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Rating: Published in 1986, "The Seer" is the album that closes the first and highly successful phase of Big Country's career. Together with "The Crossing" and "Steeltown," it is the album that summarizes an artistic journey which, despite an electrifying and certainly original start, only partially managed to fulfill its initial promises, opting instead to tediously replicate a well-established musical formula.
Although slightly inferior to its two illustrious predecessors, "The Seer" is a pleasant and successful work thanks to the presence of well-structured, easy, and impactful tracks. The songs are technically flawless but unfortunately suffer from Robin Millar's overly glossy and clean production. The great Stuart Adamson, the undisputed leader of Big Country, offers in what is known as the eagle album the famous "Look Away," one of the band's most iconic tracks. A true earworm with an epic stride that allowed it to reach the upper echelons of the British charts and which was chosen as the first single for the album's release at the time. On the same level are the notable "The Teacher," the mysterious title track, featuring the extraordinary participation of the talented Kate Bush, and the moving "Eiledon," one of Stuart Adamson's most successful creations, thanks to the clever use of the e-bow in the piece's introductory part. The bucolic and romantic "Hold The Heart" and the lively "Red Fox" maintain a good level of quality for the album, while the remaining tracks lack content. "One Great Thing," with its ridiculous video, ultimately becomes boring and repetitive. "I Walk The Hill" and "Remembrance Day" merely trace the typical Big Country style, while the concluding "Sailor" is incomplete.
Despite these considerations at the time of its release, "The Seer" was quite successful and introduced Big Country beyond European borders. "The Seer" also remains the last successful work of a competent band that, throughout its career, chose not to alter its precise musical coordinates too much, maintaining a distinctive and recognizable sound. The story of Big Country, as is known, then continued at a low profile but remained noteworthy thanks to respectable, valid works in line with their glorious past.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Look Away (04:24)
This time we run
this time we hide
This time we draw on all the fire we have inside.
We need some time to find a place
Where I can wipe away the madness from your face.
Our name is out
our name is known
Our name is everywhere
but who knows where we're flown.
I never meant to kill a man
But I will show you how to live like no one can.
So look away
look away
Hide your eyes from the land where I lie cold.
Look away
look away from the lies in the stories that were told.
Look away
look away from the love that I hide way down deep in my soul.
I met you wild in a snowed up town
When I was waiting tied and bound to be sent down.
Then I broke loose
you weren't around
So I raised banks and trains until I tracked you down.
Now look away
look away
. . .
You followed me why I said no
You lay with me when there was nowhere safe to go.
We made some friends
but now it's done
I always knew that we would never find the sun.
So look away
look away
02 The Seer (05:24)
Long ago I heard a tale I never will forget
The time was in the telling on the bank the scene was set
The sky was rolling blindly on, the daylight had not gone
She washed her hair among the stones and saw what was to come
All this will pass
There will be blood among the corn and heroes in the hills
But there is more to come my boy before you've had your fill
Men will come and rape the soil as though it were their own
And they will bathe their feet in oil as I have bathed my own
All this will pass
All things must come
Just as I tell you here
Stones will stand together as if searching for the stars
And all come crashing down again before they reach too far
She turned to face the setting sun, I turned to walk away
But then she called my name again and beckoned me to stay
All this will pass
All things must come
Just as I tell you here
She told me of the famous sons who write their names in peace
Yet be cut down before the time has come for our release
Just as I tell you here
Even now I wait for the coming day
Even now she waits in the dawn
For the tales she tells, for the gifts that she will sell
For the sight she knows, for a vision that still grows
With the dream in her eyes no one's seen
I listened for so long that day that I can hardly tell
If what she said was heaven sent or brought to bear in hell
That men of hope would stand alone and still be cast a lie
Just as Romans cast them on the day they were to die
All this will pass
All things must come
Just as I tell you here
Even now I wait for the coming day
Even now she waits in the dawn
For the tales she tells, for the gifts that she will sell
For the sight she knows, for a vision that still grows
With the dream in her eyes no one's seen
03 The Teacher (04:06)
We talked and smoked all through the night
You led me where I had no sight
Till birdsong broke the morning light
And I was weak with strange delight
Teacher will you show to me
The bond between the land and sea
For I am new to mystery I want everything laid out for me
All of history
All of history
You showed me walls around the world
Where seekers passed and flags unfurled
You wove a tale in silken curls
And blew the mist in silver swirls
Teacher will you show to me
The bond between the land and sea
For I am new to mystery I want everything laid out for me
All of history
All of history
Teacher will you show to me
The bond between the land and sea
For I am new to mystery
I want everything laid out for me
All of history
All of history
All of history
All of history
05 Eiledon (05:36)
The eagle soars above the clouds
The deer ran in the hills
And I may walk in cities
Where the wolf once had his fill
And here is strength for us to find
To turn the old to new
And wipe our eyes of misty years
And see the future through
I chose this place to call my own
The only grace I've ever known
I never tire of legends grown
We dream too much and time has flown
Eiledon, I will be there
Eiledon, my dream is there
So let me fill my children's hearts
With heoroes tales and hope it starts
A fire in them so deeds are done
With no vain sighs for moments gone
Eiledon, I will be there
Eiledon, my dream is there
Eiledon, Eiledon, Eiledon, Eiledon
So let us soar up with the eagles
In wild country among the deer
And wake the wolf in every city
And reckoning is drawing near
Eiledon, I will be there
Eiledon, my dream is there Eiledon
And here is strength for us to find
To turn the old to new
And wipe our eyes of misty years
And see the future through
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