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Quiet Hollers — Mont Blanc
Album: Quiet Hollers
Avg rating:
7.6

Your rating:
Total ratings: 1569









Released: 2016
Length: 4:32
Plays (last 30 days): 0
I know I planted those seeds down too deep
they'll die and never see the sun
my fault for that one
I was a city boy before
no excuses anymore
I'll try to learn and to keep us fed
shed a tear for the books I shoulda read

and I'd seen all the warning signs
on the TV, in the Times
but I had you to hold at night
and so it took me by surprise
we had so many things back then
I had a silver Mont Blanc pen
I'd write for hours about nothing
that makes any difference now

and I used to worry what clothes I had on
the school recitals and the manicured lawns
and I had a laundry-list of people
I could count on if it all went wrong...
and then the bomb

now I take precautions for my peace of mind
I don't know what difference it might make
to hang on any longer
but I cut the tree across the drive
spend the daylight hours inside
trying to make the place look empty
so as no-one comes around

I thought I saw them again last night
those same distant headlights
sweeping back and forth across
the empty shells of the summer homes
and if the bastards ever come
promise me you'll take the kids and run
I may be weak and I may be frail
but I can throw them off your trail

and I used to worry what clothes I had on
the school recitals and the manicured lawns
and I had a laundry-list of people
I could count on if it all went wrong...
and then the bomb

shed a tear for the books I shoulda read
Comments (124)add comment
Havent heard this song in a long time.  Did it fall off the play list?  If so, to bad, its a solid 9 for me...
Wow. Yet another artist nee to my ear. Thank you William and Alanna - I will search for this entity.
As we sit in 2022 post-pandemic, post-Ukraine and with temperatures having hit 40+ degrees this summer in a drought-stricken UK, reading the breathtaking ignorance of comments from 5 or 6 years ago is a sad comment on the ostrich-head-in-the-sand views which predominated subsequently (and still do, especially amongst the die-hard Trumpsters) . There will be hell to pay, and Mont Blanc said it all.
Speaks for me. Not much time left now.
 skyguy wrote:

Always reminds me of  "The Road"



Great watch. Yes, me too.
haunting
Hard song to listen to. I thought that all of the songs about catastrophic accidents that would change the world forever were written during the Cold War, and there was nothing to add; it had all been said and enough of it to scare the hell out of you forever. Then this thing comes out in 2016, and it's as scary as any anti-nuke anthem ever written. I like how most of the story is left unsaid, while the horribleness of whatever happened is made unmistakable. Is it a journal entry? Is it a phone conversation? Is it a conversation with himself when, in fact, everyone is actually gone? An anti-anthem for a time when anthems don't work anymore.
 ziakut wrote:

Sounds a bit like The National - lite.


They could call themselves Natty Lite.
Natty-Lite
Definitely a 9 just for the lyrics.  
 ziakut wrote:

Sounds a bit like The National - lite.



Except this guy can sing.
 jimvanders wrote:
This is the absolute greatness of RP. How they can blast you with a masterpiece like this by a band you have never heard of. And because of that, you now know the artist.
 Carbon Leaf and Elbow are two more examples for me (among many). They have songs that stop me in my tracks every time. Never would have heard them if not for RP.
c.

 Grammarcop wrote:
I drove past Mont Blanc many years ago and I now wish I had the time to stop and appreciate. I know it's different, but I'm not going to make the same mistake twice. 
 
I've skiied around Mont Blanc many times.  Lovely part of the world.  I don't have a Mont Blanc pen though.
 Skid_Mark wrote:
Shed a tear for crappy, contrived lyrics.  Hipster drivel.
 
 
Wash your tighty whities and people might take you a bit more seriously.
 Grammarcop wrote:
I drove past Mont Blanc many years ago and I now wish I had the time to stop and appreciate. I know it's different, but I'm not going to make the same mistake twice. 
 
I've skiied in the area several times - a beautiful part of the world.  Not quite so sure about the song though ... it's ok, but not stellar.
I drove past Mont Blanc many years ago and I now wish I had the time to stop and appreciate. I know it's different, but I'm not going to make the same mistake twice. 
Tasty! A very good selection for the rotation. I lived in the Ville yet never heard of the QH's- sorry I missed seeing them perform. Thank you for this interlude, Bill!
and if the bastards ever come
promise me you'll take the kids and run
I may be weak and I may be frail
but I can throw them off your trail

Fuck, that's good. Brings tears to my eyes.
Skid_Mark wrote:

Shed a tear for crappy, contrived lyrics. Hipster drivel.

Welcome to 2020. Enjoy your stay.
 gbt wrote:


Don't know how many times this has happened to me on RP. This is an instant 8 for me
 
Gbt i have found myself listening to stations like tye current and WFMU because i am sick of the same old crap 
 
Scares the crap out of me with the long reach of this CoViD-19 pandemic, but is this prescient of 2021?...
 jimvanders wrote:
This is the absolute greatness of RP. How they can blast you with a masterpiece like this by a band you have never heard of. And because of that, you now know the artist.
 

Don't know how many times this has happened to me on RP. This is an instant 8 for me
Hugs to you guys! I pray you’re all safe. Call on back brother to reconnect ~ anytime anytime anytime anytime
cheery
I was upset but ok this morning after reading the news about the protests, but this song reduced me to a weeping puddle.  
This is the absolute greatness of RP. How they can blast you with a masterpiece like this by a band you have never heard of. And because of that, you now know the artist.
 easmann wrote:

I don't find a basis for any of these judgments myself but then, all art is a kind of Rorschach test.
Thanks for teaching me about Rorschach test, I never heard of it in my one semester as a psych major. I always thought ink blot testing was a huge crok, so it's just as well. I'm sure I'd be condescending in any essay on the topic.



Topical
 cc_rider wrote:
For another song on the same subject, but a totally different style and outlook, see "Party At Ground Zero" by Fishbone. Released around '85, it captured a similar underlying fear...
c.
 
"The Day After" 
came out in 1983.

Mont Blanc

Expensive Pen!!!
For another song on the same subject, but a totally different style and outlook, see "Party At Ground Zero" by Fishbone. Released around '85, it captured a similar underlying fear...
c.
Interesting slide show images.. many nuclear themed and the rest kids frolicing on our green earth.. 
It's always exciting to hear good music coming out of your home town! I dig it!
Impressive. I like the relaxed style, pertinent lyrics, rolling tune, and the vocals are great too. 10/10
9 -> 10

A perfect song. Strikes a chord with me, I can't quite explain.
 Jota wrote:
Did First Aid Kit and The National have a kid?
 

Kidding me? 
AWESOME!
 Highlowsel wrote:
Sounds like someone who's played one too many of the Fallout series...?
 
I think more about the The Day After when I was 13.
Sounds like someone who's played one too many of the Fallout series...?
Bleak
Cool song... kinda stirs up the inner hipster
I saw this band at Atlanta last year and with, in the neighborhood of, 50 spectators including 2 bar maids and 3 ticket guys Great show nevertheless
"the school recitals and the manicured lawns" - speaks volumes.
Grim.
 ziakut wrote:
Sounds a bit like The National - lite.
 
Great observation.
Sounds a bit like The National - lite.
Would like to hear this band live.

Just finished reading "Station Eleven", which also evokes a post-apocalypse world (not entirely dystopian though).  So...thinking about making my house look empty, rerouting my solar panels to serve my house instead of the grid, oh and building a still. Well heck...I'll just listen to music and enjoy what I have instead.
That lyricist can't be as old as I am, but it pretty much sums it up!!!
 
So many books (even on my bookshelf), so little time.
 
But my pen's an A.T. Cross
Like this! First time I've heard it. Just bought it on iTunes.
 DocStrangelove wrote:
This is the "theme song" to the book that I am writing (my fourth book for The University of Toronto Press):

"We need to maintain a strong connection between production, consumption, and climate change and recognize the uncomfortable moral character of our present situation: if we continue upon our current path the oceans will rise, the coral will bleach, the forests will burn, mass extinctions will continue unabated, and global civilization as we know it will come to a cataclysmic end.Now is not the time for a celebration of the “emotional and aesthetic satisfactions derived from consumer experiences.” The attempt to occupy the methodological high-ground that is implied when Featherstone argues that we should endeavor to account for the pleasures of the consumer’s experience “in a more detached sociological manner” is deeply troubling.What, in the end, are we really being asked to detach ourselves from here if not the misery and destruction by our own hands of water, earth, air, and life?"



Dr. Strangelove
University of Ottawa


 

You have tenure?  Amazing.   

This drags me back to the Reagan/Brezhnev era & the background feeling of impending doom; given the current state of things, perhaps not surprising. The big picture expressed in the mundane trivia - a solid 7/10 for me.
 Skid_Mark wrote:
Shed a tear for crappy, contrived lyrics.  Hipster drivel.
 

 
You're such a manly man.
 Skid_Mark wrote:
Shed a tear for crappy, contrived lyrics.  Hipster drivel.
 

 
I like video games that draw me into a particular situation like a work of art or literature. The lyrics preceding "Then the bomb" does this for me, and occurs to me as the complete opposite of contrived.

I welcome any avenue that rubs the faces of willful and deliberate disregard into the shit they refuse to see.  If this settles as being outside the cultural mainstream, guilty as charged.

 TheCore wrote:
As I mentioned somwhere earlier, I live somewhat «off-the-grid». When I tune in to RP I get this visitor - who just love Mont Blance and RP. Proof? Ok..{#Music}
https://www.facebook.com/viggod2/videos/1773738602841405/

 
is that your fox?
I dig it.
I have seen them live in Leiden, Holland. I counted 17 people there, including the bar keeper. 

Great show nonetheless. The singer has a great sense of humor. Not quite what you would expect based on the lyrics of this song.
like.
I'm in Lexington, but have never heard of this band.
 easmann wrote:

I don't find a basis for any of these judgments myself but then, all art is a kind of Rorschach test.

 
Nice burn. Gotta remember that one, might come in handy ;-)
As I mentioned somwhere earlier, I live somewhat «off-the-grid». When I tune in to RP I get this visitor - who just love Mont Blance and RP. Proof? Ok..{#Music}
https://www.facebook.com/viggod2/videos/1773738602841405/
 easmann wrote:

I don't find a basis for any of these judgments myself but then, all art is a kind of Rorschach test.

 
This is one of the best definitions of art I ever heard:-).
 Skid_Mark wrote:
Shed a tear for crappy, contrived lyrics.  Hipster drivel.
 
I don't find a basis for any of these judgments myself but then, all art is a kind of Rorschach test.
Shed a tear for crappy, contrived lyrics.  Hipster drivel.
 
 nomnol wrote:
Always turn this up when I hear it.

 
So do I.
Always turn this up when I hear it.
 skyguy wrote:
Always reminds me of  "The Road"

 
yeah. I'm not sure that  every man for himself would wash well in my Welsh valley but I read the road and remembered my talks with an awful lot of Americans. I think it was a likely scenario.

 nutrod42 wrote:

Nothing I've heard from The National has made much of an impression on me. On the other hand, I think this one is outstanding. (I agree, the vocal style is similar.)

 
Agree on both counts.  This song is very haunting post-apocalypse story that leaves an impression The National songs do not.  The guitar riffs are better too. 
 Jota wrote:
Yes, clearly a rip off of The National. The musical style, the lyrical style, content and the way the singer delivers it is very, very reminiscent of The National.  A pale imitation at best.

nutrod42 wrote:

Unoriginal? Really?

 

 
Nothing I've heard from The National has made much of an impression on me. On the other hand, I think this one is outstanding. (I agree, the vocal style is similar.)
 Jota wrote:
Having a 'good' voice is a very distant second to being original.
 
Dylan, Lou Reed and any number of other true originals shape music. The Quiet Hollers ape music.

wrangler wrote:

except for the small fact that this guy can actually sing and doesn't appear to have a mouthful of marbles

 

 

Mackmoney3000 wrote:

These dudes spend a lot of time listening to The National. 

Not a bad thing.  

 
 

 
The fact that there hasn't been another mumbling, noise maker like Dylan is a good thing.
Louisville is only 99 miles from Cincinnati
Having a 'good' voice is a very distant second to being original.
 
Dylan, Lou Reed and any number of other true originals shape music. The Quiet Hollers ape music.

wrangler wrote:

except for the small fact that this guy can actually sing and doesn't appear to have a mouthful of marbles

 

 

Mackmoney3000 wrote:

These dudes spend a lot of time listening to The National. 

Not a bad thing.  

 
 


Yes, clearly a rip off of The National. The musical style, the lyrical style, content and the way the singer delivers it is very, very reminiscent of The National.  A pale imitation at best.

nutrod42 wrote:

Unoriginal? Really?

 


Would have been better if the lyric was "and then the Zombie Apocalypse."
 Stefen wrote:
I gather that this song is about the struggle of a neophyte survivalist coping with civilization's collapse in the aftermath of a nuclear bomb.  He is trying to protect his family from the threatening horde.  

 
Or it could be a metaphor for being emotionally closed off.
I gather that this song is about the struggle of a neophyte survivalist coping with civilization's collapse in the aftermath of a nuclear bomb.  He is trying to protect his family from the threatening horde.  
I like this more each time I hear it...
Always reminds me of  "The Road"
i got it at 8
 Jota wrote:
Did First Aid Kit and The National have a kid?

 
Hey. A great description of the band.
Bummer of a song though. Reminds me that we, the human race, will most likely die by our own hand, and it may not be fast. Unless of course the comet or meteor gets us first. Enough now - go away Eeyore.
OMG, thats you, she said, my ex - That bomb is the IRS, and the rest is about how you went living off-the-grid-light, hiding from "the bastards".
What can I say, had to give it 10 - still angry there is no 20-button. Great song, great lyrics that goes beyond the obvious neuclear bomb theme. Putting it on top of my music bucket list. Quiet Hollers hit a nerve.
always glad when this one makes it's way back around
I shed a tear for the billboard I shoulda read, but I'm gracious in defeat.


Agree with another Comment - reminiscent of National
I love the story and the feeling this song conveys. Powerful stuff.
 Typesbad wrote:

Made up of of the truth, Floyd.

Reduce your propaganda intake.  

 
Types is on the right path.  Live n learn.

Peer reviewed scientific consenus implies we are highly likely locked and loaded, setting off on a ride that might get a bit bumpy. Maybe not in our time, but tell the next few dozen generations they might want to hang on.  An old proverb I heard as a kid comes to mind, "We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children".

Feeling quite satisfied with heritage veggie garden I planted where the lawn in the front yard used to live.  Last few years have been a bit dry here in California.  Lawn mostly dead and gone, replaced by natives, and now seeing how dry crop veggies work out.  Soaked by warm May rain while planting today, so hope they are off to decent start.  Thoughts go out to Fort McMurray hoping they some rain :(

Too much pen for my tastes, still trying to make more sense of it, but anyways song growing on me with each listen. 
 floydoftherocks wrote:

Climate change is made up, Doc.

 
Made up of of the truth, Floyd.

Reduce your propaganda intake.  

except for the small fact that this guy can actually sing and doesn't appear to have a mouthful of marbles

 

 

Mackmoney3000 wrote:

These dudes spend a lot of time listening to The National. 

Not a bad thing.  

 

 floydoftherocks wrote:

Climate change is made up, Doc.

  
And your authority for this sweeping demolition of an amazing amount of detailed and thorough science that says the opposite?
good story, good song, 
Yep, I get the song. It is just getting a bit on the maudlin side hearing so many times.
 Jota wrote:
2 from me for being unoriginal.

 
Unoriginal? Really?
 floydoftherocks wrote:

Climate change is made up, Doc.

 
The opposition to climate change is made up.
 DocStrangelove wrote:
This is the "theme song" to the book that I am writing (my fourth book for The University of Toronto Press):

"We need to maintain a strong connection between production, consumption, and climate change and recognize the uncomfortable moral character of our present situation: if we continue upon our current path the oceans will rise, the coral will bleach, the forests will burn, mass extinctions will continue unabated, and global civilization as we know it will come to a cataclysmic end. Now is not the time for a celebration of the “emotional and aesthetic satisfactions derived from consumer experiences.” The attempt to occupy the methodological high-ground that is implied when Featherstone argues that we should endeavor to account for the pleasures of the consumer’s experience “in a more detached sociological manner” is deeply troubling.What, in the end, are we really being asked to detach ourselves from here if not the misery and destruction by our own hands of water, earth, air, and life?"



Dr. Strangelove
University of Ottawa


 
Climate change is made up, Doc.
2 from me for being unoriginal.
 trevc wrote:
I love a feel good happy song.

 
uhh its about a nuclear war.

Fuckin' LOVE this song, btw.. 
 Mackmoney3000 wrote:
These dudes spend a lot of time listening to The National. 

 
And perhaps even more to Other Lives.
Good song, good, voice, good lyrics - GOOD! 
Thoughtful lyrics. Cool beat.
Please don't ever follow this song with "Nothing But Flowers".  But, then again....
Me too.  8>9,  I like it more every time I hear it!  Especially  "And if the bastards ever come, promise me you'll take the kids and run.  I may be weak and frail, but I can surely throw them off your trail...."  LOVE IT.  Such a great story in this song!
Just bumped this from a 8  —> 9. For the melody, and for the lyrics.
It's really weird that this group is from the same city I live in—Lexington, Kentucky—and I have not heard of it. Lexington is a really dynamic town with a really active music scene. Must do some research on this band. I liked the song, and can definitely hear the resemblance to The National. 

ETA: They're from Louisville, which is 70 miles west of Lexington! That's right! Kentucky has more than one city! 
 
 Jota wrote:
Did First Aid Kit and The National have a kid?

 
Explains why I like it so much.


 Mackmoney3000 wrote:
These dudes spend a lot of time listening to The National. 

Not a bad thing.  

 
No it isn't but they shouldn't set out to ape them either.
Did First Aid Kit and The National have a kid?
For pedantic nerdisms, the pronunciation used by Louisvillians, takes all the various ways you might think it would be pronounced, rejects them and leaves a muddy mess for the palate to produce.

So no, not Loooiss - ville (one would guess based on the spelling)

and no, not Looey - ville (the likely guess of the history buffs, knowing about the naming for King Louis XIV of France)

nor any of the various versions that have some basis in spelling or reality.

No. the proper pronunciation of Louisville, if you really don't want to sound like you're from out of town (helpful trying to look native during Derby time, etc.) is

Luh-VULL

The easiest way to reproduce the proper pronunciation is quite simple.

1) Place your index finger (either hand, doesn't matter), squarely over and against your top lip, applying enough pressure to prevent the lip from doing much of anything.

2) Try to pronounce the city name using any method that would make normal sense. The proper mouth function will come through due to the assistance provided by your index finger.

Quiet Hollers has got quite the good sound by the way. So very glad Louisville is finding its voice. Taken way too long. 
...and then the bong...
I love a feel good happy song.
Nice.  7 straight out of the box.
Nice
Feels like a First Aid Kit song.
                            Read Again Right
                 
                 Shed a tear for the books I shoulda read
   So cover me up and know you're ready  to use me for good
Now I'm sitting  cross-legged, and looking at the picture postcard
         You're perfect, and there's a story in your eyes
         Mother Abagail is an Alpha.Xenon plus a Bomb.
      

 coloradojohn wrote:
These guys sure came along and laid out some fine sounds here...seem to me to be a nice surprise; like their new and yet familiar feel

 
Agree.
These guys sure came along and laid out some fine sounds here...seem to me to be a nice surprise; like their new and yet familiar feel
Brilliant in many ways this! (i didn't know what a 'mont blanc pen' was. Googled it. SIX GRAND FOR A PEN? geez. OK i get the point).
Definitely caught my ear ... "trying to make the place look empty, so as no-one comes around "
 Mackmoney3000 wrote:
These dudes spend a lot of time listening to The National. 

Not a bad thing.  

 
I doubt it; these guys actually have talent. Great song, tho.
Nice tune. Thoughtful. Upbeat downbeat. Why does this sound like a half brother to The National?
Most intriguing lyrics to a guy's ear who rang the bell like crazy in the eighties.... 

I still ill use my silver montblanc.....
Good tune, good lyrics. Never heard them before.
First time I hear it but interesting enough to make me go to Spotify and give a listen to the rest of the album (and come back here to make this comment). Good stuff! Thank you, RP, for introducing me again to great new music.
 FatPants wrote:
Boy is this a straight-up RP song.  Nice.

 
Lol. I thought exactly that!! 7. {#Clap}