heartland

[lazarus corporation]

I am ashamed to admit that this is one of my least Favourite Sisters songs, because of its repetitive chorus

Do I have to give away my black suede jackets with the fringes now?

I always wanted them to do an extended version - 10 minutes of high bits, then back to the low bits, then high bits again. I always thought it ended too soon. Although that could have been the amphetamines...

[splintered thing]

(at risk of being the worst thread-necro in a while...)

I was listening to SGWBM on the way to/from work today and it was Heartland the just wormed into my brain with that wibbly guitar and throbbing bass.
Have agree, there is a definite 4am day 3 feeling about this song... it almost induced a lying on the floor daze response, which is not ideal when driving in traffic on a very dark rainy day

[stufarq]

Don't think I've seen this thread before but, as we're into necro...

I suspect that the long white line doesn't refer to drugs at all (or, if it does, it's a double reference) and I can think of two more likely themes for this song:

LONG WHITE LINE by Aaron Tippin

I won't be around this old town anymore for a long long time
Gonna hit the road and start looking for end of that long white line
Gonna hit the road and start looking for end of that long white line

I woke up my baby was gone without her I don't need no home
Gonna hit the road and start looking for end of that long white line
Gonna hit the road and start looking for end of that long white line

Went to bank to get my dough I don't care where I go
Gonna push this rig till I push that gal right out of my mind
If somebody wants to know whats become of this so and so
You can tell em I'm somewhere looking for the end of this long white line
Just tell em somewhere looking for the end of that long white line

New York City old St. Joe Alburque New Mexico
This old rig is humming and rolling she's doing fine
If somebody wants to know whats become of this so and so
You can tell em I'm somewhere looking for the end of that long white line
Just tell em I'm somewhere looking for the end of that long white line

Not saying that Von was deliberately referencing that song (not even sure when it was written) but, bearing in mind that "heartland" is a US term for the central states (the ones that "don't touch an ocean"), there's an obvious parallel in this song, with the long white line being the one down the middle of the Interstate Highway (the "road" mentioned in the first verse). It's a description of the Black Planet video.

More likely, though, given Von's political interests, is Halford John Mackinder's Heartland Theory ("whoever rules the Heartland rules the world"). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heartland_Theory
The long white line would perhaps be on a map (although they're not usually white) and the song would be about 20th century European political history and the various disastrous mistakes involved. The sirens, "behind the lines" and particularly "make the places mine" make a lot of sense in this context.

(I've always assumed that the "giant steps" line was a passing reference to The Police's Walking On The Moon although I'm not sure if there's a particular reason for it.)

[lazarus corporation]

I am ashamed to admit that this is one of my least Favourite Sisters songs, because of its repetitive chorus

Do I have to give away my black suede jackets with the fringes now?

I always wanted them to do an extended version - 10 minutes of high bits, then back to the low bits, then high bits again. I always thought it ended too soon. Although that could have been the amphetamines...

Damn, a post from 2004. I don't even remember posting that. Although that could have been the amphetamines...

[paint it black]

apparently it's about being in an ambulance after a speed bomb went wrong, so you're correct. nothing to do with drugs at all

[centurionofprix]

That seems like an interesting way to read it, at least. I forgot how pretty some of these lines were.

[RockNRoll Mercenary]

Do you mean the song or the speed?

[Suleiman]

From an old post, from a pharmacology text book;

Sterotyped behaviour is one of the pharmacological effects of large doses of amphetamines. It consists of repeated actions, such as licking, gnawing, rearing, repeated movements of the head and limbs or chanting 'My Heartland, Heartland, Heartland'.

Great song, love it.

[blackandgold65]

From an old post, from a pharmacology text book;

Sterotyped behaviour is one of the pharmacological effects of large doses of amphetamines. It consists of repeated actions, such as licking, gnawing, rearing, repeated movements of the head and limbs or chanting 'My Heartland, Heartland, Heartland'.

Great song, love it.

love it too, I don't mind the repetition personally, Eldritch does this it a lot in his work of course, and in the hands of any other singer it would be too much but his style, delivery, vocal tone etc make it hypnotic for me instead of boring...it just works brilliantly and I too love the shimmering high guitar lines....

[eastmidswhizzkid]

to paraphrase Von (i think from the zig-zag interview) " there's a case for the use of effective repetition as opposed to monotonous regurgitation".

[LyanvisAberrant]

Oh my lord.
A friend of mine just pointed out some misheard lyrics:
(I know there is a thread on mishead lyrics, I just couldn't find it)

It sounds like he's doing some sort of really strange crossword puzzle.
"My R-Blank-R-Blank-R-blank, My R-Blank-R-Blank-R-blank, My R-Blank-R-Blank-R-blank"

[Nikolas Vitus Lagartija]

I know that this will be a total coincidence, but when I googled My Heartland earlier today from a different computer, the first match was a website devoted to the wonders of a region (of that name) of Singapore, a country where famously spent some of his nomadic childhood...

[markfiend]

Yorkshire is The Heartland, people! Gee!

[eastmidswhizzkid]

"Lay me down the long white line" - This sounds to me as someone's been imposing the drugs onto him. Doesn't it? Such things happen every day, don't they? Especially in circles where he had his whereabouts.

I just don't buy the commercial that all the music and movie stars are so crazy about the drugs; I'd say before that they were pushed into them, in order to be used as advertizers of the sh*t, and to be able to control them better (it's easier to rob a star addicted to drugs then the one who's not, right?!).
I mean, there are so many victims of circumstances all around, just because the bad guys still pull the strings.

Andy is a good guy; it's just difficult to understand where he comes from if you haven't been there (or close) by yourself. It's a "high society" stuff; and their reality is sometimes stranger than in the Hollywood movies.

And I think that being about the drugs is not really the shape of his heart.

havent you ever taken drugs? they're great fun -thats why people get addicted to them. and speed -which is what he was mostly into then- isnt at all high society. its cheap and cheerful. most get put off by the come-down. those who dont have (potentially) got a friend for life.

[eastmidswhizzkid]

havent you ever taken drugs? they're great fun -thats why people get addicted to them.

You love it, huh? Did it make your life better?

I have taken some, without my will, so maybe that's why I'm saying it's not just a matter of fun. I must say it was actually nothing bad, but apparently very good, but I've noticed that it weakened my will, and I didn't like the consequences. Is there any drug that doesn't weaken the personal will?

i would never advocate making anybody take anything against their will. whoever did that to you was well out of order and deserves a good slap.
as for being weak-willed i undoubtedly have an addictive personality which doesnt come because of the drugs so i cant blame the drugs for that. and i have actively persued drug-experimentation. even if they weren't addictive i would still do pretty much what i've always done. but i would never encourage anyone to do anything the way i do it, including crossing the road. i was merely making the point about free-will and saying that i doubt anyone coerced Eldritch into doing anything he didnt want to.

[kafka]

The above thread necro had nothing on me.... (incidentally, searching for "Heartland" on here is a bit silly.)

I was just listening to David Gilmour's "There's no way out of here" and the lyrics jumped out at me...

There's no way out of here
When you come in
You're in for good
There was no promise made
The part you played
The chance you took*

vs.

Clearly now the past mistakes
The giant steps we had to take
The path that ever promise made to
Die in dream dissolve and fade

It's a little tenuous, perhaps, but the "had to take / chance you took" and "no promise made / path that ever promise made" ring very similar to my ear... Any thoughts?

[alanm]

I was thinking about this song's arrangement.

It occurred to me that the "repeat x40" section is effectively a guitar solo outtro. [1]
The idea being that Von's vocals become part of the bassline and Marx's lead takes center stage. [2]

Of course Gary wasn't a very good guitarist at that point, so he doesn't do more than play around with the main riff in a couple of different ways.
This gets repetitive and draws the song the "it's just a riff" shade.

So. One could imagine a slightly different arrangement where Vons "repeat x40" vocals are dialed way back in the mix (or dropped entirely) and the lead guitar gets a full go at the two minute solo outtro section (famous examples of this sort of thing: Comfortably Numb, Hotel California, We Will Rock You).

What would that look like with a top modern guitarist on the lead? Like say, the current lineup. I think it would be pretty awesome.

Would it kill off the "just a riff" criticism of this song? Because frankly I have always thought that is quite unjustified.

[1] Musos: weigh in if I'm wrong, and alternatively apologies if I am stating the obvious!
[2] An uncharitable interpretation would be that Eldritch couldn't let Gary do a solo without singing over it.

[czuczu]

I don't think his nibs could pull off the vocals for the ending these days so I doubt we'll ever hear it again, especially now Chris has gone.
Only way to do it would be to get the crowd to do the chorus finale while Ben inevitably does what he does.
Never had a problem with Gary's parts on this - the layers and octave stuff is great

[alanm]

Never had a problem with Gary's parts on this - the layers and octave stuff is great

Yeah, totally agree. I was just pointing out that the composition was informed by the bands limitations at the time, and imagining what could be with those constraints removed.
What did WH say about the older songs in his book - simple but clever constructions.

I don't think his nibs could pull off the vocals for the ending these days so I doubt we'll ever hear it again, especially now Chris has gone.
Only way to do it would be to get the crowd to do the chorus finale while Ben inevitably does what he does.

I was thinking just cut the vocal track altogether, or if you really want to keep it Davey can put on a loop.
Very much like the crowd idea though. Would make for a great encore number.

[ruffers]

I love this. My intro to the sisters was Black October specifically Colchester so that's my baseline and Von s voice when he goes up in the second half of the tune is unbelievable. It's in the background of the record but tune into that and.... Wow

[H. Blackrose]

I honestly think it's the best drum track on any Sisters record, like "Lucretia" is the best bass line - the endless "adrenaline mantra" quality which is what the Sisters are all about. My first love was prog-rock, so the discovery that the perfect line for a peak emotional experience could be two bars endlessly repeated blew my mind