I used to do a thing where I talked about music I really liked, what I liked about it, and why the song was f'n a, brah. I covered a wide range of time periods for my preferred genre of music, which is rock in general, from the Rolling Stones to the Arctic Monkeys. I do listen to a wide variety of rock/metal/grunge/whatever, this is true - one day I can be listening to the Beatles while the next I put on Slayer and jam out to them I like music, basically, and sometimes I just hear a song that I enjoy so immensely that I feel a need to express how I feel about it. This is one of those songs

So, without further ado...

"In a Big Country" - Big Country

Come up screaming

Come up screaming

I never seen you look like this without a reason

Another promise fallen through, another season passes by you

I never took the smile away from anybody's face

And that's a desperate way to look for someone who is still a child

In a big country dreams stay with you

Like a lover's voice fires the mountainside

Stay alive

I thought that pain and truth were things that really mattered

But you can't stay here with every single hope you had shattered

I'm not expecting to grow flowers in the desert

But I can live and breathe and see the sun in wintertime

In a big country dreams stay with you

Like a lover's voice fires the mountainside

Stay alive

In a big country dreams stay with you

Like a lover's voice fires the mountainside

Stay alive

So take that look out of here, it doesn't fit you

Because it's happened doesn't mean you've been discarded

Pull up your head off the floor, come up screaming

Cry out for everything you ever might have wanted

I thought that pain and truth were things that really mattered

But you can't stay here with every single hope you had shattered

I'm not expecting to grow flowers in the desert

But I can live and breathe and see the sun in wintertime

In a big country dreams stay with you

Like a lover's voice fires the mountainside

Stay alive

In a big country dreams stay with you

Like a lover's voice fires the mountainside

Stay alive

In a big country dreams stay with you

Like a lover's voice fires the mountainside

Stay alive

For starters, I didn't make a Freudian Slip - the band is named "Big Country" and the song is "In a Big Country." The band themselves hail from Scotland, and, because it seems the Isles are like Sparta except with music instead of warriors because of how many talented artists they have given us over the years, these guys are no exception. They are considered to be a one hit wonder stateside with this song being their hit, they are unique amongst their peers for incorporating the sounds of their homeland into the majority of their songs - for instance, the guitarist in this song manages to imitate bagpipes during a couple of points in the song which I would think of as being his solos, which I think is pretty fricken' sweet.

I actually discovered this when I was about 12 or 13 years old, when my fascination with music was undoubtedly at its peak and I could even call myself a true multi-instrumentalist. It had come on a VH1 special of One Hit Wonders of the 1980s and I was moved by the passion I felt in the song itself. This song is very fiery and very emotional, and it wears the passion in it on its sleeve - whether it be the breakneck speeds and high pitched wailings of the guitar, the bassline that often switches from supreme to submissive, or the uplifiting and personal message that the lyrics portray, this song comes together to form a true gem and a song that is very tragically overlooked stateside.

The lyrics strike me as being sung to a troubled person. It's validating with lines like, "I've never seen you look like this without a reason" and acknowledges sadness in the experience, but encourages a more positive outlook at the same time. Lines like "That's a desperate way to look for someone who's still a child" seems to sound like the person is being a bit dramatic, but the overall message is to not let one thing get in the way of enjoying all the great things in life. Yeahh, things won't be miraculously beautiful, but it can still be good. Don't let the pain in the realization of whatever you just discovered rule your life- fight for what you want, because you deserve it. It is a very motivational song with some very uplifting undertones and I absolutely love that about it, and, combined with the fiery passion that is basically audible within the music you hear as the song plays out, it manages to be a tour de force of music that is uplifting while still being emotionally complex.

The band maintained a good amount of popularity in Europe despite never charting again after this song in the USA. The band's frontman, however, had this to say in regards to the band's status as a One Hit Wonder:

"If we're known for nothing more than just that one song, I'd be pretty happy with that."

-Stuart Adamson

I cannot stress how much I love this quote. The passion you can hear in this one song alone is enough to validate the band's love of music, but this shows a high degree of artistic integrity as well. It isn't about the fame or the money, it's about the core of it - and that's the pictures you paint with sounds and how they not only affect you but those around you. This shows an unbridled love of the medium in so few words that it is just awe inspiring.

I just wanted to say that, because I love that quote

Back to the music portion, I feel I haven't covered the guitar in this song adequately enough - this is my personal favorite guitar part in any song I've ever heard in my life, and that's a long list, I assure you. It moves at breakneck speeds throughout the majority of the song, and just the thought of playing it alone makes my right hand wrist burn as if I've been speed strumming for almost 5 minutes straight...like this song does It's incredible, really, how he manages to have the endurace to last throughout the song at the speed he's playing at. It's also incredible how he is playing so much faster than the rest of the band, yet the song itself still feels natural and the guitar itself doesn't feel saturated with some guy trying to over-complicate his part, which I often feel to be a problem in this scenario. It is far from a problem in this song, however, and manages to actually make the song better while at it.

My personal favorite part about the epic-ness of the guitar part, however, is the wailing of the guitar you hear throughout. It's loud, and it's repeptitive, but it has soul nonetheless. It evokes a degree of emotion out of me, actually. It sounds tormented at parts and it sounds determined at others, but all in all it just portrays the emotions of the song very well. Unlike the main part of the song, however, the wailing isn't nearly as complex to play. He didn't try to keep the song difficult and fast, and I love that - he recognized what would go best in this part and worked it to perfection.

Lastly on the guitar part, the 2 guitar solos (which are exactly the same) is the guitarist in this song making an attempt to imitate bagpipes with his guitar, which I really find to just be awesome, especially because he does it so well.

I really just adore the guitar in this song especially, and if you didn't catch the reasons I listed above, I will just go on the record to say it is overflowing with soul. That's the best part of the guitar in this song is that it has unbridled spirit and passion, and damn, do I love it for that.

It's just overall a song really worth checking out if you haven't heard it before. It is one of the most under-appreciated songs I've ever had the pleasure of finding and it is definitely worth a look

Until next time!

-ghostfacekiller39