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THE CROSSING DEEP DIVE - PART 2


4 December 2018
2:45:53




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Stuart Adamson’s 1996 liner notes for The Crossing.

Tony Butler’s 2006 BB notes on The Crossing.

In A Big Country – song deep-dive by Tom and Svein

  • When you discuss a song like IABC, you’re really not just discussing the song itself, the lyrics, the music, the playing, the background, the usual stuff. The song is one of those that has taken on a life of its own. It’s not just a song. It’s bigger than the song itself. It is really the calling card of the band. It is a symbol of everything the band stands for. It’s a whole movement. A manifest. A declaration.
  • No other song in Big Country’s catalogue has so many iconic lines. Come up screaming. Pain and truth. Dreams stay with you. See the sun in wintertime. Stay alive.
  • The genesis of the song and how it fits within the band chronology. The sound in Stuart’s head was successfully recreated.
  • Relating the lyrics to the band’s own situation and Stuart’s own career.
  • The band name vs the song name – using your band name in a song generally, as well as what that specifically means here.
  • Stuart’s favourite lines that he ever wrote, as told to Tom in 1999, are found in this song.
  • The inspirational, ‘rallying cry’ aspects of the lyrics. Tom likens it to a motivational half-time speech from a football coach – someone who comes in and motivates the team to go out and deliver as well as they possibly can.
  • Changes between the demo version and the album version. Including Lillywhite’s most important contribution: deciding they should hold back the chorus slightly, having two verses and an instrumental break before the chorus. He also featured the incredible guitar lead melody line, and lifted the vocal line an octave.
  • The song’s inception: Stuart was unsure of the song’s merits. He went to a quiet place to work on it. It was written in the house of the band’s long-term roadie Les King. Stuart then called his wife Sandra, as well as their booking agent John Giddings, to get their opinion on it.
  • The song’s working title was “Stay Alive”. It was Giddings who suggested a name change to “In A Big Country”.
  • Lillywhite never had any doubts about the song. When he first heard the demo it made him cry.
  • Chart performances and press quotes underlined the song’s qualities.
  • We look at the different intro versions of the song that exist (album, single (TB edit from box set), 12’’ mix…)
  • A look at Mark’s drum inspiration for that militaristic drumming that is featured on The Crossing: Steve Gadd.
  • The IABC rhythm section – a skilfulness in the playing that shows. If we separate the rhythm section and just listen to that, we will hear a lot of little things happening: the odd hi-hat double swirl, various small bass runs, but as flourishes rather than featured parts.
  • The first appearance of backing vocalist Christine Beveridge on the album. We discuss her contributions as well as her short musical career outside of Big Country.

39 LYON STREET featuring Christine Beveridge – “Kites” (single release, 1981)
 

  • In 1981, the lads in the Scottish band The Associates released a single under the name 39 Lyon Street, with Christine Beveridge on lead vocals. The song was called “Kites”.
  • Stuart quotes about IABC from DRI Broadcasting and 2x Melody Maker. These quotes do say something about what the song is about – optimism in the face of abject disaster, and having a sense of self and dignity in times of trouble.
  • The lyrics seem to be one half of a conversation, the singer saying something and giving advise to a distressed person. Someone broke a promise.They look utterly distressed, their hopes being shattered. A total loss of hope.
  • Stuart’s use of winter. Seeing the sun in wintertime clearly refers to seeing hope in times of depression. The song is encouraging.
  • Stay Alive – the calling card of the band which comes from this song. Discussion on how this has been regarded differently over the years, how we lost it for a while, and how we got it back.

BIG COUNTRY - “In A Big Country” (from “The Crossing Live at RAK Studios”, 13 January 2012)

  • The experience of seeing this song as one of several album tracks – not as a single, not hearing it played anywhere, and not even seeing the video.
  • The Beavis and Butt-head reference, when they commented on In A Big Country and were complimentary about it!
  • Beri Chadwick – the woman in the In A Big Country video – was the receptionist at Edwards/Grant, at 123 Edgewear Road. If you went in there, you would meet Beri. She was also Ian’s PA, so she was around and they put her in the video.

Statistics and rankings:

  • We had 80 people provide personal rankings of the ten songs on The Crossing. This is a solid representation, and we will reveal these public ranking results alongside our own as we go through the album.
  • Tom has also counted the number of “sha!”, “ha!” and similar vocal exclamation marks on each and every song, referred to here as “karate barks”. We will similarly count them down for each and every song.

Tom ranking: 5. Svein ranking: 9. Public ranking: 4.
Karate bark countdown: 8.

Speakpipe from John Wilbur.

Inwards – song deep-dive by Svein and Tom

  • One of the band’s earliest songs. Inwards was amongst the eight or so songs that Stuart and Bruce demoed at the Townhill Community Centre in May 1981.

BIG COUNTRY - “Inwards” (Stuart and Bruce demo from Townhill 1981)

  • This is a frenetic song at heart, which goes hand in hand with the lyrics.
  • Bruce’s statement that the song never changed its style or arrangements. Apart from some tweaks, the song really did retain its style over the years.
  • What inspired the lyrics: Stuart left Skids in April 1981, and on the same night his grandmother died. Upheaval on both personal and professional levels.
  • Stuart always seem to be haunted by missing things that he wanted to be there for. And they were always family related things.
  • Lyrical differences between demo/lyric sheet in the “scouts in the stairwell” section. First ‘meet again’ vs. ‘kiss again’, and then ‘everything’s shame’ vs. ‘talk about justice and freedom and pain’. Svein suggests that this part of the song references Skids, indicating that their separation isn’t a final farewell – they will meet again, be friends again, and talk about the things they always used to.
  • A musical extravaganza, perhaps pointing forward to Steeltown more than any other song on the album. So many layers of guitars, so many movements, a song that builds and ebbs.
  • For a song that is so frenetic it is lovely to hear them pull back in the middle after the second chorus, the song almost drawing its breath before it starts building up and getting going again.
  • The outro is incredible. A huge-sounding playout with a proper ending rather than a fade. Fantastic.
  • The song’s weakest point might be its vocal melody which isn’t particularly catchy. This is a full band song, a guitar extravaganza, a frenzied trip – it does not have melodies fit for humming, unlike many other songs on this album, but it’s not a problem.
  • Given the song’s Skids connections added to the grief about missing out on homelife, it is interesting to hear Richard Jobson interview Stuart about this on a 1990 TV clip where they talk about Stuart’s issues being away from home, from the Skids days up to the present day.
  • How Stuart’s obligations to his own family led to a few clashes with proposed and actual professional engagements over the years.
  • The conflict in the lyrics – “I don’t wanna go out on a night like this”, but later “I don’t wanna go home with news like this”. This is a description of inner conflict, and there is emotional turmoil – everything’s loose.
  • Another look at “the scouts in the stairwell” – Tom agrees with Svein’s Skids theory, and our hosts end up discussing this a bit.
  • Demo discussion - Tom prefers that the album version does not start with drums from the first note, which the demo has. The album version does however not manage to capture the power of the song as we know it live, and even in some of the demos.
  • More on the end portion: Tom loves the wonderful guitar melody played throughout the entire end section. The band would play it live only at times, and stopped playing it after a while. It is a very complex part to play.

BIG COUNTRY – “Inwards” (live version from Austin, Texas on 22 March 1984)

  • Interesting duo of songs to start the album – first the wild optimism of In A Big Country, then the isolated sadness of Inwards. We get both sides of the spectrum side by side.
  • For Tom and Svein this song was initially and for a while a lower ranked song on the album. Not one that rose above most of the others, but a solid album track nonetheless. While their appreciation has risen for the song over the years, they vary significantly on how much.
  • Jason Allen’s recent cover version of the song does bring out more of the vocal melody in the song, showing that with the right emphasis it can be found.

JASON ALLEN – “Inwards” (cover version from December 2016)

  • Tony Butler’s quote on Inwards from 2006 + Bruce’s varying stances on the song, although it seem to be up there for him.

Svein ranking: 10. Tom ranking: 2. Public ranking: 6.
Karate bark countdown: 4.