May: European Union '08

from A Year In Song by The Nautical Miles

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About the song...

Last summer, I had the opportunity to travel around Europe playing shows with two other singer-songwriters- Melisa Devost and Sarah MacDougall. I was in 6 countries in 5 weeks: Greece, England, Sweden, Denmark, Poland and Germany. This song is an assemblage of some of the words that I put to paper during the trip.

Traveling as a tourist and as a working musician, I was able to meet all kinds of different people throughout Europe. I did so with gleeful enthusiasm. While people’s sympathies and struggles were all ones I recognized initially, I began to appreciate more and more that their political and historical contexts were radically different than my own.

The verses of this song is meant to be in conflict with the chorus. The chorus represents the simplicity and the euphoria of being a tourist, of meeting new people, of sitting in a cafe and watching pretty girls on bicycles ride by. The verses are an attempt to confuse this simplicity, revealing some of the cultural and political nuances I was able to glean during my time in the European Union.

Tim Tweedale, our slide guitar player, is on tour in Europe with Sarah Macdougall right now. Here’ s wishing them luck on the road!

About the artwork...

“Meagan Gartlan cuts away at her time by making new pictures from old pictures. Incorporating many books from various topics and decades she creates a current image that represents the issues of today. She loves the obscure and the ridiculous, but always keeps an anchor in reality. To check out more of her work you can go to artistgartlan.carbonmade.com. View her animations at www.vimeo.com/2785071.”

credits

from A Year In Song, track released May 15, 2009
Meagan Gartlan: artwork
Corbin Murdoch: acoustic guitar, vocals
Tim Tweedale: pedal steel guitar
Dave Taylor: electric guitar
Jesse Gander: piano, production
Simon Rotheisler: bass
Lucas Schuller: drums

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The Nautical Miles Vancouver

The Nautical Miles are an adventurous roots music band from Vancouver, BC, Canada.

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