From the Livejournal vaults:
I recently rediscovered The Grapes of Wrath, a fantastically underrated Canadian band that merged roots with the radio friendly rock of the time, kind of a folkier version of R.E.M. They are arguably the biggest band to come out of the BC interior (The Odds might make a claim to that title too). They got their start in 1984 with a ground-breaking EP on the Nettwerk label, before releasing their first full length in 1985 with September Bowl of Green. Their next album, 1987's Treehouse put them on the Canadian music map, spawning three minor hits, "Peace of Mind", "O Lucky Man" and "Backward Town". By the late 80s, they were the darlings of the then fledgling MuchMusic channel, propelling songs like "All the Things I Wasn't" and "I Am Here" into the mainstream Top 40. The band had broken up by 1992, but most of the members reformed as Ginger in the mid 90s to some success. Now, each member of the band is active in solo careers.
"Peace of Mind" was an early favourite of mind in my first days in college radio. They sounded only tangentally related to some of the rock I was listening to at the time. There was something so earnest about what they sang about, and something very Canadian about the soul-bearing subject matter they handled with a sort of futile fatigue. "Peace of Mind" is a bittersweet song, showing the struggles of a type of person who strives to be pure and honest in a world that isn't very nice to them. Recently, as I rediscovered this song, the bits about a father not acting the role of a father have hit home to me, and the bits about the pure of heart having so much trouble living in a dirty world also resonated with me. It's a beautiful song and overlooked in their catalogue for those that only know their songs that got played on the radio.
http://youtu.be/w7dB8lEW2iY
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