Shane’s Music Challenge: THE WALLFLOWERS – 1996 – Bringing Down The Horse

Shane | 19 January 2014 | Reply

THE WALLFLOWERS – 1996 – Bringing Down The Horse

The best music has the power to touch your soul. The best music can transport you to a far off imaginary place, an alternate universe where you can escape your reality for three and a half minutes, or – in this case – take you back to a specific point in time.

I was working in a little village in Ontario, Canada, in 1999, cooking under the immigration department’s radar, and partying like it was… well, 1999.

We worked at a beautiful (though slowly atrophying) wooden Inn on one of the Great Lakes, pumping out a friendly little restaurant menu, as well as doing some amazing functions for the ultra-rich Americans who came across on the ultra-expensive boats to party. It’s the only time in my life I can recall being sick of lobster, we cooked so much of the stuff that summer!

The staff of the Inn, and adjoining docks, were a great bunch and I’m glad to say I made some enduring friendships, though the boss and I butted heads almost from day one. You don’t need the details, but suffice to say we did not see eye to eye at all, and the place ran despite him more than due to any leadership qualities he may have possessed.

Whenever I hear Jacob Dylan – son of Bob – sing “This place is always such a mess/ Sometimes I think I’d like to watch it burn” on opener One Headlight, I am instantly transported back to that kitchen. I can see ShayShay stick her head through the Pass and sing it to he chefs – Gilles, Brian and myself – so many times, the chaos of the place clearly showing on her face.

ShayShay loved that place, but love sometimes comes with the understanding that the object of our desire is imperfect and a cause of stress and anxiety. Love is nothing if not turbulent!

The following lines mean just as much to me: “I’m so alone, and I feel just like somebody else/ Man, I ain’t changed, but I know I ain’t the same”

I spent years travelling the world, working here and there, making friends then leaving again. That may not have been what Dylan was thinking of when he wrote them, but that’s what they mean to me.

The rest of the album is almost as good – a mellow rock album full of words that are as smart and as moving as befitting the son of the pre-eminent rock n’ roll poet.

Best tracks: One Headlight is the highlight for me, but 6th Avenue Heartache, Three Marlenas and God Don’t Make Lonely Girls are all perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon chilling in the sun.

7.5/10