High & Dry

[Ginny]

I think you and I went to the same school, Tim. The last corresponding songbook to the album that I have in my collection is "East Of Midnight" and the date is 1986. The "Shadows" album dates 1982. What a joyous sensation it was though, you know, being able to actually see the perfect chord progressions that you could not always pick up at the concerts. I remember going to Massey Hall in my staked out out left centre seat right up close to the front armed with binoculars first when "If You Could Read My Mind" came out and watching every intricate move Gord was doing on the fingerboard and then going home right after the concert and sitting with my guitar from 11PM till 11 the next morning while the memory was still fresh in my mind. Watching the sun dawning and filling the teapot on a regular basis would have to have been a significant part of the inspirational process also. What an amazing feeling it was when the fingers actually began to find their way into that cool "Medium Latin feeling" as Gord specifies in his songbook, and once the "crest of the hill" arrived, the rest just seemed to fall so gracefully into place. I could have died happily after that believe me. I can never seem to stop discovering his stuff. Imagine hearing the hear the songs he's written that only folks close to him have heard, or even ones that no one's heard. He sure was making a statement when wrote "Ordinary Man." Just that one line: "There's a Ghost in Every Room" would unravel a bolt of songs and stories that the folks at "Warner" and the rest of them would just love to get their harnesses around for sure. Thanks for the moment. Ron J.

[RM]

Originally posted by lighthead2toe:
I remember going to Massey Hall in my staked out out left centre seat right up close to the front armed with binoculars first when "If You Could Read My Mind" came out and watching every intricate move Gord was doing on the fingerboard

It really is a mesmerizing experience. My first use of binoculars was sometime in the '80s. I remember getting a tap on the shoulder from another patron asking to borrow the binoculars, and then watching the eyegear (which I had borrowed from a relative) get passed around to about 15 others before arriving safely back home.

[louisemnnpls]

Originally posted by brink:
I thought Cathy also sang on the song Sundown, or was it just this song on the Sundown album. Confused? Me too.
She did co-write a song with Hoyt Axton (I think during their relationship) and still gets a small royalty from it.

I always thought that "Sundown" referred to Kathy
Smith.....probably I'm wrong.

[louisemnnpls]

Originally posted by Elizabeth. Somewhere I heard that at a point near the end of thier relationship she ended up with a broken cheekbone or jaw or some other part of her face. Has anyone else heard/read that? [/QB]

I remember on a PBS interview, way, way back, he said that she had tried to "deck" him.

[Jennifer]

Billows like bubbles? I will listen more closely next time and report back as to what I think. Stay tuned...

[RM]

Let me preface my question by saying that from the first listen I always heard this song as a metaphor.
The question : what in the heck do these lyrics mean ?

"Now the pleasures of the harbor
Don't include a lady barber
If it wasn't for Long John Silver
All of us pirates would've been martyrs"

I'm missing something.

[ July 08, 2007, 23:54: Message edited by: RM ]

[Shutup and Deal, I'm Losin']

Originally posted by RM:
quote:Originally posted by Jennifer:
How many women have sails that blow like bubbles?

I've always heard the lyrics as "her sails BILLOW like bubbles". My "Sundown" vinyl LP has mysteriously disappeared, so I can't double check the lyrics. Wayne Francis' site does say "blow", but the lyrics on this site says "billow". I'll stick with the latter.

Either way, I only know of 2 women who fit the imagery. Maybe it's a male thing. [/QUOTE]I used to wonder about that, but it might be "blow". It could be the way Gord pronounces it. In Red Velvet, he pronounces it as "And the dusty autumn winds beging to B-low."

[New 12 String Mike]

Going a little off on tangent, is Gord's pronuncation of Bahama as "buh-HAM-uh" in Triangle and other songs, the Canadian pronuncation as opposed to "buh-hom-uh"?

I've always wondered about that.

[charlene]

bah - hom - ah

[charlene]

bah - hom - ah

[RM]

Originally posted by New 12 String Mike:
Going a little off on tangent, is Gord's pronuncation of Bahama as "buh-HAM-uh" in Triangle and other songs, the Canadian pronuncation as opposed to "buh-hom-uh"?

I heard it as "buh-HAM-uh" also. It may be that he was singing/reading the lyrics as the track was laid down. It was good enough, and not worth redoing. Or........Canadians talk funny.

[charlene]

he sings buh HAM uh.

i say bah hom ah..

i imagine he says it like that too..for effect he sings it differently..
lol
Us Canucks talk AND sing funny...but amazingly enuf people listen..hmmmmmmmmmm..
lol

[charlene]

he sings buh HAM uh.

i say bah hom ah..

i imagine he says it like that too..for effect he sings it differently..
lol
Us Canucks talk AND sing funny...but amazingly enuf people listen..hmmmmmmmmmm..
lol

[Shutup and Deal, I'm Losin']

Gord also taught me how to pronounce "triangle". Used to I'd say it as "train-gull", but it's really "try-angle". As tri (3) and angle, meaning 3 angles. Classical music really does make you smarter.

[New 12 String Mike]

Meanin' no disrespect to any Canucks, but seenin' as we 'Mericans from da South are da only ones what don't talk funny, Ah was just a'wonderin' 'bout it.

Ah'd always figgered Gord sang it "ba-HAM-uh" for effect and all, but jus' sorta wondered 'bout such things.

Ah'll catch up to ya'll directly, but Ahm off now to have me a Dr. Pepper and some cone bread.

[charlene]

Originally posted by New 12 String Mike:
but Ahm off now to have me a Dr. Pepper [/QB]

or as my buddy in Hamburg NY says ' want a pAp Char?"

lol

[charlene]

Originally posted by New 12 String Mike:
but Ahm off now to have me a Dr. Pepper [/QB]

or as my buddy in Hamburg NY says ' want a pAp Char?"

lol

[Shutup and Deal, I'm Losin']

Originally posted by New 12 String Mike:
Meanin' no disrespect to any Canucks, but seenin' as we 'Mericans from da South are da only ones what don't talk funny, Ah was just a'wonderin' 'bout it.

Ah'd always figgered Gord sang it "ba-HAM-uh" for effect and all, but jus' sorta wondered 'bout such things.

Ah'll catch up to ya'll directly, but Ahm off now to have me a Dr. Pepper and some cone bread.

We 'pprecinate tha advice thurr.

[RM]

Originally posted by RM:
The question : what in the heck do these lyrics mean ?

"Now the pleasures of the harbor
Don't include a lady barber
If it wasn't for Long John Silver
All of us pirates would've been martyrs"

I hate to quote myself, but...I bounced the question off a couple of friends and here's what I have.

Now the pleasures of the harbor (the boat/woman is now being skippered by another, and the narrator is ashore)

Don't include a lady barber (??)

If it wasn't for Long John Silver (a fictional character who spawned the sterotypical image of a nefarious sailor with a peg-leg and a parrot perched upon his shoulder)

All of us pirates would've been martyrs (the rest of us scoundrels would be commiserated with)

Plausible ?

[Auburn Annie]

Re: lady barbers - may be a reference to females offering other services besides a close shave. Here's a clipping from 1947, Los Angeles:

An undercover vice investigation went badly wrong when "lady barber" Mary Fisher fled her shop at 451 S. Main St. clutching a fistful of hair. Police Officer Cook, investigating whether Fisher was offering haircuts and massages as a front for illegal activities, arranged for the full treatment: shave, massage, shoe shine and anything else.

According to The Times, Fisher put steamed towels on Cook's face, had given him a facial massage and started shaving him when she straightened his hair, only to have his toupee come off in her hand.

The woman gave one look at the handful of hair sticking to her hand and another at the bald head of her customer and, with a shriek, she dashed for the stairs, The Times says.

"Hey," yelled Cook, "give me that hair. I need it!"

-----------------------------------------------
Possibly a variant of "massage" parlors?

[Auburn Annie]

Re: lady barbers - may be a reference to females offering other services besides a close shave. Here's a clipping from 1947, Los Angeles:

An undercover vice investigation went badly wrong when "lady barber" Mary Fisher fled her shop at 451 S. Main St. clutching a fistful of hair. Police Officer Cook, investigating whether Fisher was offering haircuts and massages as a front for illegal activities, arranged for the full treatment: shave, massage, shoe shine and anything else.

According to The Times, Fisher put steamed towels on Cook's face, had given him a facial massage and started shaving him when she straightened his hair, only to have his toupee come off in her hand.

The woman gave one look at the handful of hair sticking to her hand and another at the bald head of her customer and, with a shriek, she dashed for the stairs, The Times says.

"Hey," yelled Cook, "give me that hair. I need it!"

-----------------------------------------------
Possibly a variant of "massage" parlors?

[RM]

That would blend in quite nicely. Thank you.

[charlene]

and barber rhymes with harbour.
could be as simple as that..
ya never know...

[charlene]

and barber rhymes with harbour.
could be as simple as that..
ya never know...

[Shutup and Deal, I'm Losin']

One thing I don't get though.

"If it wasn't for Long John Silver
All of us pirates would've been martyrs"

What did Long John Silver do? Did he save them from being martyrs or something?