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

All Over Again :: Locksley

My posting for this week again forces me to acknowledge (or perhaps publicly embrace?) my extreme nerdy-ness. I first encountered this band in fall, when I attended an (ahem...) Hanson concert. I had just moved to Columbus, Ohio and Hanson was on tour, making stops in Ohio. I was debating whether or not I should go (as I mentioned in an earlier post about Hanson's song "Great Divide," coming out of the closet about these types of things can be a big decision...) when a fellow Lutheran Volunteer Corps alum from D.C. told me that Hanson's opening band on tour, Lockslyy, were friends of hers from high school. I felt that it was fate, bought my ticket, and headed over to the Newport Music Hall. I feel that opening acts are often hit or miss, and sometimes easily forgettable, since the audience is usually just holding its breath, waiting for the main event. However, I thoroughly enjoyed Locksley's music and was genuinely sad to see their set end. Their music is reminiscent of 1960s era pop rock, perhaps best described the way they explain it on their Myspace page, "Beatles mixed with Modern Garage Rock." At any rate, being a sucker for good vocal harmonies and catchy melodies, I love it. I'm posting the following song because I find the video rather hilarious, but I would highly recommend checking out other songs from their "Don't Make Me Wait" album, including the title track and songs called "Let Me Know" and "She Does." They've got a bunch up on their Myspace, myspace.com/locksley, so be sure to give them a listen! They also have a brand new album called "Garage Sale," songs from which are also on their Myspace page.

Here's "All Over Again" - enjoy!


"All Over Again"
You all say the things you mean, so you can see I've had enough of you.
Well you want everything to seem like everything's alright but that's not true.
So my friend, is this the end of everything you thought that you would be?
Oh all you love has come and gone, and now I know exactly what to do.
You're gonna gonna gonna,
Have to start all over again.
Well if you wanna see this thing through,
To the end.
You need to need to need to,
Find a friendly hand.
You're gonna gonna gonna,
Have to start all over again.
What do you think hiding all your feelings deep inside will get you through?
The time has come to snap my thumb behind the place you're hiding your feelings.
You are just the sum of things, you feel it, all the memories you keep.
Well you are young and dumb but there's still time to get that heart up off your sleeve.
You're gonna gonna gonna,
Have to start all over again.
Well if you wanna see this thing through,
To the end.
You need to need to need to,
Find a friendly hand.
You're gonna gonna gonna,
Have to start all over again.
Start over again X2
Start over again (start all over again) X3
Start over again (start. all. over)

Great Divide :: Hanson

Last Saturday, December 1, was World AIDS day. Perhaps I should have written this post last week, in advance of that day. However, I wasn't quite ready to come out of the musical closet, so to speak. Dylan and I sometimes like to joke about this when we talk about our appreciation of this particular band (Sorry, Flunker – I'm outing you, too). We like to say, "You know, there are just some things that you can't share with the people around you – things you have to keep secret from your friends, and from your family... This is one of those things..." And then we'd usually launch into some entirely absurd cover of "MMMBop."

But right now, I'm not interested in a flashback to the 1990s. Like I said, Saturday was World AIDS Day, and since most of us who write for this blog are passionate about music and about social justice (often simultaneously), I thought I'd take a moment to talk about the song "Great Divide." Last year, on World AIDS Day 2006, Hanson released a new single that they'd recorded with two children's choirs in Mozambique and South Africa after becoming interested in the movement to fight global AIDS. The song is available on iTunes – and here's the best part - all the proceeds from its purchase go to the Perinatal HIV Unit at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, South Africa. In addition, while on tour this fall to support their new album, The Walk (2007), Hanson has been making speeches and organizing barefoot walks in every city they've played in, to raise awareness about global poverty and encourage people to become involved in AIDS activism.

Let me take a break for a moment. I imagine some folks are having trouble digesting all of this. Social justice, global AIDS awareness, activism, and Hanson!? I was as surprised as anyone else. But, then, it appears that Hanson, despite being three silver-spoonfed white boys from Oklahoma, aren't the strangers to social activism that we might presume them to be. In fact several years ago, after becoming disgusted with the corporate music industry and the massive media mergers that occurred in the late 1990s, Hanson left their major label and started their own, independent record label. They made a documentary about the experience, called "Strong Enough to Break." It's a far cry from "MMMBop."

So, in honor of World AIDS Day, in remembrance of the 25 million people who have died of AIDS since 1981, and in solidarity with the 22.5 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa who are currently living with HIV or AIDS, I am posting the song "Great Divide" and encouraging folks to download it and spread the word.

More information on the global AIDS epidemic: http://www.avert.org/worldstats.htm ; http://www.fightglobalaids.org/

More information on HIV/AIDS in Africa: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/africa/2000/aids_in_africa/default.stm; http://www.avert.org/aidsinafrica.htm

More information on the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, where the proceeds from "Great Divide" go: http://www.chrishanibaragwanathhospital.co.za/bara/index.jsp



Great Divide
The earth is shaking under siege
And every breath will meet its fate
Still we hunger for a moment of freedom
Even though the hour's late

I find hope and it gives me rest
I find hope in a beating chest
I find hope in what eyes don't see
I find hope in your hate for me
Have no fear when the waters rise
We can conquer this great divide

When every eye is on the fortune
It can only breed contempt
They say blood is thicker than oceans
Still we box our brothers in

I find hope and it gives me rest
I find hope in a beating chest
I find hope in what eyes don't see
I find hope in your hate for me
Have no fear when the waters rise
We can conquer this great divide

And we're gone
And we're gone
And we're holding on
And we're holding on
And we're holding on

I find hope and it gives me rest
I find hope in a beating chest
I find hope in what eyes don't see
I find hope in your hate for me
Have no fear
Have no fear when the waters rise
We can conquer this great divide