Bruce Cockburn – If I Had a Rocket Launcher
He has such a distinct sound. Jazzy anger here – love the interplay of vibe (synth?) and guitar. I’m usually of a mind that violence doesn’t solve anything, but I get the sentiment on this one.
Tom Waits – The Day After Tomorrow
A plaintive letter of a song. The vocals are weary, subdued. The guitar picking is elegant. Digs deeper than one might expect – reflective. Glad this one was second as it really sombered me.
“If I Had A Rocket Launcher” / B. Cockburn. Presumably playing off that old spiritual “If I Had a Hammer,” a very ’80s sounding protest song from the era of America’s widely noted interventions (especially but not only) in Central American civil wars. I quite like the almost contrapuntally elegant guitar/synth rhythm figures that define the song musically. The synth on the chorus is a bit bombastic. But as an expression of cross-border solidarity with victims, this remains a strong statement.
“The Day After Tomorrow” / T. Waits. Just two guitars and a voice on this ruminatively hopeful epistolary number released in the wake of the post-9/11 invasions. Effective soldier’s-eye view. “How does God choose, whose prayers does he refuse?” Song’s premise is that the singer is headed home in 48 hours. Seems like a good egg, hope he makes it.
BC – Liked the intro, this came off very 80’s to me. Would definitely fit on the soundtrack of an 80’s movie.
TW – This was the first Tom Waits Album I bought. After that I made it a mission to buy everything he has done. Out of everything he has put out, maybe 2 albums fell short for me, The Black Riders and Franks Wild Years, other than that I can listen to any album over and over again without getting tired of it.
“If I Had a Rocket Launcher” by Bruce Cockburn: The synth spikes sound so 80’s….made me smile. I enjoyed the stereo field and mix on this….sounds nice with headphones. Trouble figuring out where the song was coming from but assume it airing frustration/grief/anger at “a situation desperate” (hopefully not planning to actually use a rocket launcher)
“The Day After Tomorrow” by Tom Waits: Voice actually sounds relatively croak free for this one. The close mic’d guitars sound very loose almost to a point that they sound like two separate guitar tracks overlayed…trouble discerning if they are cooperating together or not. This was distracting me for some reason. A soldier returning home story. These are abundant lyric subjects and for good reason. So many tales of young developing minds (mind’s that have not had time to know better) coming back traumatized with the stain of war’s reality on them…We’re just the gravel on the road.
“If I Had a Rocket Launcher” by Bruce Cockburn – I really enjoyed this intro as the track began to build. A very technical, tragic track as Cockburn sings about the horrors of war, experienced (presumably) from a veterans’ point-of-view? The guitar solo kicking in around the three minute marker was explosive in its own right – and the percussions seemed a bit toned down as the synths took over the rhythm. Despite it sounding “very eighties,” there is a deep, menacing tone.
“The Day After Tomorrow” by Tom Waits – There’s no mistaking that voice! The guitar picking ebbs and flows. Love the minimalism considering the complexity of the song. This feels like a letter written, the soldier’s frustration is palpable. Powerful track, and this offering had a unique contrast between the two tracks.
Bruce Cockburn – If I Had a Rocket Launcher
He has such a distinct sound. Jazzy anger here – love the interplay of vibe (synth?) and guitar. I’m usually of a mind that violence doesn’t solve anything, but I get the sentiment on this one.
Tom Waits – The Day After Tomorrow
A plaintive letter of a song. The vocals are weary, subdued. The guitar picking is elegant. Digs deeper than one might expect – reflective. Glad this one was second as it really sombered me.
“If I Had A Rocket Launcher” / B. Cockburn. Presumably playing off that old spiritual “If I Had a Hammer,” a very ’80s sounding protest song from the era of America’s widely noted interventions (especially but not only) in Central American civil wars. I quite like the almost contrapuntally elegant guitar/synth rhythm figures that define the song musically. The synth on the chorus is a bit bombastic. But as an expression of cross-border solidarity with victims, this remains a strong statement.
“The Day After Tomorrow” / T. Waits. Just two guitars and a voice on this ruminatively hopeful epistolary number released in the wake of the post-9/11 invasions. Effective soldier’s-eye view. “How does God choose, whose prayers does he refuse?” Song’s premise is that the singer is headed home in 48 hours. Seems like a good egg, hope he makes it.
BC – Liked the intro, this came off very 80’s to me. Would definitely fit on the soundtrack of an 80’s movie.
TW – This was the first Tom Waits Album I bought. After that I made it a mission to buy everything he has done. Out of everything he has put out, maybe 2 albums fell short for me, The Black Riders and Franks Wild Years, other than that I can listen to any album over and over again without getting tired of it.
“If I Had a Rocket Launcher” by Bruce Cockburn: The synth spikes sound so 80’s….made me smile. I enjoyed the stereo field and mix on this….sounds nice with headphones. Trouble figuring out where the song was coming from but assume it airing frustration/grief/anger at “a situation desperate” (hopefully not planning to actually use a rocket launcher)
“The Day After Tomorrow” by Tom Waits: Voice actually sounds relatively croak free for this one. The close mic’d guitars sound very loose almost to a point that they sound like two separate guitar tracks overlayed…trouble discerning if they are cooperating together or not. This was distracting me for some reason. A soldier returning home story. These are abundant lyric subjects and for good reason. So many tales of young developing minds (mind’s that have not had time to know better) coming back traumatized with the stain of war’s reality on them…We’re just the gravel on the road.
“If I Had a Rocket Launcher” by Bruce Cockburn – I really enjoyed this intro as the track began to build. A very technical, tragic track as Cockburn sings about the horrors of war, experienced (presumably) from a veterans’ point-of-view? The guitar solo kicking in around the three minute marker was explosive in its own right – and the percussions seemed a bit toned down as the synths took over the rhythm. Despite it sounding “very eighties,” there is a deep, menacing tone.
“The Day After Tomorrow” by Tom Waits – There’s no mistaking that voice! The guitar picking ebbs and flows. Love the minimalism considering the complexity of the song. This feels like a letter written, the soldier’s frustration is palpable. Powerful track, and this offering had a unique contrast between the two tracks.