Monday, July 25, 2005

Media-to-rare

Because I don't have anything clever to say today, these are the lyrics in entirety (without the obligatory labeling of chorus, verse, repeat, etc., and etc.) of Five Iron Frenzy's "Oh Canada." It is available on three different discs, of which two are live and of which I think I may own all three. But I will try to recollect solely from one of the live versions, sans printed lyrics.

welcome to canada
it's a maple leaf state,
canada, o canada,
it's great
people are nice here,
there's beef and stew
if you don't like it here
man, you sniff glue

the great white north
the kids say 'blah'
hosers say 'ah
it's not that bad.'

i want to be
where yaks can run free
where the royal mounties
can arrest me

let's go to canada
let's leave today
canada, o, canada
ay, s'il vous plait

they've got trees and mooses
and sled dogs
lots of lumber and lumberjacks
and logs
don't you think that it's kind of a drag
that you have to go in [?]
and get milk from a bag
they say "eh?" instead of
"what?" or "duh!"
that's the mighty power of canada

i want to be
where the lemmings run into the sea
where the marmasacks [editor: huh?]
can attack me

can you please
explain to me
how this all has come to be
we forgot to mention something here
did we say that william shatner is
a native citizen
and slurpees made from venison
that's here [?]


Thank you. Goodnight!

You think Leanor (the girl, of course) will accept my proposal...
for ice cream?

Followed by a courtship?

Speaking of girls (ok, I don't usually use that term, but, there's always exceptions to the rule), I'm liking Mary Mary's Mary Mary (sorry, already made that joke). Several scorchers toward the beginning are instant classics and hits just waiting to happen. Of course that may never happen for a few of the songs because of their self-referential nods to the '40s and '70s, two decades definitely not in favor with the Top-40 music crowd (and I use the term 'crowd' very loosely). Except for the clean-as-a-vacuum production and some latter-era Black Gospel vocal stylings, you'd almost swear some of these songs came out of that era, although "Heaven" does parch a riff from the 1970's. And of course, I'm embarrassed to say I don't even know who they copped, and that I've never heard of them. But even the instant hits begin to fit after a while, which is not something that I say often of female pop groups, or contemporary R&B. Mary, Mary quite contemplative. Yeppers.


6 comments:

  1. Hahahaha...they said LEMMINGS. I knew a dude who had a lemming for a pet. Now THAT's Canadian.

    *sniffs in lyrics* Yup, dripping with maple syrup, just like I thought. You and Neo (the new friend) seem to dig FIF. I've heard of them before, but vaguely. They Canuckians? Are they, *gasp*, Torontonians? Cuz as you know, that'd instantly make them cooler.

    I'm gonna check these dudes and dudette out. I'm guessing she likes choco chip ice cream, so go for it J.

    As for Mary Mary, now you're REALLY making me wanna cop it. I'm outta excuses.

    *waves flag* Oh how proud I am to be---*looks at yellow, green and black colored fabric*...ah man, I don't even HAVE a Canadian flag. Oops.

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  2. my shoes are yellow, black and green!

    seriously.

    five iron's from denver. i think they were teasing y'all 'cuz you're the nicest suburbs to be around the US - besides colorado.

    "we should sing the national anthem."
    "arrrr, not a warring, bombastic national anthem like america's, but a nice, soothing one like canada's"

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  3. I cannot believe you have never heard of FIF?! Have you been in a hole the past so many odd years! Well shoot, I'm not the greatest fan of them anyway. I would recommend other listening pleasures, but you would have to inquire within! For now, take care ya'll!

    Destiny<><

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  4. silly destiny,

    five iron frenzy is a ccm third wave ska band. why in the world everybody should've heard of them (btw, revolt merely said she'd heard of them 'vaguely'), even among the North American Christian experience.

    how many white Christian youth groups even know who fred hammond is? and he's been doing terrific R&B/praise and worship/Black Gospel/pop for coming on two decades now.

    but when my group blows up - the screeching weasels - everybody's gonna know our name.

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  5. okay well first off, I was trying to sound like a raging fanatic, I mean I couldn't understand why you wouldn't have heard of some overrated ska band...I mean seriously! (catch the sarcasm)...who's fred hammond?! Maybe I have a biased view of what is good music, considering I have my own preferences. But who's to say what is "good"...why am I rambling on about this..eh..whatever! I'll stick to my own writing rhythm...(did I spell that right)...of depth and poetry, mixed with a little anger and frustration every once in a while!

    Destiny<><

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  6. slow down.

    buy some fred hammond. preferably "pages of life, vols 1 & 2" (a double cd with, like FIF's "the End Is Here" has both a live and studio album.)

    listen to it.

    write a scathing and deep report on how white Christians don't understand Black Gospel.

    seriously, we could talk about tastes and criticism at some other time, and there is a lot of subjectivity involved. but honestly and briefly, duke ellington said it best, 'there's two types of music out there: good and bad.'

    i like to think mary mary and fif fall into the first. but i KNOW fred hammond is entrenched in the first.

    ReplyDelete

Be kind. Rewind.