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)