Fire on The Mountain :: Hanson

Again, I probably reveal my nerdiness by posting this song. However, I hope, like with "Great Divide," the Hanson song I posted now nearly a year ago, you will all give this one a shot. Recently I heard another musician call Hanson "the most unerrated band on the planet" and though that statement is a bit exaggerated, I can't help but agree to some extent. The band is currently on tour in the U.S. Their tickets seem to be fairly reasonable - I would highly recommend seeing a show. Check hanson.net for details. "Fire on the Mountain" is probably the shortest song on their new album The Walk (2007), but I think it's one of the best. It features Zac (the youngest one - the drummer) on lead vocals and guitar, who in my opinion, is the best lyricist of the group.

The song speaks to some of my feelings as we approach election day 2008. The refrain "There's fire on the mountain, fire and it's coming our way," I think has particular resonance at this moment in history. Whatever Zac means by that phrase, to me it speaks of the challenges facing our world at the present - war, poverty, global warming... and that here in the United States, many of us, particularly those who are white, middle or upper class, educated, what-have-you, are quite sheltered from the realities of the world we've created. But we won't be "safe" forever and the choices we make will reflect our ability to pull our heads out of our asses long enough to see the bigger picture. I think we have a lot to answer for as a country on November 4 and if we make the wrong choice this fire might consume us all.




"Fire on the Mountain"
We sit secure in time-honored traditions made
Never wondering where or when the sickle may come
If we don't seek our knowledge to be greater men
When the rain starts falling gonna drown before we get our feet wet

We build our ivory towers to protect us from the flood
A fleet of vessels made of wood so they won't rust
But can we see the bottom of the bottle when we start to drink?
There's fire on the mountain, fire and it's coming our way

Can we pick the pieces up
We're mending Babylon, tryin' to right the wrong
Can we pick the pieces up
Live, learn, life, love, die, dust, gone

There's fire on the mountain

Can we pick the pieces up
We're mending Babylon, tryin' to right the wrong
Can we pick the pieces up
Live, learn, life, love, die, dust, gone


With peace and hope,
sumner