Once In A Lifetime

[Clodfobble]

Raising keys at the end goes beyond being a modern hack, it is/was a standard device in most old school hymns.

[Undertoad]

I have a definite, very strong impression of this song (which can be summarized in ten words or less).

If I had to guess what ten words or less, it would be:

Insistent snare tells us we are working very hard.

In this song, there is time spent working, and then there is time spent thinking about work. The snare is there all the time, reminding you of what work is. But then the flat eighth notes on snare come in, and they demand that you NOT relax; you are literally AND figuratively "on the clock". Your asshole tightens, only to relax a little when the song "goes acoustic", when the lazy, uncertain verse comes around and you are pondering your fate.

Of course, percussion representing a mine was pioneered here:



Midnight Oil was always all about the message. I like how he names the mine "Blue Sky" because that's exactly what you would never see, working in a mine, and so the struggle is made poetic right from the title.

[Flint]

My ten words or less was going to be "this comes very close to being the perfect rock song."

This is more of a 'feeling' I get from the song than anything else, but if I had to specify the reasons, I guess it would be the slow, simmering intro that unfolds in layers, then explodes into full, urgent intensity. The harmonica is wailing, mournful, and this sets the stage for the message of the lyrics, which is painful, difficult. This is all perfect. The urgency never subsides until the final resolution, the blessed relief we are allowed, as the "rain comes down" and "washes clean" the tenseness and prolonged agitation. This is rock!

The track is very "produced" but it never sounds that way. It feels raw and dirty. It feels real--you empathize with this man. This is rock. It's timeless.

"Who's gonna save me? Who's gonna save me?"

[Undertoad]

I do like the harmonica which is his wailing, and the way the first "who's gonna save me" section is entirely a different song piece.

It is a fine piece of work, wouldn't be in my top 10 I expect but it is a fine thing. It's so weird what works for each of us, what each of us finds genuine is so different.

Perfect will be so different for everybody. For me I like complicated music and rock is not that. It's a little imprecise. Has to hit you deep. Depends on mood. Some days this'll do it for me, because it's a story. Bruce and the band caught something special when they came up with this.