A #SaturdaySong Revisited

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Looking back through previous posts, I came across one from my now just-about-defunct #SaturdaySongs series. For those not familiar with these (ie. just about all of you) these were posts about a song that had some significance for me. This one was originally published in November 2018, and it was based on – and included a reprise of – a post originally made in 2013. Neither of these scored highly in terms of interest: the 2018 one had six likes and four comments, the 2013 one just three likes and zero comments. But it still means something to me and in these days of greater interaction I felt it deserved to be shared again for the wider audience I have nowadays.

This is the 2018 post, slightly edited to make more sense in this context. I’ll come back at the end to round things off for you:

#SATURDAYSONGS 15: GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS

The idea for this post came about when, earlier in the week, I was having one of my late evening sessions watching YouTube videos. I was in the middle of a run of several by one of my favourite bands, the Canadian group Great Lake Swimmers, and was scrolling through the comments when I came across someone saying they were looking forward to seeing the band play in London. This struck a chord, as I went to that show, and I then had one of those D’oh lightbulb moments: the comment was by me! Here it is, in all its glory, second one down:

As this was six years ago I guess I can be forgiven for not recalling this, and in any event I rarely post comments on YouTube so wasn’t really expecting to see myself there! This brought back some lovely memories of the gig, which actually has a very special meaning for me, and it reminded me that I had written a post about it. After digging back into the darkest recesses of my library of posts, I found the piece. It was originally written on 23 April 2013 in response to that day’s WordPress Daily Prompt. I used to write a lot of those, until they spoiled it all by moving to single word prompts that did nothing for my limited imagination. These prompts have now stopped: it seems I may not have been the only one who didn’t like the change! I was going to do this as one of my reblogs but I thought the occasion deserved a fuller post, so I’m going to share the full text of what I originally wrote and will then round things up at the end. Here’s me in April 2013:

Daily Prompt: Earworm

“The question posed in today’s prompt is “What song is stuck in your head (or on permanent rotation in your CD  or MP3 player) these days? Why does it speak to you?”

The song which I have played most since the album it’s on came out last summer is unlikely to be known by many. It is ‘Easy Come, Easy Go’ by the Canadian band The Great Lake Swimmers. Here’s the official video:

“Easy come and easy go

That’s what they say when they’re about to go broke

So try not to choke

And put your arms around me and don’t ever let go”

Have you even heard of them, let alone know their music? They have been together in various incarnations since 2003 and the album this song is on – ‘New Wild Everywhere’ – is their fifth. If you’d like to find out more about them they are at www.greatlakeswimmers.com.

Apart from the fact that I love this band’s music, and this song in particular, there are two answers to the question about why it speaks to me. Firstly, the message is a simple one: “everything can be collapsing around you, but I’m here to look after you” – I know it’s more complex than that, but that’s what I take as the underlying message of the song. It’s a message I like and which I think we all want to have from a special someone if life reaches the point of being dismantled around us, as in the video, or should we be going through a difficult time. As you’ll know if you’ve read any of my previous offerings, I am in recovery from depression and started this blog to encourage others that things can and do get better. But I don’t just sail blithely through life, and I still have my black dog days. I had a spell of these last week and didn’t really start feeling better until yesterday morning. This was the first song I played – it is hard not to get carried along by the tune, and the words seemed comforting after a very rough few days. That’s what the song does for me.

The second level is that this band will always be special to me for a very personal reason. Before I was ill I used to love going to live gigs, usually at least once a month. I went through a period of nearly two years when I just didn’t feel like going to one – Great Lake Swimmers at Bush Hall in London, 26th November 2012, was my first after all that time. Being able to overcome my apprehension at going, on a horrible wet Monday night, to be part of a crowd and to enjoy losing myself in the music again is something that will stay with me forever. And just to prove I was there, a very quick snippet of ‘Ballad of a Fisherman’s Wife’ :

Just to finish that evening off, a final part of the story: on the tube home I tweeted the band and thanked them for a great show. Most bands don’t reply to fan tweets like that, but GLS did – I had a very nice tweet back from Miranda Mulholland, the rather lovely red headed one, saying how much they appreciated that. The perfect end to my first show after the long break!

I hope you have a special song, piece of music, poem, painting or whatever that says something to you when you need a comforting ‘voice.’ Why not share yours via the comments box, it would be interesting to see what helps, comforts and encourages you.”

Back in the (2018) here and now: as a little bonus I thought I’d also give you the song on which I made my comment. It is the title track from what was then the band’s new album, referenced in the 2013 post, and the video is nice, too:

I still play that a lot nowadays. As I said: special band for me, with special memories.

******************************************************************

And now back in the 2021 here and now. This is the first time I’ve created a kind of Russian doll post, with one post inside another and then inside another, but I hope you can see the importance of the previous ones for me. That recovery from depression has continued, I’m happy to say, but there were many times when I needed help along the way. Sometimes this came from music, and GLS became a special band for me at that time: they are still one of my ‘go to’ bands. I bought the New Wild Everywhere album when it first came out in mid 2012, having heard some of its songs on the great Whispering Bob’s radio show, and played the album incessantly. I went back to work a couple of months later, and I think I managed that at least in part due to the calming effects of the music I was listening to. It is important for us to have something, or someone, to rely on for help when times aren’t good, and music always helps me. I hope you have something similar, and that you know where to go if you need to seek help. Mental health issues affect one in four of us, and I suspect that number is rising as a result of the pandemic: don’t feel that you are alone, because you aren’t. Please, just ask! For those of you in the States, you can click on the ‘Stand up for mental health’ image to the right to find a source of advice, for those in the UK I always recommend the Mental Health Foundation, and I know that there are similar organisations in many other countries.

Take care, and enjoy your weekend.

44 thoughts on “A #SaturdaySong Revisited”

  1. A #SaturdaySong Revisited
    Posted on November 23, 2018 in Blog Comments

    Great post! I’m a big fan of your blog and #SaturdaySongs. The song you mentioned was truly significant for me because it reminded me of some personal experiences or emotions that I have struggled with recently. Your writing style is very authentic and conversational, which makes it easy to relate to. Thank you for sharing such thought-provoking content! Keep up the great work! ❤️
    Clive Blogs

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  7. Clive – this is a great way to share about a past post – lead us into it and then share more after parts of the old post were shred (so much better than a regular reblog or a link to an old post)

    Loved your little snippet of the live music (and I will try and do that when I saver about the Lynard Skynard cover band we saw recently – sigh – but I am a little in the blog weeds with the month of July Treesquares – glad to follow the idea and do the month-long posts – but it is a little but too much for me to do a daily post – and so not sure if I will finish off July doing it – but know for sure that in august I will lighten up the posting schedule)

    anyhow, I will share a snippet of the music like you did here – and Clive, I have also done that – where I see a comment and then notice I left it – hahahahah
    and I like how you shared an image of the comment you left (part of the good flow of the whole post)
    and easy Come, Easy Go s a smooth jam!

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    • Hi Yvette,

      It’s an approach I’ve used before – I find it more flexible than just a simple reblog with some extra comments, and for this ‘Russian doll’ post it was by far the best way to keep and expand the earlier stuff.

      I hope you survive July’s posts! I’ve done daily posts a few times, and it usually leaves me exhausted and totally blogged out.

      I’m glad you liked the clip I recorded. It was on the iPhone I had at the time, which I think was the 4S, and it made it look as though I was much further from the stage than I actually was. I’m also pleased you liked the main song, too. That song, and the band, have a special place in my heart.

      As for forgetting our own comments, I have old age to blame – what’s your excuse? 😉

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      • I am not sure what my excuse is for forgetting – because I am really good with dates and other details- maybe because the comments are left so quick and I had left so many = or maybe it never automatically left working memory to go into long term?

        ha

        –
        and seeing you note the 4S reminds me how we can sometimes reference back to different years with different iPhone models
        –
        the very first iPhone model I recall seeing – my son was in scouts and a parent had his and showed me it – my hubs got one soon after – but the parent that showed me his new iphone – well I knew it was special but had no idea of what the iPhone would become

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      • No worries, I was only teasing you anyway!

        I know what you mean about iPhones helping us with dates. I got my first – a 3GS – in early 2010, and upgraded to a 4S sometime after that, then onto a 6+ when I retired in Sept 2013. That’s why I’m fairly sure it would have been the 4S in late 2012, when that gig happened. They’ve kind of taken over our lives since then, haven’t they? Little did I know when I got that first one that I was embarking on an Apple love in, which has included several iPads, two MacBook Airs, a couple of watches, five iPhones and an Apple TV. It’s easy to get hooked, especially when they all link so well.

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      • Oh you are an Apple fan! And good point about them syncing up and all that
        And side note / was reading about Turing and something about his death and a bite out of the apple he was eating – and this person said maybe the apple logo was inspired by Turing
        —
        Anyhow – I remember having the iPhone 4 and was so content – skipped the phone upgrades because I was so content – but then we went to a friends house and their five year old had the iPhone 4 as her music device and I realized my phone was pretty old for cell
        Standards –
        Think I went to the 6 after that and so on
        And as much as I love smart phones I feel like I under use what is available in devices – but oh well

        Liked by 1 person

      • I’d not heard that Turing story before, it kinda makes sense, but it might also be apocryphal!

        It’s good that you can trace your iPhone history too – I think most of us can do the same! I don’t get out much so tend to use the iPads as my main devices – I can tell that as I have two, which I charge every day, but the iPhone only needs charging every three days!

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      • Now that we chat about it – I think I can trace all my phones back with memories – including the early flip phones in mid 1990s and the bad ass feel phone I had in 2000 that was with Qualcomm (?) had all these features and I got service on the beach (which was not the norm at the time and it was before all the “can you hear me now” coverage commercials emerged )
        But the most memorable phone around here might be the Motorola Razor. That was when their superb quality and “glass” screen was noteworthy – I never had a blackberry so missed that wave.

        Liked by 1 person

      • You’re doing better than me – I’ve had loads before my first iPhone, some flip phones, some not. Nokia was a big seller here, and I’ve had a couple of theirs. Never had a Blackberry but one of my daughters did – it didn’t even last for the whole of the 12 month warranty period!

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      • Oh wow – I did not know that blackberries suffered with quality ??
        And I did hear that blackberry missed out because they ignored advice to change their keyboard (something like that) and I will always remember how a friend of mine had her BB with her at all times – it truly as the start of the smart devices that become part of the essence of daily life –
        Oh and our chatting about it reminds me of the cool belt Clio I had for my phone in 2002 – I could do nature hikes with students and that was so handy ! Ha
        And just curious – do you ha e protective cases on your iPads or use then without a case?

        Liked by 1 person

      • Maybe not, but hers did! Piece of crap! Blackberry got overtaken, as did Nokia and their competitors, when proper smart phones cornered the market.

        Yes, I have cases that protect front and back. I don’t buy Apple’s own though – far too expensive!

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  9. Great sound! How cool that the signer responded to you. Some songs have a special connection to us that others may not understand. I actually like that some songs are more meaningful just to me than the masses. Look at all of the responses you got this time, Clive—third time’s a charm.

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    • Glad you like it, Pete, and you’re so right about songs having that connection for us. It was lovely that she replied but then, as someone said, they are Canadians and they are a polite nation! On the response, yes it has been really good: some have just hit ‘like,’ others have commented, some have done both – I’m pleased with that!

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  12. what a wonderful post, Clive. I had never heard of the band (I love their name), and I enjoyed the songs you shared. But the best part of the post was just reading about the positive effect this song, this band, that concert had on your mental health. I am glad to read that you are continuing on the road to recovery from depression.

    and fingers crossed for England tomorrow!

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  14. Clive, thanks for the introduction. I like the group. The first one reminds me of Tom Petty singing “I won’t back down.” Good tune. As for earworms, with more TV commercials using songs to sell product, I walk around singing or humming those songs during the day. If it is a good song, that is OK. If it is some bastardization of the lyrics, that is not OK. Keith

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  15. An amazing Canadian band. Thanks for sharing the post and their music. I find music helps me get through tough spots as well. I don´t suffer from deep depression, but have had severe bouts of anxiety over the years and have had to deal with homesickness recently. As for a band member replying to your tweet, we are just like that in Canada.

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    • Happy to share it, Darlene – I love the band. Sorry to hear you have struggles too, but it’s good to know that music works it’s magic for you as well.

      Canadians have a well-deserved reputation for being the most polite people on the planet 😊

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