![]() Greenland (2006) [ larger cover art ] |
We walked down
a long promenade
Down a winding stair,
wide as boulevards
Vines and shrubs
grew between the steps
From the Spanish town
to the African sea
We drank wine
and toasted to the day
When she was the queen,
before the long decay
We drank wine,
slept off hangovers
Lethargy, decay
and forgotten loves
We’d awake
to the BBC
An old English queen
on the balcony
Wander ’round
abandoned consulates
An old broken chair
on the marble stair
And from the roof,
see Canary seas
The discarded runway
of Sidi Ifni
We drank wine
lying on our backs
On the warm tarmac,
in a bowl of stars
Well, I went down,
mostly on my own
Till I was alone
in that shipwrecked house
Through the porthole sea
an epiphany
I would never leave this place alive
I drink gin
with the old ex-pats
We are broken things,
from a broken past
And it comes near;
but just out of grasp
The alchemist words
that would bring her back
| coloradojohn (A Mile High and then some, Cherry Creek, Denver) | Posted: May 20, 2013 - 18:54 Always loved this spooky tune evocative of North Africa, like a page out of a Camus book. So glad I got to see them last New Year's Eve...what a great mix of jam and clever poetry from early days to current times; what a great band Cracker is! Go Johnny, on guitar! |
| Giselle62 (many bear, big rock, estuary California) | Posted: Apr 19, 2013 - 12:19 i like Cracker---like Cracker Jack full of surprises. |
| JIan (Phoenix, AZ, USA) | Posted: Apr 19, 2013 - 11:25 Far and away my favorite Cracker song that I have heard, though admittedly my experience with this band is somewhat limited. |
| westslope (BC coast) | Posted: Apr 19, 2013 - 11:24 So what is the origin of the term 'cracker' as a pejorative label for poor southern white folks?
Just curious. |
| Euskadita (MX) | Posted: Feb 15, 2013 - 15:15 NeuroGeek wrote: I'm not a fan, either, but this doesn't suck. I thought the only good songs of Cracker were from Kerosene Hat, but this one made me doubt about it. |
| NeuroGeek (Just Way Out There) | Posted: Feb 14, 2013 - 06:08 TJS wrote: I've never been a fan of Cracker, but I really like this! I'm not a fan, either, but this doesn't suck. |
| cShaggy (..inna state of being..) | Posted: Dec 14, 2012 - 22:41 ..oh yeah, is good..straightaway 8.. |
| coy (san antonio) | Posted: Nov 13, 2012 - 13:48 check out the lyrics on thees poetry We walked down a long promenade Down a winding stair, wide as boulevards Vines and shrubs grew between the steps From the Spanish town to the African sea We drank wine and toasted to the day When she was the queen, before the long decay We drank wine, slept off hangovers Lethargy, decay and forgotten loves We’d awake to the BBC An old English queen on the balcony Wander ’round abandoned consulates An old broken chair on the marble stair And from the roof, see Canary seas The discarded runway of Sidi Ifni We drank wine lying on our backs On the warm tarmac, in a bowl of stars Well, I went down, mostly on my own Till I was alone in that shipwrecked house Through the porthole sea—an epiphany I would never leave this place alive I drink gin with the old ex-pats We are broken things, from a broken past And it comes near; but just out of grasp The alchemist words that would bring her back |
| TJS (Bradley, Il) | Posted: May 08, 2012 - 05:52 I've never been a fan of Cracker, but I really like this! |
| Figure | Posted: Apr 06, 2012 - 23:28 Just the extension of Robert Plant's "Central Two-O-Nine" from "Band of Joy" ) |
| Stranglersfan (Revelstoke, B.C.) | Posted: Mar 05, 2012 - 19:59 I never got into this cracker album, i will give it another shot as this sounds cool! |
| stuart_dean | Posted: Jan 02, 2012 - 08:47 Tom Petty cover of Pink Floyd? |
| Shesdifferent (Just visiting this planet) | Posted: Dec 01, 2011 - 14:45 Bill and those wonderful segues...from Frozen to this....bliss..... |
| abbey_normal (Behind keyboard) | Posted: Dec 01, 2011 - 14:44 Nice to drop down into the deep dark green waters of Sidi Ifni once in a while. |
| nickkky | Posted: Sep 29, 2011 - 06:52 Pink Floyd )))))))))))))))))) |
| vandal (arriving somewhere, but not here. . .) | Posted: Sep 29, 2011 - 06:48 . . . thump thump, thump thump, thump thump. . . |
| jagdriver (Just a nod and a wink south of Paradise) | Posted: Jul 28, 2011 - 12:14 ![]() |
| Sloggydog (UK) | Posted: Jul 28, 2011 - 12:14 That is a proper Cracker! |
| sbegf (Manchester, Maryland) | Posted: Jul 28, 2011 - 12:12 The beginning of this always reminds me of a song from the movie HEAT soundtrack...loved that movie and soundtrack EDIT: Ah-ha! I am not alone: :) TimeWasterPosted: Jun 13, 2007 - 15:19 < Reply > This kind of reminds me of a Moby tune on the movie "Heat" (Deniro, Pacino) It's played during the scene when Pacino is following Deniro on the Freeway to finally meet face to face. I think it's called "New Dawn Fades". |
| TigtheRed (Alpine) | Posted: May 26, 2011 - 10:30 Simply sublime. Nice to hear some off the beaten path Cracker. |
| Businessgypsy (Deepest, Darkest Florida) | Posted: May 26, 2011 - 10:29 Mack wrote: ...When the gaenocologist bought a new boat, what to call it?... Seems to conjure the image of a little man in a boat, but can't remember what it refers to. |
| WonderLizard (2,755.46 mi. due east of Paradise) | Posted: Mar 24, 2011 - 09:18 Mack wrote: Drinking gin with the old ex pats. Oh the memories! 'Xray Spex' the name of the Sunseeker who's busines is to make lenses for reading glasses. 'In the Spade' for the Mo-Hawk who's owner is a builder. When the gaenocologist bought a new boat, what to call it? now that's a top notch Spannish pub quiz. Once again I waive simultaneous translation. |
| fast_eddie | Posted: Mar 24, 2011 - 07:45 Quite cool, I think I need this album! |
| WonderLizard (2,755.46 mi. due east of Paradise) | Posted: Mar 24, 2011 - 07:44 Like too many, my Cracker exposure was primarily Kerosene Hat. RP has revealed their amazing diversity. |
| Stingray (EUROPE) | Posted: Jan 20, 2011 - 14:59 aelfheld wrote: From the sublime to the ridiculous. CRACKER is "1st-league", and is among America's finest bands, studio and certainly live too! "Sidi Ifni" is a lovely place on top of it! |
| aelfheld | Posted: Jan 20, 2011 - 14:51 jamesat43 wrote: Another awesome segue...Kashmir to Sidi Ifni!!! From the sublime to the ridiculous. |
| jamesat43 (Cary, North Carolina) | Posted: Oct 17, 2010 - 19:39 Another awesome segue...Kashmir to Sidi Ifni!!! |
| ziggytrix (Dallas, TX) | Posted: May 11, 2010 - 12:34 martinc wrote: Had to check who this was as I thought it might be a Petty tune I had not heard. Rest of their material like this? No, the rest of their material is very different, in my opinion. Camper Von Beethoven, an older band which shares several members with Cracker, sounds more like this. |
| Incarnadine | Posted: Mar 09, 2010 - 03:54 One of the most underrated bands of all time. I'm still kicking myself for not having the funds for the Cracker/CVB tour this year. |
| PurplePrincess (the mountains) | Posted: Feb 05, 2010 - 15:47 I love this, had to download it after hearing it on RP. Moody, sadder but wiser. |
| jagdriver (Just a nod and a wink south of Paradise) | Posted: Feb 05, 2010 - 15:42
|
| Geecheeboy (under a crescent moon and palmetto tree) | Posted: Nov 03, 2009 - 11:14 Naturally follows Kashmir. Cut from the same cloth. |
| jjbix (san diego) | Posted: Jun 04, 2009 - 15:13 dreary droning dredge . . . quasi - suicidal, eck! |
| fredriley (Nottingham, UK) | Posted: May 29, 2009 - 07:30 For info, as I wrote in an earlier comment, there's a Wikipedia page on the village of Sidi Ifni which might give folk some interesting background to the song. |
| Barman (Milan, Italy) | Posted: Apr 27, 2009 - 14:52 radiojunkie wrote: Apparently I have managed to miss this song every time it's been played over the past couple of years. I, too, thought it was Pink Floyd when it began. Have to say, I don't think the vocals really mesh with the instrumentation — and, if anything, it sounds more like Procol Harum than Tom Petty. And far from being too long, it's actually not long enough — never really develops into anything worthy of the opening. Ah, crap, it's just a song. |
| Mike_Sneade (Nr Oxford UK) | Posted: Mar 15, 2009 - 12:27 Nice ![]() |
| mandolin (...drifting...) | Posted: Feb 23, 2009 - 13:43 martinc wrote: Had to check who this was as I thought it might be a Petty tune I had not heard. Rest of their material like this? ...it's a good album, and on the whole all very strong material which fits together nicely, but most of it isn't so sobre in tone... |
| RadioDoc (Chicagoland) | Posted: Feb 23, 2009 - 13:41 Ntropy wrote: This song starts, and my mind just ****sighs*****.. as the music takes me to another place, another time. 10 +++ Well put. |
| martinc (Ottawa Canada) | Posted: Feb 23, 2009 - 13:40 Had to check who this was as I thought it might be a Petty tune I had not heard. Rest of their material like this? |
| palexis (Palo Alto, CA) | Posted: Feb 23, 2009 - 13:38 Cracker's best effort to date (much like Kashmir for Led Zep in my book, which was just played by the masterful BillG). |
| rtb (NE corner of Work and Boredom) | Posted: Feb 23, 2009 - 13:37 wenatchee wrote: Echo's of Tom Petty? YES!....yes....yes.....yes....yes.....yes......yes..... |
| Ntropy (Cleveland, OH) | Posted: Feb 23, 2009 - 13:37 This song starts, and my mind just ****sighs*****.. as the music takes me to another place, another time. 10 +++ |
| vit | Posted: Feb 23, 2009 - 13:36 Praying that the baby stays asleep just another 5 minutes ... |
| wenatchee (Duvall, WA) | Posted: Jan 29, 2009 - 06:50 Echo's of Tom Petty? |
| fuh2 (I think I'm in the USA) | Posted: Dec 28, 2008 - 16:15 Reflects an historic moment lost in time and the vast expanse of the Sahara. |
| lophrequa (the very edge of the land) | Posted: Dec 28, 2008 - 16:10 Mack wrote: When the gaenocologist bought a new boat, what to call it? now that's a top notch Spannish pub quiz. Snatchmaster? |
| bill-1956 (Moncure, NC) | Posted: Dec 22, 2008 - 09:43 I've upped my rating twice on this song. |
| radiojunkie (Don't get out much) | Posted: Dec 10, 2008 - 16:28 jakewhite77 wrote: This makes more sense than what I wrote. Have to say I agree with you. |
| radiojunkie (Don't get out much) | Posted: Dec 10, 2008 - 16:27 Apparently I have managed to miss this song every time it's been played over the past couple of years. I, too, thought it was Pink Floyd when it began. Have to say, I don't think the vocals really mesh with the instrumentation — and, if anything, it sounds more like Procol Harum than Tom Petty. And far from being too long, it's actually not long enough — never really develops into anything worthy of the opening. Ah, crap, it's just a song. |
| jakewhite77 (Los Angeles) | Posted: Dec 10, 2008 - 16:22 |


