Saw them play this in 94 opening for Peter Gabriel at Mount Smart in Auckland. Sat beside Don on the flight to Sydney the next day. Made me a fan for life!
My wife tells me you have to try food three times before you can truly rate it. This song is exactly like that. First two times I wasn't so sure but then I got it - brilliant!
Easily my fav track from The 'Birds! This live version is absolutely STUNNING! I lost count of the number of times I saw these boys play live in the '90's down here in the south of the south island (saw them play Christchurch). I agree with the comment about the opening to this tune with the drums...superb beat indeed!
June 1995 , hot English summer and a morning set on one of the small stages at the Glastonbury festival - first time I’d encountered the Mutton Birds and remain a big fan to this day . Thanks for posting these great videos 👍
All hail the mighty Mutton Birds. Had the pleasure and privilege of seeing 'em live on the 2012 Reunion tour in London and in my top 10 of all time best gigs and we have been to many.
I haven't heard the band before but I REALLY like this! Nice slow building intensity in the song, minimalist construction. The lyrics are fantastic. I have to find some of their music on cd.
This is New Zealand songwriting at its best. Don McGlashan is another league entirely from Dave Dobbyn!!! To produce such a beautiful haunting understated song about the worst NZ massacre in our lifetimes. Brilliant.
I will confess I had no idea of all the previous comments. All I heard and still value in the song was a snapshot of a man with a mind like mine who thinks about how what he sees came to be, and admires "a thing well made".
The song is about the mass shooting in Aramoana, near Dunedin, NZ, back in 1990. I was in town then and remember the Army chopper flying over my head, heading out there carrying the armed-offenders squad (like a SWAT team) to deal with the threat.
No doubt about it Don mcglashan is a class act.Right up there with the Finn bros and Dave Dobbyn in my opinion.And a bit quirky too i mean who can combine a flugle horn in a song about an AK47?
Song is a response to the Aramoana (Near Dunedin) massacre murderer David Grey. The contrast between a man admiring a custom handmade sporting rifle and an Avtomatic Kalashnikov 1947 mass produced for the purpose of killing maximum numbers of humans.
Elise Bailey To all those referencing the ak47 and Dunedin etc, I'm not sure that's what the song is about, or a response to ... it could be THE gun, or maybe not: that's the mundane and ambiguity in song ... Since a lot of those early Mutton Birds songs had been kicking around for a few years, it's possible it was written as it's performed here before the massacre in 1990 (this was put to album in 1991), and took on additional poignience. The words are mostly detailing someone escaping from the ugliness of their home-life into the their work day, and being absorbed into the craft and beauty of the guns they sell ... This is a song actually written in response to the Dunedin incident ruclips.net/video/QofKh6avS8o/видео.html
Yes, the song is focused on the mundane nature of daily life and the love for an inanimate object. I think that the reference to the AK-47 is definitely a head nod to Aramoana though. As you say, it is possible that the song was written by Don beforehand, but the album was released in 1992 (so recorded sometime in 1991 most likely). The Mutton Birds was formed in early 1991 and first performed as a trio on St Pats Day that year. The Aramoana Massacre was in Nov 1990, so it's not a stretch to draw a fairly straight line between the two.
Blair Mulholland The ‘stupid line’ is actually pivotal to the song - it is referring to the Aramoana massacre. He used a replica AK47 to gun down a bunch of people.
It's not a 'stupid line' ; Gray's Norinico was an copy of the AK - and if McGlashan had sung 'Norinco' then far fewer people would understand - and therefore miss the point of this fine and subtle songwriting.
@@mheim884 They are not legal at all, and never have been. They are not even legal for private citizens to own in the United States. The AK47 is a fully automatic weapon of war (that's what the "A" stands for). David Gray used semiautomatic weapons that copied the look of the AK47, but do not have the same automatic functionality, and are legal for collectors to own. This is basic 101 gun knowledge. Nobody has ever legally sold an AK47 in New Zealand. That's what makes that line in the song so cringey and stupid.
@@mheim884 Ugh, Chinese "AK47s" are by definition NOT AK47s. I guarantee you that you will not find automatic weapons legally for sale anywhere in NZ. They will all be semiautomatic knockoffs.
@@mheim884 They sell semiautomatic replicas, not original Kalishnakovs. To be fair, I didn't know that manufacturers made semiautomatic knockoffs of these guns and labeled them that way (presumably the Soviets never trademarked it, being communists and all!) so that makes it a valid lyric, although it's still pretty cringy. I just assumed McGlashan was singing about Kalishnakovs, which would be dumb.
Saw them play this in 94 opening for Peter Gabriel at Mount Smart in Auckland. Sat beside Don on the flight to Sydney the next day. Made me a fan for life!
My wife tells me you have to try food three times before you can truly rate it. This song is exactly like that. First two times I wasn't so sure but then I got it - brilliant!
Easily my fav track from The 'Birds! This live version is absolutely STUNNING! I lost count of the number of times I saw these boys play live in the '90's down here in the south of the south island (saw them play Christchurch). I agree with the comment about the opening to this tune with the drums...superb beat indeed!
A perfect song about an imperfect world...
Genius. One of the greatest Pop songs ever written.
June 1995 , hot English summer and a morning set on one of the small stages at the Glastonbury festival - first time I’d encountered the Mutton Birds and remain a big fan to this day . Thanks for posting these great videos 👍
Nz's answer to Hunters & Collectors. Great live, charismatic lead and full, rich sound. Sings about NZ - how could this band not be more well known?
So much better than H&C, IMHO...
All hail the mighty Mutton Birds. Had the pleasure and privilege of seeing 'em live on the 2012 Reunion tour in London and in my top 10 of all time best gigs and we have been to many.
I haven't heard the band before but I REALLY like this! Nice slow building intensity in the song, minimalist construction. The lyrics are fantastic. I have to find some of their music on cd.
This song after many years still kicks ass! Love your writing Don
This is New Zealand songwriting at its best. Don McGlashan is another league entirely from Dave Dobbyn!!! To produce such a beautiful haunting understated song about the worst NZ massacre in our lifetimes. Brilliant.
An absolute NZ treasure of an artist !!
This song is amazingly moving.
Great lyrics, great song!
Gotta love those opening drums!
The instrument Don plays, (amongst many others) is called a Euphonium
Correct
I will confess I had no idea of all the previous comments. All I heard and still value in the song was a snapshot of a man with a mind like mine who thinks about how what he sees came to be, and admires "a thing well made".
The song is about the mass shooting in Aramoana, near Dunedin, NZ, back in 1990. I was in town then and remember the Army chopper flying over my head, heading out there carrying the armed-offenders squad (like a SWAT team) to deal with the threat.
@@mathematician1234 I will gently point out that there are 11 year old comments stating this which my comment refers to.
@@flamencoprof Thank you. I did not see those. I did not scroll down far enough. You are quite correct.
I saw them live on 27 October in London. I didn't think this live version could be bettered but it was!
No doubt about it Don mcglashan is a class act.Right up there with the Finn bros and Dave Dobbyn in my opinion.And a bit quirky too i mean who can combine a flugle horn in a song about an AK47?
Incredible. I'd love to see / hear a recording of the looped version that Don does live/solo, also super magical.
This SONG is a head of this time, that last verse. Down the line from Chirstchure
We love you Don - Aotearoa
@thevampirediariesxo It's called a euphonium, it's like a small tuba.
Chilling genius...
genuis
Holy shit this is good
Song is a response to the Aramoana (Near Dunedin) massacre murderer David Grey. The contrast between a man admiring a custom handmade sporting rifle and an Avtomatic Kalashnikov 1947 mass produced for the purpose of killing maximum numbers of humans.
PlaneSpotterHeaven I know. its just beautiful
It's eerie to think of it in relation to the more recent mass killings in the same city where the song is set.
@@Robyn-r9s it's prophetic.
Go watch the DVD "Out of the Blue".
Or better still, DON'T. It ignored well-known facts, and instead substituted the scriptwriter's fiction; a gross fucking insult to those involved.
@@michaelstevenson470 Was it ? I didn't know that
Is Dunedin, AK47 , that guy went back to Christchurch. Then uploaded . ZCrazy
No this was way before brenton tarrant
Elise Bailey
To all those referencing the ak47 and Dunedin etc, I'm not sure that's what the song is about, or a response to ... it could be THE gun, or maybe not: that's the mundane and ambiguity in song ... Since a lot of those early Mutton Birds songs had been kicking around for a few years, it's possible it was written as it's performed here before the massacre in 1990 (this was put to album in 1991), and took on additional poignience. The words are mostly detailing someone escaping from the ugliness of their home-life into the their work day, and being absorbed into the craft and beauty of the guns they sell ... This is a song actually written in response to the Dunedin incident ruclips.net/video/QofKh6avS8o/видео.html
Yes, the song is focused on the mundane nature of daily life and the love for an inanimate object. I think that the reference to the AK-47 is definitely a head nod to Aramoana though. As you say, it is possible that the song was written by Don beforehand, but the album was released in 1992 (so recorded sometime in 1991 most likely). The Mutton Birds was formed in early 1991 and first performed as a trio on St Pats Day that year. The Aramoana Massacre was in Nov 1990, so it's not a stretch to draw a fairly straight line between the two.
is this about a gun shop in christchurch?
Seems rather apposite at the moment, doesnt it?
Yep. Spot on.
It's way I'm here.
I thought they'd been made illegal after the Aramoana massacre - the background to this song. Apparently not.
Yeah, it's like once wasn't enough.
holy moly this is cool. forgive my ignorance, but what massacre?
montecarlo78
Brilliant song... and then he oversauces it with the stupid line about the AK47 at the end. They've never been legal in NZ for one thing.
Blair Mulholland The ‘stupid line’ is actually pivotal to the song - it is referring to the Aramoana massacre. He used a replica AK47 to gun down a bunch of people.
It's not a 'stupid line' ; Gray's Norinico was an copy of the AK - and if McGlashan had sung 'Norinco' then far fewer people would understand - and therefore miss the point of this fine and subtle songwriting.
@@mheim884 They are not legal at all, and never have been. They are not even legal for private citizens to own in the United States. The AK47 is a fully automatic weapon of war (that's what the "A" stands for). David Gray used semiautomatic weapons that copied the look of the AK47, but do not have the same automatic functionality, and are legal for collectors to own. This is basic 101 gun knowledge. Nobody has ever legally sold an AK47 in New Zealand. That's what makes that line in the song so cringey and stupid.
@@mheim884 Ugh, Chinese "AK47s" are by definition NOT AK47s. I guarantee you that you will not find automatic weapons legally for sale anywhere in NZ. They will all be semiautomatic knockoffs.
@@mheim884 They sell semiautomatic replicas, not original Kalishnakovs. To be fair, I didn't know that manufacturers made semiautomatic knockoffs of these guns and labeled them that way (presumably the Soviets never trademarked it, being communists and all!) so that makes it a valid lyric, although it's still pretty cringy. I just assumed McGlashan was singing about Kalishnakovs, which would be dumb.