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Rating: A night so empty can only be painless.
Stuart Adamson died by suicide in a hotel room in Honolulu. He died in solitude, without the clamor of a rock star, first succumbing to depression and then to a rope. Unfortunately, alcohol had long since worn down all resistance. But if I sit down to write these few lines, it's because I believe he left us a legacy worth remembering.
You could endure my pain and love it. But you will never know how I live.
I started listening to Big Country as a kid. I was the only one in my circle of friends who was captivated by their magical guitar weavings that sounded like bagpipes and smelled of Scotland. My baptism was this very "Peace in our time", an album criticized by the critics but also by many of the group’s fans, who poorly digested this (pseudo) commercial shift and the more polished sound. I, for a change, am the voice crying in the wilderness. Here I find a variety of styles that weren't present in previous works. The sector's "experts" themselves complained that the band's distinct, recognizable sound was both a blessing and a curse. Well, that was proven wrong. And anyway, for me, this album has a lot of substance, simply because I have never skipped a track, something that often happens with more inconsistent albums.
Memories always exaggerate. And nothing is more false and true at the same time.
There are those albums that you love deeply and cannot really explain why. At the time, it could be said it was a new sound to my ears; today I probably still smell the scent of my adolescence in it. Music, after all, is more linked to instinct than to reason. It marks our time, accompanies our emotions day by day, and crystallizes the events of our lives. And so even if deep down we all feel the need to tell something about ourselves and our listening experiences, the truth is we remain alone with our lives and our music. Like a second skin with which to share sweat and scars.
It is the river of hope, it is the river we lost for years.
Big Country always accompanied their “bagpipe rock” with lyrics that managed to combine poetry and social commitment, attempting to lay bare the problems and divisions of the United Kingdom, from the crisis of the suburbs and rampant unemployment, to the mirage of Steeltown and the lingering colonialism of the Falklands. Important themes that aligned them with the early U2 and The Alarm, the famous Celtic trio, and which become a considerable added value to the group's musical offering. And even if destiny decided to reward the Irish from a record industry standpoint, I can assert without hesitation that Big Country did not show any weaknesses artistically and instrumentally.
That shop will not have my soul, but it will certainly take my money.
Back then, there were not the means we have today to dive in real-time into the music of the bands we were interested in. Buying an original cassette was a true act of faith. If you were lucky, you knew 2 or 3 songs out of 10. You still had a 70% chance of having wasted those 20,000 lire (or thereabouts), which wasn't a small amount for a family that wasn't exactly swimming in money. But Faith decided on that act. It decided to trust the two singles that rotated on radio and TV at the time: the more energetic and rocking "King of Emotion" and the melancholy folk-tinged "Broken Heart (Thirteen Valleys)". The trust was well placed if today, as thirty years ago, I continue to fall in love with these sounds. Crushed by the power of chromosomes, every day we try to recover that air that enveloped everything, making it mysteriously magical. “Peace in our time” is part of that magic.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 King of Emotion (04:52)
I know where all that time has gone
Blown and drifted listening to an August night
I see where I was wrong
But how could I know that you were right
When you said I would need something wild
Something crazy to carry me
I would see you naked and weary
But with pride in your eyes that put shame in me
I wait to find the things I need but I know
I want that love
King of Emotion
Stronger than you and so much deeper than me
I know that love is King of Emotion
King of Emotion take a walk with me
I know that love is King of Emotion
King of Emotion take a walk with me
You know where all that time has gone
Grown up and left
Washed out like an April day
See all those pretty little things you knew
Worn and faded they lie cast away
You said you would need something wild
Something special to carry you
You would see me naked and weary
But with pride in my eyes that put shame in you
Until you find the things you need I know
I want that love
King of Emotion
Stronger than you and so much deeper than me
I know that love is King of Emotion
King of Emotion take a walk with me
I know that love is King of Emotion
King of Emotion take a walk with me
Until we find the things we need I know
I want that love
King of Emotion
Stronger than you and so much deeper than me
I know that love is King of Emotion
King of Emotion take a walk with me
I want that love
King of Emotion
Stronger than you and so much deeper than me
I know that love is King of Emotion
King of Emotion take a walk with me
03 Thousand Yard Stare (03:54)
I should have called you brother
I should have been real close
You know I loved you brother
Enough to take over your post
I guess it's always with me
I guess it will always be there
When I step on the runway I always will see
The Boy with the thousand yard stare
But you where asleep my brother
I didn't mean you no harm
You where asleep
When they came through the wire
And I couldn't reach the alarm
You'll never leave me brother
Though I watched them fly you back home
I'm still in country brother
I won't make the world on my own
I guess it's always with me
I guess it will always be there
When I step on the runway I always will see
The Boy with the thousand yard stare
06 Peace in Our Time (04:34)
Who holds the money, who holds the need
Who holds the strings of misery or the purse of greed
And the gunmen reap while the gangsters sow
And law is cheap when the smugglers go
(Give us peace) Give us peace in our time
(Give us peace) Give us peace in our time
While I have a life to live
Then I have no life to give
(Give us peace) Give us peace in our time
In sun-kissed rooms in city slums
Minds are restless till the airmail comes
From the forest floor to the western mind
Like a chat show topic on a party line
And the hardest love of all is to forgive
As the world comes tumbling down
(Give us peace) Give us peace in our time
(Give us peace) Give us peace in our time
While I have a life to live
Then I have no life to give
(Give us peace) Give us peace in our time
Let all the rain come down on blind desire
Like a thundercloud that holds a prairie fire
I hear the blame and I see the cause
A stronger voice and a stronger law
But buyers buy and sellers sell
Public consumption of a private hell
(Give us peace) Give us peace in our time
(Give us peace) Give us peace in our time
While I have a life to live
Then I have no life to give
(Give us peace) Give us peace in our time
(Give us peace) Give us peace in our time
(Give us peace) Give us peace in our time
While I have a life to live
Then I have no life to give
(Give us peace) Give us peace in our time
10 I Could Be Happy Here (04:31)
If you will take my love
If you will take my stand
If you will be the one
If you will take my hand
If you will never run
I could be happy here
If you could take my pride
If you could take my tears
If you could take my side
If you could take my fears
If you could take turn the tide
You could be happy here
But I see what is done in my home-land
But I see what is done in my name
Can you see what is done in your home-land ?
Can you see what is done in your name ?
Tonight we keep our pride
Tonight we dry our tears
Tonight we leave our sides
Tonight we shead our fears
Tonight we turn the tide
And we are happy here
But I see what is done in my home-land
But I see what is done in my name
Can you see what is done in your home-land ?
Can you see what is done in your name ?
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