David Gray

very well said lara - and thanks for the insights!

miralake:

.there is such relief when you finally discover what a boundary is!!!

 

This knowledge is my Silver Lining.

 

“Take this Silver Lining, keep it in your own sweet head.Shine it when the night is burning red…Time after time they drag you down, downin the darkness deep, fools in their madness all around, know that the lightdon’t sleep...” 

 

Turns out you get control when you give up control...

 

 miralake..I read this post earlier and struggled to find words... for the personal "mirrors" and the wisdom I saw in your words, as well as what SL means to me...much for the same reasons you spoke of....

its a life lesson that can only be learned the hard way, some never learn it...some never understand the respect of boundries... and its usually those people that force us to find our own....

it took me many years and tears to give myself the permission to draw those lines in the sand...

I have a rule I use to keep those drama queens and control kings out of my boundries...

"dont expect more from me than you do of yourself" 

 

I love that you called Silver Lining a prayer..... 

 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 "the moment I jumped off of it....was the moment I touched down"      

Alanis, from Thank You 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

 

 anyway... pardon my emotional rambling... your post struck a deep chord with me

Im sure you already know about these but for new people who dont.....there are some amazing live versions of this song on Archive.

 

http://www.archive.org/details/dgray2005-10-09.4023.v3.r1.flac16   Tower  2005

http://www.archive.org/details/dgray2006-03-21   Gibson 2006

 http://www.archive.org/details/dgray2000-08-05  Witness  2000

 http://www.archive.org/details/dgray2002-11-15  Point...2002

  http://www.archive.org/details/dgray2005-12-02   Point 2005

http://www.archive.org/details/dgray2003-02-02.at933.flac16  Patriot 2003 

http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=David%20Gray%20silver%20lining%20AND%20collection%3Aetree

 all the shows with Silver Lining 

*edited to add more links 

---

"And there are traces left for sure
On every mouth you ever kissed

So I’m returning to the word
To find my place between the lines"

The best Silver Lining is on LATP! 

---

You're staring at the sky, but the moon ain't gonna pay our bills.

http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=David%20Gray%20silver%20lining%20AND%20collection%3Aetree

 

heres all the shows with Silver Lining...lol 

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"And there are traces left for sure
On every mouth you ever kissed

So I’m returning to the word
To find my place between the lines"

Thanks so much for commiserating with me YDTM! We are definitely on the same page with this one!! I doubt it's exactly what DG had in mind, but I love that someone else out there had a similar interpretation. Makes me feel a little bit closer to sanity!! Every time I listen to that song I think...that just saved me $135 in therapy! Ha! Don't you just love music for this reason?? It's just amazing. And I hear you on Alanis' Thank You!! I'm so glad she took that trip to India many years ago...I love her post-India music!! :)

 I can't wait to listen to all the links you posted. I'll start with LATP because I completely trust AK11.

other Point version 2005  http://www.archive.org/details/dgray2005-12-02

 

I think my most fave ones are Witness, Tower and the 2 Point versions...and of course the version from the Live Slow Motion dvd

many of them are pretty similar overall..but some have those special moments with the vocals or piano or cello etc.. to define it for me...

 

totally agree with you on the music being the best therapy ..Ive spent the better part of the last 5-6 years sitting in hospital waiting rooms etc and Id be completely bonkers if it wasnt for having my i-pod.

my family jokes that my earbuds are going to grow roots to my head ..I can think of worse things...lol

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"And there are traces left for sure
On every mouth you ever kissed

So I’m returning to the word
To find my place between the lines"

Doesn't Witnness have that tease where he doesn't actually the sing the first chorus at all? I like that original arrangement best, the LISM tour one with the cello is cool too but I don't think it quite has the same punch as the original. Tim's piano is really good on the LATP version and you get these crowds shots with people singing, such a great atmosphere to it all.

And yes, David's the best musical therapy by far. I've kind of understood Silver Lining's message as that you you take all this ***, but you have to know there's always a light at the end of the tunnel. And these people that "drag you down" have forgotten that "wild hope" and innocence that once was there. AND because it's easter I'd sort of mirror it to that line from the bible "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." I don't know if that really makes sense.

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You're staring at the sky, but the moon ain't gonna pay our bills.

SO many lovely versions to choose from..thanks for that exhaustive list YDTM! I've made it through about half :) I agree that the ones that really milk the cello are the best. It literally feels like the cello bow is playing all the major arteries in my heart!

The live versions also really accentuate some of the lines that hold special meaning for me: he really belts out "wear it like and iron skin" unlike the studio version, and in some versions he sings in a soft comforting voice and repeats "know that the light don't sleep"...that one really hits home because that's really the reminder I need to hear over and over. There is a constant and IT IS YOU!! Love it! Love it! Love it!

I miss this thread!!! Are we allowed to post more than once?  I'm really feeling Snow In Vegas...

Christine

Go right ahead.  I've thought of reviving this thread myself.

I could write a story for just about every one of DG's songs!  That's why I like them so much, because they resonate with me.  Anyhow, this one hit me hard, so I might as well gab about it:

Snow in Vegas

This is probably one of the most joyous songs I've ever heard. In many ways, it's the happy ending to The Rice and Jackdaw that I'd always wanted!  (She met him on the Other Side!!)  The theme, for me, is the celebration of finding new life in a love that you thought had plateaued... and as a result, experiencing the sense of gratitude invincibilty that comes with it. 

You see, for me, snow in the desert represents two things: 

1) An event of grace that defies logic and the laws of nature

2) Relief from drought and the heat... another juxtaposed image.... heat/cold, dry/preciptation, nature/fabricated

Anyone who's been in a long term relationship knows that after a certain time, you kind of get to thinking that maybe the best times are behind you. "Just when I was thinkin’ we’d come about as far as this old road could take us..."  And you just want that sense of connection again with the one you love "Hey now baby, where you been so long?  I miss you like a river that's deep and strong."

There's this whole image of marriage and love that we somehow buy into, but we're not happy with... the settling, the complacency, the routine... we're told that's "just how it is" after a while.  "That huckster of life says, hey, here ya’ are..."

So, for some reason it happens, and you can't really explain it... where it came from or why (Like snow in Vegas) and you're graced with this resurgance of emotion and connection with the one you love.  It's just what was needed (relief from heat/drought), and you can't help but just stop in your tracks and be in awe of it all.  "Time to pull it on over, baby, yeah, just stop the car, and let it fall like snow in Vegas."

Overcoming this obstacle, you feel invincible "Now pigs can fly and I'll command these breakers" and you just want to revel in the feeling... "and we’ll hang that sign up on the door so the hotel maid don’t wake us."

There are certainly bigger problems in the world, and it seems selfish to focus on losing that "spark" when you have to much to be thankful for...  "We’re vain and we’re greedy, We’re selfish and we’re needy..." But we are built/broken down by love; that's all we really have   in this life... "that’s just the way God made us."

So... let's celebrate this... "If I won a million dollars I'd blow it on champagne...." Even if we don't understand it, and even if it's not a miracle to the rest of the world... it is an answer to our prayers.  With this, anything is possible...

"Now pigs can fly and I’ll command these breakers."

awesome

Yes!  Dancing with Both Feet Off the Ground has a similar theme of rediscovery of the magic of love.  Coming on the heels of recent songs like We Could Fall in Love Again Tonight and When I Was in Your Heart, it seems like there has been a real turn.  I guess things are good in the life of DG! 

Superb! Thankyou so much for that story, inspired me to do my current fav:

~Dancing with Both Feet~

First off, just looking at the title of this song is great. I get the image that we all love of DG dancing up and down.

And the meoldy that he plays is so bouncy and full of energy, it is as if someone is dancing on the piano.. don't be embarassed if you start dancing yourself, i think it's intended! (...we could start a line dance... ?). But there's also this image of jumping to a higher, better place.... rather than the broken, stoney ground.. Its trying to let go of embarassment or fear in order to reach your potential.

Like Snow in Vegas, this is all about celebration and joy with love, but i think more in a "first crush" type of way; the song carries a lot of youth and spirit.

"I had but half a life, before i went with you"* - Looking back on when you were meeting someone for the first time, the sort of 'love at first sight' feeling.......The day before just seems like nothing. "Baby i like your style" - That uncertainty of the exactness of this feeling, to put it easiest: you love everything about them!.... their quirks, their approach.... their... style!

The proceeding verse is awesome (lyrics and piano)... "live for that old red grin". Changing your entire life for the first time..... Seeing that smile and forgetting everything else bothering you........ but this feeling is so empowering, each day better than the last, you want to do so much more; "no mother doubting me! ... The best hasn't.....happened yet!"

But when it all calms down for a bit...you get a good look at the situation, its as if we've been together for years.... "Kind of nostalgia for what's not even happened yet"*.

"I climb the winding stairs; into the world of dreams; and i read what's written there; and i know just what it means".

Without looking at the love connotations, its about releasing your inner self. Sometimes we all feel perhaps shy or cautious of trying different things in life when they may have significant impact......but if we get that courage, then afterwards we feel invincible... "smashing through armoured plates".

Remember to dance with both feet off the ground! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwQbPgouUYo Albeit, this may look weird at a gig....)

* - Uncertainty of lyrics

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Looking down from the Highrise,
Staring back with your own eyes,
Playing games with the numbers,
Messing around with the dates

Ok nowhere near as good as christine... but feel free to help me out guys! (or write your own....)

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Looking down from the Highrise,
Staring back with your own eyes,
Playing games with the numbers,
Messing around with the dates