Driving With The Brakes On

Skinner told DU a personal story of an experience-- giving a friend a ride to a women’s clinic for an abortion-- that reminded me of this song called “Driving With The Brakes On.” His simple story of a simple act of kindness spoke volumes-- in those complex moments, simple kindness matters. Like simply supporting someone in a decision that you might not make for your self; like acknowledging that you have no idea what you might actually do if it WAS your decision; like knowing that there is no way you can know what is right for that person; like giving the friend a ride to the clinic, without judgment.

The song tells the story of a couple driving back home, “now the kid has gone.” It is a story of pain and ambivalence, love and indifference, moving through the night between what was and what will be.

Driving through the long night
Trying to figure who's right and who's wrong
Now the kid has gone. i sit belted up tight,
She sucks on a match light, glowing bronze, steering on.
And i might be more of a man if i stopped this in it's tracks
And said, come on, let's go home. but she's got the wheel,
And i've got nothing except what i have on.

When you're driving with the brakes on
When you're swimming with your boots on,
It's hard to say you love someone
And it's hard to say you don't

Trying to keep the mood right, trying to steer the conversation from
The thing we've done.
She shuts up the ashtray, and i say it's a long way back now hon
She just yawns. and we might get lost someplace
So desolate that no one where we're from would ever come
But she's got the wheel and i've got to deal from now on.

But unless the moon falls tonight, unless continents collide,
Nothing's gonna make me, break from her side.

When you're driving with the brakes on
When you're swimming with your boots on,
It's hard to say you love someone
And it's hard to say you don't

“Trying to figure who’s right and who’s wrong.” I read Skinner’s story on International Women’s Day, the week of the Hate Wing bigot vote in South Dakota-- DU was jumping with threads on abortion rights and gender issues. It finally became clear that the acrimony on both “sides” is so far gone-- like a couple who care for each other but can’t hear each other through all the old hurts........In the song, the man knows "she's got the wheel and i've got to deal from now on."

And if we can find a way to hear each other on DU; and if women can say what we want to say in the way we want to and request or DEMAND that we not be bullied; if that is ever possible on DU, I would like to suggest that a respectful, simple, approach-- like “Driving through the long night,” rather than, “Trying to figure who's right and who's wrong”...........

Allow me to suggest that the men who get anxious and threatened that we are talking about THEM or ALL MEN, stop and imagine what if they were trying to relate to someone in a really basic way:

“...supporting someone in a decision that you might not make for your self; like acknowledging that you have no idea what you might actually do if it WAS your decision; like knowing that there is no way you can know what is right for that person; like helping a friend, without judgment.”

If you can imagine that kind of simple humanity, with no agenda, and it’s not about abortion, it’s about just BEING-- if you can imagine that sort of cooperation, and listen, without knee-jerk reactions, without fear................

We can get a lot further faster better maybe if we swim without boots on.

:loveya: :evilgrin:

Justin Currie
Del Amitri - Driving With The Brakes On
Album: Twisted

When you're driving with the brakes on
When you're swimming with your boots on,
It's hard to say you love DU
And it's hard to say you don't

:hug:

:thumbsup:

:kick:

B-)

Thanks, NOD. It needed to be written. The wars are over for me. We're all treading water, getting nowhere fast, doing the Hate Wing's dirty work for them, pinned down by their damn wedge issues...............................



oh--- just one more thing: FUCK FRAMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(needed to get that off my chest. feel much better now........... :rofl: :spray: )

:spank::spank: my spouse pointed that out a long time ago. He is still recovering. Don't you love word games?

C'mon up. We'll recruit HEyHEy from BC, SeattleGirl, all our good DU buddies on the Left Coast, and secede. Take over the oil in the pipeline here, harness the wind and ocean power all up and down; then sell it to the rest of US, and retire in luxury!!

:rofl:

Maybe we could harness the energy from the melting ice caps :crazy:

btw, if Denali only shows up once in a blue moon, maybe some are in denial that it's there????? (ok, trying too hard. good night and good luck)

:grouphug:

igloo flowers on the dog sled!

It's easier to see The Mountain from 60 or so miles away than in McKinley National Park. And we've had tourists - I am not making this up - who go home convinced that there IS NOT a mountain there, she so rarely shows herself in summer.

The elders up on the north slope (Barrow, Wainwright, etc.) are really upset with the weather patterns. You'll probably enjoy this article from the Anchorage Daily News:
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/ap_alaska/story/7499664p-7410661c.html

<snip>
BARROW, Alaska (AP) - The ice never stops moving.

The Inupiat have always known that.

That's because knowledge about the behavior of ice has been shared by the elders from generation to generation.

And this generation, too, is learning about ice from its elders - elders like Charles Hopson and Lloyd Leavitt, both of Barrow.

Both were an integral part of the North Slope Borough's emergency response to the ice surges that came ashore in Barrow in January.

Oh, and just for you:



This is the only igloo I've ever seen, and it's made of concrete :evilgrin:

With 1,001 words for "flavors"

:bounce:


"And we've had tourists - I am not making this up - who go home convinced that there IS NOT a mountain there, she so rarely shows herself in summer."

How did I know that? :eyes: :rofl:

but I saw it! The top from the plane, the bottom from Denali. You live in a beautiful state. I had a friend once from Barrow. I have always thought I would like to see Barrow but the chances are getting kind of slim for that.

I just wanted to say hello and kick this thread up at the same time. :hi:

Hope you and yours are well....................

;) what did you give up for Lent?

:loveya:

I know I am. We're losing the battle and may go back to a time few of us ever realized was possible. I'm hoping once the initial shock is over, that we'll join together for the fight.

I gave it an R and here is another kick.

As always, you put things down in such a way as to take the kinks out and make it understandable.

:thumbsup: B-)

I can't get the lyrics out of my head. Interesting piece. Thanks.

Justin Currie is brilliant. Top!

What kind of music is it that they do? I will have to look them up.

"Delmaniacs" are notorious. Will get back with some links.

that would be lovely, you are very kind.

:evilgrin:

:kick: to civility

Appreciated your posts on KB's awesome thread. :toast:

The band is not recording or contracted these days. Justin Currie is playing with two former-Simple Minds in The Uncle Devil Show. That group is a bit jokey but the songs are still brilliant if you love evocative, well crafted pop a la Crowded House, Squeeze.....with some sly nods to the 60s-70's tossed in.

Here's some info. Enjoy!
B-)


So Many Souls To Change

As the sun rises over Mexico
And sets on the African plains
On a tourist jet, the in-flight magazines
Sets out your rate of exchange

While the unhealed and homeless are wondering
If they will ever feel safe again
They give you drinks and show you sailors
Dancing in the warm New York rain

So many souls to change

So mother and child while travelling to Delhi
Have to jump off a burning train
While the puppet rich bible class third world society
Meets to discuss it's slogan campaign

You are complicit in this conspiracy
You are unable to get free
They send the rich ones to University
And the rest get comics and TV

So many souls to change

You are shocked with shots of corpses
And seduced by scenes of greed
So your overloaded conscience
Goes out looking for some kind of relief

And the church, the government and charity
They collectively agree
You cannot simply print more money
Just to save some poor country from disease

So many souls to change

So when you die and go to heaven
Looks like there could be hell to pay
As the saints and angels ask how anyone
Could treat mortals that way

Sandeep’s Del Amitri Page
Fan’s selection of brilliant couplets and links to lyrics for every album (+ other Del sites)

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~choh/dels.htm


The Del Amitri Backpage with lotsa links

http://www.spiritone.com/~darren/delamitr.htm


Official DelAmitri Home Page

http://www.delamitri.com/


(Essay from the liner notes of 20th Century Masters “Best Of Del Amitri”) (For other better compilations see “Hatful of Rain” -- collection of A-sides or “Lousy With Love” --collection of B-sides, or “weepies” as Justin would call them)

"WE'VE ALWAYS PUT SONGS BEFORE GESTURES."

Del Amitri leader Justin Currie once said of his band's musical philosophy. Indeed, the durable Scottish combo, based around the longstanding nucleus of singer/songwriter/bassist Currie and guitarist Iain Harvie, has long avoided faddish trend-hopping and other transient ephemera. Instead, they favored more s substantial and enduring values, merging lyrical insight and melodic uplift to create effortlessly accessible music of sonic subtlety and emotional depth.

Del Amitri began life in Glasgow, Scotland in the early 1980's, playing nervously energetic jangle-pop that echoed the youthful spirit of such '80s Scots as Orange Juice and Aztec Camera. Their debut indie single, "Sense Sickness," stirred up considerable acclaim following its 1983 release. And tours, opening for the likes of The Fall and The Smiths, helped build a buzz that landed the still-unknown Del Amitri on the cover of the influential British music weekly Melody Maker.   The hoopla eventually led to the band to sign  with Chrysalis Records, which in 1985 released Del Amitri's eponymous first album.  Despite its abundance of energy and intelligence, the disc sold disappointingly, and Chrysalis dropped the band.

With the help of a network of stateside admirers, the label-less Del Amitri mounted a two-month, shoestring, whistle-stop tour of the U.S.  They played borrowed guitars, slept on fans' floors and often busked to raise money for their travel expenses.  With their enthusiasm recharged by the American adventure, the group returned home to work on new material, and they eventually won a new deal with A&M Records in 1987.

After a lengthy public absence, Del Amitri reemerged with the 1989 release of Waking Hours, which unveiled a reinvented sound that added a tougher rock base to the band's gentle pop sensibility.  The harder-edged approach, which balanced a wide range of acoustic and electric textures, was well-suited for the mature introspection of Currie's new songs as well as his newly confident vocal delivery.  Although it only scraped the lower reaches of the U.S. Top 40, the soulful "Kiss This Thing Goodbye" received sufficient radio play and MTV exposure to substantially raise Del Amitri's American profile.  Other highlights included the thoughtful "Hatful Of Rain," the driving, witty "Stone Cold Sober" and the bittersweet protest number "Nothing Ever Happens."

The Next Del Amitri album, 1992's Change Everything, was recorded by the Pixies' producer Gil Norton, and it featured a more streamlined, sophisticated exploration of the folk-rock style staked out on Waking Hours, with rewarding results.  "Always The Last To Know" was the band's most sparkling pop confection to date, while the poignant, pointed "When You Were Young" and the sly, slinky "Just Like A Man" displayed an impressive emotional range.

1995's Twisted featured a pared-down sound that largely dispensed with the horns, strings and other sonic frills that had dotted the band's arrangements in the past. The album also yielded the band's first U.S. Top Ten hit with the breezy, effervescent "Roll To Me."  While that tune demonstrated Currie's considerable skills as pop tunesmith, the forthright, heart-on-sleeve love songs "Driving With The Brakes On" and "Here And Now" gave a more expansive account of his talents.

Del Amitri's 1997 effort Some Other Sucker's Parade reunited the band with Waking Hours producer Mark Freegard, and further refined Twisted's pared-downed direction, with an emphasis on shorter songs and a more electric rock vibe.  That strategy manifested itself magnificently in the infectiously jangly "Not Where It's At," whose failure to become a hit on par with "Roll To Me" remains a mystery.

Del Amitri's longevity and reliability were underlined by the consistently high quality of its previous collection that added a fine new track, the persuasive soul ballad "Cry To Be Found."  British fans also got the punningly-titled Lousy With Love, a companion compilation of the band's U.K. b-sides.

Two decades down the road from their D.I.Y. origins, Justin Currie, Iain Harvie and company continue to make worthy, heartfelt music while maintaining a loyal listenership on both sides of the Atlantic.  The twelve tracks on this collection offer a strong sampling of the qualities that make Del Amitri such a timeless treasure.

Scott Schinder
New York City
November 2002

and listened to a couple of tunes. I did not have much time but this line from the liner notes you have above stated exactly what I thought only more eloquently.

"Instead, they favored more s substantial and enduring values, merging lyrical insight and melodic uplift to create effortlessly accessible music of sonic subtlety and emotional depth."

I find their lyrics interesting. Thanks for this links, I will be checking them out as soon as I can settle down for some real computer time today.

Thank you so much. I love the lyrics of So Many Souls To Change

It will be fun getting to know them, I needed a new crop of music. :)

Edit for spelling

and the "Lousy With Love" comilation

Enjoy :toast:

If you like Dels, definitely check out Squeeze and/or Glen Tilbrook (their lead singer/songwriter)

I am going to be needing some chill me out music pretty soon, this might do it.

:hug:

have to keep my nose to the proverbial grindstone to get caught back up; hence nothing but this too- short response.

But you're absolutely right: "it's just about being" -- and the fact that's exactly what the fascists want to take away from us: the right to be.

and I thought there may be more than a handful that would read it. Unless the OP title is directed to men or has a big red flag to get their juices flowing, it just sort of hangs there...... :wow:

Subtlety ain't sexy? People would rather be switched than olive branched? It's no fun if it ain't a fight?

OOOOooooh, that's right-- FEEEEEEeeeelings aren't COOOOOOOLL (funny how the idolized bands and musicians seem to do alright selling their feelings). The big lesson relearned this week is that anger (based in fear) is the only emotion some (SOME) men feel comfortable expressing. They HATE it when we say "it's all about YOU isn't it?" and then they prove it over and over and over-- it has to be on their terms, under their sanction-- and they REALLY hate when we laugh at them for proving it!

Lots of folks seem to have learned something............... and one tried to "apologize" for his "part" in the ugliness that DU descended to on International Women's Day (too much too little too late after WAY too much preceding it..... altho I sincerely wish him good luck and the benefit of the doubt from here on out) tried to equate "bristling" at "broad brush strokes" "against" men with "reacting to "slurs" "directed at women"........................ (hence the wish for "good luck")

I suggested people need to Listen before they Bristle. This thread was about listening but what the Hel :rofl: I also recognized that SOME women could express more attentively, esp. given the level of male paranoia extant........ yet in specific threads where comments are entirely appropriate and unsurprising, provided one has the confidence to read in context, there is immediate obfuscation and pedantry, pompous projections-- or just plain tantrums-- and insistence on ALL attention NOW being shifted to assuaging the wounded egos (see how that works? again and again and again..... :boring: )

As long as we behave and don't color outside the lines, we will be tolerated-- as soon as we stretch out, we are smacked back and all the tactics used against us are fair (mind) game in a reversal that would do an abuser proud. Then there are the psycho-intellectual mindfuckers who --when the invitation to play TopDog ShellGame is rejected --drop back and resort to "but please tell me what I've DOOOOoooone" :puke: Too many are gonna fall for those games. :evilfrown:

And yet it seems there are some glimmers of understanding peeking thru last week's muck.

And mdmc OPd on his personal experience in similar spirit to this thread. I think some of us are aware that the wanker wars are no longer worth the trouble. There are also new (and excellent) voices coming up.

The reason I cared enough to think it was important to try is this: Women are the canaries in the coal mine. If we aren't treated right, the whole crew chokes on ignorance. This means DU and it means the broader goals we are supposedly here about-- the Democratic Party and the future of the nation.

:patriot: :grouphug: