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Listened to in isolation, this song probably can’t possibly seem to have had it genesis on our recent trip to Alaska and Canada... but there is some warped “holiday” logic to how it developed.
Mountains inspired it. Two in particular...
We hoped to see the highest mountain in the USA, Mt McKinley (20,320 ft; 6,194 m), when we visited Denali National Park in Alaska, but alas the peak was cloud covered and we only saw the base of it. The locals know it as Denali, which means “the high one”. Apparently it is often covered by cloud and you have to be lucky to see it. A quick search of Wikipedia found that “the high one” doesn’t manage to feature in a very long list of the world’s highest mountains...
We also drove past, what is commonly described in local guidebooks to be the highest point in British Columbia, Mt Robson (12,972 ft; 3,954 m), whilst travelling in the Canadian Rockies, and, despite it being quite cloudy on the way, managed to get some reasonable views of the summit (see photo above). Again, a search of the net put us straight though, and we found out that, really, Mount Fairweather (at 15,299 ft; 4,663 m) is the highest point in B.C.
None of the above is, in any way, meant to belittle these mountain’s beauty and prominence in their landscape, after all Australia’s highest hill is just 7,228 ft, but the tendency for locals to pay homage to the mountains familiar to them lead my thoughts along a tortuous path that included gods in the heavens, a Monty Python sketch (“stop groveling”), religions in general and even on to politics...
Religion and politics; what have I done?
Again done in a single take; SM58 for the vocals, AKG Perception 170 for the 1982 Maton CW-80 acoustic guitar. No click tracks were hurt in the making of this song☺
Probably not everyone’s cup of tea...
See what you think.
Peter
Mountains inspired it. Two in particular...
We hoped to see the highest mountain in the USA, Mt McKinley (20,320 ft; 6,194 m), when we visited Denali National Park in Alaska, but alas the peak was cloud covered and we only saw the base of it. The locals know it as Denali, which means “the high one”. Apparently it is often covered by cloud and you have to be lucky to see it. A quick search of Wikipedia found that “the high one” doesn’t manage to feature in a very long list of the world’s highest mountains...
We also drove past, what is commonly described in local guidebooks to be the highest point in British Columbia, Mt Robson (12,972 ft; 3,954 m), whilst travelling in the Canadian Rockies, and, despite it being quite cloudy on the way, managed to get some reasonable views of the summit (see photo above). Again, a search of the net put us straight though, and we found out that, really, Mount Fairweather (at 15,299 ft; 4,663 m) is the highest point in B.C.
None of the above is, in any way, meant to belittle these mountain’s beauty and prominence in their landscape, after all Australia’s highest hill is just 7,228 ft, but the tendency for locals to pay homage to the mountains familiar to them lead my thoughts along a tortuous path that included gods in the heavens, a Monty Python sketch (“stop groveling”), religions in general and even on to politics...
Religion and politics; what have I done?
Again done in a single take; SM58 for the vocals, AKG Perception 170 for the 1982 Maton CW-80 acoustic guitar. No click tracks were hurt in the making of this song☺
Probably not everyone’s cup of tea...
See what you think.
Peter
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Lyrics
Smoke and Cracked Mirrors (Capo 2)
Intro [C] [F] x2
[C] They're flying out [F] beyond the clouds
[C] Far above the [F] crowds
[Am] The air there is [G] rarified
[F] Their feet don't touch the [G] ground
They're looking down on everything
But, to me, it's plain to see
The cost of their aegis
Is not free
[F] The people want to [G] talk about it
[Em] But they don't want to [F] know
[F] It's easier to just [G] get on with the [Am] show
[F] The smoke and cracked [G] mirrors
[Em] Are designed to [F] deceive
[F] It's not hard to [G] guess what they hope to [Am] achieve
[F] No wonder I'm [G] struggling to [C] believe
[Dm] [Am] [G] [Am]
[Dm] [Am] [F] [G]
From their lofty pedestal
They're musing again
About the humble endeavours
Of mice and of men
But some aren't so certain
We're scanning the skies
It's not hard to see the pain
In our eyes
[F] The people want to [G] talk about it
[Em] But they don't want to [F] know
[F] It's easier to just [G] get on with the [Am] show
[F] The smoke and cracked [G] mirrors
[Em] Are designed to [F] deceive
[F] It's not hard to [G] guess what they hope to [Am] achieve
[F] No wonder I'm [G] struggling to [C] believe
Peter Bowen: October 2012
Intro [C] [F] x2
[C] They're flying out [F] beyond the clouds
[C] Far above the [F] crowds
[Am] The air there is [G] rarified
[F] Their feet don't touch the [G] ground
They're looking down on everything
But, to me, it's plain to see
The cost of their aegis
Is not free
[F] The people want to [G] talk about it
[Em] But they don't want to [F] know
[F] It's easier to just [G] get on with the [Am] show
[F] The smoke and cracked [G] mirrors
[Em] Are designed to [F] deceive
[F] It's not hard to [G] guess what they hope to [Am] achieve
[F] No wonder I'm [G] struggling to [C] believe
[Dm] [Am] [G] [Am]
[Dm] [Am] [F] [G]
From their lofty pedestal
They're musing again
About the humble endeavours
Of mice and of men
But some aren't so certain
We're scanning the skies
It's not hard to see the pain
In our eyes
[F] The people want to [G] talk about it
[Em] But they don't want to [F] know
[F] It's easier to just [G] get on with the [Am] show
[F] The smoke and cracked [G] mirrors
[Em] Are designed to [F] deceive
[F] It's not hard to [G] guess what they hope to [Am] achieve
[F] No wonder I'm [G] struggling to [C] believe
Peter Bowen: October 2012
Philip18
Fine guitar playing, interesting and thought-provoking lyrics and I'm especially impressed by the vocal tone through the SM58 - it has lovely warmth to it. The single take approach works well for this one - gives it extra poignancy. This is excellent, Peter!