Crooked Road Song Notes – Crazy Rain

This next year will be a year of “firsts”. This song imagines myself up north on a perfect summer’s evening, fishing for the first time, forever without my friend. I tried to invest it with meaning without being too maudlin. Paul said that he thought it was impossible to cast your line into the water and be a pessimist. “It’s an act of faith.” For me, fishing is a metaphor for how Paul lived.

CRAZY RAIN

Performed on the CD The Crooked Road released by Cordova Bay Records (Oct 19, 2010)

Martin Worthy-Lead Vocal-Drums
Rebecca Campbell-Harmony Vocal
Stuart Laughton-Pedal Steel-Harmony Vocals Teddy Leonard-Elec. Guitar Chas Elliott-Bass Guitar Chris Brown-Hammond Organ
Composer – M.Worthy
Publisher – Cordova Bay Music Publishing- Pork Belly Music

LYRICS

Verse:
A perfect day sittin’ by the river
the sky’s a sea of blue
A gentle breeze blows across the water
I feel the ghost of you
The glory of creation is laying out in all it’s grace
But there’s this crazy rain
Runnin’ down my face

Verse:
I cast my line out into the water
Just like we used to do
An act of faith, that’s what you said
Can’t help but think of you
The sun in splendor sinking down
All that’s fine and good is in it’s place
But there’s this crazy rain
Runnin’ down my face, down my face

Bridge:
What’s gone is gone, what’s done is done
That’s some folks point of view
But when you think you’re done with the past
It’s not done with you

Verse:
Twilight falls along the shore
The stars they spark and wink
I’ll just sit a little more
And think and think and think
About the mystery of creation
How the days can disappear without a trace
‘Cept for this crazy rain, still this crazy rain, oh this crazy rain

(Pre) Purchase the CD from Cordova Bay now!

Crooked Road Song Notes – Can’t Find My Way

For the longest time after his divorce, every song Paul wrote was about the dissolution of his marriage. Only Paul could write such a happy sounding song about being so sad…

Listen to an excerpt from the song >> Can’t Find My Way Back  (Excerpt)

CAN’T FIND MY WAY – LYRICS

Sitting in a bar, drinking in a bar
Wondering how the hell you are
My new best friends have all gone home
But that’s okay, I kinda want to be alone.

I can’t find my way back to you
Doesn’t seem to be nothin’ I can do
A hundred lies would all have to be true
And I can’t find my way back to you

Driving in a car, tryin’ to see how far I can go
On a single tank and a cheap cigar
Every town I pass looks a lot like my home
Feel like I’m livin’ in the twilight zone
I can’t find my way….

I’m in an old hotel, I like old hotels
Despite the way they look and the way they smell
Tomorrow may bring a small shaft of light
But if it doesn’t, ah hell that’s alright

I can’t find my way………

CREDITS

Composer – P.Quarrington
Publisher – Cordova Bay Music Publishing- Pork Belly Music
Martin Worthy-Lead Vocal-Drums
Rebecca Campbell-Harmony Vocal-Ac.Guitar
Stuart Laughton-Pedal Steel-Harmony Vocals
Teddy Leonard-Elec. Guitars Chas Elliott-Bass Guitar
Chris Brown-Hammond Organ
Megan Worthy-Harmony Vocals

Performed on the CD The Crooked Road released by Cordova Bay Records (Oct 19, 2010)
(Pre) Purchase THE CROOKED ROAD CD from Cordova Bay now!

Crooked Road Song Notes – Nothing Costs a Nickel

Like a lot of stuff Paul wrote, he would come at things from an oblique angle. This is about feeling like an anachronism. He was also determined to use the word “bull….” in every verse. He quietly produced this little gem at a rehearsal 2 years ago and it’s been a mainstay of the PBF set list ever since.

Crooked Road Song Notes – I Ain’t Leavin’ (Til the Wine’s All Gone)

After receiving his diagnosis, Paul and I drove home from the doctor’s in stunned silence. We sat in the back yard for a while and soon after, he vanished for a couple of hours. Just as I was getting concerned, he reappeared holding two very large bags with many bottles of Chateau Neuf, Amarone etc. He looked at me and said “No more cheap wine!!” This was written as the finale for his tribute this spring at The Opera House.

Listen to an excerpt of the song >> I Ain’t Leavin ‘Til the Wine’s All Gone (Excerpt)

I AIN’T LEAVIN’ (‘TIL THE WINE IS ALL GONE)

Performed on The Crooked Road CD released by Cordova Bay Records (Oct 19, 2010)
Composer – M.Worthy
Publisher – Cordova Bay Music Publishing- Pork Belly Music
Martin Worthy-Lead Vocal-Drums
Rebecca Campbell-Harmony Vocal-Percussion
Stuart Laughton-Slide Guitar-Harmony Vocals
Teddy Leonard-Elec. Guitar
Chas Elliott-Bass Guitar
Chris Brown-Hammond Organ
Megan Worthy-Harmony Vocals

LYRICS

I had a friend and he used to say
I ain’t leavin’ ‘til the wine is all gone
Seems like he told me just the other day
I ain’t leavin’ ‘til the wine is all gone
When the wine’s all gone, we’ll just open another
Keep the party rockin’ ‘til four
I think it’s high time, for drinkin’ only fine wine
Just promise me there’ll always will be more…..

You’d better be believing, this be no time for grieving
I ain’t leavin’ ‘til the wine is all gone
I ain’t gonna stop ‘til I’ve drunk the last drop
I ain’t leavin’ ‘til the wine is all gone
When the wine’s all gone, there’ll be a space at the table
An empty glass by the door
A few steps to the gate
And as it’s still swingin’ you might hear me singin’ for more

Pay no attention at all to that clock on the wall
I ain’t leavin’ ‘til the wine is all gone
The best epitaph is to hear you all laugh
I ain’t leavin’ ‘til the wine is all gone
When the wine’s all gone, we’ll just go to my neighbour
And we’ll knock knock knock knock knock on his door
We’ll tell the fella, (we’re) gonna raid his cellar
Then we’ll come back to mine and we’ll pour, more, more, more…..

(Pre) Purchase THE CROOKED ROAD CD from Cordova Bay now!

Springtime

It’s a beautiful springtime in Ontario, with flowers pushing up through the warming earth, birds returning and tree canopies leafing out. This is also a time of rebirth and renewal for Porkbelly Futures as we recover from the loss of our beloved Paul Quarrington. We are delighted to announce that guitarist Teddy Leonard has joined as a full-time member and that our touring and recording activities will continue to grow. New songs are being written and older ones revisited. There is much we could say at this point about the interesting ways in which the band is evolving, but please know that we will be back in your town soon and stronger than ever, just as Paul would have wished. [April, 2010]

Porkbellys at The ROM

MSTV: Porkbelly Futures at the ROM from MovingStories.TV on Vimeo.

Checked out by Bob Gainey

Forechecking, scoring and backchecking, he was known as one of the best all round players in pro hockey. Bob Gainey is also a gracious and convivial host. We’d like to thank The Gainey Foundation for inviting us to play at this year’s benefit concert in Peterborough. We had a terrific time!

Hang time with The Hawk

What a thrill to have a visit from the legendary Rompin’ Ronnie Hawkins backstage at the 2nd annual Gainey Foundation benefit concert in Peterborough Ontario last weekend. The concert was a sold out success and featured, along with PBF, Greg Keelor (Blue Rodeo), The Sadies, Sarah Harmer, Murray Mclaughlin, John Mcdermott along with many others. The concert was a whopping 3hours 45 minutes long. The good folks in Bob Gainey’s home town certainly got their money’s worth!

“I’ve spent 90% of my money on booze and broads. The other 10% I’ve squandered.”

-Ronnie Hawkins

Darwin and Quarrington

[By Stuart] Today, February 12th, is Charles Darwin’s bicentennial birthday, so I can plug my favourite Quarrington book, the boy on the back of the turtle. It’s a tough volume to find, but Paul’s story about cruising the Galápagos Islands with father and daughter in search of Darwinian insights is funny, wonderfully informative and deeply touching. (It’s also the only Quarrington book with a bibliography; five pages closely typed!)

I have my own Darwin story. In 1991 I was in England studying the ‘natural’ or valveless baroque trumpet. England is a hotbed of ‘authentic’ instrumentalists, who play gut-string violins, wooden flutes and such, and near the end of my stay I heard Handel’s Messiah played by such an orchestra. This was in a nave of Westminster Abbey with the audience sitting on folding chairs. At intermission I noticed an inscription on the large stone slab under my chair. It was Darwin’s tomb. I had been engaged in a sort of ‘rear-view mirror’ approach to music-making on primitive historical instruments while five feet below me lay the author of The Origin of the Species.

Western Tour Revisited #3

When you’re out touring from one end of this country to the other, you can’t help but be stunned by the range and diversity of experiences. For a born and bred urbanite, I was struck by this sign on the front lobby door of a hotel in downtown Castlegar, BC.

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