-ponderin' your average, every day Bull Frog, too. I'm partial to that li'l ditty.

A first grader told me a joke just before Summer:

She said, "What happened to Mr. Frog's car? (I, of course, was clueless)

Between missing front teeth, she gave a me a giggle: "It got Toad"

Adios,

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Old 08-10-2005, 08:22 AM   #15
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Hi, Watchman. Your interpretation certainly is better than anything I was able to come up with. I'm going to chew on it awhile longer. The only part of your interpretation that I'm having trouble with has to do with the grammar. "Wouldn't you like to be right now..."--second person, talking to someone; in the rest of the song, the only time he's talking to someone, he's talking to his beloved ("having you close to me", "having you on my knee"); in that context, the "out where the actors play" lines almost sound like he's inviting her to leave him. Hmm...I'll keep working on it, but I think you've gotten me pointed in the right direction. Thanks.

Rez, good to hear from you again. My daughters are 15 and 20 now, and your anecdote about the gap-toothed 7-year-old brings back lots of silly memories from a time that was not too long ago, but seems an eternity away, as well. BTW, what is it about frogs and toads that make them such useful literary and metaphoric devices--from Aesop's fables, to the WB's cartoon "One Froggy Evening" (which one critic called a 7-minute morality play), to "Uncle Toad Said"? Maybe I'll find the answers before I, uh, croak.

Cheers,
DQ
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Old 08-10-2005, 08:31 AM   #16
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Gotta jump in on this discussion.

On APPT:

Drifters, in my opinion, is the best song on this album.

Boathouse was weak on the album, but rocked when performed live; it was recorded too slowly.

The title track could have been great, but I thought the arrangement was not the best.

Ringneck Loon - spend a few weeks in a city, and then get on a boat on the French River or something. You'll get it.

on Waiting for You:

Positively my favorite GL album. I love its simplicity, and the arrangments and mix are great. I thought the arrangements and mixes of the 80s albums were ... odd. A lack of subtlety might be a good way to describe the 80s arrangements (though I still love the songs, and must confess to not being familiar with Salute).

Wild Strawberries may very well be my favorite GL song ever - it's playful and serious at the same time. Drink Your Glasses Empty is a tear-jerker. Ring Them Bells is a great cover. I love the newer arrangement and melody changes to Waiting for You in recent concerts. You can hear that on Live in Reno.

My first Gord concert was right after the release of WFY, so there's some strong attachment to the album for that reason as well.
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Old 08-10-2005, 08:31 AM   #17
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Gotta jump in on this discussion.

On APPT:

Drifters, in my opinion, is the best song on this album.

Boathouse was weak on the album, but rocked when performed live; it was recorded too slowly.

The title track could have been great, but I thought the arrangement was not the best.

Ringneck Loon - spend a few weeks in a city, and then get on a boat on the French River or something. You'll get it.

on Waiting for You:

Positively my favorite GL album. I love its simplicity, and the arrangments and mix are great. I thought the arrangements and mixes of the 80s albums were ... odd. A lack of subtlety might be a good way to describe the 80s arrangements (though I still love the songs, and must confess to not being familiar with Salute).

Wild Strawberries may very well be my favorite GL song ever - it's playful and serious at the same time. Drink Your Glasses Empty is a tear-jerker. Ring Them Bells is a great cover. I love the newer arrangement and melody changes to Waiting for You in recent concerts. You can hear that on Live in Reno.

My first Gord concert was right after the release of WFY, so there's some strong attachment to the album for that reason as well.
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Old 08-10-2005, 02:58 PM   #18
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"feeding frenzy" -- well, it was a bunch of fairly provocative statements you made

I think maybe Much to My Surprise is talking to someone who has been putting on an act (disguise) ... and "out where the actors play" doesn't have to be a geographic location but could just be "on stage"

???
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Old 08-10-2005, 04:59 PM   #19
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I knew nothing about the release of "Painter" in 1998 but knew about "Waiting For You" courtesy of a Rolling Stone review in 1993.
It was the first time I had seen Gord in (then) current times. As opposed to thinking he still looked as he did on "Salute",the last new LP I saw of his until that time.

Strange how i never saw Dream Street Rose or Shadows back when they came out. ..or maybe i just wasn't paying attention.
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Old 08-10-2005, 05:10 PM   #20
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Watchman,

I like your take on it.

DQ,

When I listened, and heard, as opposed to just grooving along I thought "out where the actors play" could be either 'on stage' or 'on the beach' as in California. But then I can get too literal at times. Where do actors play after all.

Bill
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Old 08-10-2005, 05:12 PM   #21
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OOPS I almost forgot, I too am a APPT lover, can't help it, don't skip a single song. Hearing the title song live just cemented the whole album for me...

Bill
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Old 08-10-2005, 05:43 PM   #22
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APPT is OK, but sort of dull to sit through the whole thing. It leaves me feeling a bit empty at the end, as if it's an imitation of a Gord album. APPT is a great song, but the others I could take or leave.
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Old 08-10-2005, 11:31 PM   #23
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I was thinking about what I wrote regarding WFY, and I sincerely hope that I didn't give the wrong impression that I was disparaging the album in any way. Deep down, I don't think I gave this impression, but I just want to make sure that this wasn't the case.

A part of me has become regretful that I did not get a new WFY album instead of a used one. At Amazon, the description of the New album as having a "saw cut on the back insert" had made me apprehensive, so I sought one that was "Like New," but now that I think about it, I think a part of me feels like I cannot enjoy the album freely if it has been used by someone else...the case it came in had several small scratches and was a bit broken on the top, and there was a paper-punch type of hole in the liner notes. Other than that, the disc looked okay, but who really knows how many times it was actually played. And given the fact that collecting GL's music means the world to me, I feel in retrospect that I would want all of my GL CDs in particular to be in New condition. Maybe I would have felt more mentally assured had I been listening to a crisp, clean, New version of WFY...it may have felt more meaningful to me.

I don't know if my CD being "Like New" has anything to do with the sound quality of my CD. Some of the songs seem to have his vocals more in the distance (as in Fading Away), where some have his vocals more close to the front (as in Drink Yer Glasses Empty).

Finnicky or not, I think a part of my reason for not feeling satisfied with the CD as a whole is because it is not in New condition. I know I said that I already love several of the songs, but I think that if I got WFY in the New condition, my brain would be more at ease about this, than it is now.
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Old 08-10-2005, 11:31 PM   #24
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I was thinking about what I wrote regarding WFY, and I sincerely hope that I didn't give the wrong impression that I was disparaging the album in any way. Deep down, I don't think I gave this impression, but I just want to make sure that this wasn't the case.

A part of me has become regretful that I did not get a new WFY album instead of a used one. At Amazon, the description of the New album as having a "saw cut on the back insert" had made me apprehensive, so I sought one that was "Like New," but now that I think about it, I think a part of me feels like I cannot enjoy the album freely if it has been used by someone else...the case it came in had several small scratches and was a bit broken on the top, and there was a paper-punch type of hole in the liner notes. Other than that, the disc looked okay, but who really knows how many times it was actually played. And given the fact that collecting GL's music means the world to me, I feel in retrospect that I would want all of my GL CDs in particular to be in New condition. Maybe I would have felt more mentally assured had I been listening to a crisp, clean, New version of WFY...it may have felt more meaningful to me.

I don't know if my CD being "Like New" has anything to do with the sound quality of my CD. Some of the songs seem to have his vocals more in the distance (as in Fading Away), where some have his vocals more close to the front (as in Drink Yer Glasses Empty).

Finnicky or not, I think a part of my reason for not feeling satisfied with the CD as a whole is because it is not in New condition. I know I said that I already love several of the songs, but I think that if I got WFY in the New condition, my brain would be more at ease about this, than it is now.
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Old 08-11-2005, 01:37 AM   #25
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Hi Shazia,

Since I don't believe WFY is being manufactured (I know that's not the right word) anymore, I think the "new" ones for sale these days are probably copies someone made with the artwork being copied, also. I don't know this for sure, but, I believe that's so. Anyone else know different?
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