[Powderworks] RE: Breathe bashing
Jim Macdonald
jsmacdonaldjr@yahoo.com
Fri, 18 Oct 2002 06:53:41 -0700 (PDT)
I have always loved the song "Surf's Up" even though I'm not particularly fond of
surfing or the beach (although a recent trip to Hawaii has softened that view quite
a bit--I guess I was going to the wrong beaches!)
I learned to love the Breathe album and "Surf's Up" up in the Northern Rockies
listening to it on long drives through Yellowstone National Park when I was working
there with the girl who would later become my wife.
Now, there's no beach in Yellowstone (the very cold shores of Yellowstone Lake have
a beach, but you don't surf on it without risking hypothermia or cutting yourself on
the ice or falling into a hot spring and scalding yourself while dying of
hypothermia...LOL). So, anyhow, why did I feel at peace with this song?
I think it was that I was in love with where I was and I felt that same love about
what "Surf's Up" was saying, about the romanticism of the place, of the people
talked about. The atmospherics of the song fit perfectly with where I was.
Undoubtedly, I would have loved the song more if it was talking about sulphur smells
and magical caves and buffalo, bears, elk, and wolves, but that's not really the
point. The point was I felt I could empathize with the dreamy romanticism of the
song (and the entire album--"In the Rain", for instance), and I guess it's the word
"empathy" that is key here. I felt somehow they had some little grasp on my soul
and where I was, and I felt that most people living in their normal daily routine
were missing something profound that could be found at the water's edge, or in my
case, the glacier's edge.
I love every single one of Midnight Oil's albums, and I don't want to say that
Breathe is my favorite album. However, I think if I wanted to find songs by
Midnight Oil that also best represented who I was as a person, I think I could more
easily find them there than anywhere else.
Jim Macdonald
http://www.yellowstone-online.com
--- Anna Offler <aoffler@iprimus.com.au> wrote:
> Not being a surfer but a beach lover I can still relate to Surfs Up. I have
> always lived within a couple of miles of the beach except when in England.
> As another great band once said "A beach is a place that a man can feel he's
> the only soul in the world thats real"
> Lew and Anna
> "So farewell to the Norfolk Island pines" What can be more beach than that.
> Reminds me of Muriels Wedding and all those coastal towns.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: powderworks-admin@cs.colorado.edu
> [mailto:powderworks-admin@cs.colorado.edu]On Behalf Of Kate Adams
> Sent: Friday, 18 October 2002 8:58 AM
> To: KATHY GEDLER
> Cc: Tim; LLOYD_Ian@canon.com.au; oilchat;
> powderworks-admin@cs.colorado.edu
> Subject: Re: [Powderworks] RE: Breathe bashing
>
>
> "The land lives longer if we listen to the earthbeat
> Our lives go forward if we listen to our heartspeak"
>
> At 06:13 PM 10/17/02 -0500, KATHY GEDLER wrote:
>
> "you get high, you're alive.....surf's up tonight"
>
> Tim
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Tim
> Sent: Thursday, October 17, 2002 5:33 PM
> To: LLOYD_Ian@canon.com.au
> Cc: powderworks@cs.colorado.edu; powderworks-admin@cs.colorado.edu
> Subject: Re: [Powderworks] RE: Breathe bashing
>
> Here here I couln't agree more
> Surf's Up tonight is on of my all time favs. I love listening to it
> and day
> dreaming of surf, sand and lazy day by the beach.
>
>
> A couple of other lines that remind me of the beach. Can anyone think
> of
> some more.
> "I can smell the sand and sea again."
> "A car park stretched out where the bindiis use to be"
>
>
> Love
> Tim
>
>
> At 08:41 AM 10/09/2002 +1000, LLOYD_Ian@canon.com.au wrote:
>
>
> >Why is everybody bagging Surf's Up?
> >It's one of my favourites, being a person who loves to surf i guess i
> >could really connect with what was being said in the song. Is there
> anyone else
> >out there who surfs or even just loves the beach who may agree, come
> on
> >there must be one?
> >
> >IAN LLOYD - National Sales Admin. Team Leader
> >CANON - Business Imaging Solutions Group
> >Level 2, 1 Thomas Holt Drive, North Ryde 2113
> >PH: (02) 9805 2384
> >FAX: 1800 352227
> >E-MAIL: lloyd_ian@canon.com.au
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > msira@calis.com
> >
> > Sent
> > by: To: powderworks@cs.colorado.edu
> > powderworks-admin@cs.co cc:
> >
> > lorado.edu Subject:
> > [Powderworks] RE: Breathe bashing
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > 10/09/2002 07:47
> > AM
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >You know, the funny thing is that I recently revisited Breathe for
> the first
> >time in a couple of years and was suprised at how many GOOD songs
> there are on
> >this album.
> >
> >I think Breathe's problem was that the low points are VERY low. Some
> (I'm
> >thinking of the "Surf's Up" spoken word part) are "Cringe"-worthy.
> >
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> >
> >
> >
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