New to the board, not to the band

Discuss any aspect of Soul Asylum, their music, and the band's members.
Post Reply
Heather1983
Runaway
Posts: 32
Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2011 6:34 pm

New to the board, not to the band

Post by Heather1983 »

Hello Everyone,
I am new to this forum, as the title says, but not new to the band. I was 7 years old when I heard "Runaway Train" and it is such a moving song. Thanks to that song, I was introduced to a great set of musicians and also, a life changing experience. That song saved my life. I am proud that I had the chance to hear that song, it inspired me to continue life and become a musician myself. I am now 28 years old and I can say that this band was played such a major part in my life. What I would like to know is, what inspired David Pirnir to write that song? Does anyone know?

Thanks, and I look forward to rockin in the asylum with everyone.

Heather

dells
Social Butterfly
Posts: 292
Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2007 7:42 pm
Location: rural Richardton, North Dakota. A/K/A the hind end of nowhere
Contact:

Re: New to the board, not to the band

Post by dells »

Heather1983 wrote:Hello Everyone,
What I would like to know is, what inspired David Pirnir to write that song? Does anyone know?
Heather, Welcome to the site and our little community of dedicated fans of the band and Dave's particular brand of brilliant and insightful songwriting.

In response to your question, I don't know if my interpretation and understanding of the Grave Dancers songs and their inspirations are at all correct, or just a personal theory built on my cloudy memories and thought about so often that it has become fact to me, I believe in it so strongly, but here is what I think:

I recall reading a magazine article back then (and, of course, I have no clue how accurate or truthful it was in the first place, and have never found it again to re-read it or confirm my memory of what it said) that stated that Dave was depressed at the time he was writing the songs that would become Grave Dancers, and had even spent some time in therapy. He was depressed because the Horse CD hadn't sold well, and the future of Soul Asylum was very questionable at that time, and Dave was upset that the band might not be able to continue, which would have been devastating to him.

If that article actually stated facts Dave told the interviewer, and I'm remembering it accurately, I think that Grave Dancers Union is such good therapy for so many of us because the songs on it reflect very clearly Dave's own therapeutic progression through that chaotic and scary period in his career.

Here is what some key Grave Dancers songs mean to me, and my interpretations are based on how they effected me, and how they corresponded to how I was thinking and feeling at the time, not nec how Dave intended them when he wrote them.

Runaway Train: I never thought this was about runaways, even though the video implied it. To me, it's about any situation where one is feeling like they're in a situation that they have no power over, and feeling like their life is careening out of control and feeling powerless to regain that control.

Somebody To Shove: Dave is talking about needing someone to basically give him a swift kick in the ass, or a slap to the face (a "shove") to snap him out of that feeling of being out of control & to help get him out of that helpless feeling and get some motivation. (Dave actually said something that seems to support my interpretation in that 120 minutes clip that Little Too Clean recently posted)

Keep It Up and Get On Out seem like very literal pep talks to himself and listeners to think positively and make forward progress out of the chaos, instead of wallowing in self-pity and despair.

Like I said, I don't know if my theories & GDU song interpretations are accurate to Dave's mindset while writing them, but they work for me. I doubt if we will ever know for certain what his inspirations were(nor should we be, since they are likely to be personal to him), as most songwriters and poets hate to explain their own inspirations and interpretations of their art, because they want the song or poem to mean whatever the listeners/readers want them to mean for themselves.

dells
dells

Look into your heart before it sees its final hour
Live today like there is no tomorrow
- wise advice from the brilliant Dave Pirner

EL DANGEROSO
Social Butterfly
Posts: 163
Joined: Tue Jan 06, 2009 10:08 pm
Location: paradise.TEXAS

Re: New to the board, not to the band

Post by EL DANGEROSO »

welcome heather are you in a band? at some point SA struck a chord with all of us.

better late
Social Butterfly
Posts: 176
Joined: Sun Mar 06, 2011 9:42 am

Re: New to the board, not to the band

Post by better late »

Hi, Heather, welcome to the board.

Dells, appreciate your interpretation of the songs on GDU, and agree to most of it.

spodiba
Social Butterfly
Posts: 184
Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2009 12:17 pm
Location: Croatia

Re: New to the board, not to the band

Post by spodiba »

dells wrote: I recall reading a magazine article back then (and, of course, I have no clue how accurate or truthful it was in the first place, and have never found it again to re-read it or confirm my memory of what it said) that stated that Dave was depressed at the time he was writing the songs that would become Grave Dancers, and had even spent some time in therapy. He was depressed because the Horse CD hadn't sold well, and the future of Soul Asylum was very questionable at that time, and Dave was upset that the band might not be able to continue, which would have been devastating to him.

Runaway Train: I never thought this was about runaways, even though the video implied it. To me, it's about any situation where one is feeling like they're in a situation that they have no power over, and feeling like their life is careening out of control and feeling powerless to regain that control.

Somebody To Shove: Dave is talking about needing someone to basically give him a swift kick in the ass, or a slap to the face (a "shove") to snap him out of that feeling of being out of control & to help get him out of that helpless feeling and get some motivation. (Dave actually said something that seems to support my interpretation in that 120 minutes clip that Little Too Clean recently posted)

Keep It Up and Get On Out seem like very literal pep talks to himself and listeners to think positively and make forward progress out of the chaos, instead of wallowing in self-pity and despair.

dells
First of all, Heather, welcome! :)
Dells,
I also remember reading the article that stated that Dave was in a sort of a bad place after the release of the Horse and the fact that it didn't sell well, and I also remember reading somewhere that he was even an outpatient of some kind of an institution/hospital at the time because he was so depressed, which was also caused by the unknown prospect of the band and the fact that all band memebers went back to their day jobs, and almost quit performing at the time.

Runaway Train - I agree, I also never thought it was about runaway kids or anything similar. I remember watching a video of Dave and Dan, if I remember correctly, talking about the process of making the video, and they said that, since at the time, they changed the label and people there recognized RT would be huge, they brought all these "experts" to come up with the "story" for the video. And of course, you can interpret lyrics so that they would fit to the story of runaway kids, so they went with that, and since the band have always been into helping the community/whoever, they agreed on the story for the video. And the rest is history.

Somebody to Shove and Keep It Up- again, I agree with your interpretation ;)

Heather1983
Runaway
Posts: 32
Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2011 6:34 pm

Re: New to the board, not to the band

Post by Heather1983 »

Thank you so much!
That is very interesting about Dave. This might sound crazy but when I happen to appreciate songs from others who have experienced the same issues in life that I have. Thank you so much for the information. I am just so thankful this band is here.

Yes, I am in a band. I've actually been playing since I was 5 years old. ( 20+ yrs). My father encouraged all us kids to play music. My older brothers and I started a classic rock band nearly 10 years ago. Very local, we just enjoy playing music and the songs that have inspired us. Misery and Runaway Train both are on our setlist.

I really love to connect with others who have gone through the things I have and also other musicians.

Thanks for the welcome everyone! Look forward to chatting.

Post Reply