Friday, September 15, 2017

Grant Hart RIP


Grant Hart, drummer, singer, songwriter, most famously for the proto-grunge alternative rock band Husker Du, died yesterday.

I was a HUGE Husker Du fan in the late 80s, turned on to them by my lead guitarist / pal Rich, and though it took a while for them to grow on me, by the summer of 1989 I must’ve listened to Zen Arcade, Candy Apple Grey, and Warehouse countless times. And by countless, I literally mean “countless.” Why, that summer alone in my virtual convertible Corolla, I blasted my cassette tape of Candy Apple Grey something like every single day, every single commute, every single lunch hour, from early May to late September. And I would throw on Warehouse in that brand-newfangled CD player thing I just bought every single night and jam along with it.

Now, as far as Husker Du goes, the band is absolutely one-hundred percent phenomenal, no doubt about that. To the Eighties what the Ramones were to the Seventies, plus some. Perhaps the greatest unknown-band-to-the-masses ever. And though I appreciated Bob Mould’s droning, wall-of-sound guitar and moody, dark, depressive lyrics, I enjoyed Grant Hart’s drumming and singing more. He had a mischievous, impish quality to everything he recorded, a hyper prancing galloping aggressive style of play that captivated me. Though I hold him not as a role model (serious drug abuse and worse), I always thoroughly enjoyed everything I ever heard him play or sing.

Died yesterday at age 56 (ach!) of “kidney cancer.”

Rest in peace. You gave a couple thousand of us some great entertainment over the years.


Grant Hart singing and drumming on Dead Set on Destruction from Candy Apple Grey:


Well, I’m standing in the queue
And I can’t stand anymore missing you
And I, I can’t stand the pain
And I can’t get home ’cause of a hurricane

Dead set on destruction
Dead set on destruction

There’s no flights home today
And no services out on the motorway
And I, I can’t leave the ground
And I can’t find a place now to put her down

Dead set on destruction
Dead set on destruction

The Atlantic winds are high
There’s only one virgin and if she don't fly
And they, they can’t land the plane
And they can’t get home ’cause of a hurricane

Dead set on destruction, etc, etc, etc ...


From the near-perfect Warehouse, the penultimate-penultimate song She’s a Woman and Now He is a Man


Well I can see her loading boxes in my mind
Into a belvedere with a trailer pulled behind
Well things didn’t go exactly as they planned
She’s a woman and now he is a man

Well there’s a vacancy between them everyday
And a sense of guilt that’s not going away
When they get older perhaps they’ll understand
She’s a woman and now he is a man

And now he’s into something that her heart cannot forgive
She’s saying to herself, “This is not the way to live”
Well he’ll never listen to her ’cause his mind is like a sieve
Oh brother! Oh brother! I’m telling your sister
No way can I resist her

With a guilty feeling hanging in their brain
And the two of them are potentially insane
Well they’ve had enough which is more than they can stand
She’s a woman and now he is a man

Well I can see her loading boxes in my mind
Into a belvedere with a trailer pulled behind
Well things didn’t go exactly as they planned
She’s a woman and now he is a man
She’s a woman and now he is a man, etc…


Solo Hart, from 2009: You’re the Reflection of the Moon on the Water


You’re the reflection of the moon on the water
You’re the reflection of the moon on the water
You’re the reflection of the moon on the water
But you’re not the moon

You are the scent of the sea on the night wind
You are the scent of the sea on the night wind
You are the scent of the sea on the night wind
But you’re not the sea

You are the shadows from the light of a fire
You are the shadows from the light of a fire
You are the shadows from the light of a fire
But you’re not the light

You are the sound of the rain on the dry earth
You are the sound of the rain on the dry earth
You are the sound of the rain on the dry earth
But you’re not the rain


[Repeat …]






(Husker Du live: Greg Norton, bass; Grant Hart, drums; Bob Mould, guitar)

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