Lustre Parfait

This week on the pod we wrap up Gord's discography with the Bob Rock collaboration, Lustre Parfait.

Transcript:

[0:00] Long Slice Brewery presents a live event celebration of Gord Downie, July 19th, at the Rec Room in Toronto. Join the hosts of the podcast, Discovering Downie, as they record their finale with special guest, Patrick Downie. A silent auction with items from the hip and many others will take place, along with live entertainment from the almost hip. All proceeds will benefit the Gord Downie Fund for Brain Cancer Research. For more information and tickets, please visit discoveringdowney.com. Clutched clipboard and staring out past the end of her first day into tonight and all the way across oceans of August to September. It makes for a beautifully vacant gaze.

[1:08] Music.

[1:42] Hey, it's J.D. here and welcome to Discovering Downey, an 11-part project with a focus on the music and poetry of Mr. Gord Downey. The enigmatic frontman of the Tragically Hip, Gord gave to the world an extensive solo discography on top of the vocal acrobatics in the hip that awed us for years. Gord released five albums while he was alive and three more posthumously.

[2:09] Now listen, you might think you're the biggest fan of the Tragically Hip out there. However, why is it that so few of us have experience with this solo catalog? Have you really listened to those solo records? My friends Craig, Justin, and Kirk, giant fans of the hip in their own right, fell into that camp. So I invited them to Discover Downey with me, JD, as their host. Every week, we get together and listen to one of Gord's records, working in chronological order. We discuss and dissect the album, the production, the lyrics, and we break it down song by fucking song. This week, we wrap up Gord's discography with an album attributed to both Bob Rock and Gord, Luster Parfait. Craig, how goes it this week? week things are okay a bit of a break tomorrow going off on a little family trip for a couple days meeting my parents and sisters uh you've never met your parents before this is big news dude yeah yeah i think they're gonna like you man congratulations and then yeah and then shortly after that head off to toronto for for an event with you guys whoop whoop yeah How are you doing, Kirk?

[3:30] You know, guys, I'm doing pretty good. It was 107 out here in Boise, Idaho, where I'm on show site. As we mentioned, I was in Europe last week, so I'm not quite sure time zone, temperate zone, what zone I'm in. I just – somebody point me in the right direction and I go. So I'm doing good, though. We had such a great time. But more importantly, I'm just really excited about next week and just hanging with you, you lads and checking out all the stuff that we have planned and, and, you know, especially that the event. So I'm that energy will get me through whatever jet lag, whatever heat stroke, whatever heck I encounter over the next seven days. So, and what about that new item? The hip gave us today to go towards our silent auction. Someone's going to get some major bragging rights. Man, we can't say what it is, but-

[4:27] We might be fighting internally for this. We'll be revealing what it is, I guess, Friday. And some other great prize stuff, too. JD, you just told me and Kirk about this ridiculous prize that we got. Craig's got it memorized. Yeah. Two tickets to the Toronto Raptors. $500 in arena gift cards. and two customized or personalized jerseys and a shoot around. Man. Are you ready for this? Come on. That's great. Jadon. Yeah. You're in, you're not in Kansas. Tornado Alley. Tornado Alley. But there's twisters about. Yeah, we just had a...

[5:51] And then 20 minutes later, there's a video on Facebook of a frigging tornado a half a mile up the street. What the hell? So we're fine. Yeah, that is freaky. If you look out your window and you see somebody riding a bike in the air, you're in big trouble. With a dog in the basket. That's right. Cow. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, but dude, I'm, I'm good. Otherwise without the weather or with the weather, I'm good. And I'm psyched for next week, man. Ooh. Yeah. Let's go. Justin. I tasted the podcast. Pilsner officially tasted it now. I had four of them at home. I gave two of them to my father-in-law and I drank two of them and they were very crisp. Delicious. Yeah. So it's going to be a lot of fun. Yeah. Awesome.

[6:47] When word broke that we'd be getting a third posthumous record from Gord, there was a hush and a wait and see approach. You see, Gord had partnered with Bob Rock back in the 2010s, shortly after Rock had produced probably two of the most divisive records in the Hips catalog. I enjoy both these records a lot, but your mileage may vary. In any case, it was an uneasy feeling for fans. What would this album be? As it turns out, it's a whole lot of everything. There are songs that are reminiscent of the hip, like North Shore. There are horns on the title track, which we got to sample about six months before Lester Parfait dropped. And it relieved us.

[7:41] There's even something resembling rack time? Suffice to say, as we've gotten used to saying around these parts, this album is altogether, folks, unlike anything Gord has produced before. It's been said that Bob Rock has a tendency to overstuff the records he produces. It's as though he's just been given access to a 48-track board and he feels compelled to use every last fucking track. rack. On this record, however, his hand seems firmly on the rudder. The songs come across as overly polished, of course, but never too indulgent. If there's one complaint I have, it's that there's too many goddamn songs. On a record as varied as Luster Parfait, you're almost overstimulated by the end. You've been through so many different styles and sounds. If I had it my way, this would be a tight 10-song record, and with the right tracks removed, I dare say this is a collection of songs I would put head-to-head against virtually any other record in Gord's oeuvre.

[8:59] Yeah, I think it's that good. There are highs and there are lows on this record, as there have been on each of the albums, but on Luster Parfait, the highs seem higher to me. Have we ever heard Gord sing like he does on The Moment is a Wild Place? Or something more? Have we ever heard a chorus as striking as Is There Nowhere? By the way, big hat tip to Shea Dorval for providing those gorgeous backing vocals. At the end of the day, has Bob Rock redeemed himself with this effort to the haters out there? I would offer a resounding yes. Yes, this is a record that should be listened to loud and on a good pair of headphones. There is so much going on, but it all seems to have a purpose. That's what I think of Lester Parfait.

[9:52] Tell me what your experience with the record is, Kirk. Yeah. So the first real listen I had to this album, because I'd been pretty busy with travel and whatnot, we were on our family vacation in Madrid. And beautiful little up on the top of the hotel looking over the city and just enjoying the wonderful atmosphere. And, um, I was actually listening to that kind of rough cut of our, um, rough cut of our interview with, uh, Niles and Kevin. And he had referenced like that. He thought that, you know, the, the, the moment is a wild places is, was his favorite song. And I'm just like, I can't hold off anymore. I need to jump in. So that was my first experience was listening to it, um, on, on the roof in Spain. And since then, it's just been a pretty incredible journey. I spent a lot of time like listening to Bob Rock interviews and, you know, just really understanding where it's coming from. And as you mentioned, JD, like, you know, I understand the divisiveness and whatnot, but oh my gosh, I, I was already in love when I listened to it the first couple of times at this point, you know, I'm, I'm firm in my, my commitment to, to in Gord, we trust, you know, And to see that...

[11:17] That friendship. I mean, he, he, he makes the statement. We were like two teenagers that were in the studio, just making music together. And, um, you know, to hear how the whole process went and I know we'll get into it and everybody, you know, obviously we'll provide their input. Um, I fell in love with it even more, you know, and, and the variety on this, this album i mean guys we got reggae we got we got west coast punk we got 70s glam we got 80s synth pop we've got you know it it just every even within certain songs you'll have a jump from one friggin genre to another and then you you know you start looking at all the studios they recorded in, the process that it took, the number of years, the people that are involved.

[12:13] And especially after we've discussed with the last three albums, like it was just fun to, I felt like, I felt like I got a warm hug from Gord. I really did. Just like, I just was all that, that we went through. It was like, Hey, this is just when it's fun. And this is, this This is for you, music lovers. That's what I felt. That's what I felt. I love that. I haven't watched much with Bob Rock, but I did read that one of the reasons why it took until 2023 to rear its head was because it was too painful for him to, like, he was really emotional following the death of Gordani in 2017. Absolutely. Because they had gotten lungs. Yeah. They had become such close friends and, you know, they reference, you know.

[13:09] Uh, Gord flew out to talk about world container and they'd figured that out in 15 minutes. And then they spent the rest, the rest of the conversation talking about being dads, being Canadians, being hockey lovers. And, and then that just continued. And I think those guys, you know, with the level that they were at, I think they kind of found it was a peer to peer relationship.

[13:32] And I really felt like they found refuge in each other. And then I think they sought it out because it was a long relationship. I mean, was it 06 when World Container was being made or coming out? Up until the very end. And that's when they first met is when he came out, or at least per what I had listened to. You know, they flew out to Maui, to his studio in Maui, Gord did, and then, you know, like I said, Discuss World Container. And then they didn't really do much as it was described until after the second album, We Are The Same, that they did. And then that's when the, you know, that relationship in the music for Luster Parfait started. So yeah, I mean, I recommend everyone to check into this. And Bob rock doesn't seem like, you know, like you.

[14:25] You just, he didn't, didn't do a lot of, I mean, of course he gets on the documentaries, he gets a lot of airtime and whatnot, but beyond that, you know, there's not a ton, I guess, but the stuff specific to this is well worth, you can just hear the genuineness all these years after, like last year was a lot of the interviews that were going on and he's still breaking up. Like you're still oh yeah um and he's just he's like you go bob rock and you like you think the guy's flying you know coming in on the learjet all the time and he's like most of these interviews he's like just got done feeding his horses craig what was your first experience like i was also traveling uh down to seattle for a ball game and i was on on the amtrak train taking my notes and i I actually wrote, I'm going to read this and don't get mad at me. But I said, hate to be negative on this last album, but there's a lot to pick apart.

[15:25] Two days ago, we were supposed to record this episode, and we had to postpone. And that evening, at 10.30 at night, I texted you guys a photo. A package arrived, and the CD was dropped off by Amazon. So I got the CD, and I started looking at the lyrics. And then the next day, I popped it in the car. And it's been in there for a couple days now, and I've been listening to it quite a lot. And my opinion has totally changed. Changed it's like some of this and i think it's what you said jd it's it's a very long album and so some of my favorite songs come at the end and what i what i've been doing is hitting shuffle and that's when it really started to um pick up for me is when i started listening on shuffle before getting the cd that i liked hearing just random songs come on and then and i thought it it was a problem with the sequencing at first but then i realized it's probably more because when the album came out i did listen a couple times when it first came out but i think i only got through the first four songs and so now i'm getting to know and love these later songs and then when i got the cd it just all kind of started working for me and i'm like wow some of the things that i was going to be nitpicking on today's episode i think i've I've grown to appreciate Justin, my man. Yeah.

[16:51] Talk to me about your relationship with this release and has it changed since your first listen? So I pre-ordered this last year and yeah, this, this CD was in heavy rotation for me until, um, until you asked us to be part of the podcast. So I've been cold Turkey since January or whenever it was and waiting for for this week to get back into it. Yeah. I love this album, and I wish that Gord had done a Broadway show.

[17:27] Um, could you imagine after hearing how strong his vocal is? Um, and especially during this time period. And it's funny, Craig, that you mentioned that you did not like this album. And then today you changed your mind. I took a break from this cause I've been over listening and I went back to the grand bounce and I love that freaking album as of today. And everybody knows I did not love that album when we were doing the podcast. Yay!

[18:00] Yeah. I love this news. It grew on me big time today. And Justin, one of the interviews that I watched, they actually said that the lyrics were almost like a screenplay on Luster Parfait and that there is a movie inside this album. It's just no one has brought it forth. So I like that. Broadway play. Movie i think i saw some of the same interviews you did um the one with uh terry mulligan was i actually listened to it a few times um to pick that apart but um yeah it would be it would be fantastic if that film was to get made or some sort of video component to this um but you know this was at gourd's you got to remember this the vocals recorded a decade ago and this was at gourd's busiest period and i would say his strongest period um vocally um and seems that way but you know bob also said in the in the interviews that he intentionally um potted gourd's mic up so that it was more on the forefront you know with the hip gourd's voice was an instrument um with this album it is the show and that absolutely rings true and you know jd the the songs that you mentioned just...

[19:24] Kick my ass every time i hear it and i've heard them i've heard them 50 times at this point you know without exaggerating um yeah it's it's a very cool album a very confusing album uh stylistically um and it's very long but i can palette that um and i had the same issues craig um with stopping and starting and you hear you've you know you've heard the first six songs on this album probably twice as many times as the final seven or eight um and it's just it takes a commitment to get through it um and every song is long in addition to them there being so many of them um you know there's several songs that are five or six minutes um yeah seven and a half right it's for the moment is a wild place and i'm really interested in in your guys's uh mvp, yeah tracks for this like more than any other album we've done yeah because i think it's going to be all over the place i i've got mine and i i think this was like the easiest choice i've had to make and this is the first time i don't i quite literally don't have an mvp i'm i'm pulling the trigger when we talk every other album first three listens i had it down i mean i'm usually the first one to chime up i i can't i i just haven't been able to pick one it's strange that that it's It's opposite.

[20:48] Should we try and untangle this web that Justin just spoke of, this mystery of a record, and go track by track? We start with, Greyboy says.

[20:59] Music.

[24:42] I mean, from the first note, it's like, what the hell are we listening to? And in the best way, you know, I just had no idea that this is where we were going. You know, and I love World Container and I love We Are The Same. And we all know everything else that Bob Rock has done. And this is not any of those things. It's bizarrely different. Um, and who the hell is gray boy, right? Like I've spent a year now trying to figure that out. And I thought I'd read something that it was a DJ. Um, yeah, I read that too. I'm not sure if it's true or not, but there's a DJ out of San Diego, uh, named gray boy. Um, sort of like an acid jazz DJ I read and it could be him he's referencing, but I'm not sure if that's no idea. Yeah. Um, but yeah, it's just a, a total, it's a mind fuck right from the beginning. And, and I was really like, okay, I'm turning this up. Um, you know, I remember listening to it in my car, um, the first time that I, that I put it on. However, I wanted to ask, um, JD and Craig, if, if you guys had any of this, um, on air in Canada, did, were any of these songs played on terrestrial radio? Yeah.

[26:05] I don't recall hearing it on the radio i don't listen to a lot of uh local radio i'm usually, you know serious yeah xm listener but um but no i didn't hear it i did see the video though and so this song is a song i heard right away when it came out because of the the video which uh if you've seen it it has um some of the guys from offspring dexter nude and yeah and And when I look at the track listing, they don't actually, they don't play on the track. So they were just kind of there for the video and having fun filming the video. And Bob Rock's got James Hetfield's ESP that he's playing in it. And so it's a pretty cool video.

[26:49] Did you guys recognize the drummer? I did, yeah. So Abe- Abe Laborio Jr. That's Paul McCartney's drummer. Yeah, really quick connection. When I was in my original band back in the 90s, we had a drummer who filled in for us fairly often when we were down a drummer. And he was roommates at Berklee with Abe. Really? And I didn't meet Abe, But one time he was in town for either sting or McCartney and our singer slash, you know, front front man got to jam with Abe and he came back and told me that he has never felt anything like it being in the room with him. He said when the, when the kick drum hit one, it was unlike anything he's ever experienced as a musician. So it was just that tight. And you can hear that tightness in his playing. Yeah. I mean, you don't get picked up as Paul McCartney's drummer, unless you know what the F you're doing. 20 years.

[28:17] Video and, and, And he even plays and he's like, he's a beast of a man, right? He's, he's, he's, he's a big guy, but he's just sweet. I've had opportunity. There's a show called ma'am national associate music merchants. If you're a musician, you should know about it. It's every year in Anaheim. So it's pretty close. So I've been going for years and years and he's there quite a bit. And so, you know, had few little interactions and he's just, yeah, he's a, he's a sweetheart just, and, and an incredible musician. Oh, wow. Incredible musician. Well, they did it weird, right? Because they released Lester Parfait, and then they released a three-song EP, or maybe that was the time they released Lester Parfait. And then they released a six-song EP. And it had The Moment is a Wild Place, Camaro, Lester Parfait, Grey Boy Says, I think. So they did that But I'm not sure about, I'm not sure whether Lester Parfait Was considered the lead single or not Hold on I have it open here So that's why I asked you guys If you'd heard it on the air because Again the station that I talk about all the time Here WBQX played Lester Parfait Over and over last year Wow And I think that I heard Grey Boy Says as well On the radio.

[29:45] Damn So we were talking earlier about sequencing. I believe it was Craig that was talking about it. So we'll start with him here because when I first heard the next track, which is the Raven and the Red-Tailed Hawk, I remember thinking, what the fuck kind of sequencing is this? We go from, you know, this crazy rock song to like a kid's song. And then all of a sudden that chorus hits and you're just like, wow. I would love to be next to a fucking stack listening to that, feeling my pant legs whistle in the wind. Fucking right. That would be just fantastic. Craig, what do you think of The Raven and the Red-Tailed Hawk? I really love this song. I think there's a lot of things that really stuck out. The lyrics were great. The chorus, like you mentioned, is powerful. There's the nod to the east wind, I think, in the lyrics of the chorus.

[30:47] And it's just a strongly written song. There's a very unique melody. And there's a really cool descending tremolo guitar that I thought was effective. And some nice piano. piano there's a really wild synth solo which was really cool followed by an acoustic guitar solo which you know to to the opposite of what i said last song i loved i thought bob rock killed that solo an acoustic guitar solo is very hard to pull yes agreed to make it sound you have to be spot on and not only does the tone of the guitar have to be good but you have to have the feel.

[31:28] And because you hear every slide you hear every nuance you're every bend you hear every chord configuration if you're if you're throwing that in so i agree 100 craig yeah you have to be kyle gas and when you're playing a playing an acoustic soloing you don't have that sustain when you're bending a note so it's just a so someone who tries to play you know just take electric solo and played on acoustic it's not going to sound the same so i thought he did a great job of crafting a solo that worked um there was some really cool like compositional tricks with you know like you know leading tones passing tones and just lots of lots of things to love in this um and also one quick thing at the end the vocal jumps up an octave going into that last chorus just a great great trick yeah and yeah the lyrics i just you know pulled out the lyric booklet two days ago and really wild stuff what do you think justin yeah it's the same exactly the same it's a kid's song and then it's not right um and it's the the storytelling and the.

[32:40] You know i can see that helmet the imagery that he tells the story um and one of these interviews um um, that Gord had done, um, which nobody knew it at the time, but it was during these sessions.

[32:58] Um, he had mentioned that Bob had asked him to speak more clearly. Don't be so vague with your lyrics. Tell, tell a story that people can understand without having to pull out an encyclopedia and boy, you got it right in this one. Um, you know, this is, it's very cut and dried. Um, it's, it's nothing to figure out. I, I just love how, how clear and concise it is. And some days I just can't do it, you know? Um.

[33:28] I think we've all had that. Fuck yeah. Kirk, what do you think? Well, being the elder of the group and someone who really grew up in the 80s, I heard this song. I was joking before when we first started talking on, you can't see me, folks, but I'm doing the 80s dance. When I heard that song the first time, I got that new wave post. I just felt like a kid again in high school. And when you'd hear those, we were in the heart of new wave. It was like true post-punk, like Sex Pistols, late 70s, early 80s, punk, post-punk, where it's now you're getting the precursors to, you know, what becomes Green Day and Blink-182 and everything. But there's, I mean, fuck, there's five keyboards parts on this song, five separate keyboard, you know, credits listed and you can hear it. Um, so, you know, I would say, I know I'd mentioned at the beginning, like I couldn't pick an MVP. This was one that just always stood out. I wouldn't again say MVP, but loved it. It made me feel good every time I listened to it. And then Kirk's going to roll into his second criticism of the entire, uh, series. And I believe it was, is it Tim? I was just going to say, who are you, Tim?

[34:47] Like i don't necessarily have an issue with fade outs but i struggled with the fade out on this one i really did i i was like i don't come on just like end it it's a long fade out too it's a long very long fade out very long fade out so um so you know i uh i i again if you guys know i really don't care but odds it's it's all good matthew good he was also strippers union so you know yeah he did the drums on that he was also like the house drummer for the kids in the hall so oh yeah yeah so like how cool is that that you got you go from paul mccartney's drummer to you know brian adams matthew good all the stuff that that pat did so um yeah uh great song uh just uh really helping the love affair uh with the album and uh you know outside of the i could have done without the fade out um friggin loved.

[35:56] It friggin loved it it's a 20 second fade out though like it's it's long it's much sort of it's much i'm usually okay with it but this was you know the one thing though the reason why i brought it up is because i kept having to look at my phone going did my phone die um because i'm like the song was the next song wasn't coming he's got late and i couldn't tell if it was going out or if it was the intro but it's yeah it's a 20 second long outro insane justin how about you buddy yeah i i knew somebody was going to mention the fade out. I didn't hate it because the song is kind of long and it's like, alright, it kind of feels appropriate.

[36:38] But yeah, no, I just love the song and I don't know, how many times are you going to say the sonic sounds like nothing else you know and i i understand you know he really wasn't necessarily involved in much of the the writing of the parts, um but i don't know it's just so freaking cool yeah it is it's very cool, so luster parfait what do you think of that track that's the one song that my daughter has grabbed a hold of because of the hey hey hey um you know i don't i don't know what the song is about but i picture it as gourd's love letter to music um and you know performing live we gather in the dark um you know we can only connect um that's that may be the only way that some people connect that's how we all connected right is through music and specifically gourd's music um i just this this uh this song you can't help but feel good listening to um it's such a fun freaking song and there's horns and there's that little you know half step.

[37:58] Kind of thing in the chorus and it's it's really really interesting and it's very fun and it's funny almost um just the the energy that that gourd has and that the entire i want to say band but you know the people playing in the song it just sounds like every i can picture every single person in there playing with a smile on their face you know and and just enjoying the shit out of this whole process it's a luster parfait baby would you dig into the yeah because it starts off with horns and you we haven't had horns per se um on i mean i guess is this what it sounded with davis manning like i i i'll put my cards out there and i haven't heard a lot of it so i don't really know what the hip sounded like with him, but like you've got a full on sack. So what's that, Justin? Not like this. Davis Manning did not sound like this.

[39:02] Ah no he sounded like uh and i he sounded like an 80s you know bar band saxophonist that's because that's exactly what it was who can it be now i'm in at work right but the horns just hit you right up front um and uh the the sax solo like in the middle and then And, you know, a really cool, as we talked about, you know, it's got a hard ending, which is great. But in the end, that little vamp with the B3 and the piano, like Justin said, the music all around, you just, you can't listen to it and not smile and not feel like that was the energy when it was being recorded.

[39:51] So the one note that I wrote here too that I think is really cool. Um and it kind of speaks to what you guys were saying is like a like a a letter to music but he described the bridge bob did uh as being essentially the sensational alex harvey band and if you don't know anything about the sensational alex harvey band just look it up just youtube it and i'll leave that there um you know i guess i'll call it like the canadian david Bowie during the Ziggy Stardust years is, is probably a good way to describe it. So, um, but how cool is that? That like throwing that right in, right in after you get these two rockers and now he's going glam and, um, yeah, this just brilliant, uh, brilliant, brilliant, uh, title track song.

[40:47] I really liked the, speaking of the bridge, the sort of chromatics and the bridge. And then at the very end, it blends into the final chorus.

[40:59] So, you know, luster parfait, hey, hey, which I thought was very cool. Um yeah and speaking of the lyrics at the at the start it says isn't it funny how little we can do how much we are like a scene from the deluge and i looked up a scene from the deluge because it was capitalized and i found a painting called scene from a deluge from 1806, and it's a pretty wild painting i'll just read the description really quickly the man perched on a rock hangs from a from a tree that is beginning to break he tries to pull up his wife and two children all while supporting on his back an old man who carries a purse in his hand the sky is streaked with lightning like justin right now and a cadaver floats in the agitated water it's a pretty i'll just hold my screen it's pretty wild um anyways uh pretty wild so i'm not sure what he's getting at but uh but yeah definitely what's the lyric yeah it's the it's the intro isn't it funny how little we can do how much we are like a scene from the deluge, which as you describe it, it was pretty, uh, pretty stark. Yeah. Like, yeah.

[42:26] Yeah. Like he's hanging on to like his wife and two kids with one arm, like by her one arm. So I guess there's not too much he can do.

[42:35] Other quick notes. I just want to mention the horns. So the horns, the saxophone is played by Tom Keenleyside, who is a local Vancouver-based saxophone flautist. And he has been all over. He has played with so many different artists. and actually the very first cassette i ever bought back in grade seven i think i just finished grade seven and i was in the kitchen i can still i remember exactly where i was and on the radio came, rag doll by aerosmith 1987 and i was drawn in by the horns because i i'm i started playing saxophone in grade six so i was drawn in by that and steve tyler's voice and that song grabbed me right away I took my money from my piggy bank and I bought a Walkman and a cassette tape you know the next day and that's really where my journey with rock music started and so Bob Rock was the engineer on that album Permanent Vacation and Tom Cunley side played the saxophone so I thought there's a cool kind of full circle for for me personally um you know seeing that he was the one And because as soon as I heard horns, I knew it was him. Listen, I don't know where you would put a showcase track on a record from a sequencing standpoint.

[44:02] Music.

[50:44] The vocals uh that are going on in this um you got and then going back to bob and all the guitars like you've got acoustic guitars you got two lead guitars you've got what sounds almost like what i know as like a slack hawaiian slack guitar it sounds like a pedal steel but there's nothing in the liner the the the pedal steel song is not this song um it's got that kind of a you know of acoustic and slide in the beginning and and then you've got this the chorus that just uh you know it's uh it it it's like a dump truck of love coming down with this massive gourd here i am and and you understand why many people call it their favorite and uh a song that is seven minutes in 26 seconds and sounds like it's maybe a couple minutes so when you know that a song that's that long can just like you get lost in and you don't even think that it's that long you know you know it's it's obviously very very well written craig what were your thoughts i thought the.

[52:02] Yeah the chorus was was what made it and the moment is a wild place reminded me of you know like a theme throughout his work about living in the moment where whether it's the dance and its disappearance or never ending ending present and i'm sure there are many others i know we've discussed them on this podcast so that was really really a great tie-in um the hawaiian guitar i loved as well at the start and you know you have to think that it is bob rock playing that so it you know he lives in maui much of you know much of the year from what i've heard and And, you know, he's soaking up all that Island music and, and yeah, my only other real note was, um, like a couple of quick things. Sean Nelson is the drummer on this track and the last one who I had to look up and he's actually, um.

[52:54] Not someone who's played on a ton of high profile albums or anything. He's a drum instructor out of, I believe, San Francisco, I read. And, you know, very cool that he had that opportunity to work on this album. And one last thing, the piano flourishes at the end, reminded me of Dr. P from the country of miracles, which was very cool. Nice callback. Wow. Yeah. That's a great. Yeah. Justin, how about you? The moment is a wild place. Well, you know, I keep referencing my love of Prague and this sounds like a pink board. I can see that.

[53:38] I love that it's long. I love that it's got, they use all 88 keys. You know, from low to high, it's It's really just a beautiful song, and the lyrics remind me of Secret Path. Heal. I don't know. There's definitely some tie-ins in my brain to Channing and his story. I don't believe that. Wow. Because this was probably written before secret path was even in chords around the same time around the same time it was birthed.

[54:24] Yeah. But you know, I just, yeah, I think this is one of the songs that Bob said that Gordon heard completed before he passed.

[54:36] Oh, that's nice to hear. Yeah. Uh, and, but Jesus Christ, the range that this guy has, right? Like, uh, I don't know. It, it, I fall apart whenever I hear the song. It's it's in in the best of ways you hear this song and it's almost like has he not been trying all these years you know because he's like he's got this in his fucking back pocket holy shit you have this in your back pocket and you're 50 years old time gourd god the other thing that i think is is uh something i just want to comment on really quickly is somebody who deals with mental wellness and is uh working on his mental health i look at this song almost the same way i look at the darkest one in that it's got this sort of clever twist right it's like the wild are strong, and the strong are the darkest ones and you're the darkest one so it's like starts out as almost this great compliment but it turns into something else and in this song it's like hey everybody you got to be in the moment you got to be in the moment but sometimes the moment is a wild fucking place that you don't want to be in so i'm going to put a bow in this jd and you guys.

[56:04] So yeah i had mentioned earlier i was you know on the rooftop in madrid and i'm listening to the I'm listening to the Kevin Drew Niles interview, and you'd put this song in, sorry, Inside Baseball.

[56:23] This song comes on, and it turns midnight in Madrid, and frigging fireworks start going off everywhere around the city. And I don't know if it was the transition from June to July. I don't know if it was the Spain had just won their Euro cup game earlier in the day, or if it was just, you know.

[56:52] Tuesday in Spain at midnight, we like to put off fireworks, but I'm, I'm, you know, up there. Like I said, I've had a few glasses. I'm feeling wonderful. I'm jet lagged. I'm listening to that brilliant, brilliant, brilliant interview. The song comes on and fireworks start shooting off quite literally in the middle of it. So the moment is a wild place. Yeah, sure fucking is. Boy. Well, let's move to track five and something more. Craig, how do you feel something more lives up to its role as a follow-up song for The Moment is a Wild Place? This is a tour de force song and a showcase piece. Is this the right sequencing order? I'm just curious what you think. Yeah, that's a good question. I'll need to think about that some more, but I do think the song was quite good. It reminded me, vocally reminded me of like earlier Gord.

[57:58] And it's the first song on Lester Parfait that did sound like a previous version of Gord. The horns are great, which is what makes it sound so it doesn't just sound like a copy of something that he did earlier. There were some great dissonant guitar shots that were very cool and a little horn part. And of course, we have to shout out the drummer on this song because it is none other than Johnny Faye, who makes an appearance a number of times on this album. And you can tell. He just has such a great... He's playing on an album with Pat Stewart, with Abe, and he fits right in there because he's just such a musical player.

[58:46] He has such a great tone to his drums always, and it was just a treat to hear him again. He's also listed as backing vocals. I think